Trip to Florida

After Christmas the boys and I decided it would be a good time to take a trip to Florida to visit Grammy and Grandad.  We didn't think we would have a place to live yet and we weren't sure if James would be in school so it seemed like a good time.  I was VERY nervous about the plane trip so Grammy came with us to help.  I don't think we could have expected any better behavior from the boys.  

The first few days were pretty cold so we mostly just hung out and rested from the trip.  On Friday night we decided to go to this Greek restaurant that Jordyn really likes.  James hated it!  It was really loud and there were a ton of people there.  You can tell how much he was enjoying it from this picture.  

 Then they had a dancer come out.  The music got louder and James was gone.  Then he saw the girl dancing and he came alive!  He loved watching her dance and everyone in the restaurant thought it was so funny.  And of course Mikey couldn't be left out.

 Saturday we put the "boats" in the water to go for a ride.  James didn't want to get in at first, and freaked out when Mikey went out with Grammy.  But once he got on he was ok.  Then Mikey freaked out because he could see mom on the other "boat" so I had to climb over with him.  He fell asleep almost immediately but still I think the "boats" were his favorite thing the entire trip.  Every time we walked in the garage after this he screamed and screamed until somebody lifted him  up to sit on one.

Mikey sleeping

James would yell "Hi Mom!"  every time we drove by.

Stopped to play at the beach and have a snack.

 Tuesday we decided to brave DisneyWorld.  I did a little research and discovered that we could get a "Guest Assistance Card" because of James' "disability" then we could either go in the fast pass line or wait in a "comfortable" place instead of waiting in the lines.  What really happened was we either went in the fast pass line or through the disability line.  So we didn't wait in a line the entire day!  That was good because I don't think I have ever been on a busier day.

Jungle Cruise-a favorite of both boys

This was by far James favorite ride.  He loved steering the car and
crashing us into the sides.  Then he would just laugh and laugh.
Mikey was too little to go.    

The boys both loved Tom Sawyer's Island 

Mikey on the Dumbo ride

They had a Dumbo for the boys to sit in.

The people mover

Tom Sawyer's island again

Mikey fell asleep after Small World and James got to drive the cars 3 more times

 Overall the day was a success.  We made the mistake of making James go on Pirates early in the day.  After that he would not go on a ride if the line or ride was inside (except for Buz Lightyear, we forced him on that one and he did ok)  so he missed a few things like Small World, and Winnie the Pooh. If we had had to wait in lines we would not have been able to go, so we were really glad that Disney makes that accommodation.  I think we would go again, just on a slower day.

Thursday we drove down to Miami to do some fun things.  We went to this fruit stand called "Robert is Here"  this was maybe my favorite thing of the trip.  I love fresh produce.  They have amazing shakes and just about every fruit in the world.  We tried some new (gross) things, but everything was so fresh it was amazing, and Mikey tried Papaya for the first time, which he LOVED!  He also ate 1 and a half Mangos.  This kid loves his fruit.  The cutest thing was listening to him say "papaya".

Friday we went to the beach (which we had done before without much success).  The tide was up so there was this little pool that was very calm so I forced James to get in.  Mikey was already playing happily in the water.  After a few minutes of screaming he realized that he LOVES being in the water and it was impossible to get him out.

When we got home we used the outside shower to rinse off the sand and let James play by the pool for a while.  I hadn't let him get in yet because it was so cold and I didn't want to get in.  But he showed me that he could do it all by himself.  

We left on Saturday and had the WORST time flying home.  I was really glad my Mom flew back with us.  There was no way I could do it by myself.  1st we were dumb a flew on a day when all the cruise ships get in so the airport was packed.  Then when we finally got through security we didn't have time to get anything to eat but we thought we would be ok until we got to Dallas.  After they loaded the plane we sat at the gate for an hour and a half.  So of course we missed our connection in Dallas.  We had to stop in Houston (which was planned) but instead of just waiting on the plane and taking off again we had to get off and run to another plane (with no stroller).  Then we sat at the gate for a half an hour.  Then we got to Dallas and found out that they had arranged for us to be on a later flight. We were starving by this time so the break was good.  The flight from Dallas to Amarillo was perfect but I was ready to be home!  

Overall we had a fun trip and can't wait to go again.  Hopefully with Dad next time!

Moving to Clovis New Mexico!

Over the past month we have been moving to the exciting town of Clovis New Mexico.  My first impression of the town (when we drove down before Christmas to find a house) was that it smelled like cows.  After Christmas and New Years we loaded up the car (barely fitting everything in) and drove to our new home.  We found out Sunday night we had no water.  I called first thing Monday morning and we got it turned on Tuesday evening, so after finally getting clean we all felt much better about our new home.  Doug didn't have much work to do so he was able to help unpack and we got our house livable in a few days.  

We really like our new house, well the layout anyway.  It is very old but it will be fine for the time we are here.  The living room/dining room/ family room is just one big room which we like.  

The big room

The big room from the other direction

The kitchen is tiny but more cupboards than we had in our last house.  There are several empty.

The kitchen

James gets the small room.  We couldn't set up his bunk bed which he was sad about but I think he will love it when Mikey moves out of a crib and into his room.

James' room

The master bedroom is a good size with a TINY bathroom.  There is a nice pink shower in the corner that is so small my face is practically smashed against the wall but it will work.

Master bedroom

Things are still pretty messy from unpacking but it gets better everyday.  The boys love the fenced backyard (and so does mom) but it only took James 2 days to figure out how to drag the slide over to the gate and open it.  We also have a garage that we will probably never use since there is no garage door opener and we have to take the padlock off every time we want to open it.  

However I have decided everything I dislike about Clovis and the house (which is a lot) is offset by how much I love the ward and James' school.

We went to our new ward last Sunday and everyone was so friendly and welcoming.  Very opposite from our last ward.  Mikey went to nursery for the entire time without Mom and Dad and James did better than expected in Sunbeams for the first time.  Although they are going to get a second teacher since 3 of the 5 kids are special needs kids, one of them is even in James' class at school.  

I got James registered for school as soon as we got there and he started on the 4th.  He is the only Autistic kid in the class but the entire school is for special needs children so they have a lot to offer James.  He loves the structure and is thriving in the environment.  He gets to go 4 days a week for 3 hours which is way more than his 2 day a week 2 hours a day school in Idaho.  He also gets to ride the school bus, which is good since when it is time to pick him up Mikey is taking a nap.  For now I think he is just going to ride the bus home.  They also serve lunch which is great for my extremely picky eater to get to try different food and watch the other kids eat.  They also work on potty training which will happen someday hopefully for James.  Overall I am very excited for James to be in this school and getting the help he needs.  And because of this I guess Clovis isn't as bad as it could be. 

Christmas 2010

We have been so busy the last month that I haven't had much time to blog...or even take pictures.  We are finally moved and mostly settled.  The garage is still full of boxes that I am sure will take months to sort out but at least our house is put together and somewhat organized.  So now I have some time to blog a little.  

Christmas was so much fun this year.  After the 13+ hour drive from Idaho to Denver (I drove 13 hours in the car with the boys and Doug and his brother drove 14+ hours in the moving truck).  After a days rest in Denver Doug and I drove 8 hours to Clovis NM and spent the next day driving around looking for a house, which we finally found and signed a few hours after Doug's Dad and brother got here with the moving truck.  The next morning we unloaded the truck, piled in our car and drove 8 hours back to Denver.  I was so ready to have a break and finally start thinking about Christmas.  

I have to say Doug and I were much more excited for Christmas morning than either of the boys.  They didn't really get it.  But we were not disappointed.  If you listen carefully you can hear James exclaim in excitement "Yes! It's Jump!"  

We were pretty positive that this is the only thing James would want to do all day.  We thought we would have a huge tantrum if we tried to turn it off to open other presents or to go to Great Granny's for breakfast.  But he was surprisingly interested in opening all of his presents which made it so much more fun.

After every present he opened James would bring it to us to take it out of the package, then play with it for a few minutes then move on to the next one.  It took him a long time to get through all his presents.  

 Mikey also loved opening presents.  This was his "baby" that we were so sure he would just love since overtime we go near a doll in the store he gets so excited and says "baby, baby".

 This was by far James' favorite present.  It was actually to him and Mikey from Uncle Tim but James isn't really the sharing type.  He wore it all day long!  The cutest part was when he went in this big box that he could stand up inside and waited for us to say "introducing the high ridenest rootin-tootinest cowboy around, Sheriff Woody" then he would come out doing a little swagger.

 After presents (and a nap for super-grumpy Mikey) we went to Great Granny's and Grandpa's for breakfast.  This is James actually eating.

 James loved playing in all the boxes.

 Monday after Christmas we went to Wild lights at the Denver zoo.  It was super packed.  Mikey LOVED looking at the elephants and other animals that were inside.  James just wanted to hold my hand and keep walking.  His favorite was the hippo tunnel.  I didn't get many pictures because James would not let go of my hand.  But he did get to ride the train something they were both super excited about.

Overall we had an awesome Christmas and New Years.  But now we are trying to get settled and ready for our next trip to visit my parents in Florida. 

Catch Up

We have had a very busy November.  So much has happened that I just kept getting further and further behind on the blog and then it was just too overwhelming to catch up.  So now I am going to try to catch up.  If you don't want to read the whole thing just read the red section headings and you will get an idea of how busy we have been!

Snow

At the beginning of November we had our first snow storm.  James was really excited about the snow and after his nap he looked out the window and said, "Let's get some boots!"  Meaning "I want to go outside."  So I bundled him up and let him play in the snow.  He loved it. 

James playing in the snow.

TS3 Party

Toward the middle of the month we finally got our copy of Toy Story 3 (our mail is slow).  So we had a Toy Story 3 party and watched the movie.  The boys loved it!  It is by far their favorite movie right now. Mikey asks to watch it every day, and most of the time several times a day.  James has started acting different parts of it out.  

Watching Toy Story 3

18 Months
Mikey turned 18 months on the 18th!  He has been to nursery twice and has done better than we expected.  He does fine until the last 10 minutes or so then Dad usually goes in to help him calm down a little. He also loves to follow his brother around.  James gets a stool in the kitchen or drags a chair over to the counter and Mikey follows him.  One time James climbed up on the counter to get the rest of a cake and took it over to the table.  I heard him say "You alright Mikey" so I went to see what was happening and they were both sitting on the kitchen table eating chocolate cake.  He talks a ton also.  My favorite thing that he says is "Oh no!  What happened?"
He also had his 18 month check up.  Everything was pretty routine until we started looking at his charts.  He showed me his weight chart and he had gained weight, that was pretty exciting.  His height had jumped up a little too.  Then when he showed me his head chart (which I usually ignore because really who cares how big his head is?) I was a little shocked.  His head had jumped way up!  I thought it had to be a mistake.  So did the doctor.  So he remeasured.  It was a little wrong and brought it down a little but there was still a big jump.  So he started explaining what that could mean.  Either a few measurements in the past were wrong (no way to check that) or his head was growing at an unnatural rate which could mean there was a blockage and the fluid wasn't draining from his head properly.  So he started saying that we needed to come in every month to have it measured.  I told him it wasn't possible since we would be moving to New Mexico (more on that later).  So he said to be safe we should get a CT scan to check it out.  He had the CT scan.  Luckily Doug came with us because there is no way I could have held him down like he did.  We should know more next week.

Following Big Brother

SLC/30th B-Day

On the same day as Mikey's appointment Doug found out that he needed to go to SLC the next day for a training for his new job (more on that to come).  So when we got home I put the boys down for their nap and packed like crazy!  Thursday we had our friends come over to play and Friday we went to their house.  Mikey loves baby's and was so happy when Kaylene brought one for him to play with.

Mikey feeding the baby

 We also went and got some birthday decorations for Doug's birthday which was on Friday.  James figured out that if he put them over the vent they would float.

James' game "up balloon"

 James had a lot of fun playing with Zac.  We brought his trains so they mostly played that.

Playing trains

 Doug spent the two days in an incredibly boring meeting that made him very unexcited for his job.  When he got home on Friday we headed to Provo to go to dinner at his favorite restaurant Carrabba's.  Tim and Jason took the kids so we had a nice quite dinner.  Then we headed home where the kids went to sleep and Doug opened what few presents we had for him.  Overall not a great 30th birthday for him.
We headed home the next day and had cake and ice cream that night for his birthday and he opened the rest of his presents.

Birthday Cake

Blizzard
Sunday night the blizzard started.  School was canceled for the week.  These two seagulls got stuck in our yard.  I think one had a hurt foot.  They kept trying to fly away but the wind was just too strong.   There was so much snow!

Seagull stuck in the yard

 Tuesday we made this blanket fort to help alleviate some of the boredom.  It worked well.  The boys loved watching movies and eating lunch inside.

Blanket fort

 Doug had to snow blow a ton!  On Monday our neighbor borrowed a tractor and cleared our driveways.  On Tuesday morning Doug had to snow blow to get out for work.  On Tuesday night he had to Snow blow so he could get home.  On Wednesday morning he had to snow blow so we could get to IF for Mikey's CT scan.  On Wednesday night we parked at John Deere and walked in.  On Thursday morning Doug snow blowed so we could get the car home.  James wanted to go out and play.  He went right over to his lawnmower and got it out to help Dad snow blow the driveway.

James pushing a "Snow blower" 

Thanksgiving
We had a fun Thanksgiving.  Mikey got sick and didn't want to eat anything.  James was himself and didn't want to eat anything.  Everyone else made up for it!
James had a new "thing" he likes to dress himself and he is very opinionated about what he wears. Not a big deal except that lately everything he wants to wear is Mikey's!

James wearing Mikey's shirt

Moving
Doug also found out this month that they have a new job for him.  It is on the air force base in Clovis New Mexico.  We are excited to get away from the snow for the winter but a little nervous about moving to a new place.  There is a school there for James called "Los Ninos" for kids with special needs.  I called and they said they will definitely take him so that is good.  Doug's new position is "Quality Control"  Some good things are that he has a job, he will probably be working 4 10 hour days, and he gets a company vehicle.  Some things that worry us are in the training he went to they said no work could be done unless the quality control person was on site!  It is also a lot of paper work.  So I guess we will see what happens in the next little while.  We are moving the week before Christmas so I guess the plan is to move halfway (to Doug's parents in CO) Then the boys and I will finally see our new home sometime after the new year.

Pinewood Demolition Derby

A few months ago Doug had this brilliant idea...a Pinewood Demolition Derby.  So for the past month or so he and other family members have been working hard on their cars to participate.  I have to say I was pretty impressed by all the different ideas people came up with.  And it ended up being more fun that I thought it would.  

Scott's Car

Chad's car.  He actually made this for a pinewood derby in his ward but when we were visiting one time James threw it down the stairs and broke it so he decided to use it for this.  It was by far James' favorite car and we had to hide it so he would leave it alone and not break it before the event.   It was also by far the heaviest car there.

Grammy's car.  Her idea was to use "springs" to bounce off the other cars. 

Grandpa's car. 

My car.  My strategy was to go as slow as possible to avoid the worst of the crash.  Doug thought my idea was kind of wimpy but it worked well.

James' car.  He had the mouse traps set for the first run, but it didn't really work.

Grandma's car.  She won the best paint job award, and did leave a "kiss of  death"  on all the other cars.  

Mikey's car.  His lasted a long time.  It was strong. 

Blake's car.  His idea was to use axels that couldn't break so the wheels couldn't fall off.  It worked but he had to be disqualified when the wheels stopped touching the track. 

Tim's car.  This car did a LOT of damage.

Doug's car.  His strategy was to have a defensive end and an offensive end.  Smart idea.

Jason's car.  That golf club helped a lot.

The track.

Once we had all the entries we began the crashes.  It seemed to go pretty slow at first but it soon picked up and there were some pretty fun crashes.  Originally there were two different classes but I guess the one was too 'wimpy' and they decided to just combine them.  My car ended up winning the whole thing and didn't even have a wheel broken off.  I was pretty proud of my "slow and steady" technique.  

James had to go watch a movie in our room.  It was all a little to much for him. 

Amber and the Boys' cars.  I was sad these didn't show up on time, we have the SLOWEST mail and they came a day late.  Very clever idea to cover them with bouncy balls.