Dear James
Happy Halloween!
Today was your second Halloween and the first one that you could actually enjoy a little more since last year you were still new and little that you just cuddle with grandma the whole time.

This year you were Bam Bam! I made your costume and you were so stinking cute! Daddy and me were Barney and Betty.
We didn't take you Trick or Treating because 1. you don't need all that candy and 2. you are still too little to understand and appreciate it.
We instead took you to Gramps and Gams' house to show you off then we need to buy groceries so we went to Winco and you walked around saying hi and bye to everyone and everyone stopped and said that you were the cutest thing they have ever seen!
You so much fun!
I love you James

Dear James,

Today we had your birthday party! Jessica and Autumn came up last night to help mommy get things ready for the party and you had fun playing with your friend. Then Grandma and Grandpa Doug came up and brought some cookies to have at your party.
We went and set up everything and you played at the park with Grandpa.
Then your friends started showing up. Kelsey and her roommate Lania came, Garrett, Gramps and Gram, Cristina Travis and Bella, and Alyssha Lars and Rion. It was so nice to have everyone there.

I made you a monkey cake, and some chocolate cupcakes with little signs in them, 3 different kinds of cookies. We had bubbles that we gave to everyone, and instead of a candle "1" it was a sparkler "1", a picture banner... there were just so many fun details (I know you wont remember) but I had fun doing it for you!

It was a little chilly so we kept it short and sweet and then came back to the house to open your gifts. You got so many fun things (and some boring cloths too lol) You love all your toys and like to play with one then go to the next and the next and then try to combine them all together...
You were so tired though that after a while you just went grabbed your pacifier and crawled into Grandmas lap and fell asleep then slept for for 3 hours!
But I'm glad you had so much fun today. You are my little monkey and I love you more then anything






Pictures from your birthday and birthday party.

I love you James

Dear James,
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Oh my gosh you are 1! I can't believe it! This year has gone by so fast! I remember when I got to hold you in my arms for the first time and how incredible in love I was with you! You are amazing. I'm so happy you picked me to be your mommy!

Today when I came in to get you I sang Happy Birthday to you and you thought it was funny.  Next the mailman came and brought you cards and packages from friends and family.  Then Grandpa and Grandma Teri sent you a basket full of cookies and a balloon.
Later when daddy came home we went to the park so I could take some pictures of you eating your birthday cake.  It was really really cold so I took them fast!

We then bundled you up and went to dinner Applebees.  We told them it was your birthday so they brought you a sundae and sang to you.

I took a picture of you every day for a year and made a video of it.

I really can't believe it's been a year! I love you so much!

I love you James

Dear James,

I was not feeling good today and you seemed to have twice the amount of energy then you normally do! I really had a hard time getting off the sofa to chase you around the house and keep you out of things.
I also had no voice so I had to "yell" for you to even hear me!
At one point you pulled everything out of my drawer and I just felt so defeated and tired So.... I grabbed my camera and took a picture! You are so cute! And I'm glad you can find fun in the simplest things.

I love you James

Dear James,
This weekend we went to St. George to go visit Grandma and Grandpa Doug.  We had a lot of fun!
On Saturday you came outside to play with Fry and instead you ended up playing with his water bowl and then the hose. So I took off your diaper so you could just be "free" and have a good time!

On Sunday you had fun going to church and decided that you were going to throw up all over Grandma and the floor! And you magically got nothing on yourself! You then decided to sleep through the rest of it.
During dinner you just like kick back put your feet up and have people serve you! You are so spoiled!

Before we left town Grandma gave you a quick bath and I decided that yes your hair was getting too long (even though I was trying to keep it shaggy for Halloween...)
So I gave you your first hair cut! It makes you seem so grown up!

(This is the first cut!) 

I love you James

Dear James,

Today you had so much fun just hanging out around the house.  Your floaty toy was still on the floor and so you dragged it into the family room and then crawled in to it and just leaned backed and closed your eyes... you were so funny! You just sat in it for 20 min or so and just made relaxing sounds. 

Then after a long fun day it was bath time! We had gone to the dollar store earlier and I go you glow sticks to play with in the tub. You thought it was so silly! You would have stayed in the tub all night if I had let you! I'm glad you have so much fun! 

I love you James

Dear James,

Today was the last day of your swim class. Finally today you actually liked everything! You love swimming but when I make you do something you get fussy but today you loved it all.

We always have so much fun and I'm sad it's over. I will just have to sign you up again!

I love you James

Dear James,

We went to Hee Haw Farms today with daddy and we had so much fun!

We first had to go see the animals and you loved the goat that kept trying to eat you.

Then went on a hayride to go pick out a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. We got 3 pumpkins and one was just the right size for you so you got to old it. You thought it was so funny.

I love you James

Dear James,

Today we went to dinner with the whole family! It was to celebrate Grandma's, Papa's and your great uncle Darin's birthday bash! We went to Olive Garden and you loved the breadsticks and soup and you ate almost all of my ravioli! And everyone thought you we were so cute!

Then everyone came over to our place and had cupcakes and you went around to everyone and had them give you some. By the end of the night you were covered in chocolate!

I love you James

Dear James,

You are so addicted to pumpkin pretzels! GG brought some by yesterday and you can't think about anything else! First thing you did was go straight to where the bag was and tried to climb the sofa to get to them! I even hid them but you still found them! I had to really distract you so I could hide it in the cupboard above the fridge (I hope I remember they are there).

Then you it was time for your morning nap and like always you crawled up into my lap and I gave you your pacifier. After about 5 min you decided you weren't tired and still wanted to play. So you jumped down and took your pacifier with you. A couple minutes later you decided ok you really did want to nap but you left your pacifier somewhere else. Asked you were it was and you shrugged your shoulders and "said" I don't know? I said well you better go find it. And you did! You started walking around looking for it, you found it and brought it back to me and curled up and fell asleep. So cute! And so smart!

You also like to crawl into every thing! And this is your new favorite spot to sit and play!

Later you got to stay home with daddy while I went to go have a mommy night out. You and dad had fun playing and "yelling" and daddy said he liked chasing you around the house

I love you James!

Dear James,

Today I watched you do laps around through the kitchen and around into the front room. You were just walking and talking to yourself, would say hi to me when you came in the room then just kept going...

I think you did 5 or 6 laps before you wanted to play with something else

I love you James

Dear James,

We went to swim class today, and you are still not sure what to think. You love the water but you much rather do your own thing then do what we are doing as a class. For the most part you have fun.

We then got to go shopping with GG and Papa. While we are shopping Papa wondered off and so we went to go find him so we could check out and I asked you kinda sillily "Where's Papa?" and you threw your hands up in there are like I don't know. I just started laughing because you were so serious and it was just so darn cute!

For the rest of the day you kept doing it over and over again every time I asked where anyone was.

Edit: He does this all the time now!

I love you James

Dear James,

Today was more General Conference. You slept through most of the first session and then you played with Grandma and Grandpa Doug most of the rest of the afternoon.

It was a pretty chill day.

I love you James

Dear James,

Today was General Conference. I love it and I know you will love it too when you can actually understand whats going on.

You haven't been feeling well lately and have a little bit of a cold so last night you woke up a lot. Daddy was so nice and took care of you all night long so in the morning we let daddy sleep in a little while you and I played and watched Conference. You never pay attention to TV much but when President Monson talked you turned and smiled at him and really started to pay attention you laughed at him a couple of times which I thought was funny.

There were so many great talks today!

Later I dragged you with us to Ladies Night Out, sorry bud you are still too young to go to the Priesthood session. We had fun with your Aunt Kelsey, Grandma, and GG. Everyone thought you were so cute while we were shopping.

You did get a little cranky so Grandma took you to the car and you guys just had fun playing in the back of the car rolling a ball around.

We then met back up with daddy and the rest of the boys and had dinner at Noodles.

It was a long day but you had a lot of fun.

I love you James