The Final Count

After crawling through the crawl space here is what Doug discovered:
over 50 plastic balls
around 15 domino's
and 1 racket ball

He is a very determined little boy!

James' Game

Yesterday James came up with a new game. I was just listening to him happily playing and enjoying the noises that he was making. After a while (maybe longer then I thought) I decided to go see what he was up to. Here is what I found. James standing over the vent in my room (he had taken the cover off) yelling "Ball" then actually throwing a ball down the vent. I had no idea how many he had already thrown or what would happen. He had to carry them, 2 at a time, from his ball pit in the living room, all the way down the hall to throw them in. No matter what I did I could not distract him from this "fun" game. And I worried that if I kept him from this vent he would discover one of the other 10 vents in the house and start throwing things in there. When Doug got home I told James to show him what he did, he grabbed a ball and went and did it again.

Here is what our vents normally look like:

Here is James playing the game:

Here is the vent after the game:

Here are the balls Doug was able to pull out just by sticking his arm down the vent:

The rest of the balls will have to be taken out by Doug going in the crawl space, unhooking the duct and emptying it. Luckily no balls made it to the furnace, we were worried about that.

So now we have two questions: 1. How do you keep your kids from taking the vent covers off and throwing things down there? 2. How many balls to you think he actually threw down the vent? We wont know until Doug goes in the crawl space. Any guesses?

Finally!

So we finally have Internet and no longer have to go to the public library to do anything! We have successfully moved into our new house, and it is much bigger then I thought it would be. Doug said 3 bedrooms, but there are 4. Here is Doug and James on moving day.

We love everything about it except for all the extra work! James loves all the room he has to play and even though I tried to put all in toys in the "playroom" the entire house has become his playroom. He also loves the yard and all the mud he has already found to play in, and he loves the neighbors swing set. I just wish it didn't get so cold so soon so we could spend more time outside.

One thing James discovered is Loa's bed. He spends a lot of time playing in her cage, and has to make sure he shuts himself in. The he calls for "Woa" to come and get in with him, but she never listens. She has gotten really good at ignoring him!

James also loves his "swimming pool". OK really it is just a huge bathtub, but he doesn't know that. He loves to play in there, but only if Mom or Dad gets in with him. Then it takes him awhile to get warmed up to it, spending a long time playing on Mom or Dad's lab only, but once he gets used to it he is crazy!

Here is the cat Loa hates, but James loves. I think it belonged to the people who used to live here. It sits on the back step and whenever we open the door it tries to run in the house. Loa wont go outside if it is there, so I have to pick it up and hide it, then put it back down once she runs out. Then when she wants to come in she stands a long distance away and barks until I come and "rescue" her. She is a big wimp. Loa does love all the room she has to roam, and I don't really have to put her on her leash anymore, except she doesn't listen when I call her, but it is nice to have somewhere for her to go play.

I bought this basket to put James' toys in. He dumps all his toys out and puts the basket on his head so he can walk around the house with it. This was funny because he had the basket on his head, his blanket in one hand, his other hand in his mouth and he was trying to sit in the back of his dump truck. He is so much fun!

Doug is doing well at work, he is really busy and has to work late a lot. He misses being on the Temple, but I think he will like this more the more he gets to know the job. I think it will take a lot longer for Me and Doug to adjust then it did for James and Loa. I miss Salt Lake and our friends, I also miss having neighbors, but all this extra space will be nice for now.

We have no Internet!

Soon maybe we will be able to figure out this internet thing and be able to write about all our fun adventures in Idaho. Stay tuned for more!

18 months!

I have been trying to post some cute videos, but it is not working, so maybe in a few weeks we can post something. We have been crazy this past week trying to get everything packed to move tomorrow. We also decided to just post our place on Craig's List just to see what kind of interest there was. In about 3 days I had 15 contacts of people interested. So I am happy to say we have found someone to rent it which will really help and is very surprising.

James had is 18 month check up yesterday. Probably one of the worst trips to the doctors we have had. He has been sick so everything sends him into a major tantrum. We had thought he was evening out a little (height and weight) but he shot up three inches, now 35 in tall, and only gained 1 pound, now weighs 24lbs 1 oz. So I guess he is just going to be tall and skinny.

H got to go to nursery for the first and last time in our ward last week, and loved it! But we never thought it would be otherwise. He actually cried when Doug came to pick him up because he wanted to stay.

James the Fish

James has been having so much fun in Florida. He seems to have conquered his fear of the Ocean and now loves it. The past two days he has been able to walk pretty far out, almost to where the waves are breaking, on his own. Every time a wave comes he runs toward it and laughs when it hits him. After we spend hours at the ocean James has to play with the hose at home for awhile while we are washing off. Then he goes and gets in the swimming pool with whoever will take him, then finishes off with a nice warm shower. I think he would live in the water if he could.

Big News!

We made it to Florida with only a little drama. The flight to Chicago was perfect. The layover wasn't too awful. They rushed us onto the plane to make up for some lost time. Then we sat there for an hour so they could fix the bathroom. When they finally got the bathroom fixed they decided that we needed more fuel so we sat longer. Finally about 30 minutes before we landed James started screaming and we could not calm him down, this is the result of only having two VERY short naps. Finally we landed and got off the plane to find they had left our stroller in Chicago. I was so tired and upset by this time, not to mention that it was past 11:00 Florida time.

We have been having fun, James loves to chase the dog around, and she tolerates it as well as a small dog can tolerate a small child. James also loves to swim. Even though the water is a little cold it is hard to get him out of the pool. He doesn't love the ocean however. When we went there to play yesterday he walked up the walkway stopped, looked at the ocean, said "No" and turned around and walked back to the car! I was laughing pretty hard and we did get him to play in the sand far away from the waves.

The big news is...we're moving! On Tuesday Doug talked to his boss and they asked if he would be willing to go work in Rexburg, Idaho for a year to replace a project engineer on a job there. This is somewhat of a blessing because we didn't think they would have another job for Doug for awhile and he would just be working out of the office. So even though it is not another Temple it will be a great experience and a blessing for our family. Yesterday when Doug talked to his boss they had it approved to go and wanted him up there as soon as possible. Doug said he needed two weeks to finish up his work on the Draper Temple then he would be ready to go. Now it just has to be approved by the school and it is official. So I am house hunting from here and as soon as we get home Doug will be leaving for Idaho while I try to pack up our entire house as quickly as possible. Hopefully we will also be able to find someone to rent our place in Utah. So while we are having so much fun in Florida I keep thinking about all that has to get done once we get home!