Cullimore Family Expedition

Here is our happy traveler on the road to...

No...not Happy...but we did have to stop to get a picture.
What a great name for a city.

Here is the city of Happy. A nice quaint, unpretentious town.
Life lesson: Happiness is in simplicity and gratitude for what you do have.

Actual Cullimore Family Expedition location: Palo Duro Canyon.

As you can see it has a sort of southern Utah feel to it.
Jordan read that it is the second largest canyon in the U.S. or at least in the running for second. It took 15-20 minutes to drive the loop through the canyon. It's pretty small. But, it was a canyon with ups and downs, vegetation, and creeks. Variety we don't see much of around Lubbock.

We found a nice little area in the canyon to have a picnic and hike around. James was in awe at the openness. He LOVES running around outside.

Jordan's reaction to our visit.
Can you feel the excitement?

James found some nice flora to appreciate.

He really enjoyed swinging on the picnic table bench.

It was a happy place.

James was momentarily rooted to this spot.
Daddy showed him the water that came out of the spout in the wooden pole. It was so neat, he didn't want to go anywhere else.

Once we convinced him that there was more to see than water spouts, he quite enjoyed collecting rocks along our hike. Daddy made him a nice walking stick. He enjoyed poking the ground with it. In fact, he enjoyed poking so vigorously that Daddy had to make him a new walking stick, which he also enjoyed.

And what do you do with all the rocks you collect when out in a nice wide open space?

Throw them, of course!
This is a look of sheer satisfaction after a nice throw.

Now our little trip wasn't all fun and games...

There was a moment or two of terror.

Whatever could be the cause of such concern and dismay?

Let us show you...

Cacti!

Here I am trying to convince James that a cactus cannot harm you just by being close to you. Earlier, Jordan had shown James how you can touch a cactus if you are careful. Then he proceeded to suggest that James try. Well, toddler hands are not quite so agile. He got pricked. From that moment on, if a cactus came into view, he would freeze on the spot and cry for "Mommy." He would only stop crying once he was safely in my arms. We spent some time helping him to see the beauty of the cactus. He was partially convinced by the time we left.

Our attempt at a family picture...
It was a fun trip.
Thanks Daddy!

Football is Fun

Frequent phrases used by James while playing football:
"Touchdown!"
"Go BYU!"
"Tackle 'im!"
"Catch it!"
"Throw it!"
"Runnin'...runnin'"

Pregnancy Progression: Week 32ish

As you can see from the above picture, I am feeling well. This pregnancy has gone by incredibly fast. We had an ultrasound today. I am 32 weeks today; Baby Sister is measuring 31 weeks. She is in the 46th percentile for size. I have been measuring on the small side of normal for this pregnancy, but my doctor is not concerned since she is growing well. He is planning on doing another ultrasound in a couple of weeks. Pregnancy notes: For the past couple of months, I have had to be quite particular about moving when I first wake up or I will get some major charlie-horses in my calves. Maybe I need to drink more water, eat more bananas, ...?

Baby Sister is quite a mover. During our Christmas vacation, I learned that she is a fan of classical music, particularly of the Nutcracker. She began dancing about as soon as the music began, stopped during intermission, and then promptly began dancing about again when the play/music resumed.

James seems to be aware that indeed a baby sister is coming. He points to the ultrasound pictures on the fridge and says "baby sister" "heartbeat" "pah-pum-pah-pum." He likes to "cuddle sister," which means I have to sit down so that he can lay his head on my belly.

A more traditional, non-blurry picture for posterity.

Pregnancy Progression: Week 25

Here's the progress. I took my glucose test for gestational diabetes today and I am diabetes-FREE. Yay! All is well. Baby Girl is moving a lot, a lot. She is a very active little one. She doesn't seem to like it when I cross my legs. That seems to get her kicking anytime I happen to do it. James seems to know that we have a baby sister coming. He will tell you that "Baby Sister" is in my "belly." We recently checked out a book from the library titled "Hello Baby!" about a baby sister who is born to a family with a little boy. I think it really helped him to understand.

Mom, Mom...love oo.

Today, I was doing the dishes and I heard "Mom, Mom," and then James came around the corner, looked up at me, and said, "love oo" (love you). It was so sweet. I think it made my life.

Here's a fun video of James "dancin'" to a musical Christmas card. He has just gotten into dancing. He loves to dance (especially to Christmas music). He also enjoys ballroom dancing with me (not that I really know how to ballroom dance). I pick him up and he puts one arm around me and the other in my hand and we dance. It's cute. He's so much fun.

Just Plain Cute

Just plain cute.
You can't see it, but James had some string cheese that he was calling a "bunny." He had apparently bit into the middle leaving two thin strips on each side (bunny ears of course).

James loves hats.
This particular morning, as soon as his "p-days" (p.j's...i.e. pajamas) were removed, he requested his green "hat." He managed to put it on all by himself. He couldn't really see well, since it was covering one eye, but he happily walked around the apartment with his chin up so he could get a view with both eyes.

Cute messy face.
James is now a completely independent eater. He even eats soup all by himself. It's been a couple of months now, but when we started letting him have complete reign, he would excitedly say "Self! Self!" when we would bring him his food. He loves the independence. He caught on really quickly. His face gets messy (of course it also did when I fed him though), but he doesn't spill much. He still resorts to fingers at times, especially when it's down the the last morsels. Recently, he decided it's also appropriate to try to drink your food. So, we've gotten a little more messy lately. He has also decided that it is nice to occasionally dip your fingers into pureed-type food and suck it off of your fingers. Hopefully, he'll realize that it was so much nicer to have clean hands and a relatively clean face. I've found that a quick way to get him to choose appropriate table manners is to say, "Do you need Mommy to help you?" He'll typically quickly say, "No, no" and pick up his utensils.

James in Mama's apron. He loves all that is associated with "cookeen" (cooking). Notice the spoon next to him on the desk (however, please don't notice the clothes on the back of the chair or the stack of books on the desk...don't worry, they aren't there anymore...not that you've noticed them).

Pudding is delicious to eat and fun to squish!
James pretty much loves anything "choc-o-late."

James is regularly found carrying around a cooking utensil of some sort: "pan", "whisk", "poon" (spoon), "salapa" or "sapala" or "spatulapa" (spatula). If you ask him what he is making he will usually tell you he's making "soup" with "chicken" and/or "cinnmin" (cinnamon). He really has a thing for "cinnmin" right now. It's really fun to watch him make things in his pan. He will get a measuring cup and pour some imaginary substance in and then he'll put it "way" (away) and get a measuring spoon and pour another imaginary substance in and put it "way" before getting more. Then he'll mix it. If you ask what he's doing, he'll tell you he's "mixikin."

Jordan and I absolutely love this face.
James and I were making no-bake cookies and he had made a nice little mess on the table and on himself while he was "mixikin" it. So, I was taking pictures of his sugary self and he wanted to see "James" on the camera. I think this is some sort of look of dismay at not being shown "piturs" (pictures) of "James" immediately upon request. And don't worry, that's only a butter knife he's holding and I had my eye on him at all times. :)

This is a "cheese" now let me see "James" picture.

James has always loved shoes. I found him trying on Daddy's shoes the other day. A couple of weeks ago, I found him chewing on a shoe. Honestly, I thought we were over the whole sticking random objects in our mouth thing. Today it was a piece of asphalt that he'd picked up on our walk. He rarely does this, but every now and then, some things apparently look too intriguing not to taste. We were informed that, in Nursery on Sunday, he stuck a bubble wand straight into his mouth. He was gagging and seemed to be having trouble breathing (probably because he was breathing in nasty-tasting soapiness), so he was given some water, which washed it down and he went on his merry way. Two days later, he is still saying, "Bubbles...yucky." Yet, he still tasted the asphalt today. It must have looked quite good.

"Cheese."
I asked him to smile for the camera, so he leaned forward and said "cheese."

Pregnancy Progression: Week 20

Jordan decided to be artistic in his photographic documentation of week 20. Who knew that slanting the camera just so could have such inspiring results?

A Little Announcement...

One of my sweet friends made us this adorable and delicious cake to celebrate the news.

As you can see, my belly has expanded enough to at least fit something the size of this cake.

Our baby girl is moving a lot. She looked perfect in her ultrasound. She's right on track in her growth for my current stage of pregnancy. We're excited!! If anyone has any cute girl names they would like to share, we'd be much obliged to hear them.