Meeting Family :)

 On Saturday my sister Bethany and her family were able to stop by on their way home from vacation. I haven't seen them since April and neither of us had seen the others' baby. It was so much fun to be able to swap babies :)

 Here we are with the others' little treasure :)

Jimmy and Emma together, now we just need to get Seth (my brother's new baby) in with them and it will be complete.

I think that this ones looks like they are sharing secrets, Emma looks kinda traumatized by it too :)

And here is one that I just had to throw in 'cause I think he is just SOOO cute ;-)

And I finally caught him laughing on tape!!!  I never know when he is going to find something humorous and so haven't been able to catch him on tape yet but today he just thought that the strap on his changing pad was hilarious and he laughed long enough that I was able to get the camera and still catch him giggling :)

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving Curtiss and I had our plans changed a bit. We had thought that Curtiss's family would come and stay and celebrate with us here in Ohio but the Lord had other plans. Last Monday evening Curtiss's grandma (who had been struggling with Alzheimers for years) passed away to be with her Lord and Savior.  So we ended heading to New York for this last weekend. It was a very bitter/sweet time, it was great to be able to see people again and to know that Grandma Bohall was no longer suffering but everyone will still miss and her greatly.

It was a lot of fun to see Nate and Jimmy together again.  Jimmy was old enough to actually notice Nate and Nate kept us all on our toes to make sure that his loving care for Jimmy didn't end up detrimental to one or both of them :)  I thought you all might enjoy some pictures of our time there.

The above picture isn't the one that I originally wanted but blogger kept messing up on the one that I did but this one was still cute and shows the two boys together.  Jimmy looks kinda shell shocked and that is most likely because we had about three cameras going at the same time and we felt rather like celebrities with all the flashes going off.  Usually when Jimmy was that close to Nate he was trying to touch his face and hair and Nate spent the time trying to dodge Jimmy's little fingers :)

Here is Grandma and Grandpa with their two grandsons.

  While we were there we celebrated Christmas since Curtiss and I are planning on going to my parents house at Christmas time and it wouldn't work to fit in both families in one trip.

Jimmy LOVED wrapping paper (whenever mama wasn't fast enough and he got some) it was almost as good as pizza crust or cookie crumbs :)

 Nate was a lot of fun to watch, he is old enough now that he really likes presents and simple things like M&M's really make his day :)

Jimmy did extremely well in the truck both on the way there and back, especially considering the fact that he usually is screaming after a couple of hours shopping and driving around town. I always thought it was the carseat  that he didn't like but maybe he suffers from the same thing most men do and he just doesn't like shopping???

6 Months

 Yes, that is right as of tomorrow my little boy will be 6 months old.  I really can't believe that he is already half a year old but at the same time I wonder what I did before I had him :)

He has changed SOOO much and gotten so big, he is starting to move into 12 month size clothing and to move out of 6 month size.

This picture was taken just a few days ago with my cell phone and I think he looks REALLY good in orange, it makes his eyes pop :)

Our happy family, we love our boy!!! :)

Teeth, Apples and Glasses

     Hey everybody! Yes, I know I have sorely neglected this poor blog but it just seems that I haven't had time to blog and I think that I am a horrible first time mother since I don't take pictures of my son nearly as much as I know other first time moms do. So I haven't had very many pictures of a certain cute little boy to share with you.

As you can see in the picture below Jimmy is teething and his first tooth finally came in far enough that you can see it in a picture.  I think that he is the easiest teether ever (so far anyway:) since one day I noticed he had a large bump on his gums and the next day I could feel the tip of the tooth. No crying, fussing, runny nose or fever. I am very much hoping that all his teething is this easy!!!

Sorry about the slight blur of the picture... it is quite difficult these days to have anything within reach of certain little hands... and the camera had to be close to see the tooth :)


Jimmy is also very much enjoying his discovery of FOOD. He loves to eat and if I have anything that is going into my mouth he wants it too... BADLY :)

The other day Curtiss and I were eating supper and had some apple slices that I had cut up and Jimmy greatly enjoyed sucking on a piece, he was rather frantic if it slipped out of his hands :)

He has really gotten into playing with his toys now too. And for not getting around much on his own he sure can spread the toys around the room. He usually will have a radius of toys surrounding himself. 
The not getting around part is changing rapidly too, yesterday he rolled onto his stomach for the first time by himself.

And now for this picture.... Yes, I now have glasses.... just got back from picking them up in fact.... Lets just say that it is going to take some getting used too. I mostly need them for driving especially at night but anything distance related I can for sure see better now. :)

My Man

 Since Curtiss and I are within a couple of days of our two year anniversary I just have to brag on my husband a little bit :)  The last two years really have been the best of my life even though we have gone through some pretty significant changes together and it just keeps getting better. In many (good) ways it seems like we have been together much, much longer than two years.

Now some of you might be wondering what a picture of a burnt roast has to do with the anything I have said thus far. Well, that is what our dinner looked like this last Sunday.  I had gotten it all ready Saturday night and started it right before going to bed, we woke up to the wonderful smell of roasted meat and I thought "Oh, that smells good!" and then I got up and got the baby out of his crib and went downstairs and by the time I got to the bottom of the stairs I knew something wasn't right. It didn't smell quite as good as it had upstairs.  I thought I had added enough water but this is what I found when I looked in the crock pot...

Beautiful isn't it??? At first I thought it was completely charred but upon closer inspection the meat itself wasn't burnt (just my poor crock pot, which by the way came completely clean after soaking for 24 hours, HOORAY for soap and water) it was just completely dried out and in my opinion a little like jerky.  Now for the bragging part.  Curtiss liked it, to quote "If I had my way I would fix it like this every time."  I had some very mixed emotions eating that meal, how am I suppose to feel bad about serving such a thing when I know he is telling the truth about liking it? but at the same time how am I suppose to be proud of such a dried, shriveled up hunk of meat???

And this is what I found on my doorstep when the Fedex lady rang my door bell this afternoon. 

Beautiful aren't they? 

 I could keep going but I think that for now I will quit bragging because as the song in Calamity Jane goes...

Well, now, if you've got a cutie who's a real sweet patootie
better keep it under your hat
Just remember curiousity in fables of old
Killed the curious cat

Supposin' you love a laddie who's a sweet sugar daddy
Better take in the welcoming mat
Remember there's a dozen dolls for every Dan
You're not the only sweet pea in the can

So, if you wanna know the way to keep your man
Keep it under your hat
Keep it under your hat!

:)

My Little (Big) Boy

 I always figured I would end up being the shortest person in my family, it doesn't take much to pass the 5' 21/2" (yes, half and even quarter inches count when you are my height) that I am. But I didn't think that I would have a son who is almost half my height by the time he is four months old, I do believe he is in danger of being taller than me by the time he is five (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration:) but he is tall....

For reference sake here he is in his car seat the day that we brought him back from the hospital, cute and little huh??? Well, he has now grown too long for that seat.

Here he is in his new seat. We got one that is convertible, as in it can face both the rear and the front and it has lots of room for him to grow.

And here is a picture that is here just because I think he is adorable and have to share :)

My view on ladders and life...

                   My life of late has been busy,

                                                    but busy in a weird way...

A good three quarters of my summer has been spent away from home.

Between Summit, vacationing, spending time with family.

I really don't know what the weather was like in New York this summer.

Now Ohio and Tennessee on the other hand...

I could tell you exactly what the weather was like there.

On this first day of Autumn, I look back over my summer, and think...

It has been a good but challenging summer.

It has been full of new adventures, new faces, new experiences,

now some of these experiences I never want to experience again.

But I know that every experience,

and every thing that I have experienced this summer is all part of a bigger plan...

Even when I can't see what that plan will be.

This has been my view of late.

The caption of the photo above is very true. In many different aspects of my life, it is very true...

My view literally has I have been on a ladder a lot more then I normally am, as I have been helping rip old siding off our old/new house and put on new vinyl. It has also been the view of my spiritual walk. I am sure this needs an explanation.

'You feel like your walk with God is like being on a ladder???'

Well, no, not exactly, but there are some similarities.

First of all, you must make sure that you ladder is on level sturdy ground. You must be set upon "the Rock of Ages." And as soon as you are sure that your ladder is on firm level ground, you start your ascent, just starting the climb up a ladder can give you a thrill, you get that, "this could be an adventure" rush to the head, and your heart starts racing just slightly. A whole new exciting world with just one step off the ground.

As you climb you discover new things about yourself,

such as your fears, where you are afraid you will fail or fall.

It can be a truly terrifying spot... especially when the breeze blows and the ladder quakes just slightly. That is when all your fears are revealed in their full light. And it can cause you to freeze in your ascent to the top. Now it is when you are frozen to one spot that the most work can be done on the house that your ladder is leaning against. I mean you can't work when all that you are doing is climbing. It is at these frozen areas in your walk where you can get out the hammer and the crowbar and you can start accomplishing the work that you were on the ladder to do in the first place. I feel as if I am in one of these frozen areas on my way up the ladder. In fact I feel like God has allowed my ladder to be shaken. Which having your ladder shaken by someone can be the most terrifying thing one can ever experience, it sure will make you sure footed though. ;) It is a time that you truly get to know yourself. And hopefully a time when you can work on areas of your life that need attention. A time to get out the old crowbar and hammer and start prying away the old beat up layers of house, to reveal the original work of the carpenter. For it is only when the old battered pieces of protective layers are gone that the house is ready for the new protective layer of vinyl to be put on. What a mess it would be if we tried to just ignore the old aluminum and just started putting on the new siding... what a mess. It is a long and sometimes painful process. But oh, so worth it. Because someday the ascent will start again, move one hand, one foot, the other hand, the other foot, until finally you can go up one more rung on your ladder, and so starts the adventure once more. One rung or...

one day at a time.

Just take it one day at a time.

Our house before

And so ends my ladder object lesson to myself. It sometimes is just therapeutic to write stuff out, so if you read through it and were like, 'she can live on her ladder if she likes, but I don't really think life is like a ladder, she is a little whacked.' That's okay, this is the kind of post that comes out of me when the hour is getting later and later, and I am listening to Emile Pandolfi Radio on Pandora (piano ballads) Listening to piano music tends to make me a little reflective. ;) And sometimes strangely... emotional. But that is besides the point. Back to our house transformation, and enough about how piano music affects me.

During

Our house literally looks like it had a face lift.

I think it actually looks more sure of itself and cheerful with its new 'garments' on.

And I don't have a better after picture yet. So this will have to do.

Our house just needs a porch swing for the front porch to be perfect... Time to get into that wood shop that I have been talking to much about and start working towards making a swing.

Just hanging out on the ridge.

What better place to hang out after ripping stuff off the sides of the house then the roof? Josh didn't help but he ended up being in the picture 'cause he brought his Pepsi out onto the roof and that happened to be when Mom came out to snap some pictures. He at least gave me a sip of his Pepsi. ;)

Four Months

That's right, my baby is four months old today. I really can't believe that that much time has passed since he was born but at the same time it's hard to imagine life without him. What did I do all day long anyway? :)

He now...
weighs 13lbs 2 1/2 oz
is 25 1/2" long
and is wearing 6~9 month clothing

Yeah, that is a bathrobe he is wearing, I got that as a shower gift and I
just had to get a picture of him wearing it (before he out grows it)
so that is what we used today after his bath :)

He has been getting better and better using his hands, he doesn't have to concentrate so hard to grab something anymore. Mommy is proud and scared because her days of eating while holding him in peace are quickly coming to an end :)

Me and my boy
(he isn't so good at looking at the camera yet:)

Hello

Well, I guess it has been a while since I have posted anything. I thought I should at least come on here and say Hi to everyone.
Elise and I had a great time while she was here visiting, so much fun in fact that we never even took the time to take a picture of the two of us (awful I know) I guess she will just have to come back again sometime so that we can get at least one :)
Jimmy has been doing very well, he has been growing and changing so fast. He is now wearing 6-9 month clothing (No, he is not older than you thought he was he is just extremely long, he will be four months old on this coming Tuesday :) He is getting quite good with his hands and is starting to really like and notice toys. I was planning on posting a few pictures here but blogger isn't working very well and keeps giving me an error report so I guess you will all have to wait for another day ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

We would like to take this opportunity to wish our not-so-little-any-more brother a VERY Happy 15'th Birthday!

And since he is going to read this blog (because he loves us so much he wouldn't miss a post:)
we would just like to say that we love you and hope that this next year will be a wonderful one and that you spend lots of it with your big sister in Ohio.
(Oh, and Isaiah we hope you liked your present;)

Oh be careful little hands....

It has been one of the best experiences of my life to watch my son grow and learn and when he suddenly discovers something that he hasn't ever noticed before it just sends a thrill all through me.

Yesterday was one of those days....

...He discovered his hands!!!

As you can see they are completely absorbing, he will just sit and stare at them watching them move and intertwine :)
It just really makes you appreciate the small things in life, the things that most of us don't even notice like the use of our hands and how they work. Our God is truly an awesome God!

And this video is just one I got of Jimmy having a conversation with his Aunt Elise :)

Well, since I am at Joanna's house we figured that we couldn't go through the whole visit without blogging at least once and since this little boy consumes so much of our time, and is so stinkin' cute he happens to be in all of the pictures that I have taken :) So here are a few of my favorites taken so far.

Joanna found him surrounded by all of his bears during one of his naps... he had rearranged them so that they were grouped around him.

His changing table/buffet is one of his favorite places to hang out and stare at the pictures that Joanna and I hung up above it.... he also likes to stare and talk to you in the mirror.



Now because this boy takes after his father who should be on the geek squad I had the hardest time getting a picture of him smiling... Every single time I got my camera out he would just stare at it completely absorbed as if he wanted to figure out what it was and how it worked. So after vowing that I would have a picture of him smiling before I left I waited for the right moment... and it finally came while he was sitting on his Momma's lap. The next goal will be getting him while he is laughing, which he did for the first time while I was here, and has done a couple of times since.



Now this a "just-because-I-love-his-blue-eyes" picture... At times his eyes almost look like they have a purplish hue... Joanna and I try to avoid saying that they are pretty... but the color sure is pretty. ;)

Sweet Pea

Here are some new pictures of Jimmy.... they are especially for Mrs. G- and my Mom :)







The rest of you will just have to guess what the meaning behind it is :)

Too Young???

This afternoon I was watching something on youtube while holding Jimmy and he was so interested that I thought "Hmmm I wonder if he would watch something if I put it on for him". Curtiss and I are members of Netflix so I went on there to see if they had any Baby Einstein on instant play, unfortunately they didn't but they suggested Barney as the closest thing on instant to Baby Einstein so I decided that since this was an experiment anyway why not try that???

As you can see it was a success. He sat there for over 20 minutes watching and smiling at it.
And it had me asking the question "isn't he too young for this????"

Lift your eyes...

" I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore."

~ Psalm 121 ~

This Psalm was mentioned this past Sunday and I have been brought back to it all week. I just thought I would share it... the promises made in it bring such hope and comfort to me and I hope they do the same for you.

My thr3e weeks: Tennessee Hobos ( Final Part )

I finally got around to posting my final post on our vacation in the hills of Tennessee, and I must warn you that it will be a rather random post, using up the last few pictures.

One day we all just went into Gatlinburg to go walking/shopping down Main Street. And somehow all of us ended up taking a picture as this mountain man, and I figured it was the perfect set of pictures to show us off as the Tennessee hobos.

:: GRinddddd :: Every time we started the Expedition up and started driving this is the sound that we heard coming from the rear right side tire. I guess a vacation is never complete without a break down of some sort. The truck was still drivable but it made horrid grinding noises that made you cringe and wonder when the tire would just fly off. Knowing that we needed to find out what the noise was, Dad, during on of the sessions at the conference, went out with Micah to pull off the tire to find out what was wrong with it. It ended up being the wheel bearings which they would have been able to fix themselves if they had the right tools and parts... but we were on vacation and obviously didn't have any of the tools needed. So, Dad asked at the conference where we could find an auto shop, and ended up finding a guy who was local who recommended a good place. So having only Christine's car to work with we were kind of in a pickle, for you see it was lunch time, the truck was in the shop, and we had eight people and a five passenger car. Now, don't get me wrong, we were still very thankful we had a car, but we could only fit five people at a time into it. We couldn't eat at the conference center, they didn't allow outside food in. And Mom had packed us stuff for sandwiches but we really didn't have anyplace to eat it. Especially since it was 90+ outside and there really wasn't any shade around the conference center. So it was decided that five people would climb into Christine's car to go find a place, and three people would stay and wait to be picked up as the second load. Now I was among three people that stayed at the center so I was not a party to the group who was driving around trying to find us someplace to eat. I was able to stay in the nice air conditioned building, while the other party sweated to death in the non-air-conditioned car. I really do think us three got the better end of the deal. Forty-five minutes after leaving us, Christine came back all wet and very weary looking to pick us up, and she said that after searching for a food court at the outlet malls which they found out didn't exist they had finally decided we were eating at Wal-mart. Hmmm... I don't believe I have ever had a picnic lunch at Wal-mart but I suppose there is a first time for everything. When we arrived I gave Dad a call to find out exactly where they were we finally found them outside a little bus stop in the Wal-mart parking lot. The lady inside Wal-mart said it was the only place she could think of that we could sit down and eat. Apparently they didn't even have picnic tables for their employees. So, she had recommended the bus stop, but it was about the temperature of a greenhouse and smelled worse then a cigarette pack. So, looking very much like homeless people we ate out of a Wal-mart grocery cart. It was an adventure to say the least, and provides a lot of memories.

After our picnic lunch was over we visited Chic-fil-a and got a few milkshakes to cool us all off, and then we started Christine's tram service back up. Five of us went back to the conference center and three decided to go shopping at Wal-mart. This time I was in the first five to go back. Upon arriving back at the conference center we all found a couch or chair and made ourselves comfortable and took a nap. When the second "tram" run arrived, we found out they had gone and rented a car so we could go home that night without Christine having to drive for three hours to get us all back to the cabins. Thankfully we only had to rent the car for 24 hours 'cause our truck was fixed and ready to be picked up the next afternoon.

After spending four days in the conference center the plan was to take it easy on Friday, our last free day before heading home. Our plans changed very quickly when we were given 7 tickets to Dollywood. We would only need to buy one ticket for all of us to go and they were selling them for a special price at the conference. So, we all got to go to Dollywood for thirty-eight dollars. It was a fun theme park with several roller coasters and a few water based rides. One of the last things we did there was ride on their steam engine/coal powered train. This was the perfect ending day to a very nice but busy vacation. The next day we loaded the truck and trailer up and drove 14 hours straight home. Thus ended my three weeks in Tennessee which were exhausting but awesome.

I DID IT!!!!!!!

For some time now I have been feeling the NEED of a hair cut. Really since before Jimmy was born but I thought I would want my hair long so that I could put it up during labor if needed, so one day has followed another - we moved (where do I go??? - I have a baby to care for (and who wants to get their hair cut while listening to a screaming baby? let alone the poor person who is cutting your hair) and I never know whether Curtiss will be home at noon or nine so I it wouldn't be very easy to schedule an appointment, and did I mention that I had been feeling a major need to get my hair cut???? Anyways all this added up to this.....

Yep, you guessed it I cut my own hair!!! and so that you can see what it looked like before

This picture was actually taken over a month ago so it was if anything even longer

I think I am still in shock!! :)

Jimmy D (Again :)

I thought it was time for another Jimmy post, are you all sure you aren't tired of him yet???? :) He has really started smiling and "talking" a lot lately and I have been hoping to catch it on film so that I could share it with all of you but up until now the camera hasn't been anywhere nearby when he has been especially talkative until this morning so here is a clip for your viewing pleasure...

...sometimes he just has to tell me something whether he is eating or just laying on the couch by himself he just HAS to talk, it is SOOO cute even if I do say so myself :)



Lounging, looking cool in his bumbo :)

Announcing...