Women...

I had the unfortunate opportunity to attend the funral of the mom of one of my closest friends this past Thursday. As funerals usually do, it got me to thinking. I didn't htink of what I wanted said at my funeral, or wonder who would be there. Instead, I wondered about the woman that lay before us and the extraordinary life she lead. She wasn't rich, famous or a great adventurer, but she was an amazing woman. She was one of the best examples of faith, love, motherhood, friendship, charity, service, hard work, laughter and joy that I have known. Not only was she an example of these things, but she raised her daughter (and seven other children) to be as well. Since I met her daughter back in high school, both women have been a source of comfort, strength and inspiration to me. I, along with countless others, was always welcomed into their home and treated with an abundance of kindness. I have shared laughter and tears with both mother and daughter throughout the years. This great woman raised a daughter whose faith and testimony have helped restore my own, who has loved me unconditionally, helped me through the darkest times of my life and celebrated the happiest times with me. As I sat listening to the service for this great lady, my thoughts turned to the many women I have been blessed to look to in my life. I have an amaing mother. She is one of my best friends. I know I can tell her anything and she will still love me. She has dropped everything, driven through the night and spent money she didn't really have to spend to be by my side when I needed her. She is such an example to me of what a mother ought to be. I have been SO blessed to have such amazing friends. When my life was flipped upsidedown, they were there for me. I know I can always turn to them and look to them for an example. I have great sisters and a fantastic, close-knit extended family. How lucky I am to be a part of such a great family. How blessed. I am so greatful to all of these great women and I pray that I can be worthy to stand among them. I can only hope to offer them a small portion of what they have given to me. To all of you, thank you. Its not enough, but on paper (or screen!) I can give no more.

Where did November go?

Apparently, I lost a month somewhere. Has anyone seen November anywhere? It must be lost because I don't remember it coming or going really! Life around the Gilbert house has been crazy busy over the last while. So many things have happened, here are a few of the most noteable...

1. We bought a car. I love it!! I don't love the payments, but its going to help our credit so we're not having to pay a zillion dollars in interest on our house! Yippee!

2. James found out he has to get lasik surgery. Of course, he found this out AFTER we drained our savings for the aforementioned car. Oh well. He'll be getting the surgery in the early part of next year.

3. I quit my job at the school to stay home full time and get my clothing line up and running. I'll keep you posted as it develops, but keep your eyes out for my new maternity line debuting early next year!!

4. I have taken on a million different sewing jobs. Its amazing, really. I had ads up forever about my custom sewing and alteration business, hoping I wouldn't have to go back to work. No results, so back to work I went. Then, I decide to do the clothing line full time, and suddenly I'm swamped with orders and alterations! Its a good thing I love to sew!

5. I have been called as a primary teacher. We'll see how long it lasts. Last time, I taught two lessons and then they changed me to pianist. I don't know what age or anything I'll be teaching b/c I don't actually start until January.

6. TJ... well, what can I say, he keeps me busy, but he also keeps me smiling. Yesterday, he almost made me pee my pants I was laughing so hard. He started walking around the furniture 5 or 6 weeks ago and now he thinks hes ready to try it on his own. (He's not!) He was holding on to one of the tables, turned around, leaned on the table, looked up at me, smiled and launched himself forward! He flopped right on his face. At first, he looked startled. Then, he looked up at me and went into hysteric fits of giggling!! It was the cutest thing I've ever seen!

This was at Trevor and Cheri's place. TJ LOVED the singing snowman!!

7. Ok, I saved the best for last!!! Things are FINALLY finished with cancelling my temple sealing and our little family is going to be sealed on December 22!!!!!!!!!! If you could see me right now, you would see smiles like crazy!! It has taken almost three years, but it is finally here!! Hip hip HOORAY!!!

Ok, now I'm off to continue preparing for the festivities at hand! (Man I am a nerd!!) I will talk to you all much sooner than last time!!

Quick Update

Well, here is a quick update on our life. James is home this week, so we are busy busy. But, its great because I love having him here. TJ is doing great and growing like a weed. He got his two front bottom teeth in the past week, so it has been a very cranky week. James and I just bought a new car. We are going to Calgary to pick it up on Saturday, so I will have pictures soon. Sadly, Damien has had to leave us. He became overly protective of me and wouldn't let James anywhere near me. So, we had to call his previous owner to come and pick him up. I gave my two weeks notice yesterday. I loved my job, but was just too stressed out. I really feel like I should stay home and be with TJ and get my sewing business going. It is going well, I've been hired to work on a few major jobs and have some designing stuff in the works. I'm not going to go into too much detail about that now though, because I don't have a lot of detail!! I'm still working on figuring out how to turn the pictures from Rhonda into jpgs, so if any one has any advice, please feel free to pass it on!! Well, gotta run, TJ is keeping me busy!!!

Happy Halloween!

So, TJ's first halloween was a hit! He even trick-or-treated a little bit. Ok, only at Great-grandma Whitehead's and Aunt Annette's, but he was cute and happy all the same. My little munchkin had a growth spurt over the past few days, though, because when I tried his costume on two days before Halloween, it fit. Yesterday, his legs couldn't stretch out! The little stinker! I had originally planned to make myself a monkey costume, but time ran out! Oh well, my little banana was cute all on his own!!

HELP!!

Ok, so I've been trying do upload my family photos for EVER now and it is not working. Apparently, its just with the family pics I got from Rhonda, because as you can see, I can post other pics! Did I do something wrong when I loaded them? I just put the disc in and saved them. Thats all I ever do, really! It just sits there in the "your images are being uploaded to blogger" window FOREVER!!! Either that or it says the webpage is unavailable. PLEASE, if any of you smart people can give me suggestions that would be fantastic. Please bear in mind that I know almost nothing about computers, so keep it simple!! Thanks a million!!

Well, on to pictures I am able to post, this our newest member of the family! His name is Damien (not the name that I would have chosen), and he is super cute!! He is big, but oh so gentle! He is great with babies and other pets and LOVES to be petted! He is microchipped, tattooed and could be registered if we wanted to pay the money (we're not going to). He is an American Staffordshire Terrier and I LOVE him!! The best part was that he was free!! He belonged to a family in Calgary who had him for the first three years of his life, but they decided he needed room to roam, so they offered him to a home that would give him the love he deserved. Those of you who know my hubby know how much he loves animals, so I was going to buy him a puppy for Christmas. Then we found the ad about Damien and I saved $800. I couldn't be happier. Ok, well, maybe if Damien was half his size I could be happier, but you can't have everything!!

We had a few momentus occasions this past weekend. On Saturday, the thirteenth, my Dad turned 50 and TJ turned 6 months! Dad didn't want to do too much, so we are going to go to Missoula next Sat. to take him to Craker Barrel, his all time favorite restraunt. Other than that, not much was done for his b-day. Here is TJ's six month pic! I love it!!!!!

And here are few other recent pics I love...

All smiles while we waited for Grandma at the Dr.

Movie night with Mommy...After climbing in the laundry hamper, (aka. the new playpen (j/k))...After climbing in the bag at Auntie Manda's feet...And, crawlaking, which is a word meaning crawling on you hand and feet, rather than knees. He was on both feet until I turned the camera on, then he turned to see what I was doing.

Happy Turkey Day

Holly macaroni, its been forever since I wrote!! Crazy how time flies. I can't say I have a good excuse, but I have been busy. In the past few weeks, TJ and I have both battled the flu (I think we are now winning the battle!!), I started a new job as an EA in the elementary school, we are working on renos at mom and dad's, I've done a lot of scrapbooking, we've made two offers on the same house (both fell through), I've looked at about a half a dozen houses, we've decided now is not the time to buy a house (furrowed brow...) and we've just been generally busy. Oh, and TJ has perfected the scoot, so I have no time to sit.


Hmmm, looking at it in that little paragraph, it doesn't look like I've done that much. Oh well, it felt like I was really busy!! I think its the whole being back to work thing. I'm really not that crazy about work, but I'm sure it will get better. I really like the kid I work with. He has severe autism and hes not verbal, but he knows what he wants! I work with him Monday thru Thursday mornings and we go swimming two of those four days, which is totally fun! Then, on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, myself and another girl are in charge of a play therapy group. We just started planning last week, but it sounds like it should be fun.





Ok, so I've done some scrapping and have some really cool layouts that I'd love to post, but I'm not sure how, so if any of you know how, let me know! I'm SO not technically adept. Fortunately, I do know how to post pictures!! I got the pictures from Rhonda and they are FABULOUS!!! Don't worry, I won't post all 80+ of them, but here are a few of my favs!

Ok, so the computer hates me. I'll try again later to post some pics. In the mean time, here are my top five things I'm thankful for today...

1. Family - James, TJ, Mom, Dad, the whole group. I love them so much and they love me. I know that no matter what, they will aways be there for me.

2. My Heavenly Father and my Savior - What can I say other than I would not be without them.

3. Friends - I have the best friends in the world. In most cases, my friends are just as close or closer than my family.

4. The Ability to Learn New Things - I love to learn and love that I live where I can learn whatever I want and wherever I want!

5. The Temple - The peace and insight that the temple offers is unable to be matched anywhere else and I love it.

Ok, I could come up with a ton more, but TJ is crying and needs his mommy, which is one more thing I'm thankful for.

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home?...

Ok, let me start out by saying I love my husband and I love when he is home. However, the week he is home is the busiest and most frustrating week of my month. Not only are we running around trying to get a billion different appointments, we are trying to see all the people we can see and maybe squeeze in some time just for us. Add to that the fact that the "new daddy" has really only had under two months of parenting experience, I can get quite frustrated. I usually end up saying at least one or two things I later regret and have to apologize for and I'm generally grumpy for an entire day for no particular reason. I cannot wait until the next two years are finished. I mean, I can, but really I can't. I just have to keep reminding myself of what we will accomplish in the next two years. Unfortunately, I'm not the most patient person in the world. Sigh. Oh well, what can you do.

We do have fun when James is home, though. TJ loves his daddy. In fact, when James is home, TJ usually cries when daddy leaves the room. James is really great with TJ, even if he is afraid to put diaper cream on him because it would mean having to touch his bum. Really, for how much of a tough guy my hubby pretends to be, hes quite a wimp. Its quite hilarious to watch, actually! Here are a couple pics of TJ and Daddy from this past week when James was home.

TJ LOVES Daddy's hats. He plays peek-a-boo with them all the time.

They also take naps together quite frequently!

I decided that before James got home this past week, I wanted to repaint the family room and get the new floor down. Unfortunately, TJ was not let in on the plan and he decided to be EXTREMELY cranky and a giant mama's boy for the days I had planned on workings. Consequetly, not everything got done, but it will this weekend. Here are a few "working" pics. I'll post some finished product shots when we're done.

I don't always mud and tape in my good clothes, I was just touching up a few spots before we went out for the night!Jessica and Amanda "helping". Ok, they actually were pretty helpful. We were up painting until 4 am. We also had my Aunt Cheryl's 40th birthday party on the 8th. Here are a few of my favorite pics. For more, you can check out our family blog, http://www.bpwhitehead.blogspot.com/.

Grandma Whitehead and TJ, her first (and only so far) great-grandson.

The birthday cake, compliments of yours truly. (Insert blatant publicity plug. I do birthdays, weddings, you name it!)And, some fun with balloons. Hey, at 1:30am, there's just no telling what people will do with a balloon!

Family Pictures

Hey everyone. Last time James was home, we had Rhonda take some pictures of us and they look GREAT! I've only seen the ones on her site so far, but I'm super excited to see the others next week!! Check them out on her blog at http://www.rsteedphotography.blogspot.com.

As Promised...

Here are some pics as promised. Enjoy!!

TJ loves to get up close and personal with the camera, so I end up with a lot of pictures like this.

About a month ago, he decided he didn't need to use a bottle any more. Hes a big boy now. So, any time anyone near him is using a cup, he grabs it. We have to be VERY careful! He's surprisingly quick.

Here are a couple of my favs from camping.

Playing cards...

In mommy's favorite hat...

And in Grandpa's skull cap from Puerto Vallerta.

At Grandpa Gilbert's 75th birthday in July, he discovered he LOVES the grass.

On August 11, James' brother Trevor got married, so these are some pics from the wedding.

Our little family. Oh, on a side note, all of our paperwork is FINALLY in Salt Lake. After several amendments to letters b/c of things changing over the past 2 years and some additional information being requested, it looks like they've got all they need. So, now its just a matter of playing the waiting game. Keep your fingers crossed and keep us in your prayers and hopefully soon we, too, will be an eternal family!!

And my boys! Aren't they handsome. Ok, well, James looks much better when hes not making faces, but the suit helps!

On the first, we discovered what TJ really thinks of parades...

And fireworks.

We also went to the Stampede in July, where TJ got his first cowboy hat! I'm not really a country girl, but it was so cute, I couldn't resist. Its kind of gigantic on him, but it should fit really well next year.

He also got a lot of looks because hes so darn cute. In fact, my cousin volunteered to take him for the day because he was such a "chick magnet." I didn't go for it. (I wish I could figure out how to rotate these darn things. Stupid me not knowing squat about computers.)

Well, by now, you should all have your fill of TJ pictures. That pretty much sums up the majority of our summer. We also went to Moose Jaw for a few days while James was home after the wedding, but didn't really get any great pictures there. They almost all involved me in a swimsuit and thats just not something I'm willing to publish on the web! Its been a great summer and now that school is back in, maybe we'll actually get something done around the house. Here's hopin!

Going Backwards

Ok, so I thought that babies were supposed to sleep better as they got older. So why is it that my 4 1/2 month old, who has slept through the night since he was 5 weeks old and has had a very definite nap schedule, has barely slept a wink in the past week. Consequently, I'm sitting here at 4:30 in the morning waiting to see if he'll actually stay asleep this time for longer than 20 minutes. Needless to say, I'm very frustrated and less than perky. I knew the whole "best behaved baby ever" thing was too good to be true. My good little boy who used to only cry minimally when he was hungry is now crying what I have affectionately dubbed "the scream that never ends." He is so tired that he just can't be happy for longer than 15 minutes. Argh. I have no clue what has happened. I have checked for teeth (nothing), constipation (nothing), fever (nothing), uncomfortable clothes (nothing). I am considering taking him to the doctor, but for all intents and purposes he seems to be a healthy baby and I don't want to be one of those moms who runs to the doc every time her kid has a runny nose! Ok, well enough of that. In this state of mind, I'm liable to say something that may not be entirely true. I haven't posted some pics in quite a while and have had several requests to do so. So, here goes, lets all keep our fingers crossed that my computer co-operates.

He loves these keys. Actually, he loves anything he can put in his mouth!

His four month pic.

The reason I'm happy even when its 4:30 in the morning and he's screaming.

He took this pickle right out of Mom's hand the other day and chewed on it forever! He became VERY irate when I took it away.

Ok, well its just after 5 now so I think I'm safe. I'll post some more pics later today when its not so taxing on my brain!! Sleep, here I come!

101 Random Things About Me

Ok, so I've seen these around and I thought, TJ is sleeping, I've done nothing but clean all day and I'm ready to sit down. So, you can all have your fill of information about me. I mean, really, who wouldn't want to know 101 random things about me!

1. My name is actually Patricia.
2. I don't feel like a Patricia.
3. I love fruit. Anything but bannanas. (Is that how you spell bannana? I'm having a brain fart.)
4. I loved English class and seriously considered being an English major.
5. Instead I majored in costume and makeup design for theatre and film.
6. I loved every minute of it, from the 6 am rehearsals to the all night sew-a-thons!
7. I worked on the set of Touched by an Angel for a semester while I was in school. Most days, I wish I had that job again.
8. I love yoga. I do it every day, or at least try to.
9. I am a skinny person trapped in a fat person's body.
10. I played soccer growing all through university and I loved it. I really miss it.
11. I don't see the point in "going for a run". I would way rather to go the gym or an aerobics class or something.
12. I love swimming.
13. I HATE wearing a swimsuit.
14. I would shop all day every day if I could.
15. One of my dreams is to go to New York or Paris with ten thousand dollars and SHOP!!
16. I love fashion.
17. I wish I was more fashionable.
18. I still wonder if naming TJ TJ is cheesy.
19. I plan on probably living in Raymond for the majority of the rest of my life, but I don't want to.
20. I would love to live in a big city like Calgary.
21. I would hate to raise my family in the big city.
22. I knew James by two different names when I first met him.
23. When I met James, I liked his roomate WAY more than him.
24. I really miss taking voice lessons.
25. I've taught piano lessons since high school, but I'd rather teach voice.
26. I love to dance. I would take a dance class all the time if I could.
27. I'm the world's biggest klutz.
28. I still wake up at night to check if TJ is ok.
29. I am constantly worried about whether or not I will be able to raise my kids to be the kind of people I would like them to be.
30. I LOVE to organize.
31. My house is not nearly as organized as I would like it to be. I don't know that it ever will be.
32. I love to scrapbook.
33. I am a nerd. And I embrace that.
34. I love to read.
35. I read the seventh book of Harry Potter in 2 days.
36. When Harry Potter first came out (the first movie) I wanted nothing to do with it. I was NOT going to follow the fad. So, my roomate paid for me and my date so that I would go. I was hooked.
37. I really enjoy documentary films.
38. I also really enjoy foreign films.
39. I have just under one of university left until I get my degree.
40. I'm most likely not going to get my degree because I'd have to go to BYU.
41. I am a neat freak.
42. My house doesn't look like I'm a neat freak.
43. I would rather watch a movie that most tv shows.
44. I love to cook, but hardly ever do.
45. I really enjoyed high school because of the friends that I have.
46. I don't have a ton of friends, but the friends that I do have are the best that anyone could ever ask for.
47. I frequently feel like a bad person because I let my life get in the way of keeping in contact with people.
48. I am a perfectionist.
49. My perectionism drives my family crazy.
50. My clothes are color coded.
51. I regret that I didn't tell any of my friends from university why I left. I didn't really say goodbye.
52. I miss the theatre more than anything in my life.
53. I can't stand annoying people. By annoying, I mean people that make loud noises when they chew, people who don't pay attention to what is going on around them, and a few other things.
54. I think professional athletes and professional entertainers (actors, musicians, ect.) are grossly overpaid.
55. I frequently feel like the things I desire conflict with one another.
56. I am a night owl, but also a morning person.
57. Clarification - by morning person, I mean that once I love how much energy I have when I get up early. I get way more done and have more energy all day. However, I have a difficult time getting out of bed in the morning.
58. I can do fantastic hair and makeup on anybody but myself.
59. I buy outfits because I love how they look, but then feel extremely selfconscious when I'm wearing them.
60. I LOVE shoes. I have more than 20 pairs now, but when I was at university I had over 75, not including flip flops.
61. I am super excited that James has decided to be a vet. I know he'll do great.
62. I think that everyone around me has more faith in me than I do.
63. I love the mountains. I love being surrounded by trees.
64. I hate the prairies. I hate wide open spaces.
65. I've decided that I love cities because I get that "surrounded" feeling that I get in the mountains.
66. I think feet are gross but love having my toenails painted.
67. The last time my toenails weren't painted was when I was prego and that was only at the end of the pregnancy because I couldn't bend over. However, I had Amanda paint them for me.
68. I love to have parites.
69. I have almost as many gay friends as straight. Hazard of being in the theatre.
70. I have a terrible fear of bugs, mice, lizards, anything creepy and crawly. I am petrified of when TJ gets older.
71. I have never been able to tell when someone was flirting with me.
72. I love going dancing.
73. James hates it. (dancing)
74. If I could change one thing about my body, it would be my thighs.
75. I'm not sure if there are 26 more things about me that I could say.
76. I'm not as goody two shoes as people think I am.
77. I wish I hadn't gotten my tattoo.
78. I ususally forget I have a tattoo because I can't see it.
79. I miss my annual Christmas get together. I can't wait to get a house of my own that I can have parties in again.
80. I love music. Singing, playing, listening, I love it all.
81. I took saxaphone lessons while I was at university.
82. My favorite kind of music is jazz. Or maybe show tunes. Hmm, tough choice.
83. I love ice cream. Except vanilla. Unless its breyer's natural vanilla.
84. My heart breaks when TJ cries.
85. I wish that I had more financial stability to offer my family.
86. I really enjoy going to art museums.
87. I love watching football. Live is best, but tv is ok.
88. I also enjoy watching hockey and live baseball. Just don't let James know I like it.
89. I think James looks super hot in his umping gear.
90. I love wearing skirts. and heels.
91. I feel kind of schizophrenic sometimes. I am a small town-big city-housewife-careerwoman-...well, you get the idea.
92. Working at Once Upon A Bride was the best non-theatre related job I've ever had.
93. After the first two weeks, I didn't really mind working at Maple Leaf too much.
94. I used to have a really good memory. Not anymore.
95. I always wonder what people REALLY think about me.
96. I love to travel.
97. Christmas is probably my favorite time of year.
98. I could live somewhere where it never snowed and be perfectly happy. However, I'd have to come home for Christmas to see the snow then.
99. I lived in the same house my entire life growing up. My parents still live there and now, I do again for a little bit.
100. I want 6 kids. However, I don't think that will happen because James doesn't want that many.
101. I would love to be able to know who actually reads this.

Well, if you took time to read the whole thing, thank you. I'll read yours, I promise!

Summer Fun

Well, it has been quite some time since I have blogged and I'm not really sure I have such a great reason, but I have been quite busy. First and foremost, as much as I love the heat, it has made me quite lazy!! Also, my little munchkin is not as crazy about the heat as his mommy. In that, he takes after his dad. Oh well, thats life! Summer has been quite busy for us. We went to Thunder in the Valley in July and camped out at Chinook Lake for a week. James came home the weekend we were out there and got to camp with us, so that was fun. TJ loved his first camping experience. He even had his own tent in grandma and grandpa's motorhome. It was so cute. I'll post some pics soon. After that, we came home, did a lot of cleaning/sorting (although you really can't tell). Since then, life has been fairly consumed with James' brother's wedding. Fortunately, that is happening tomorrow. While it has made my life quite busy, it is nice to have James home again so soon. After the wedding, we are leaving to stay in Moose Jaw for a few days. After that, who knows! Hopefully the campsites will be open by then so that we can go camping once more before the summer ends.

A Random Thought

So, I have been feeling quite down lately and at first, I kind of attributed it to baby blues. However, as I have examined it further, I have come to realise thats not really the case. In fact, it is because I have let myself become someone who I am not. Not that I've strayed or anything like that. I just haven't been living. I go through the motions, but I haven't allowed myself to feel anything. Not joy or sadness or anything. I dont feel, just do. I have realized that this is a greater transgression than almost anything I could have done. Heavenly Father created us to live, and not just to live, but to live joyfully. We are supposed to enjoy life, love everyone and make the most of our brief time here. Not to take advantage of the opportunities that have been given to us is truly a travesty. I hope all of you are living joyfully and smiling most of the time. I love you and it is your love that has helped me to come to this realisation.

It's official! I'm a mommy!

Ok, so it has now become official. I am mommy. As I was walking with Jessica the other day, I noticed my foot was hurting & said "Oh, Mommy has a blister." Now, she was holding TJ, but I was talking to her! Oh well, if I have to be something, being a mommy is pretty darn great! James has been home since Monday and it has been great to have him home. This is always true, but espescially so this time because TJ has had an ear infection in both ears. I must say, however, that I probably have the most mild mannered child ever. He barely cries and instead of not sleeping at all like mom said I did when I had ear infections, he is still sleeping great and when he cries he can usually be calmed down within 5 to 10 minutes. I am so blessed! I am looking forward to TJ's first July 1st! While I am very sad his daddy won't be here for it (he is going back up to work on Sunday), I know we'll still have a good time. Of course, there is the traditional hot dog roast and fireworks at my parents house on the psedo-first (the 2nd) for any and all who would like to attend! Well, speaking of being a mommy, my little man is just waking up! Gotta run!

K, so I'm a total dummy, here is the cake. I really need an oven thats level!

Ok, so life here has been totally insane for the past few weeks. On the ninth, I had a wedding cake I had to do. (pic included) Then I've been recovering trailer cushions for Jeanan, which normally would take no time at all, but I've been incredibly sick and TJ has been very needy. He got his shots on the 14, so that made him really happy. Ha ha ha. He's also been totally spoiled so we can't put him down for more than 20 min without him crying. However, we have been working on that for the past few days and he is getting better. He doesn't really sleep during the day, so it makes it difficult to get things done. He sleeps through the night, which is great, but then only sleeps for 10-15 min during the day. I've posted tons of pics on facebook, so take a look there to see more than the ones here!

Today was a happy day. I found out that I now weigh less than I did before I got prego! Yee haw! Lets keep it going!

So here is TJ's 2 month pic and a couple of other cute ones.

Life here has been pretty crazy during the past week. I haven't felt well all week and I'm still very sore from having TJ. So, I've spent quite a bit of time at the doctor. As if that weren't enough, I'm doing a wedding cake this weekend and I have a set of tent trailer cushions to recover for someone. They initially said end of June, but then called on Thursday and said they would like them for this weekend if possible. Fortunately, I told them it may not be possible this week. However, I'm still feeling very pressured to get everything done. Thank heavens for my parents. They have been awesome about helping me with TJ while I get things done. Sometimes I feel like I'm taking advantage of them. I feel like I'm his mom and I should be with him all the time, but they assure me that if I'm imposing on them, they'll let me know. I'm not sure they're telling me the truth, but I guess there's not much I can do.

We blessed TJ on the 27 of May and it was fantastic. James was so nervous he thought he was going to wet himself! I'm going to post some pictures of that day later today, I hope. The interent on my computer is acting weired and, of course, that is where all of my pictures are. I'm hoping to get it fixed today. We'll see.

We've been trying to find James a job down here and we may have succeeded, but we're not 100% sure. It would be a significant cut in pay so he'd have to look into getting a second pt job. So, hes deciding what hes going to do. I'm ok with either one. Of course, I would prefer that he were here, but not if it means hes going to be at a job he doesn't like. As we found out last year, when he doesn't like a job, he doesn't stay there for long and I DO NOT want to go through that again. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

Blah

I have no envergy left in me. My five week old has started teething. Yes, you heard me right, teething at one month old. I didn't think it was possible, but the doctor confirmed that it is. However, he won't cut a tooth for at least 3 or 4 months. Now theres an exciting prospect, a miserable fussy baby with little relief for months! Good thing hes so cute or I think I might go crazy. Actually, I already am going crazy. James comes home Friday and I can't wait. I'm so excited for him to get up with TJ during the night and me being able to sleep. I have such respect for single parents. I don't know how they do it. Well, thats all for today!

1 Month Today!

Happy Mother's Day to all! I hope it was fantastic for everyone! This was a particularly special Mother's Day for me as it was my birthday and TJ was on month old today! Busy day! This post is almost purely to post some more pictures of my beautiful baby! He has grown so much in a month! It doesn't feel like hes been here that long, but at the same time, it feels like hes been part of us forever! Well, here he is! Aint he cute?!

He had thrush, which is an infection in his mouth, so we had to give him this purple medicine for a few weeks and he got it EVERYWHERE!

Just like his Daddy! This was when TJ & I went to watch our friends little league game across the street!

Ok, I can't figure out how to flip these ones! Maybe next time. The one above is on the day he had his baby shower at Jeanans. The one with red socks was taken today and the other one is TJ in James' favorite outfit of TJs.

Here Goes Nothing

Ok everyone, here goes my first try at this thing. Man, I wish I were more technologically savvy! Things here are going fantastically. I am more and more amazed daily at how much my little guy is growing and how bright he is. He loves to look around and really study things and he gets a little ticked if you move him mid-study! He is extremely well behaved, which has me a little worried about future children. Did Heavenly Father decide to send me one really good one because the rest are going to be a trial, or do is TJ saving up his patience testing days for later in life? Its so overwhelming to think of the immense responsibility that comes with having a child. So, I decide not to! Just kidding! Well, here are some pictures of the little guy. Speaking of pictures, I have decided why I don't like pictures of myself. Its because, in my head, I don't look as big as I do in pictures. I like the me in my head better and don't like having to face the truth of what I really look like! Oh well, life is here to be enjoyed no matter what size you are and that is just what I intend to do!