A prayer from a child

Today our hometeacher and his son came over to visit James and I.  His son's name is Max.  He is an extremely cute kid....and very smart. Probably 4 or 5 years old.   Max has grown very fond of Otis.  While Aaron was sharing his message, Max would crawl around on the floor and try to get Otis to chase him.  James asked Max to give a closing prayer, with a huge grin on his face he starts:

"Dear Heavenly Father,

Please bless that Otis will be a good dog and that the next time I come over he won't try to chase me and tackle me,

In the name of Jesus Christ Amen."

The Pro's and Con's of Pregnancy

PROS

*I'm having a BABY!

*I have an excuse to eat whatever I want (I usually tell James that the baby wants a certain

food that I am craving at that particular time)

*I get a whole new wardrobe!

*Buying things for the baby

*Finally being able to use one of my baby names

*Food tastes a MILLION times better

*People are way nicer to pregnant ladies

CONS

*I have to buy pregnancy clothes (Yes I put that in the Pros as well, but really

who wants to buy Pregnancy clothes)

*Constant Nausea

*Throwing up

*HEART BURN!

*No energy

*Gaining weight

*Feeling bloated

*Being way too emotional (this is a double whammy considering I am already pretty emotional)

*Muscle/Joint Aches

*Always running to the bathroom

So, these are just a few pros and cons that I have run into so far 12 weeks along.  I can already tell that when I am six months pregnant people will think I am 9 months....oh joy.  I have thoroughly enjoyed eating beef which I normally wouldn't touch....steak, hamburgers, prime rib...the list goes on and on my friends.  My sister Marla thinks it is definitely a boy because of my MEAT cravings.  James has been SO very good to me.  I got to hear the sweet little heartbeat this morning.  I think now it has become a real thing for me.  James and I couldn't be more grateful and excited for this new little person.

28 feels pretty great

James' birthday was July 24th.  I had been thinking about what I would do for his birthday months ago.  The first year we were together, James and I took a road trip to Chicago for a birthday weekend.  I probably shouldn't have started out with a weekend getaway to an awesome city because it is really hard to beat. 

So instead I decided I would give him a little stay-cation for his birthday.  We went to Captain America sat. afternoon and then drove dt Minneapolis to check into a hotel!  For dinner we went to the Melting Pot....my parents gave James a gift certificate there so it worked out rather well.  It was absolutely delicious and just something different.  Not to mention James and I have been talking about going there since we first started dating. 

We were able to sleep in the next morning and take our time getting ready.  I made reservations at Hell's Kitchen which has their famous lemon ricotta pancakes.  James and I tried something different and it was all so good. Our Waiter had on one piece sock monkey pj's....James said "now Marla would appreciate this:)"   I don't think Hell's is ever not crowded.  After lunch we made our way to the beautiful Target Field for the Twins game.  They played Detroit.....I was hoping they could pull off a win in honor of James' birthday but no such luck.  We had awesome weather and wait for it.........we got on the big TV!  Yep, we are famous now:)

He's my daddy and I'll cry if I want to

James went to CUB one evening to get a few things that I needed to have right away......so he left Otis in the bedroom with me and quickly shut the door so he wouldn't follow him.

IMMEDIATELY he started to whine and cry. It was the most obnoxious thing in the world! James was gone for approximately 10 min. and I was trying to calm Otis to pipe the heck down.....nothing worked....nothing! It was seriously the first time he has ever done it to this extreme.


I guess you could say he is a daddy's boy.

Lookin' good Jimmy

Softball season has arrived!  For the past two years, James has participated in playing softball with his co-workers. All of the law firms in the minneapolis area participate and compete against one another.  He really enjoys being able to play.  They make jerseys for the season and everything!  Last year James' nickname on the back of his shirt was Wally.  Our friend Logan gave him that one obviously playing off his last name.  My dad actually still calls him that:) 

This year we had to think of something different.  The team captain gave me a list of nicknames of what she thought would be good.....needless to say James was not fond of any of them.  I rattled off a bunch of nicknames for him, each one being rejected by James...and then it happened, I made the most perfect nickname for James.  TDOW.  That's right.  TALL DRINK OF WATER.  He is isn't he?

On James and I very first date we were talking about being tall and having a hard time to find other tall people to date.  James then went on to tell me about how this old lady came up to him when he was working as a manager at CUB Foods in St. Cloud.  She couldn't reach an item so she asked for his help.....and then told him what a tall drink of water he was. It was a great story.

The Justin Bieber Experience

OK, I admit it.  Ask me a year ago and I could care less about Justin Bieber.  But then something happened.....Glee performed Justin Bieber on the show and I fell in love.  I think I have watched the Glee Justin Bieber episode half a dozen times and it cheers me right up.

My sister Reva also happens to be a fan...but it happened after renting the Justin Beiber movie (which I have not seen).  She bought the CD and her kids pretty much know the words to the entire album.  It is hilarious.  There are many clips of them dancing to his music....this just happens to be one of my favorite:)

A Berry great day of strawberry pickin'

Ryan and Katie LOVE to hang out with James and I.  They had a great idea to go to the strawberry farm and pick strawberries.  I loved that idea.....James wasn't as excited as I was though:)  The field smelled so good and the berries were beautiful.

It was pretty easy to spend a few bucks.  Ryan and Katie filled TWO big bins and James and I filled one.  We bought over 30 pounds of strawberries all together.  The whole time I was picking I thought of my dear sweet Clover who is obsessed with strawberries.  She would have loved coming with us...although I don't know if she would have been much help actually "picking" the berries instead of her eating them.

We enjoyed a strawberry shake...and it was a good shake at that.  It felt good after sweating in the fields.

Strawberry jam here we come!