Time is flying by

I know it has been a while since I have posted anything. Life took over and I am just now starting to get my footing back. Since the last post we have had a few major life changes. For one my parents moved to Germany for three years so Justin went through a phase where he wanted nothing to do with his Papa or Grammy because they left him. He has since gotten over that and loves to talk to them over Skype. Then boys both had their birthdays. Justin turned 3 and James turned 1. It was very low key and the boys both enjoyed their special days. In October, Jonathan got out of the Air Force after 6 years. That was a big change for all of use since that is all I have ever known and we were moving to Alabama. I was so glad that we were moving closer to his family but it was going to a huge change for me after living in Montana most of my life. He has such as amazing family that is loving, caring, and willing to help out whenever needed.

Leaving Montana

 It took 5 days to get here and I was so thankful that Wayne, my father-in-law, helped us drive. We moved into with Wayne and could not ask for anything better. The boys get to see him everyday and love spending time with him. They go for rides around the yard in the golf cart or sit in his room watching tv. When we first got here Caren, my mother-in-law, was here fixing up a rental house that she just bought. Both of the boys love there Nene and it was great to spend the time with here before she went back to South Carolina. Just before Thanksgiving James got to meet his Pop, Jonathan's step-dad, for the first time. Thanksgiving was spent over at Jonathan's uncles house with all of his family. Justin made friends with a few of his cousins and was excited to have "friends". Christmas was spent at home and we had a very relaxing day.
 In April, my Mom flew back to the US for my sisters graduation from school. We were able to go up to Tennessee so that we could see them plus most of my Moms family. It was a nice break from everyday life. The boys got to go to the zoo for the first time and had so much fun. We also registered Justin for K4 in the fall. It will be very different around the house in the fall when he is at school most of the day.
Another thing is that the boys are both growing like weeds. Justin has been learning about everything around him. He always has a question to ask you. James has learned how to climb like a monkey and is really starting to talk. He is in the monkey see monkey do stage of learning. Justin has taught him a few bad habits that he pick up over the years. I am getting used to the hot weather that had come a little sooner then I am used to. Small town life and country living is growing on me.

How Time Flies

It has been a while but so much has happened in last month. Both if the boys are learning new things everyday. Justin has just blossomed with his vocabulary. He still has a few words that are hard to understand like Godzilla. It sounds like fod-filla when he says it because Zs are a little hard for him still. Godzilla is his new favorite show to watch. We found the 1978 version of it and he loves all the action in it. He walks around the house pretending to be him and the other day he went into the garden and was walking like Godzilla.

James is now 9 months and can get around all by himself. He will follow me around the house as I am cleaning or getting something done. Another new event is that he now pulls up on anything and everything. He is about to start walking any day now. I am not looking forward to it but at least we know that he is developing just fine. Yesterday he got his first tooth and we are so glad all the waiting is over. The poor little guy has been fighting with that tooth for a month now. His second tooth is right there as well and hopefully we don't have wait as long for it to poke through. Today he went to the doctor for his 9 month well baby check up and we found out that James has lost a little bit of weight but other then that he is really advanced for being a preemie.

 For Mothers Day Jonathan got me a new camera so I have been taking pictures like crazy. Here are just a few that I have taken over the last month of the boys.

Crawling towards Aunties phone

On Mothers Day down by the river

All smiles all the time

Looking at the airplanes fly over

Playing with a kayak

In his element - outside

This is what I wake up to every morning

So serious

This week has been an exciting week in the Hicks house. James has learned how sit up all by himself. Of all places to learn how to do it James picked the tub to learn. He just backs himself up and goes back to playing when he falls over. We have found out that James is a little water baby also. Before we would wash him in the sink because he was so small and now that he is bigger we are able to wash both the boys at the same time. He likes the fact that he can move around easier and does not mind the water in his face. Justin loves that "Baby" is in the tub with him and that they can splash together. They try and see how wet they can get Mommy most nights.

James is also crawling in his own way. He does a version of the worm to get places and has learned that he can get out of the living room. We are baby proofing the house again but this time it is a lot easier since Justin loves to take everything away from James. Sharing has become a new problem with him. They are all his toys and he doesn't want to let James play with them. Hopefully it will only last a little while and then he will understand. He has also decided to start sleeping in his crib. It took me almost 7 months to figure out that if I put it in another room he will not be able to see us and will go right back to sleep. It has made such a big difference in my mood and James's sleep cycle.

New found Interests

It has been a long time since I have last blogged so I need to catch you up on everything that has happened over the last few weeks.

Justin has found a new hobby of collecting sticks. Since the weather has been getting nicer we have been taking walks around my parents house. If he sees a stick we have to go and get it so that we can bring it back to show Papa and Grammy. I can remember seeing my brother do the same thing years ago and Jonathan did the same thing as well. It is fun to watch him pick and choose which ones are worthy of making it back to the house and how many he can hold in his little arms. He also loves to help out with James. His new thing is to pick James up and bring him to where he wants him to be. It is scary to see the first few times but now he is getting better with not dropping him on toys that can hurt James.

James has been rolling and trying to crawl for a few weeks now. I am looking forward to him crawling so that he will be able to get what he wants. Right now he will wiggle and roll to where he wants to go but if he cant get there fast enought he will start screaming from frustration. We have also started him on solid food. With James we decided that we are going to make all of his foods for now. It is such a relief to know what is going into his mouth. His favorite as of now is sweet potatoes and rice rusks. It is fun to watch him try new foods and the reactions that come over his face. Plus I love making the food for him with a little help from Justin.

Both of the boys love to go on walks with Grammy and I. It is a nice way to see the seasons change and work off those last few pounds that I need to lose from Justin. Hopefully this spring will be full of adventures around Montana and we cant wait to share them with you.

Milestones

If you didnt already know James was born 5 weeks early and has been a little behind on some of his development until now. In the past few week he had made leaps and bounds with everything that he is doing. A week ago he decided that he was going to start rolling over not one but twice up hill. I missed the first roll but he decided that he wanted to show me what he could do right after I realized it. After all the excitement he got stage fright and would not roll over until we got home to show Daddy. Jonathan misses a lot of milestones because of work and it is nice when he gets to see them happen right away.
James is also looking around a lot more and uses his hand all the time to pull anything towards his mouth. It is amazing what he can do now that he is making leaps and bounds. Justin thinks that James is a toys that he can play with now that he can move around but most of the time James wants to do his own thing and wants nothing to do with his big brother. Mommy now has two helpers since James had come to love his bouncer. He will bounce up and down in it until he realizes that I am not in the room with him and as soon as he starts to cry Justin is right there to try and calm him down. If that does not work he comes running for me. I just can believe that me boys are growing up so fast. Justin is starting to use full sentences with us and is using please and thank you more and more. I realized that he had been spending a lot of time with my parents when he said " No thank you" and "Yes Please" the other day. He is growing up way faster then I ever wanted him to.

Another milestone in the family is that Jonathan graduated from ALS (Airman Leadership School) last week and is now a Staff Sargent.  I could not be any prouder of him because he has been working so hard towards this goal. It was hard to have him home every night for 6 weeks but it was also nice to see how much he bonded with the boys during that time. Now he is back to his regulare schedule it feels like we are getting back to normal around the house.

Helping Hands

Justin had decided that he wants to help Mommy and Daddy out. He is always asking if "Baby cry". It took me a while to understand what he meant. He wanted to make James happy when he started to cry. If he really wants to help James he will go over and make him cry so that he can make him happy. A two year olds logic is a lot different then an adults logic when it come babies. He now goes over and makes faces, funny noises, and calms James down until we are able to come over and see what James needs.

Then there are days when he wants nothing to do with James. He thinks that James is another toy that he can throw around. As he puts it "Baby Daddy" because he wants Jonathan to hold James. And last night he wanted to hold James by himself. It is a blessing when he wants to help out with he baby brother. I am so glad that he concerned about James and is so helpful now.

Potty Time

I just had to get it out there that Justin went pee on the potty this morning and has not had an accident yet. We have been working on this for a long time and I think he is finally getting the hang of it. Now if we could get both the boys potty trained I would be loving life. It is so hard to have two boys in diapers and always having to change someones diaper. We just just have to be positive about what is in the future and Justin will be all potty trained before his 2nd birthday.