The Past Few Days

 This is what we have been dealing with this week:  Our first and hopefully last nasty diaper rash combined with a stomach bug.  I think I jinxed ourselves with the whole sickness thing.  Last week I commented to Ryan how I couldn't believe that James had made it almost a whole year without getting sick.  Saturday morning that came to an abrupt end. This monster popped up out of nowhere and has consumed my time with diaper changes, multiple baby washings, and lots of yucky laundry.   Poor James has been in lots of pain, and I felt like a horrible mom putting on his medicine.  In desperation we even let him crawl around without a diaper to try to “air” things out.  Of course in the first two minutes he had crawled off his towel and peed on the rug.  Oh well.  To quote my husband, “Don’t worry Em.  Pee is sterile.” :) Of course whenever you have a sick child its always the same time that your husband works extra long hours.  Tuesday morning Ryan left at 1 a.m. for the day and James was up at 4 a.m. hollering. When I went to check on him I noticed that he had a diaper explosion that had over-spilled into the crib.  Straight into the bathtub he went.  Thankfully we seem to finally be on the mend and things are finally starting to be a little more normal.   Stomach bug- stay away from the Holland household! 

"Airing" things out

Finally feeling better!

The Eleventh Month

Stats: No doctor's appointment this month but oh you are heavy! It's about time for you to walk so we don't have to carry you so much. :)  You are wearing mostly 18 month clothing and still in a size 4 diaper.  

Likes:  Chasing your "baa" (ball) around the house, playing in your little swimming pool, going to the beach and digging in the sand, story time at the library, clapping your hands, playing peekaboo and patty-cake, clapping for yourself when you eat a cheerio, swinging at the park, looking at books (especially ones that have cool textures on the pages) 

Dislikes:  Daddy leaving to go to work every day, being told you have to get out of the swing at the park, green vegetables unless they are pureed (weird), your mom not giving you her undivided attention

James, next month you will be one!  I can hardly believe it.  This month has been full of new tricks.  You point to the fan when we ask you where it is, your dad has taught you how to make the "duck" sound, and you like to imitate whatever we do with you.  You love to play peekaboo with your towel after bath time and your favorite toy is without a doubt a ball.  You have lots of favorite foods such as cheese, yogurt, cheerios, fruit, and sweet potatoes.  Your absolute favorite food is an ice cream cone, but we have to be careful giving you anything sweet because then you don't want your veggies! We have finally made some progress with you feeding yourself and using a cup.  This has made eating out so much easier because you can entertain yourself instead of your parents feeding you.  It is obvious that you understand a lot of what we are saying.  If we ask you to find a certain toy you immediately go to it.  Your Daddy and I are so proud of all you have learned.  Naps can still be a challenge, and we all pay the price when you don't want to take one. Life continues to be an exciting adventure with you, and your dad and I don't want to miss a minute.  We both love you so much!!!

Here are some special memories from the past month.  

Weekends when Ryan is off are always something we look forward to.  One Saturday we went to the park to swing and play in the water area.  James LOVED the swing and pitched a huge fit when we took him out.  He seemed to enjoy the splash park but was a little confused by it. 

Happy 4th of July!  Ours was spent traveling back to LA.

Eating is hard work

Had to get a picture of the side curl

Pool time

More trouble...

Bottle time "post call"

One of Those Days

Do you ever have one of those days when nothing goes according to your plan?  Yesterday was definitely that day.  It started off with us having plans to go to the library for story time.  I had heard good things about the Broadmoor branch so we decided to check it out.  I changed James, packed our bag, loaded him into the car, and drove over.  I wasn’t exactly sure where the library was and probably didn’t take the quickest route.  We got there right on time, got out of the car seat, grabbed all of our stuff, walked into the library to see a sign posted that read: “Story time is full.  Please come back for the 11:00 hour.”  I was so annoyed.  All that trouble for nothing.  And do they really think a parent with a small child is just going to “hang” around for an hour?  So we loaded back into the car, and I was still feeling really bad that I took James out for nothing so we decided to make a detour to Chick-fil-a for breakfast.  We love Chick-fil-a because its one of the cheapest places we can eat, and we normally have coupons!  It’s a little embarrassing how well they know us there.  I heard an employee say how cute JT was and the other employee replied, “Oh, I have seen that baby grow up.  You should have seen what his hair used to look like.” James and I had a special Mommy-son date and I shared the top half of my biscuit with him.  Afterward I thought, “What the heck? Let’s just go to the story time at the other branch of the library.”  Off we went. 

Breakfast date with Mommy

Fast forward a few hours.  It was time to go to the gym.  Changed the baby, loaded the diaper bag, got the water bottle, put on workout clothes, etc.  Got to the gym, got out of car just to be told that there was no electricity.  Back into the car, listened to a child screaming because he had to stay in the car even though we had stopped, on to the grocery store to get some needed food items.  I was immediately met by at least three different people telling me how big and fat my child was and they sure did think he looked heavy.  Well, yes he is heavy.  That is why I’m trying to get him into the shopping cart but I can’t because you are in the way and are rubbing his face even though you are a stranger.  Why do random people like to touch my child?  Left the store and went to pick up dinner for a family only to realize that electricity was out all over the area we live in.  Keep in mind we have been under a heat advisory since Sunday, and it was well over 100 degrees. 

Back home, bathed a screaming baby in the dark.  No power to heat up my microwave dinner.  So much for the groceries that I had just purchased since they were slowly being destroyed in the fridge.  James had sweat dripping from his head onto the carpet.  Finally got him to sleep and husband finally got home from work.  Power was supposed to be on by 6:30, still was off at 9:00.  Husband and I fell asleep on the tile floor because it was the coolest place we could find.  Awoke about 11:00 to the sound of the power coming on.  Praise Jesus!  Finally got to eat my dinner but now I couldn't sleep.  Well, I might as well catch up on the blog.  Yes, it was definitely “one of those days.” :) 

Sara and Rebecca Take on Shreveport

  Rebecca and Sara are two of my most special friends, and it was really great to have them visit us together.  They have both known me since I was born and we have continually gotten closer as we have grown older.  We went to church together, worked together with the youth group, were in bible study together, and have shared too many laughs to count.  They have a history with me that few people have.  It’s also really neat that they have known Ryan for a long time (Rebecca helped set us up and was his friend way before I was) so we had a really good time all hanging out.  I think we set the record for most random pictures taken on this trip!  

Rebecca and Sara came to Shreveport on Wednesday and arrived around dinner time.  The next day we began our adventure and decided our goal was to see how much we could eat while they were in town.  We started with lunch at Tiger Bites and then dessert at Frozen Frog.

James LOVES the Frozen Frog

Afterward we attempted to come home for James to take his nap but unfortunately he threw a fit instead.  After an hour of “nap screaming” we gave up on that and went shopping.  While out we had to stop at Buttercups for some cupcakes for dinner dessert, especially since that day was also Sara’s birthday!

Rebecca cooked a yummy birthday dinner.  Not sure what is going on with these expressions!

Happy Birthday Sara!

Not sure what is going on here!

 The next day we made the trek over to Bossier.  I wanted to go shopping at some stores I had read about.  Unfortunately they ended up being quite the disappointment.  But…we got to eat at this place: Big O’s!   Sara had on her “to-do” list that she wanted some Louisiana grub so she got a po-boy.  There just happened to be a bakery near by so yes…we got another sweet dessert.

We decided to take advantage of the triple digit temperatures and go outdoor shopping at the Boardwalk.  Every summer I do this and every summer I wonder why am I shopping outside when it is so hot.  Of course James wanted to pitch a fit in his stroller so we ended up lugging him around, and boy he is heavy!

Sara is not only a good friend but she is also an awesome photographer and has her own photography business.  She has done lots of photo shoots for our family and actually did one for our neighbors and their twins on Saturday.  I was impressed that she could get those two babies to cooperate!  Next on the to-do list was a trip to the Farmer’s Market to pick up a couple of things for dinner and to try some samples.  That afternoon we did more shopping ( I think I shopped more in these few days than I had in the past year) and that night Ryan cooked us a great dinner on the grill.

Hanging out at the Farmer's Market

Our final day together was spent going to church, getting lunch, ice cream, and an impromptu photo shoot of James.   Overall their visit was awesome.  I laughed so hard I cried, ate great food, and spent quality time with friends.  What could be better?  Thanks so much for coming Sara and Becky!  We love you both!

Lunch at Smashburger

I look like I'm on a commercial for baby food

Give me more ice cream Daddy!

Worn out from all this fun

 

 

Sara's Photo Shoot

Look what Sara did while Mommy was away!

Playing with Rebecca

Hanging out in his "tunnel"

Look what happens when Rebecca is in charge!

So Long NC!

I remember thinking that this trip was going to last forever.  It was the longest I had been back since we moved.  However it went by in a flash, especially my quick visit to Greenville.  I didn’t have time to do much but I did squeeze in a few things like eating at Boulevard Bagel, visiting with the Holland’s, hanging out with Madeline and Marianne, and grilling out with Mom and Dad. 

Anyone know where you can get good bagels in Shreveport?

Hanging out in my old highchair

 

Crazy kid wouldn't pick up the cone!

 

Before I knew it I was back to the airport.  It was the 4^th of July and several people on the plane commented on how patriotic James was.  Overall the flights weren’t too bad this time.  However on the second flight we were on the plane for an hour and 45 minutes before we ever took off!  I have never been so thankful for cheerios in my life.  I think the kid ate about 500 before the day was over.  Hey, anything to keep him happy!  

Goodbye Granny Deb.  We love you!

Relaxing in Charlotte

Toy of choice: Mom's seat belt

Are we there yet?

I love the people in NC and miss it terribly.  It is so hard to be away from family and friends and we miss many important life events due to living far away.   Our time in LA has not been easy and starting over in a new area has been very lonely and isolating, especially for me.  However my heart is most content wherever Ryan, James, and I are together which for now is in Shreveport.  I will forever be grateful for these years where it is just our little family making memories each day.  This is “home” and it felt so good for Ryan to pick us up from the airport and to be together as a family again.