Baby #2!

Baby #2 is on the way! I'm due January 8th, and we are very excited! I had my first prenatal visit last week, and the baby is healthy and everything is going great. Here are some pictures from the ultrasound.

Birthday Beach Trip

The day before James' birthday, Michael took the day off and we went to the beach! We went down to Santa Cruz, which is less than an hour from our apartment. It was so nice, especially because it was in the middle of the day on a Friday, so it wasn't very crowded. The water was pretty cold, so we didn't go in above our ankles :) But we still had lots of fun! It was James' first trip to the beach, and he LOVED it!

That morning James was still asleep at 8:30 when he normally wakes up at 7 or 7:30. So we went in to wake him up and this is what we found :)

When we got to the beach James was unsure about the whole thing at first...
...then he discovered the joys of digging in the sand and getting all dirty and had a blast! :)






Running to the water! This usually resulted in a face plant in the sand because the sand was wet and his feet would sink in and make him trip :)
Helping Daddy dig for sand crabs :)


James was VERY tired after playing at the beach all day and passed out on the way home.

James Turns 1!

On May 8th James turned 1 year old! We just had a little family party at home. Here are some pictures of him opening presents. He did a lot better opening them by himself than he did at Christmas :)

Taking a break to read his new book :)

And of course the things he played with the most were the packing peanuts - which he thoroughly enjoyed crumbling into little pieces all over the floor...
...and the giant box his new car seat came in :)

The birthday cake!

Here is a video of James and his first experience with birthday cake. It was not a good experience, but it was so hilarious! Hehe He dug both hands into his piece of cake, got cake and icing all over them, and FREAKED OUT because he couldn't get it off. He started crying, so we tried to get him to eat some of the cake, and then he started gagging just because it touched his tongue....so yeah....James doesn't like cake :)
 

April 2010

James' First Easter! The Easter Bunny came to visit James! James got a chocolate bunny, some bubbles, and a new ball...

...but his favorite part was the Easter grass :)


Trying to get to his chocolate bunny :)
He succeeded! However he would not eat the chocolate bunny - he just wanted to hold it. So of course it melted a got chocolate all over his hands!


This month Michael's mom came to visit. We enjoyed having her here and were glad she was able to come play with and squeeze James for a whole week :)

Reading with Grandmother

Pick out a book...

...flip through the pages...

...and shove it under the couch! :)

More cute pics of James :)

Big smile!

March 2010

In March my grandparents came to visit while they were in San Francisco. It was fun to have them here, and I'm glad they got to see James.



After a little while James warmed up to them and even gave them kisses :)


James also discovered he can reach the DVD and video shelf...

...and make a BIG mess!

We also moved to a new apartment this month. We now manage an apartment complex in Sunnyvale called the Bayview Apartments. We have a two-bedroom apartment now - which is so nice because we have lots more room and James gets his own bedroom - and we get free rent for being managers....which is very nice! :) The managing isn't too bad. My main responsibilities are collecting rent, some paperwork, getting apartments ready to rent again when people move out, and filling vacancies. And then Michael has to do some minor maintenance around the complex. The workload seems to be a feast or famine type situation - sometimes I'll go a couple weeks without much to do, and then I'll have a few days with a bunch of things to do :) But it's good. We're enjoying it, and it has been a real blessing.

More February 2010

Here are some cute pictures from the rest of February.

James playing in a box. He liked getting pushed around in it and having Daddy fly him around in it :)

James is just the cutest little boy ever!

This is James watching "Mahna Mahna" from the Muppet Show on youtube. Since he was about 6 months old, it has been his absolute favorite video. He loves to watch it over and over again, and it always calms him down when he gets really fussy. Now he also likes to watch "Sax & Violence" - another Muppet video with Mahna Mahna.

February 2010 GA Trip

In February Michael went to Germany on a business trip. So instead of sitting around at home alone, James and I decided to go to GA and visit my family. It was a great trip, and we had lots of fun spending time with my family! I love my family so much, and I'm so glad we got to visit and they got to see James. When we left GA last summer to move out here to California, James was only 4 months old, so he had changed a lot since the last time they saw him.

James and Grandma

Alicia reading a book to James

James and Cory

James just being cute :)

At the beginning of February, James started taking steps. At first he would only get in 3 or 4 steps before he fell. Once while we were in GA he did 8! This picture is mid-fall during one such walking attempt :)

Fun in the bath! James LOVES the bath! Especially splashing Mommy :)

James getting into the cabinet under the TV

He thoroughly enjoyed pulling all the games out and making a mess :)

It snowed TWICE while we were in GA, which is crazy because it's rare for it to snow there even once per winter. It was only a few inches, but it was still snow. So we took James out in the snow for a little bit. He didn't really know what to think of it :) He just stared and stared at it falling around him.