june, july, &some apple pie.

The 4th of July was spent at home lighting bottle rockets off the back porch, making a USA-shaped rice krispie treat, and watching a firework show while laying in bed and literally looking out our bedroom window. (Fireworks show compliments of Top Gun shooting range... it's the least they could do in return for us having to listen to their gun shots firing all the time!)

"My dad does the coolest stuff in the world..."

(See last 4th of July here)

The good old days! (When Jude could have rice)

And then Daddy had a birthday... We celebrate with our usual fare of getting as much free food as possible and hitting up the usual spots. Firehouse subs did us good and we of course stopped by Costco to pick up a delicious treat of Dan's choice.

"I'm HOW old?!"

The good old days (when Jude could have potatoes!!)

(See my very similar birthday post/picture here!)

Dan got a big ol' Costco cheesecake and as the rest of the family was dairy-free at the time... he got it all to himself!

And then Dan brought a turtle home that he found on the side of the road.... lovely, considering I have an abnormal and ridiculous turtle-phobia...

A little unsure about the whole thing...

And then we watched the Bachelorette and pretended like we were on the Bachelorette with a fancy dinner surrounded by pillows

And then we celebrated Father's Day! June is kind of a big month for Dan.

Love.

A couple days ago...

Jude was in the bath right before bed and Dan had to run out for a quick errand. Daddy said, "I love you son." And Jude replied... "Luh you!" 

It was his first time saying it... Such a precious moment! :)

This little face.

                       

This guy arose at 6:30 this morning and Dan brought him into bed with me. (Dan was already up studying). He immediately grabbed my face, one hand one each cheek, and gave me a big kiss with an enthusiastic "muah!" He laid next to me, on me, around me, and with me for the next thirty minutes and gave me, literally, at least 20 more kisses.

Heaven!

stalling...

There are clean dishes in the dishwasher, dirty dishes in the sink, and dinner still on the table... blogging just seems like a better idea right now!

I am looking at my newly framed photos in our "dining room" that I just hung. They are pretty cute. The $1.99 old school wooden frames from Goodwill could use a little paint, but for another day. Today, they are up on the wall and my vision became a reality and that makes me very happy! I always have lots of ideas and it sometimes seems impossible to put them into action, but my parents are coming to visit on Saturday and I want it to look nice... so I have to just do it! I wonder if I hung them too high...

Jude is my little companion. He goes with me on all my errands and has been so well-behaved and patient with me and our crazy adventures. Like how on Saturday I thought I could just "stop by" a few garage sales and find a dresser... we drove for hours and found no dresser. Jude was getting so frustrated after a while. But we saw some cowboys on horses promoting a restaurant on the side of the rode and stopped by and said hi. That redeemed me a little bit! But when we got home and I tried to have him tell Daddy what animal he saw, he kept denying it. Like, hard core would not admit that he saw horses. I think he was mad at me.

D: Jude did you see horses today?

J: Shakes his head no

(This happened several times)

R: We did see horses! There were three on the side of the rode with cowboys and lassos and everything!

D: Jude, did you see a horse?

J: Shakes his head no

D: Is Mommy fibbing about the horses?

J: NODS!!!

He was being a little stinker. Over and over he would deny it whether it was a yes or no question, he stayed consistent that he did not see horses. Oh well, I knew I should have taken a picture! Instead, we found a vintage metal box, an antler, and a vintage clipboard. All projects in the works... Our house is finally furnished. Dresser, nightstands, and TV stand from Craigslist and a desk from Goodwill. We are in business! I would like to get a dresser for Jude someday. Someday...

Last Sunday Jude had his first day in nursery without Mommy or Daddy there!! We have never been able to leave him first of all because he cries hysterically and second of all because we always have to watch him so closely with snack time. Last Sunday was Dan's turn to go in during Sunday School. A member of the Bishopric called me out to meet with me so we went to go get Dan. Luckily Jude didn't see me come to the door and motion for Dan. Dan snuck out. Jude watched him leave as he sat in his little chair with his apples and bananas in front of him. Off we went. Fifteen minutes later we walked back to nursery. It was now play time... He was sitting on another mom's lap with a pouty look on his face.... but fine!!!!! She thumbs up'ed up, Dan and I double high-fived each other and pranced off to Relief Society and Priesthood feeling like

a million bucks.

That was an unexpected victory that just put me on top of the moon! And he did fine the rest of the time!! Life is good. 

He has been eating really well. We found out tonight that he's allergic to lentils. Who needs 'em anyways? Not us. Add that to the list! He drinks his Neocate like nobody's business. That tropical flavor is his security blanket. He probably drinks 12-16 oz a day. He cuddles with us to fall asleep and then sleeps 11-12 hours a night and takes a 2-3 hour nap in the day time. It is divine!

Dan is really enjoying Optometry School. He is a trooper. He is studying hard and enjoying it. He puts in long hours but still makes time for us! Whenever Jude hears a noise outside he perks up and his little mouth quickly goes into a little "O" and he yells... "DA-EE!!!!!" He is so fun. So cute. So full of life and energy. So curious. Such an explorer. Such a lover. Such a mama's boy. Just pretty much perfect. He knows he can't eat everything. It's interesting to see how he is cautious about things and he really listens to me. If I react to something he's eating if I think he can't have it and then later find out he can, he still won't eat it because he remembers how I reacted. Today he pulled a leaf of cilantro out of the drawer of the fridge, stuck in his mouth as I watched, just stared at me as if waiting for me to tell him if it was okay or not, then opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue to show me, just to make sure I had seen what he'd eaten. Then I nodded and told him it was okay and he happily finished it. It's amazing how he picks up on things that I don't realize he is aware of.

On his way to volunteer at a free vision screening

The pregnancy is sailing by smoothly. My old friend, Acid Reflux, has ever so kindly came back into my life. And so have the Tums! I grunt while going up the stairs and bending over and am way too out of breath from any activity at all... but that's about it. I'm feeling well!

19 weeks with my little buddy

Well, I think those are all the updates we need for now. 

We are blessed and grateful for life!

The James family in Mauiii!

I am soo behind on my blog, I've been avoiding it. And then I just get more and more behind... It's a vicious cycle. That I'm stopping now! So much has been going on with trips and family and JUDE. There's a lot to be updated! I'll start with our James Family Trip to Maui! We were there for a week in May.

Our flight out was almost twenty hours of travel time. Here to LAX, LAX to Maui. It was a long journey! Jude would only sleep while nursing, in my lap. My back was very unthankful by the end of the trip! We managed to have a little fun, too. We arrived in Maui late at night before the rest of the family had arrived. We got settled in to the most beautiful home on the beach that belongs to some friends of my parents and especially enjoyed lying horizontal that night!

I call this "Exhausted Desperation for Entertainment"

Why is it that the only video I have is on the plane?! I would have 

much rather had one of Jude playing happily in the sand!

And then this finally happened and were verrry grateful.

We had arrived after the sun went down so it was a delightful surprise to wake up to a breathtaking view of the Maui coastline. We thought we might have died and gone to heaven! The first day was Mother's Day. What a wonderful way to spend the day! Dan got up with Jude and I enjoyed sleeping in. (best gift I could ever receive!) I woke up to an adorable little note from Dan and Jude and a beautiful red hibiscus. We stopped by a whole foods type store to get some food for the little guy on our way to pick the rest of the crew up from the airport. We told them Jude and I weren't coming so when they opened the trunk of the car and found us there... let's just say it was a pretty good reaction. Their joy of seeing Jude was just more than they could take! We spent the day getting settled and had a lovely little Mother's Day program that night. We exchanged gifts and then each of us shared what we loved about Mom. It was honestly one of the most special moments. Everyone's thoughts were so heartfelt and sincere. I don't think there is anything greater for my mom than to hear sweet words of love expressed from those she loves the most in this life! We are truly blessed to have a close-knit family who loves and watches out for each other. Dan shared his gratitude for me as the mother of our home and Jared and Kris even surprised me with a super cute green headband that, of course, Krissy made! I love it!!! Mom then surprised us with these adorable big purses full of fun things for our trip (sunscreen, swimsuits, magazines, snacks, clothes). It was a perfect night. :)

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It's been almost two months since I wrote the above recap, and time is getting any more free, so I'm going to have to make it more brief from here on out! We will just enjoy the pictures and not worry if they're not in chronological order! :)

Instead of going through each day, I'm just going to share my favorite memory with each person.

My favorite memory with....

My sweet daddy: Thanks to Krissy (and Jared) being sooo selfless to watch Jude for us so we could bike down Haleakala, Dan, Daddy, and I went on the twenty-three mile bike ride! Mom was sweet enough to drive along side us (and by sweet I mean aggressive enough to not care if she stopped 10 cars of traffic to protect her little girl on her bike!! ;)) Back to the subject.... My favorite memory with my sweet papa was biking down this incredible mountain. We started off at the top, 10,000 feet high and literally IN THE CLOUDS (cross that one of my bucket list) and freezing and rode our way down that incredible mountain together. We went through little farming villages, picturesque little towns, and five different climate zones until we reached the bottom. My dad was always by my side, making sure I was okay and being my tour guide. (I took this ride when I was 8 and took a nasty fall, got a big red strawberry abrasion on my tummy, and had to drive in the car the rest of the way down). I also loved sitting at the dinner table outside and hearing all my dad's amazing stories. :)

Dan was a speed demon!

This is how we found Jude when we got home...

My lovely mama: We went to Honolua Bay to snorkel and my mom and I went out to ride the waves. It was just so perfect out there. We were just laughing and being silly. We would ride over the waves and dive under. Some big huge sea turtles even came up closet to us!! We were just talking and loving it. It was definitely one of my favorite memories!

Grammy and Papa didn't mind having Jude duty while relaxing on the beach. :)

My beautiful sister: One day we went into the swimming pool where we were staying and just swam around for what felt like hours. We were out there with Jude and others would come and go but we were out there together for a long time just swimming and lounging in the water and talking. We had great talks and it was just so fun to be together. :)

My hard-working brother: I think the was on the second to last day and we went down to a nearby beach to ride the waves one evening. We coaxed Jared to join us and once he did we had the time of our lives. Mom and Dad were on the beach with Jude and we were just having the best time swimming and riding the waves, on boogie boards and just body boarding. Jared and I were just hanging out together and laughing and being silly and it was just the greatest. :)

My handsome husband: My favorite day was when we went to Honolua Bay to snorkel. We saw tons of HUGE sea turtles, I'm talking, like _____ feet long. They were breathtaking. They would swim up right by us and swim together. They even let us touch them. It was magical. It was absolutely incredible! Dan and I were sticking together and we swam all the way out into a cove. We found a little rocky beach to take a break and laid out of the rocks together and enjoyed the sun. Jude was on the beach taking a nap and we didn't have a care in the world. I remember feeling like we were on our honeymoon again as we laid there on those rocks. We would swim hand-in-hand as we snorkeled exploring and finding the sea turtles. This was one of the most unforgettable things I've ever done. :)

My incredible little child: One night we snuck into the pool at the Grand Wailea (the nicest hotel in Maui with the most INCREDIBLE pool!) We had so much fun I was just aching to go back. One night Jude and I took off, just us two, and we casually snuck into the pool again. He and I swam through all the way around the pools, through the passageways, in and out of the different pools, and were in our own little heaven. I absolutely loved just being with Jude and having our own little secret and snickering together and we swam around in that perfect water, wristband free.

Jude LOVED the shower. It was hilarious.

The boys went scuba diving at Five Caves Five Graves. The dosage instructions had wiped off the Dramamine and Dan took twice the recommended dosage.. He was completely snowed for the rest of the day!

Classic Dad.

Jude loved nothing more than driving the golf cart.

We ate at a really yummy rwstaurant on our last night. Yummm! :)

The 27 hour journey home. I'd say he earned his wings...

He slept on the ground where our feet would go for FOUR hours!!! It was miraculous.

We finally made it to the Charlotte, SC airport only to find that our luggage had been lost and our stroller had been broken. Oh well! Well worth the trip!!! :)