What a hunk!

We are back from our trip and I will blog about that later, when I have more time. While we were there, we were introduced to Filipino soap opera's and mini series dramas. My favorite was "Ysabella" it was a good story and it had a very nice looking man, Derek Ramsey. I know, I know, I am married, it's just a simple little crush. Eat your heart out ladies!

Happy birthday Jamesy!!

Yesterday was James' 1st birthday. We didn't do much special because we are going to have a little shindig for him on Saturday, but this is a milestone since he can now eat pretty much anything, including chocolate. So the first thing we did when we got up yesterday morning was have chocolate chip pancakes. He loved them! Happy Birthday James

James and the Giant Pumpkin

Ok, it's no secret, I am bad at posting (since the last time I posted was James being 9 months, and now he is turning 1 in two days), and just as bad as reading blogs, so I am sure no one checks this anymore, so this is for Kim!
James on Halloween (enjoying his very first succor):Our little polynesian baby:New family pictures (I made Aho go up the canyon to go take pictures with the fall background, we were quite pleased with them):And last, but not least, our money maker-we entered this in the baby gap casting call. How could they not choose this face?!!:

Jamesy--a 9 month tribute

I wanted to post a picture of James with my last post, but all I had on hand was a picture of us camping. I was a tub o'lard, so I cropped me out. Well, Aho was jealous and wanted out of the picture too, so I took it complete off, with the idea I would post more pictures. Well, I could not find the memory card of the pictures I wanted, until yesterday, so here they are!

He loves swimming! Look at these teeth! He is now pulling himself up and can stand for a few minutes! These last two are his new thing. He likes to scrunch his nose when he smiles, and he will lift his head up and smile down at you. Very cute!

Things I am grateful for

The other day I was making scalloped potatoes. I don't like making them because I hate slicing the potatoes. As I had starting slicing, I looked up and saw my kitchen aid mixer sitting there. I remember my mom had gotten me attachments for it, so I looked through and found ones that would slice. I had such a great time!

I can't figure out what the buzz is with Rachael Ray. What credential does she have to have a daytime talk show and a segment on the food network. I don't have cable, but my parents do and one I like to watch is the food network. It just happened to be 30 minute meals with RR. So, I watched it, trying to figure this out. For dessert she made a peach melba. I have always wanted to make peach melba, and with peaches starting to come out, I thought this would be the best time for it. So, I tried it. It was so good! I don't want to say I am grateful for Rachael Ray. I will say I am grateful I saw this episode and that peaches are in season!

Update on us

Well, not much new with Aho or me. Aho is taking a class this summer and is working so hard, we never see him. I am still working, and hate being away from James, but know I need to get Aho through school before I quit, so even though I am not ok with it, I am ok with it!

James changes so much every day. He is crawling and into everything, which I love. I put his books in the bottom shelve in the bookcase in our living room and he loves taking the books out and playing with them. He hasn't ripped one (that I care about at least) yet, and I hope he will like reading them as much as he likes taking them out of the book case. He will follow us wherever we go, and I have found that he likes to play with my spices. I will put him on the kitchen floor while I make dinner and we talk and play with the spice bottles. Who knew!

He has learned to pasi (clap) he loves to do it, and always looks for one of us to pasi with him.

He is now pulling himself up on things, so we need to watch for him walking around pretty soon. They grow up too fast!!

Time to turn the TV off

Last week I saw on the news there was a study done with kids and TV. Basically, they found that background TV is not good for kids playing in the room. They found they moved from toy to toy, and see this as a cause for childhood learning disorders.
Those of you who know me, know I love tv. I ALWAYS have it on, it keeps me company when Aho is gone. I would notice James would do exactly what they talked about. He would be on the floor playing, and would stop and watch tv, start playing again, stop and watch. After I saw the study, I decided I would turn the tv off. I have it off when James is awake, whether he is down on the floor playing or not.
A few months ago I bought some music from a company called BRITE. I grew up on this, and wanted my kids to as well. So, I will turn the music on and sing to James as he plays. We love it. Aho is starting to learn the songs as well, and will sing to James as well. I haven't noticed a difference in him, but I have with me. I get down on the floor and play with him more, sing and talk to him more. I don't need to watch every show, and am ok if I miss some. It is a bit hard, because I do like watching some things, but I decided that time with my baby is more important that the shows I watch. Basically, the reason for the post: It is a LOT easier than I thought it would be, and I love playing with my baby!