Merry Christmas

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful Christmas letters and cards. It is so much fun to read about your families and how God is blessing your lives.

Here are a few pics from our many Christmas celebrations. This is James enjoying Haley's Christmas toy. He loved to bounce on this with Haley, and he has subsequently made the connection that inflatable things are fun to bounce on. So, he tries to sit on his beach ball and bounce, but his feet don't quite reach the floor.

Christmas stockings filled with....

Cars. James cashed in on the cars, tractors, and trucks this year. He honestly loves them all. AND DON'T YOU DARE MOMMY try to put any of them away- especially my play road. They are to remain in the middle of the living room floor forever.

James' First Haircut

Due to unruly eating habits, we decided it was time for James to lose those beautiful baby curls. Fortunately, my sister Christy is a professional. Thanks Christy for the big boy hair cut. Looks great!

Crazy James

We are really enjoying his little personality. Here he is helping with the dishes. Notice the water bottle in his hand. ANYTHING adults use must be cool. HMMM chili tastes good.
Our little boy likes shoes. He's not so fond of clothes though. You might not think a 13 month old has preferences, but he leads us to his shoes and begs to have them on.

Crazy James!

ONE YEAR PICS

These are James' 1 year pictures. Yes, we're a bit late... It is increasingly difficult to get a good picture of James. Anyway, James is doing awesome. He is growing. He is trying out new words. He is moving at lightening speed. He really is a lot of fun. Lately he's been into lids again - putting them on, taking them off... He's enjoying his slide a lot lately - and his motor skills are at the point where it is safe fun. Jess and I are trying to figure out life and trying to keep up with Jamers.

My Favorite Things...

November was a whirlwind. Now our little guy is 13 months old. He has taken a real interest in shoes and trying to put them on and take them off by himself. His feet are also growing at warp speed, so it is hard to keep him in a pair of shoes that fits. BTW - That is drool on his shirt. It is back in full force - along with night time wakings and a major pacifier addiction. What can you expect, though, when you move to a new place?

James is big time into tractors too. Here he is telling Gramma all about it.
James really loves his Uncle Nathanael. He could not get enough attention from him. James would bring him many items for safe keeping.
Oh, and the drill... add to that the screw driver and whatever tool Daddy might be using or have used in the past. Very cool stuff.Other things about James... He is using many different sounds to communicate - more and more words or partial words. It is very exciting. He also will point to items when you ask him to in a book or to show you what he is interested in. That's pretty exciting. Except we have to spend the majority of our time studying the crane in "Are You My Mother?" and the crocodile in "Head to Toe."

Random Fun....

James has been so excited to have his Gramma visiting. He just knew she loved him right away. Somehow we neglected to take any pictures of them playing together. This will be remedied soon when we visit her in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving.

James is experiencing snow....
"Daddy...." That would be James' expression.
This is James' dog Blue. He has recently found Blue to be a nice companion.
And a cute bath picture. It's been awhile, and James now loves his bath. He likes to suck on the head of his rubber duck. hmmm... We love this seat because bath is much safer this way.

Happy Birthday

Little James is officially 1 year old! It's hard to believe there was a time before James. We believe our happy and social little boy is so special. We celebrated on his actual birthday with just the 3 of us. On Sunday we'll have some family and friends over. So, more pictures to come!

James' eyes sparkled as we sang to him.His favorite part of the day was discovering crepe paper around the house and figuring out how to dismantle it.
This was James' birthday gift from us. He thinks big trucks must make BIG LOW NOISES.

About 10 minutes in the life of our 1 year old...

Typing on the computer just like Daddy.Run through the kitchen and stop to spin the wheels on my stroller.Over to the window to check out the cars driving by and the squirrels scampering up the trees.
Stop to do a little "work."
AND back to the computer again...

Faith

Yesterday James developed his first fever. It came on during our ECFE class. He had a diaper rash - worse than any other before - that came along with it. It was scary. I pulled out my reference books and looked online during his nap to discover the rash was probably nothing. Still, our little guy was miserable. He spent the remainder of the afternoon laying around (literally) and groaning. He would think he was "okay," jump off our laps to do something and just fall back onto the ground. Rough day, rough night, rough day - he seems like he is turning a corner now.

What does this have to do with faith? James slept on my chest for about half the night. He had been there about an hour and a half. I was getting no real sleep and he was restless. I knew he would sleep better in his own bed, but I was scared. What if his fever spikes? What if this is more severe than we think and we lose our boy or he becomes very ill? It reminded me of when he was just born. Every time I laid him down in his crib was an act of faith - faith that God would protect my little boy from SIDS. As I laid him down in the middle of the night my faith was challenged. I needed faith that God loved him more than we do... faith that God would watch over him.... and faith that God would wake me if something were to happen. AND of course God was faithful.

Jess and I were discussing this topic today. This is the first time James has ever been sick - beyond a runny nose or cough. It is a hard realty to know that James' life is not under our total control. We can care for him, but if God chose to take him.... Too hard to discuss and yet another reason we are glad to have such a loving God who knows the big picture and still takes care of the small details like our lives.

Story of deception... Video of Car Noises

Here's the scenario:
Mommy sees James with his hand in a tight grip.
M: James, what's in your hand?
James looks at Mommy and runs into another room.
D: James, come here.
James goes to Daddy.
D: What do you have in your hand, James?
James hides his hands behind his back and starts to move away from Daddy. Daddy opens James' hand to find a little piece of a leaf. We look at each other and decide he can eat it if he really wants and give it back to him.
J: Ooohhhh
James smiles and runs to the other room. He stashes it in his mouth, looks at us, and smiles again.

Here's a video of James' version of a car's motor. It sounds a little peculiar. We finally discovered he must have mimicked it from a toy car he has that makes a similar sound when you push a button.

Books and Hugs

That summarizes James. He loves to look at books. His latest thing is to bring a book at Jess and (throw it on his lap) and pull himself on Daddy's lap. Everything is accompanied by an "ooh." James is also giving us the best hugs - totally initiated by him. He also likes to blow bubbles on me (Lisa). I don't understand it, but it does make me feel loved.
These last two pictures we took at Westwood Nature Center - close to where we live. It is refreshing to take a nice walk, look at the lake, and watch James experience and enjoy God's creation.
James is holding securely to an apple... After this outing we lost one of James' shoes for almost a week. Yes, we have a small apartment, but James likes to carry things around and hide them. Thankfully we found it hiding in a closet. This was a relief since they are his only pair that fit well, and it is a bit cold to go outside barefoot.

Anniversary

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. It's amazing how much can change in two years. What a blessing and joy it is to be a family together - to raise James together - and to have someone to create so many memories with. Our good friend Heather babysat for us last night so we could have a night out. We had a lot of fun reminiscing about our wedding. It really felt like a date - and a well needed one at that. It's amazing how many people sent us cards and remembered to say "Happy Anniversary." Kind of made us feel special.

RECKLESS

We're out looking for homes. The last 2 weeks have been incredibly stressful. Jesse has been gone 11.5-12 hours a day. He comes home beat tired. We found out that our landlord will no longer allow us to rent month to month. We also learned that the past few people who have moved out have not gotten their security deposit back. Joy.

GUESS WHO'S BEHIND THIS BIB?
James is really into peek-a-boo these days. Doorways, blankets, your shirt, his bib (yuck) all make great places to play. We also had to confiscate James' slide. He is just too reckless. He'll climb up the slide part, try to turn around at the top to slide down (sometimes 1 handed). He took a good fall on Sunday and seriously scared us. The boy exhibits no fear, no caution... We're hoping by his birthday or Christmas the slide will make a return.

James has also discovered that apples are very delicious. We discovered that he indeed does bite into them and that the skin is a choking hazard.

James is quite the little talker. He tries so hard to tell us things. We just can't understand him. We're pretty sure he uses the word "go." Surprising... since the highlight of his day is anytime we leave the house. I think I've heard "night night" too, but time will tell.

Lots of New Things

This has been quite the eventful month for James. We want to share with you some of the joy we have watching him learn.

It takes so long to upload these videos. Great now I just erased it. Check out our link for videos of James: walking, throwing a ball and clapping. http://www.dailymotion.com/lisarhody

CHECK OUT JAMES' 3rd tooth and almost 4th tooth

NEW CHURCH

We are in the process of finding a new church home. It is very difficult to say goodbye to the Rock. We had such a great experience there and are still finding ourselves recommending it to others. We believe God has placed it on our hearts to find a place where James can worship with us and where we can really see ourselves raising our family. Every time we second guess our decision, we come back again to "it's time to find some place new." We do appreciate your prayers in this process. We certainly would not want to do anything that is disobedient to God or is not within His best plan for us.

A Few Stories

Are you my Mother? James and I like to read this story. I like to make a squeaky voice for the voice of the baby bird. James is really interested in books lately. I caught him pick up that particular book. He opens and shuts it and opens and shuts it. Then he begins to talk. First he uses his regular voice and then his voice starts to change to a high pitched, squeaky voice. It was hilarious.

James is learning how to throw. He amuses himself by lifting his ball above his head and dropping it behind him. He turns around, retrieves it, and the process is repeated. To throw forward, he smooshes the ball against his forehead using both of his hands and releases. Honestly, he only did this for a couple of days, now he working hard at throwing like he sees mommy and daddy do.

Tooth update: #3 has cut through and #4 is partially through. I can tell it hurts him. He comes to us for lots of cuddles. He wants to be held almost constantly. It is very sweet.

One more thing - this boy is determined to walk. Every day he takes a few more risks, goes a little bit further than he did the day before. He is really becoming a little boy.

Throwing

James started playing "catch" today. He has been putting his arms up in the air lately and babbling. We had no idea what was going on in his head. He also has been dropping objects with purpose the last 2 days. Today, he had a ball in his hands, put his hands above his head and let go. He thought it was fun. He would chase the ball and do it again and again. I had to get in on the action and throw the ball back to him. I think he liked the game. You could really see the wheels turning inside of his head.

We can upload videos now! YEAH!!!!

This was James on the first night we gave him his slide. He was super excited.

Jesse's Hunting Shack - the update

It's almost finished. Jesse has gotten a little artsy here. Notice the lichen infested pine for molding. Notice the blue beech for a shelf.
Jesse is convinced this will be a great get away place for our family. OK - minus the mice.
Notice the wall boards, windows, etc. are all salvaged wood. Way to reuse!

10 Months Old

On James' 10 month birthday he decided to test out his walking skills. He took 4-5 steps independently before falling down or reaching his destination. He was quite proud and has proceded to take a few steps each day! Way to go James.

James has also become a bit pickier about eating. So far we have discovered James' favorite foods include: french toast, cheerios, frozen bananas, peas, green beans.

This is James' newest toy. The amazing thing is that he knows how to use it. Granted we are so afraid of him falling and he needs help sitting down when he reaches the top. The other amazing thing is that he wants to go up the slide part. You don't have to teach your children the wrong way to do things they just figure it out naturally.

What's so funny?

You might wonder what has captured James' undivided attention. (btw, this is Auntie Kari who was so nice to babysit for a very fussy James). Wouldn't this catch your attention? This is Auntie Heidi. For some reason James thinks she's hilarious. All she has to do is look at him and he roars in laughter or even snorts in laughter.
Heidi, this is revenge for the pictures you posted of me on facebook.

A couple more pictures too cute not to post:

This one is for Grampa. James loves his wheat puffs.