16 Months Old!

My camera is back in Minot, so I've had to use my iphone lately to document James' life.  Tomorrow he is 16 months old!  That sounds so old doesn't it?  He definitely is heading toward the terrible two. Between new-found independence, tantrums, and a whole new level of cuteness, two is going to get here before we know it.


I can't remember If I'd blogged his new bed.  We haven't started using it yet.  Nate got it on First Class for $10.  It's hard to think of my baby being old enough for a toddler bed!



Playing outside in the mud.  This pic was obviously taken prior to the ND start of winter.  Nate finished putting up the wall a few weeks ago, and it looks fabulous.  It was a huge project for him, and I'm so proud of him.


I snapped a quick pic of James snoozing on the way back to GF from Minot.  We had an interesting last trip back to GF last week.  We had our first big winter storm and we ended up going into the ditch.  Thankfully we were both alright, but we had the Honda, and were quite stuck in the snow.  I ended up having to call my dad for help, and I must have been in quite a panic because he originally thought I said "nate left me and is moving outside of rugby"  What I actually said was "Nate's at work and I went into the ditch outside of rugby.  I have serious panic attach attacks whenever we drive in the car, especially during the winter, so needless to say, this was quite traumatic for me.  We ended up getting pulled out by a recker an hour after we went in.  It ended up taking us 6 hours to drive from Minot to GF. 



My sweet boy.  Having a pajama day.  



Me and my baby



This picture is James sneaking a roll of crackers from on top of the counter and quickly shoving them in his mouth as quickly as he can.  I was in the kitchen and saw his little fingers feeling on top of the counter until them came upon a sleeve of crackers.  He quickly pulled them down and began frantically shoving them in his mouth.  You'd think we were starving the kid.  



James and I were really sick with the flu a few weeks ago.  Here he is taking his temp.  



Reading a book with dad.  



Playing with new baby Carson at daycare.  James is not a fan of kids younger than him that require the attention of Tracy. Hopefully he and Carson can get along for the next month :)



All bundled up to go outside. 



Having a mini melt-down.  It's a daily thing.  



James has newly discovered his bumbo. He barely fits into it, but he has been loving getting it and getting out of it all day long. 



Checking out the new sign in the yard!



Another one of James' new tricks :)  He climbs into his toy bin to play with his toys.  



Yesterday I had a little heart attack.  I was sitting on the floor playing with James when all of a sudden I realized he was half-way through the slats on the stairs.  I quickly grabbed him out and gave him a swat on his butt.  Then, we both cried on the floor.  Afterward, I put this little rattle thing on his leg so I could hear him and know where he was at all times :)



James desperately wanted to try on my boots yesterday, so I helped him into them.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever.  



My sweet 16 month old boy. 
House Update:

• We found daycare!  She is a lovely lady who just started doing daycare this summer so she could stay home with her kids.  She has a two year old girl (who James towers over :) and she is pregnant and due in June.  She also takes care of a 3 year old and a 4 year old.  She gave us a 12 page "manifesto" as Nate called it of Rules of her daycare.  Just a little different than Tracy who is so laid back, but she seems very nice and competent, so hopefully it will go well.
• We officially put our house on the market on Friday.  If you know our address you can look up the listing.  We had a realtor open house today.  Hopefully it will sell quickly!
• I applied for a Job at Trinity hospital's Labor and Delivery in Minot and I have an interview over the phone tomorrow.  Hopefully it will go well!
• We were informed two weeks ago that our current landlady is selling out church/apartment in Minot.  I called IRET the biggest apartment corp in Minot and told them that we needed to get onto a waiting list.  They informed me that they didn't do waiting lists and everything was first come, first serve.  She told me she would call me back if anything came available today, but basically we just needed to keep calling.  We got a call two hours later saying she just had a two bedroom available starting after Thanksgiving!  So, we are signing our lease on Tuesday and we will be moving to a real apartment!  
• As of right now, I plan to tell Trinity that I can start work after the 1st of the year, so pending me getting a job, we will be officially and completely moving to Minot after the 1st!  
• We will keep you updated on our big move, but any prayers would be greatly appreciated!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

random things on my mind

So, I'm sitting home alone in our big empty house and all I can think about is how much I love these two boys and how much I MISS them!  Nate has now been in Minot for 2 months and is loving it.  He is working really hard, it being his first year teaching and having NO time to prepare for the school year.  He has been coaching and doing work for our landlord, which has been keeping him crazy busy.  I was looking at pictures of my two boys and all I could think about was how much I love them.  This picture was taken at the beginning of this summer.  We were all together, and happy, and had no idea what the future held.  It's crazy to think about how much our lives have changed in the last few months!  

James is on a trip with his grandparents this weekend.  Steve and Vicki took him to MSP to see Vicki's parents and go the zoo and mall.  This is the first time we've been apart, and it's killing me!  It's only been 13hrs and I am fighting the urge to go lay down in his room and cry hysterically (OK, so maybe that's a tad dramatic)  Me, being the frazzled mom that I was this morning was careful to pack everything on my list for James to take the the cities.  I was pretty sure I had packed EVERYTHING, until I got a text from Vicki wondering where I put the diapers.....  I had completely forgotten to pack diapers!  They weren't even on my carefully constructed list! 

These are two other people I miss terribly, my mom and sister.  I hate that they live across the country and that I am lucky to see them once a year.  I am so insanely jealous of people who have their mom, sister, or both living even within driving distance.  It sucks feeling so isolated from family.  We are so lucky right now to have Vicki coming up and staying with us a few days a week.  It definitely eases some of the loneliness for family.  I am counting down the days till we get to see each other again. 

This is probably the biggest thing on my mind.  This is our home.  This is the picture of our home taken when we bought it almost 2 years ago.  I talked with our realtor yesterday, and I think we are going to put our house on the market and officially make the move to Minot.  I am so terrified, you have no idea.  Putting our house on the market means so many things. It means saying goodbye to Grand Forks, our home for the last 4 (7 for Nate) years.  It means saying goodbye to my job that I LOVE.  It means saying goodbye to Tracy, our fantastic daycare, who will NEVER be replaced.  She has been so wonderful to James for the last year.  

What is also means is change.  I am planning on applying to work at Minot's hospital in Labor and Delivery.  I am nervous.  I haven't had to apply for a job in 4 years.  I feel plagued by irrational fears AND rational ones.  I am terrified of moving out of my comfort zone.  I have definitely become comfortable here.  I put a call in today to a daycare that was recommended to me by a high school friend.  I was ecstatic to receive "not a no."  I was expecting an "absolutely not!  Don't you know everyone in Minot is looking for daycare"  but she said she needed to check her numbers and she would be back to me.  So, we will definitely be praying about her.  

Nate and I had been frustrated with the churches in Minot.  We had NO idea where to go.  We grew up Wesleyan, and have been attending a Covenant church in GF, neither of which are in Minot.  A couple of weeks ago we tried out an AG church, and decided it wasn't a good fit for us (Nate had never been to an AG church before, and was a little shocked by it.... not was he was used to)  Last week we decided to go to First Baptist church in Minot, and so far we have been feeling really good.  The pastor's sermon was honest and engaging.  The people were friendly.  I'm really hoping for a church to call home.  Since we don't really know many people in Minot, a church family is something we would really love.  

So if you are the praying sorts, we would definitely appreciate some coming our way.  We have a lot of changes ahead of us, and a lot of big decisions.