Fall Fun

We enjoyed a night at Lubbock's 1st pumpkin trail. Over 500 jack-o-lanterns were donated to light the trail. James has been absolutely in love with pumpkins, so this activity was right up his alley. The only problem was that hundreds of people, candle-lit pumpkins, and a toddler who loves pumpkins and wants to run around and pick them all up was not the best combination. We had some tear-filled moments at the beginning while James learned his boundaries. We ended up carrying him the whole way. This seemed to be easiest for him, so as not to tempt him with pumpkins within his grasp. He really enjoyed looking at all of the pumpkins.

And what would a little boy who loves pumpkins be for Halloween? That's right. A pumpkin.
Here is our little pumpkin on the way to the ward Trunk-or Treat.
(Thank you to the Nelsons and especially Sophie for letting us borrow the costume!)

Here is the Cullimore Pumpkin Patch.
The extra look of elation on Jordan's face is probably due to having just won "Best Overall Chili" for the ward chili cook-off.

James absolutely loved running free throughout the gym. He did not want to stop to pose for pictures. He, in fact, thought of a fun game to make of it. I would take out the camera and ask him to smile. He would then pause as if in complete obedience to my request and then take off as soon as I pushed the button. Do you see the clever look on his face? This is my best shot. Most of the pictures are of his back or side. I finally wised up and started pushing the button just before I asked him to smile.

James's first taste of Trunk-or-Treat spoils.
We don't ever have much candy around our house, but somehow this boy knows candy. He discovered a love of chocolate while helping to make chocolate chip cookies one day...so, maybe, it was the chocolate. He could smell it. And he wanted it.
Yes, he bit straight through the wrapper. He also promptly clenched his jaws as tight as possible when I tried to retrieve the wrapper pieces. The result was chocolate all over both of us and only a small piece of wrapper. After a trip to the bathroom to wash up, we continued our trek.

Here we are after James's first trick-or-treating experience.

The spoils.

Here is James on Halloween.
His pumpkin costume was sitting forgotten in the laundry basket.
So, he donned Daddy's "costume."
We didn't go trick-or treating, since we'd had the trunk-or-treat, but we were visited by friends.

Mommy's Little Helper

James cleaning up a "mess" (spilled water) on the kitchen floor.
He immediately informs me when he sees a "mess" and often follows his "mess" declaration with "clean it!"

James loves cooking and "miking" (mixing).
He always wants to be a "helpoh" (helper) when I'm cooking.

He also enjoys sharing his personal creations (imaginary, of course).

At least weekly, James asks to "dus" (dust).

He LOVES to "dus."

Maybe we should have been working on cleaning up
when your done playing instead of dusting that day.

James absolutely loves the "ba-coon" (vacuum).
He must have a turn vacuuming on his own when I'm vacuuming.
And the vacuum must actually be on.

I'm so grateful for my little helper.

Our Future Missionary

Jordan decided to dress James in an outfit worn by James's teddy bear. The "shorts" are actually teddy bear pants and the belly shirt is a teddy bear long-sleeved white dress shirt. He sure looks cute in his ill-fitting attire though.

"And they pitched their tents..." (Mosiah 2:6)

We watched Sunday morning General Conference Nephite style. Or at least we tried to. We thought James would love it, but after going under a couple of times, he was more interested in tearing it down than sitting under it. Maybe some other time...

Pregnancy Progression: Week 16

So, I thought I was showing more this time around...then I saw this picture. I sure feel like my belly is bigger than it appears on camera.

So I decided we should take another picture and I would smooth out my shirt so we could really document the pregnancy progress. As you can see, that really did nothing.

So I decided I would take a picture from my perspective, so you can see that I'm not crazy for feeling like my tummy is getting large. This is what I see when I look down. Can you now understand my disbelief when I saw the first picture?

We are moving into week 17 and all is well. I had some morning sickness in the beginning, but that has seemed to have disappeared as of about 2 weeks ago, but has been replaced by consistent but relatively minor headaches. It's true that pregnancies are often a different experience each time. With James I had some strong food aversions, but wasn't very sick and didn't get headaches. This time I don't really have any food aversions, but was fairly sick at the beginning and have headaches. It will be interesting to see how it progresses. Anyway, I am feeling great.

We will have our ultrasound near the end of November and, as of now, we are determined to find out the gender. We will be excited for either a boy or a girl. If it's a girl, she may not be as excited about her hand-me-down wardrobe. Bows and headbands can change any outfit, right?

Lessons for Mom by James

This morning Jordan set our computer up on the desk in our room and turned on the broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was singing before General Conference began. James excitedly ran into the room and sat himself on the chair in front of the computer to watch and listen to the "mumic" (music). He would not budge from the chair...not even to get dressed.

At one point, as he was listening, he said "Jesus." He has also said this as he's looked at a picture of the temple. I wonder what he feels at those moments. He seems to already have the capacity to recognize when the Holy Ghost is present and to know that the Holy Ghost testifies of Christ. I am grateful to have these opportunities to see how Heavenly Father cares for and teaches His children from the very beginning of our mortal lives. He loves us and, as our hearts are open, He will teach and guide us.

Last week I printed the pictures of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to help James become familiar with them before General Conference. James and I have been reviewing them since then. From the first time I showed it to him, he has been so very excited about the "apostles" (he can actually say that word quite well) and "Monun" (President Monson) the "protet" (prophet) and "Eyring" (President Eyring) and "Oops" (President Uchtdorf).

As we watched General Conference today, James would excitedly say "apostles...see" or in other words "lift me up to get a better look at the apostles" (our computer was sitting up out of his reach lest he become overzealous and knock it down). Elder Bednar was speaking when it was time for James to go down for a nap. As Jordan picked him up and took him out of the room, James began to cry and say "Benar, Benar" (Elder Bednar) while reaching out his hands. He seems to innately understand that these men are special and that we should be excited about seeing them and should listen to them. I can see why our Savior said, "Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4).