The Camera is Fixed!

We finally got our camera back, hopefully in perfect working condition. So to celebrate I took this cute video of James today to post before we run off to Colorado. I was talking to a friend in the front room and we could hear James laughing and laughing in the kitchen. I found James doing this. I think he was trying to stand up and thought it was so funny when he kept falling down. Then I noticed he was watching the whole thing in the dishwasher! What a cute kid I have!

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Topping it Off!

Today they topped off the Draper Temple by setting the Angel Moroni. It was supposed to be a big secret because they didn't want hundreds and thousands of people showing up to watch. The word did get out and there was a pretty good crowd. When we drove up they had it laying in the trailer. I couldn't believe how big it was!

We dropped off Doug and went to play at the park while they were getting things ready. When we came back they had him hooked up to the crane and dangling off the ground. We got to go stand in front of it and take pictures. James didn't really care about any of it.

When they were finally ready another crane lifted two guys up to the top while the other crane lifted the statue. Then they lowered the pole you see through the steeple to secure it.

That's it. James didn't really want to watch and was choosing this time to throw a major tantrum so I didn't get to see them lower him onto the steeple but it was still really cool to watch the rest of it.

Something I never realized or really thought about. Angel Moroni faces East, but not the trumpet it's his chest. I guess I just always thought it was the trumpet that faced east.

Doug's comments: There are actually 2 parts that had to be put up. First was the steeple. It slid down around a steel tube that is part of the structural steel. Then the statue which is from the ball up was put up. There is a post that comes out the bottom of the ball that slides into the steel tube. There are 4 notches we had cut in the steel tube and 4 plates on the post that fit into these notches to keep it positioned the right way.

There are also 2 cables that run from the statue through the steel tube. One of these is a stainless steel cable that will be anchored to the structure of the building. The other is copper and will be tied into our lightning protection system. If you look at that last picture you see something sticking out of the head. There was a bolt in that location to hoist the statue then once it was in position it was take and that lightning rod was screwed in.

The statue itself is fiberglass molded onto a steel frame. The fiberglass is then covered with gold leaf and then sprayed with a clear coat lacquer to protect the gold from pollution. The entire statue is about 350 pounds.

The 4th of July and No Camera!

We sent our camera in to Canon to get fixed, so for the next few weeks we have no camera! But because of all the family that is visiting we can still get some cute pictures, but no videos. My mom got here on Tuesday, my Dad on Wednesday, and Jordyn and Blake came on Thursday. We had to drive up and get Jordyn because she came over with the Christensens. So James got to meet James. He just wanted to go play though.

Chad and Shannon came down for the Fourth and we went to Grandmothers and Grandads. James actually sat on the couch between Jordyn and Shannon. I didn't think it was possible for him to just sit somewhere!

We had a picnic type dinner in the backyard and James was too busy to eat anything he just wanted Grandad to come and take him to the rocks.

"Come on Grandad!"

"Can we go up there?"

We also played some lawn games. James loves to play croquet and always tries to get the balls and mallets. He has his game face on!

"Which color should I be?"

James also liked playing with his cousin Lexi and swinging with Grammy. It didn't last too long!

When Grammy wasn't swinging with the babies she was keeping James from crawling in the street. He was so mad at her!

A Difficult but Fun Two Weeks

Two weeks of not lifting James has been HARD! James does not really understand why I wont just pick him up. He tries so hard to climb up on me and I feel bad when he throws a tantrum because I won't pick him up. Just when I thought the two weeks was over the doctor gave me another two weeks of no lifting. When I went to my checkup yesterday I found out that the "swelling" I thought I had was actually fluid that had pooled and after draining it she said I needed to come back in two weeks and no lifting until then! I did get permission to lift James (and only James) as little as possible. We have been so grateful to have Doug's Mom and brother come stay with us for the past week and a half and James had a lot of fun with Grandma and Uncle Scott.

We took James to the park to swing and because there is only one swing we had to wait a long time. So James was walking around and fell, hitting his face and getting his first (but not last) fat lip.

We went to eat at Applebee's and James loved sharing his fries with Dad.

James loves being outside. If I have my shoes on he grabs my hand and pulls me over to the door and waits for me to open it so we can go outside. He has spent a lot of time outside in the "backyard" and James loves to copy whatever Loa does. So for all you who already think I am a terrible mom, here is a picture of James drinking out of Loa's water.

Before Grandma left on Wednesday we went to have lunch at the mall and we stopped at Build-a-Bear. James loved it and picked out a Monkey to "build". He loves his monkey and carried it around the store which was so cute since it is almost as big as he is.

We also discovered Wednesday James' new favorite activity. He would grab a toy and take it over to the window and throw it out. We keep it open a little for the swamp cooler. So when I opened the door to go get the toys he had thrown out I found his shoes and a necklace sitting on the step. I couldn't figure out why his shoes were sitting out there until James grabbed one and threw it out the window. He must have done it the night before and the neighbor found them while she was watering and put them on the step. So now we have to check periodically to see if there are any toys outside.

Dancing and Pool Party

I haven't taken many videos or pictures this week, I guess I didn't realize how much time I would need to recover, but before the surgery we had a few fun days. Last Monday we had a pool day at Jake's. We brought James' frog pool over and filled it up. I put James in and he climbed right out. He just wanted to put his hand in and splash. Hopefully he will get more used to it and have fun "swimming" in his pool.

After swimming I stripped him down and he had a snack.

Then he fed his snack to the neighbors dog through the fence. It was a very cute dog and James had a lot of fun barking at it.

James also loves to listen to him music. He loves the "Mother Goose Rocks" Cd's and I think they are pretty fun to listen to also. He loves to stand on the fire place and dance. He also loves to use the stereo as a seat. What a cute little boy we have.

Surgery and the Worlds Greatest Husband/Father

It has been a while since my last post, a lot has happened. Last Friday I got a call that there was a cancellation and we could go see the surgeon that day if we wanted to. So we did and she surprised me when she found a second hernia in my belly button. She suggested I get them fixed and we didn't want to wait too long so yesterday I had the surgery. Congratulations Chad, you won, but I don't exactly know what we were betting.

We got there at 6:30 in the morning to fill out paperwork and get ready for the surgery. I have to say Doug knows me very well. He didn't tell me anything that he knew I would freak out about, like the IV or how hard the recovery would be (he knows those are the things I hated worst about having a baby). So the first I heard about the I.V. was when the doctor was explaining the entire procedure.

I have to say that I was very calm and doing very well...until they sent Doug out to the waiting area and took me back to the operation room. Then I panicked. I don't know why but it was really hard to have to go all by myself. They had me lay on the table and were covering me will a ton of warm blankets and I was just shaking. They kept asking me all these questions, that they already knew the answers to, but I couldn't focus enough to answer them. The next thing I knew I was waking up screaming/yelling (I don't know what) in the recovery room, which by the way had several other people in it. I heard another patient telling her mom, or nurse about it after. The nurse said that is common when someone is upset before they are put under.

Now enters my wonderful husband. He explained to me that after the doctor fixed the 2 hernias she was checking around and found 2 more. So I had a total of 4 hernias fixed! Doug has been amazing. He has completely taken care of me and James for the past few days. He even slept in the guest room last night so I could have the whole bed and be propped up and watch TV in the middle of the night when I woke up, several times. It was kind of fun to lay in bed and listen to Doug playing with James downstairs. James has been loving all the extra fun he gets to have with dad. So Happy Fathers Day to the best Husband and Father we could ask for. Thanks for all the extra help and work you have done to make us happy. We love you.

Here is a picture of something that I thought would NEVER happen. James was really grumpy one morning so I put a movie on to try and help calm him down. He screamed for a few minutes then was quiet watching the movie for a while, the next thing I knew he was asleep on the floor. He slept for about 45 minutes. I don't think he has ever slept outside of his crib or car seat since he was about 3 months old.

On Saturday we decided to take a picnic to the park. So we got some hamburgers from Wendy's and went to the park. James loved it. He loves to eat hamburgers and fries.

Where's James?

On Saturday night we had a little excitement. I filled the water in our fridge and forgot to push it in all the way. I was trying to get dinner ready when I noticed there was about a gallon of water all over the fridge and floor. So Doug and James came to help clean it up when James started choking on something. So I grabbed James and was holding him over the sink trying to help him cough up whatever it was. He started screaming so I held him up and he threw up all over my arm. So I handed him off to Doug and while I was cleaning up my arm he threw up all over Doug. This time there was a tiny blue star in it so we were pretty sure it was done. So I stopped cooking dinner and we all went upstairs to change and give James a bath. After his bath we had dinner. I guess we should have waited for the bath. Finally, a couple of firsts, for Me and Doug. On Monday I had a doctor's appointment at 4:30. Doug had a toothache and the only time he could get in to see the dentist was at 4:30. So we dropped James off at a friends and Doug took me to the Doctor while he went to the dentist. Doug thought he would be faster thinking they would only have to grind his tooth down so it would push on the other one anymore. Turns out it was really infected and he needs to have a root canal, which he will be having in July. I have a hernia that needs to be fixed so I also have an appointment with a surgeon in July. So Doug will be having his first root canal and I will be having my first hospital visit, besides when I had James.