Around Here

Hi! We're still here! No news yet :) Sorry for not posting recently - again with the tired and the heat? Yes, again with the tired and the heat. I had a traffic director this morning tell me, "that baby look like it's going to FALL out of you" and then laugh. Good times. It's been a busy week - we've had a doctor's appointment, two art classes and a trip up to the jeep dealership. We go this bad boy on loan.

Yeah, I know you're jealous. James asked me, "Mom? Why we in a moving van?" And I had to explain to him "Minivan." James of course was all over this car - it had a reverse camera, his own air conditioning, three rows of seating, a thing that showed him how fast I was driving with numbers he could read and then he would of course tell me if they matched the speed limit...

The one big draw back was that the windows didn't roll down for him. He wanted to pick up Doug from work yesterday and I called Doug to see if that would work out and after he said yes, I told him that we'd be pretty incognito ... we'd be in the huge white van. I almost broke the automatic door at the dealership (our car is a 97 ... we don't have the fancy gadgets cars have now) and had to explain to Doug that you just start opening it and then you let go. James made Doug sit in the way back. As I was driving it, I felt like a bus driver :) Also, I noticed that people really don't give you driving respect when you're cruising around the city in a minivan. I actually saw people's faces change to 'annoyed' when I got in front of them. When we were on our way to get Doug, Jane's Addiction came on the radio and the whole situation felt completely wrong. I didn't know what to do with myself. I had never driven a van this size before. It was an experience. I however, totally see the benefits of these machines though. Just not for me and just not right now.

Anyway, James has been James which of course is fantastic. The other night we were having Portillo's for dinner and we all split the fries and I asked Doug if he had anymore and he told me no. And then out of the blue James says, "Mom, I got what you need."

The other night, I was cooking dinner and he brought this chair into the kitchen for me and said, "If you get tired cooking Mom you can sit down and rest." I love my child so much.

For dessert one night, James really wanted cookies and we didn't have any in the house ... except for my stash of Oreos. I felt so badly because - well, you know when you're really in the mood for something and you don't have it? So, I spelled it for Doug and he was like, "those are so sugary are you sure?" And I said, "yeah why not." So - it's on the record, I allowed it. I encouraged it even. Oreos don't usually make appearances in our home but because of the pregnancy, they have snuck in. I told James that the Oreos go away after the baby comes and he seemed to understand. We'll see. He has a method which totally made me smile. He takes the cookie apart, eats the one side, scrapes the cream center off and then dunks the other side in milk. Love it.

Over the weekend, James and Doug got haircuts :) I love the summer cut on this kiddo.

Two art classes this week! We continued our project from last week and James got to cut out his undersea creatures he drew and glue them onto his painting along with tissue paper corals, sea glass, shells, etc. James loved sprinkling the sand on the glue but the best part was that he got to use scissors. LEFT handed scissors. This was his first experience with something just for lefties and he felt very special and cool :)

Art class number two - this was INSANE! Ms. Jan read from a book called Mouse Paint and the children LOVED it. Then the class did the same thing the mice did - paint with their feet. No joke. I have never seen my son look so excited but like nervous that he was doing something bad at the same time. Every child had the same look on his/her face - complete joy mixed with "oh my gosh am I allowed to do this?!!!?" Here are the photos I managed to take - when James was mixing the paint with his feet and when he was 'painting' with his feet, I was holding his hands (all the parents were asked to do this).

 James painting is the one in the center of all the feet - but none of the feet in the photo belong to James

Here are James' feet - he kept saying "I painting like a mice!"

All around Ms. Jan learning how to make a mouse out of pulled cotton :) She just captures the childrens' attention so effortlessly - she is just wonderful.

And finally, we've been getting things as ready as we can for this baby's arrival. I just received a phone call from the furniture company and our order is FINALLY in and will be delivered this Saturday!!!!! Talk about cutting it close! But now I can put away all of the laundry that's been washed and put diapers away and wipes and sleep sacks :) We've got the bassinet set up in our bedroom ...

and I found James like this when I was going back and forth between rooms yesterday. He's a touch to big for the chair don't you think?

 And my bag is packed for the hospital - complete with Doug's shirt for delivery day