Christmas 2008

Make a Smilebox greeting

Well, we had a great Christmas! It was so nice to be home and lay around in our PJs all day, well James and Mommy did at least! It seemed like James got it down, as far as opening gifts, he even shook them first and with each one he opened he'd say, "WOW!" By the end of the night he said Santa clear as day but I haven't got him to repeat it yet, although he does a pretty good, Ho Ho Ho! Tony and I both agreed it was the most fun Christmas we've had since we were kids. It's so much fun to see the enjoyment kids get out of everything, the lights and decorations, the food, the parades, the movies and of course, the gifts. We are truly blessed. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

James and I have been baking for Santa. Well, not everything turned out great but we had fun in the process! James was so much fun to bake with but he kept trying to eat the baking soda... yuck! Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday! Now I'm off to make dinner so we can watch a Christmas movie together and relax!

Hide and Go Seek

Lately James thinks it's really cool to play hide and go seek when it's time to get dressed. As you can see, he thinks as long as his eyes are hidden you can't see him!

James' Birthday Party

We had a James' 2nd Birthday party today with his playgroup friends. He had so much fun, but I think it was a bit overwhelming too. He shared pretty well but it was the first time his home had been invaded by other kids and he had a hard time with all the chaos. It seemed one would start crying, then everyone would cry and by the end of the party he had worked himself up so much that he threw up! Oh, well. It was still a good time!
James making a wish and blowing out the candles on his cake...with a little help from his friends too.
My friend Shaunna let me barrow her Elmo cake pan and I made the cake and frosted it last night. It actually turned out a little better than I thought considering that it was my first time frosting a cake. It did feel a little weird cutting into Elmo but he sure did taste good...

Santa and Sirens Parade

Tonight we went to the Santa and Sirens Parade. James was so excited to see all of the motorcycle police and fire trucks. He kept waving and saying "Hi" to everyone. Unfortunately we did not stay long due to the cold weather but we took a little drive around after to look at Christmas lights.
James was a little skeptical of Santa and this was the best picture we could get before we had a total melt down.
James with Daddy donating a toy to the toy drive collection bin. What a generous little man!

Christmas Elves

My friend Shaunna sent me this and I thought it was so funny, I had to make an elf dance of our own! This is absolutely hilarious! I hope you all make your own Elf dances and laugh your heads off!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/p4V0w7zUUmisw61rYlOI

Christmas Time is Here!

I couldn't be happier with Christmas season finally being here! It's my favorite time of the year. I worked three days this weekend and could hardly wait to be off so I could decorate. Yesterday Tony I decorated and cleaned the house and Tony got the house lights up. I can't help that this is my favorite time of the year. As if Christmas isn't wonderful enough, it will be James' 2nd Birthday on December 23 and this day also marks Tony and my 10th year of being together since he asked me to be his girlfriend in high school. It still makes me laugh. I remember sitting in his Dad's Chevy blazer right outside my parents house, and him asking me to be his girlfriend. It's amazing, we were 16 and 17 back then! After all these years, we've managed to grow together...sometimes one of us is dragging the other one along but we always end up in the same place eventually! I remember Tony telling me that we would get married one day, and here we are with two love children. Hehehe. I love you, James and Tony...and my little Lucas, who I can't wait to meet! Now I'm off to work on my Christmas letter...

Thankful

Last night at work I helped with a baby who had died. The baby was born prematurely and it broke my heart to see the little one as he passed away. I have been involved in caring for babies who have passed away several times before and while it is always the most unpleasant aspect of my job I don't think it has ever struck me in quite the same way as it did last night. I couldn't help but think about my beautiful boy at home and the healthy little baby I carry inside me right now. My little Lucas is only two weeks younger than this baby who passed away. I am so thankful for the health of my family and to God for all of His blessings!

Erik's 3rd Birthday Party

We went to cousin Erik's birthday party Saturday and had a fun time. I really didn't do a good job getting pictures but I thought this was pretty cute. James took a break from playing and grabbed the "3" candle off of the table and started licking all the frosting off of it. It was fun to see James having so much fun and how he is starting to get more independent when we go somewhere. Instead of dragging me around the entire time to play, he really occupied himself and I could tell he had a lot of fun. My little baby is becoming a little boy!

Family Pictures

Last Friday afternoon we had some family pictures taken through a friend of a member of my MOMS club. What a bargain, all of our pictures, on a CD and our sitting fee was only $68! Well, maybe I'm spoiling the fun by showing these to everyone now since they are going to be made into Christmas cards, but I just couldn't help myself. I thought my two favorite men just looked terrific! Tony and James, I love you more than you can imagine. Maybe this would have been better if my belly was just a little bit bigger, but I still thought it was a pretty sweet shot. Little Lucas, we are looking forward to your arrival!
My little stud muffin, James. He is such a ham. I think he loves getting his picture taken!

Rebel Rebel

Lately Tony and I have been listening to music a lot and James always likes to join in the fun. Tonight he put all of Tony's guitar lessons to good use and jammed! Watch out all you rock stars, here comes James.

Halloween

So, unfortunately Halloween didn't go exactly as planned. Tony came home from clinical and was feeling really sick. The flu has been going around his clinical group and I suppose it was just his turn. Well, needless to say James and I had to tough it out alone ...which is why I really didn't get any good pictures. Poor James, he was so hot in his costume which made him a little grumpy. When I asked him if he wanted to go trick or treating he said no and wouldn't even consider putting the monkey suit back on. After the first trick or treaters came to our house he changed his mind and was ready to go. We only went to about four houses on our street but it was enough. One house I took him to was decorated too scary for him (they had a fog machine and scary music playing) and as we made our way up to the house he kept saying "No Mama, no!" and finally sat in the middle of the sidewalk so I decided to move on to the next house... The rest of the night was spent handing out candy until Halloween got rained out!
My little buddy answered the door with me and helped pass out the candy. James greeted everyone with a "Hello," and after passing out the candy would say "Bye" and shut the door.
My little grumpy monkey! Doesn't he look incredibly sad?

Overprotective Mommy?

Well, I finally got James out of the house today. We ran a few errands and then went to play at the pee wee gym. I finally got fed up with the bigger kids taking toys straight out of his hands that I finally told this one kid that he was rude and to leave James alone. I'm sorry but his mom was in the lobby, not even in the gym with him. It just makes me so mad when parents let their kids run around like that and don't even watch them. So watch out people Mrs. Tabacco might call your kid rude....or maybe I'll start ripping toys out of their hands because I'm bigger than them... hehehe Am I evil?

Where do the days go?

It seems these days are flying buy so fast lately with it getting dark out earlier and all. I have felt so tired it takes me longer and longer to recover from my weekends of work it seems. I guess thats just part of being pregnant. Boy am I looking forward to my maternity leave, weekends off and at least a little sleep each night! I am feeling a little guilty that I haven't been taking James to do very many activities lately but he has been such a good guy. Today I laid down on the couch with my head next to him and he rubbed my head, then he whispers, "Mama," and growls like a dinosaur. I couldn't ask for a better little buddy to have around than him! I love you James!

Buffalo Bills Update...

Okay, so we're not 5-0, but 5-1 is still pretty good. During the previous game with the Arizona Cardinals, our quarterback, Trent Edwards (Go Stanford!) took a bad hit and suffered a concussion. It kind of ruined the team mentally for the rest of the game, contributing to the loss. With Trent Edwards back after a much needed bye weekend, we scored a decisive win against San Diego, and are now considered "one of the teams to beat" in the NFL. The Bills haven't looked this good in over a decade and we definitely have high playoff hopes.

Bishop's Pumkin Farm

Here we are at Bishop's farm ready for a fun day! This pumpkin farm had been recommended to us by quite a few co-workers and friends. Definitely worth the trip.
The first thing we did when we got there was to ride the train! James loved it and kept Mooing at all of the cows along the way!
James had so much fun feeding the baby goats.

James pumpkin hunting. He even got a pumpkin for his soon to be baby brother! What a good big brother.
Here James and Mommy enjoy the hayride back after picking pumpkins. What a fun day! This is a great place to go for a fun day of pumpkin picking. There is so much to do, we didn't even see the entire place. The other fun thing there that we did not get a picture of were the pig races! So much fun!

Gym

Today I took James to our local Pee Wee Open Gym. He had such a blast. It's in a gym, and they put out all kinds of things like parachutes, tricycles, mats, balls, basketball hoops, and hula hoops and the kids have a blast! He played for a good 45 minutes or so and then he was starved so we went home for lunch and nap time. I've gotta admit, I was getting a little tired myself. As you can see, we still haven't broken him of the binky. He is so happy to sit with his binky and smell his favorite corner of his blanket. Hey, it may be weird but it works...

It's a BOY!

We had the 20 week ultrasound yesterday and it's another BOY! We are so excited that James will have a little brother to play with! So far, the radiology tech says everything looks good and we can't wait to meet the new addition to our family. What a blessing it is!

Night Terror

Last night Tony and I had the scariest experience to date with James. He was crying in his crib shortly after going to bed and had pooped, so Tony was going to change his diaper. When he lifted him out of bed James started screaming and arching his back and punching and pulling. We didn't know what was happening so we were about to take him to the ER when we couldn't get him to settle down. He seemed to be in pain and couldn't make eye contact with us. On our way out the door, I was holding him and could feel an awareness come into his body like he had just woken up. He then said in his sweet little voice, "Mama?" After doing some searching online we came to the conclusion that this was a night terror. Very scary, but we were glad to see he was okay!

Heading to the Superbowl?

Well, we are off to a great start this season. The Buffalo Bills are now 4-0 after Sunday's game. There is no reason for them not to demolish Arizona next Sunday to put us at 5-0. We have been having a lot of fun watching the games and it's great to see the Bills doing so well this year. The Bills have not gone 4-0 since 1992, and this is the best they've looked since that era. GO BILLS!

Apple Hill

I took James to Apple Hill with my MOMS Club Wednesday. Unfortunately, Tony couldn't come because of school but the trip was lots of fun! In this first picture is Farmer Floyd who drove the tractor for our hayride! And next, the rest of the MOMS Club and their kiddos. After the hayride we got to see how they sort the apples, make apple juice, apple pie, and caramel apples. Then it was off to the trout pond to feed the fish!

James loved to run around the Apple Trees at Grandpas Cavern where we had delicious apple cheesecake! We even got to bring home some great apples for Tony to sample!

Haircuting Tips...

Moms out there, here is a word to the wise. Please do not let your husbands cut your sons hair. Men think this will be a bonding experience or even "fun." It is not, don't be fooled. Last night Tony decided to cut James' hair. Let's just say James was left bald, I was left crying, and hair was left all over my floor. Seriously, I started off laughing and then I was really crying hysterically. I think it's partly those pregnancy hormones.... I love you Tony, for trying, but . . .

September 11, 2008 FIRE!

Tony and I awoke at 3:00am to the smell of fire. Thinking at first it was woodsmoke, we closed the window but something seemed off. Who would be burning a fire in their fireplace at 3:00 am with such warm weather? Tony went to investigate and after I heard the backyard hose go on I peered out the window to see Tony attempting to extinguish a fire by our BBQ and A/C units merely inches from our living room wall! Tony managed to extinguish the fire but we called the Fire Dispatch just to have them come look and make sure it was all the way out. Tony and I thought for sure the fire was from our BBQ since we had used it to cook with that evening. Upon further inspection the fire captain was really suspicious of the A/C unit as a possible cause due to a short circuit in the wiring. Ironically, the fire had burned a small hole through a part of our sprinkler system so water was continually spurting out from the hole in the direction of the fire. Who knows how much time that saved us from the fire making it's way to the house! I only regret that that night before going to bed I didn't have Tony check on the strong smell I noticed like BBQ. I thought it was just from using our BBQ but surely there was something more going on. So, ladies, especially pregnant ladies with a good sense of smell, trust your instincts!
Well, I always feel the presence of God in my life but this especially makes me thankful for Him. It's as if someone was watching over us the way we were woken up by the smell, and the way the sprinkler was aimed at the fire, and the fact that our house was untouched. Not to mention we didn't have a propane tank in our gas BBQ that would have caused an explosion! We remain safe and sound thanks to our guardian angels!

Morse Park

A new park by our house opened recently with a cool water feature for the kids. We went on a hot day and had so much fun! It's James' new favorite park.

California State Fair

We went to the California State Fair Tuesday with Grandma and Grandpa Benson. What a blast! Here is the picture they took of us entering the park. Not to bad, eh? (Sorry, I couldn't enlarge it after scanning it in.)
Here my mom and Tony went on the Drop Zone type ride. My dad and I hung out with James below and watched. Way to go grandma!!! What a trooper. Not too shabby for a soon to be 63 year old grandmother!
At the "California Goes Hollywood" mini movie sets we found a tribute to Tony....
The sea lions at the sea lion exhibit!
James and Mommy watching the sea lions!
Thanks Daddy for winning me an elmo doll. "La la la....elmo's world"...
Tony, Sarah, and James go sliding! Woo Hoo! After we were done James wanted to climb back up the slide and go again!
Three little popcorn heads....although Tony's head didn't quite make it in....
James went to the petting zoo and had so much fun feeding the goats.

He's pretty popular with the goats handing out food! We had so much fun at the fair we can't wait to do it again next year too!

Anniversary

July 22nd was our 3 year anniversary. Tony and I decided to stay close and spend the day in San Jose at Santana Row. I was not feeling very adventurous due to my morning sickness. We ended up having a great day starting with some bento boxes at Blowfish Sushi. Then we did some shopping and grabbed an ice cream cone at Ben and Jerry's and headed off to see "The Dark Knight" which was amazing. (I'm sure you've all seen it too!) Next we went to good 'ole Massimos in Fremont for some veal marsala and creme brulee!!! (Don't ask me to spell it, but you know what I mean!) Yummy. I remember Tony saying to me when we were eatting our ice cream cones, "I forgot how much I like you!" It was so true! Sometimes we become so focused on work, school, house work, and James that we forget how much we enjoy eachothers company. So, here's to you Tony! I love you too!

James' Baptism

James was baptized on Sunday by Paster Berg at Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Fremont where Tony and I started going in high school. Since he lives next door to my parents, Paster was able to join us for James' luncheon afterwards!

James with Mommy, Daddy, and Godfather Alex and Godmother Karen!!

Realizing Erin and I have been friends for going on twenty three years and have no pictures of the two of us together past the age of thirteen it was time to get one after lunch that day!