You can just call me Auntie Laura

It is official. As of September 25, 2007 my niece was born 7lbs 50z and 20 inches long. She and mama suffered from a fever due to the fact that they didn't go into the hospital soon enough after her water broke but everything will be fine. She is a beautiful little baby girl with a thick head of dark hair just like her Auntie Laura, although I think I picked mine up a little later in life. Congratulations Nathan and Hope!

The mother of all colds

So about a week and a half ago my neighbor friend comes to my door with her two month old. She is winded and looks frantic. I look like I just got out of bed, because I did. She quickly explains to me that she needs to get her oldest son to Kindergarten, like 5 minutes ago, and that she went to put the youngest of her 3 boys into the car seat only to find that one of the new kittens (as if her life wasn't crazy enough about 2 weeks after her youngest is born her cat has 3 kittens) has taken its first poop in the babies car seat. Well, I grab my little 2 month old friend shoo her back to her minivan and begin telling baby Ian how he and Gavin will someday rule the neighborhood and be best friends. This is met with the newly learned skill of smiles and cooing that only proceed to make my heart melt and long for the day that it is my baby that is smiling and cooing at me. After a monster spit up from Ian his mother comes knocking on the door to retrieve her little one. This is when I learn that she has been sporting a horrible sore throat for about a day. I wave it off saying it is probably sinus problems, which Mike has had a lot of lately, so I feel I should be the expert or something.

Sunday night rolls around and I quickly realize that it wasn't sinus problems but a monster cold that seems to have infected half of the Valley. By Monday morning I am canceling my chiropractor appointment in an effort to not infect the other half of the Valley. I am miserable. Yet, I insist that by the time my birthing class comes around at 6:00pm I will feel as good as new. How I thought I would do this I still have yet to figure because being pregnant there aren't a lot of options for medication. By 5:00pm I am swollen, achy, sneezy and I swear I sound like Darth Vader. But still I insist that I could go to my birthing class until I realize just how miserable I am and that if I made a whole entire room full of pregnant women sick, well I probably wouldn't go back to the class if that happened because I would either be beaten by a room full of pregnant women or feel so guilty that I just simply couldn't show my face. Monday night I sneeze and pull a muscle in my stomach and come to the revelation that there is sick and then there is pregnant sick and the two are on very different playing fields.

After a few nights of not sleeping I call my doctor and near tears explain that there must be something I can do. She lists a few drugs I can take tells me to drink lots of water and get a humidifier. Humidifier turns out to be my best friend I begin sleeping as well as a pregnant woman can and breathing better instantly. However, over a week later as I sit here still hacking, coughing, sneezing, achy, stuffy and I will spare the other gross details I just read that it takes pregnant women much longer to recover from viruses than most. Tonight will be the second out of four of my birthing classes that I might miss if by tonight I don't miraculously recover. Despair has set in and I fear that I will never be whole again. The worst part is I paid $65 for this birthing class.

New Additions

I was awoken the other night by a loud ringing. When I finally realized what time it was and that the incessant ringing was the sound of our new house phone I frantically grabbed it and put on my best "you hardly woke me voice" even though I had just fallen asleep and it was well after midnight. My Aunt Kathie had called to let us know that Bella after many hours and a c-section had joined us in the world a healthy little girl all 7lbs 8oz and 22 inches of her. I was glad to hear since there was an ultrasound early on detecting a small hole in Bella's heart. She seems to have pulled through with no problems. My cousin and his girlfriend I am sure are more relieved than any of us. My Aunt (Bella's Grandma) was of course as proud of the new arrival as could be.

I went quickly to work the next day realizing that I had never sent them a gift. Oops! Silly me I had meant to and I guess now was as good a time as ever. After figuring out the minor glitches in my sewing machine. I sewed a nursing cover and a matching burp cloth out of fabric I happened upon at a local quilting store. I had to share pictures. I am so in love with this fabric and I don't want to let it go.

Hopefully they will get use out of these and love the fabric as much as I do. Congrats Zoller Family you are in our thoughts and prayers. Can't wait 'till it is our turn.

Love, the James'

Success!

Our garage sale was a success. At the beginning of the day I have to say I had my doubts that it would really get off the ground. It was touch and go for a while with a few people here and there. However, when it is a few people here and there from 8-5 you end up with quite a few people. I having only had one garage sale in my life really didn't know what to expect. At the beginning of the day Mike and I said that if we sold our entertainment center and our guitar we would feel like we had done great! When I rolled up at 5:00pm with Courtney fully expecting to see the guys starting to clean up our stuff but instead found them negotiating on our entertainment center with a couple from down the street I was so excited I had to walk away because I would have spoiled the deal. I am never good at negotiating. One lady got most of my stuff at half price with just a look. I would tell her the price of an item that was clearly marked and she would squish her face up in the awful "You have got to be kidding" look and I would buckle under pressure. At one point Mike finally stepped in and when she gave me the look he said "what you don't think we are asking enough?" That is why I love him. We balance each other in ways I think we often fail to see. Like bargaining for a deal, he loves it and I hate it with a passion. If my buyers only knew with just a look I might have given them my stuff we would never have made all the money that we did.

Thanks to Mike's negotiating skills I get to buy some much needed maternity items like some workout pants so I can't make excuses for not going to the gym to walk on the treadmill and maybe a winter coat. I seemed to think I would be fine without one but Mike argued that he wasn't taking me home from the hospital without a coat and in November I would need a coat even if it was only for a few weeks. So even though I want to spend all my money on my little man I guess Mommy needs somethings too. Now that I think about it some pants that didn't squish the all air out of me might be nice too. I had this idea that all maternity pants were comfortable but I have reached a point where nothing but a pair of over sized sweats is comfy. If I get into that habit I might get turned into "What not to wear...Maternity Series."

Below is the picture of babies coming home outfit. Did I mention that baby has a name? In case I haven't it is Gavin Michael James. I can't wait to see him sporting this super soft outfit.

What have the James' been doing?

Take a look! We have been doing a lot of work around the house. Mike took Friday off making it a long weekend and for his study breaks I had a husband to help me with long awaited projects. I am sure that it wasn't his dream weekend working on my honey do list but I was very grateful. Of course it all looks better in person and anyone wanting a reason to visit us now has one.

Mike was so patient and crawled across the ledge to hang my plate collage.

Mike worked for weeks to refinish my Grandpa's dresser. It was in need of much love and tlc and Mike make sure it got the attention it deserved.
The babies room is coming together. My Grandpa's dresser will be used as the changing table . I finished recovering a used glider and Mike hung a much needed new light fixture and wall hangings this weekend. This weekend we are doing a garage sale and celebrating friends birthdays. It should be another exciting weekend at the James house. Hopefully by the time it is finished we can park two cars in the garage again.

Sunburns, bumper cars and bellies

On a lovely afternoon last week I spent the day at a small water park/pool with a good friend and her 2 boys. The boys had a blast and it was so fun watching them show off for us in their Spiderman swim trunks and blue and green goggles. There are times when "Hey... Hey...Heyyyyy, watch this!" Can get old but not this day. They were sweet and fun angels. We ate lunch by the pool and my good friend and I gabbed and caught up on life. When I ran out of sun screen I thought nothing of it. I figured I had been in the sun enough recently to be safe with my very light base tan. I was wrong. Within minutes of being in the car I realized I was burnt. I was also tired as the sun has a way of stripping you of all your energy, at least if you are over a certain age it seemed those kids could have gone for hours. I was driving home singing along with the radio, country if anyone was wondering I stopped at a four way and while waiting for my turn BAM! was hit from behind.

In shock and having never been rear ended before I had no idea what to do. There was lots of traffic and people around so I pulled over and got out to meet who ever had the audacity to hit a pregnant women driving her new treasure of an SUV. I wasn't shocked to see the driver of an old beat up Toyota Camary to be a tall 19 or 20 something guy with a completely dazed and shocked look on his face. After surveying what only looked like a couple of scratches on my bumper and his dangling headlight I figured I had won the battle of the SUV vs. the small 2 door sedan and tried to be nice about it. He swore he didn't want to turn it into his insurance he would rather pay for it out of pocket. Assuming a few scratches would only cost a few hundred bucks. Well, we were both wrong an estimate the next morning tells us $1000-1500. Now I feel awful. Do I have his insurance info? No. Just a name and phone number were all I could get out of him. Once we reached him and explained that it would cost that much to fix he was shocked, angry and decided he wanted to turn it into his alleged insurance company. He didn't have the card with him at the time to give us the information but would call us back, 2 days have passed and he will be getting a phone call here shortly requesting such info. I sure hope this works out.

I have learned a valuable lesson. Call the police no matter how big or small the accident before you even exit your car. For a few reasons. I didn't know who I would be meeting when I stepped out of that car for all I knew he could be a psycho killer. Second, if there is a police man handy then you can sit back in shock and not have to worry if you are doing the right thing or the wrong thing or did you get all the information you needed. And lastly, its plain and simple what you are supposed to do whenever you play bumper cars in the real world, report it to the police.

After arriving home I had the realization that something could have happened to my dear sweet boy. I called my doctors office and while waiting for a call baby James got the hiccups and gave me a real strong kick in the gut to alert his crying mother that he would indeed be fine. I managed to pull a muscle in my back and had a migraine for a day or so but as long as baby James was kicking and hiccuping away I couldn't complain. Well I did manage to get a few choice words out about the guy that hit me once the shock wore off and I realized what had happened.

Below are pictures of my growing belly as I promised to post monthly. This one is a few weeks late but here just the same.

Charm & Character

I often hear an old home referred to as having lots of charm or character. Whether that be that the mail is delivered into a slot that can be checked from the living room, beautiful hard wood floors that allow no one the ability to sneak off the rest room, or unique built in cabinetry. Our home while only 11 years old has a bit of character itself. You see a few of our doors happen to gently swing themselves closed with no assistance whatsoever stranding you either in a dark bedroom or an even darker bathroom.

Our 3 year old Golden Retriever, Jemma, has found this characteristic very challenging for her. She has also found that it is very difficult for God to open a window when there isn't one. Jemma is a very loyal and social dog and in an effort to be sure she is with you at all times she will often go searching to find you. The bathroom door posing a problem for her because while not latched shut she can't tell if anyone is in there. So she pushes the door open saunters in and finds no one there then turns around to leave finding the door closing. Soon from some where in the house I will here the door snap shut and know she is locked in our dark bathroom. Now if she hadn't tried to open the door it wouldn't have snapped shut and Duke is waiting on the other side of the door pushing with all his might to free his poor sister who has yet again locked herself in the bathroom. Shortly after I hear the door shut if no has rescued her in her preferred time frame the whining and shrill barks begin. This was funny the first few times but now this happens a few times a night, often in the middle of the night while you are sleeping, leaving one to question her once proven intelligence.

Jemma found the other day that while God had no window to open he was busy orchestrating another door to open. One that led to a large park with a pond, ducks, kids to walk and pet her and a fountain. Now the unfortunate part about this park was that she and Duke had to stay on the leashes so here you see them wishing with all they are that they could chase the ducks and swim in the pond. Later, Duke made friends with Joshua whose family had invited us to come along with them to the park. Joshua decided that he wanted to take Duke's dog walking into his 5 year old little hads so they were off. Duke listening to Joshua's every command and not tugging him along like he does to me. I was very impressed and slightly envious that a 5 year old was better at walking my dog than I was. Just then Duke spots it, the fountain. Full speed ahead with Josh jogging behind Duke pulls Josh up the stairs and plants his whole head and front two paws into the fountain. Joshua quickly decided he didn't want to be responsible for our wet, crazy, water obsessed dog and handed him over. While the six adults discussed whether or not dogs were allowed in the fountain. Deciding that of course dogs, especially our dogs, should be allowed in the fountain Mike and I ditched our shoes and escorted our two dogs into the very cold fountain. Duke put his nose down and sloshed through the water as if this was the only thing to do when faced with a fountain full of cold water and plunged forward demonstrating for Jemma who was too busy daintily pulling each foot completely out of the water before replacing it a few inches in front of her cold wet body.

It turned out to be a great outing with new friends and one in which my dogs throughly enjoyed!P.S. I added a little baby tracker so you can all see how much time we have left till our little bundle joins us in the world.