Tatum was so excited to wake up to a snowfall on Monday. What was even more fun...Dad had the day off due to all the ice on the roads. She spent the day outside and snuggling with Daddy! She was also excited to find her "Garf" (scarf) and wear it!

Tatum is giving a big grin for Mom! Tatum is getting so smart, it's crazy!

Carson is getting bigger everyday. He is such a sweetie and has personality to spare. He is seriously the funniest little kid I've ever met. Of course, I'm a little biased...

A sweet smile from Tatum!

We have had so much fun this week watching Carson learn to walk. It's so cute! Here is a video of him exploring the upstairs. Enjoy!

Tatum has been nothing short of obbessesed with her Rose Petal Cottage. She wanted one SO BADLY for Christmas and luckily Santa came through. She tells everyone she meets that she has one to play with, it's so funny. On Wednesday, we had the missionaries from church over for dinner and she insisted on showing them her Rose Petal Cottage. Below are some pictures of her playing with it!

Tatum playing with her doll bed in her Rose Petal Cottage. My Aunt Donna and Uncle Jim made this beatiful bed for Tatum's Christmas gift. It is so darling and Tatum just loves to play house. Here are some photos of her playtime.

Reading her baby kitty a story.

Tatum tucking her kitty into bed.

Every once in a while she'll let Carson come in and play!

Tatum the past few weeks has really blossomed into quite the helper. I'm amazed by her willingness to help me with laundry, dishes, cooking...anything! Just this week I've given the job everyday to clean up her room. This is the before...

...After! I'm so lucky to have a little helper. Hopefully she won't grow out of this phase for a while!

Here I've been doing it wrong all along...

"How to weigh yourself"

Don't drink the ranch!

What is it about little kids and ranch dressing? I was looking at some of our videos and I came across this one from Salt Lake over Christmas. I feel kind of bad, because Tatum was trying to drink some ranch dressing and I scolded her for doing so. HOWEVER, after reviewing the video, I realized that Dad prompted the situation. Sorry, Tatum. I hope you can forgive me!

Carson's Walking!!!

Well- after 13 long months Carson is now walking! Yay! We are so excited. He has been taking steps here and there for a good week or two, but he was not trying to walk more than that. Tonight after dinner, he just stood up and started walking everywhere. It was crazy. I have a video of Carson taking his first wobbly steps on Sunday. I will post it as soon as I can, but that probably won't be until either late tonight or tomorrow. Anyway, we are so happy for Carson. It was so cute...when Carson was walking Tatum said "I'm so happy for my Gooseman!". For those who don't know, that's Carson's nickname. Stay tuned for a video...

Here are some pictures of the kids just hanging out and playing at the house. Carson is doing a really great job of keeping up with Tatum!

Having some playtime!

For those who suffer migraines in the world, you all now have my sympathy! Yesterday was a long day with the kids. It's actually been a long couple of weeks. They have really been doing this sibling rivalry thing and it's getting really stressfull for me. If Carson has a toy, then Tatum needs THAT toy. If Tatum goes down the stairs first, Carson has to race to the stairs to beat her. If one has a yellow sippy, the other one needs a yellow sippy. I'm sure all those with kids out there know what I'm talking about, and are probably getting a kick out my inexperience in this matter and the fact that I'm letting it get to me is laughable. Anyway, moving on with the story...I decided to take Tatum out to K-Mart after dinner last night. As soon as I walked through the door to the store, it was like I was going blind. I had tunnel vision, I saw flashing lights in a zig-zag pattern. I would pick up a toy or something and could't make out the writing on the package. It was really kind of scary. I didn't know what to think. After about 10 minutes, I put Tatum back in the car and made it home ok. (I want to stress that the darkness from outside actually helped my eyesight, I would have never driven home if I couldn't see...) Anyway as soon as I got home, this terrible spinning headache happened and lasted a good 3-4 hours. It was awful. I felt sick to my stomach and I felt like my head was going to implode! My sweet husband did some research on the internet and diagnosed me with a "classic migraine" that includes the visual impairment about 30 minutes before the migraine strikes. Anyway I was able to finally fall asleep and this morning I feel like someone hit me over the head with a cast-iron pan. But for the most part I am doing better today, and I'm trying to not let the kids stress me out!

Tatum is such a sweetheart. She is always wanting to help me with my chores and will do whatever I need her to do! This is a picture of Tatum about to enjoy a nice bath.

Bath Time!

My kids love the bath. If they could, they would take a bath 5 times a day. But they'll have to settle on 3 times a week. It is so cute to watch Carson get all excited when I turn on the faucet.

Who? Me? Carson is so silly sometimes! Maybe not the clearest picture in the world, but one of the cutest!

I had to laugh the other day...Tatum was coloring pictures at the table. She was saying how she loved drawing pictures for Grandma and Grandpa. So I was listening to her chit-chat while I was cleaning up the kitchen. Well, she was so proud of herself and she brought me a picture and said to me..."Mommy, this picture is for you to hang up on the blog". I was stunned! I didn't know that she knew we even had a blog. let alone the word for it! So I told her ok! As promised, here is Tatum's latest work of art!

Ok...so I saw this on Melissa's blog and thought this was a cute idea! Hope you learn something about us, and I'm hoping to see some of you guys do the same thing with yours!

My Neddie

~~~~~~

All about us (Ok, mainly Ned...)

Name: Edward Probyn James IV

How long have we been married: 6 years on March 2nd

Who eats more: That's hard to say, because I eat a bigger lunch and Ned eats a bigger dinner. I'd say it all evens out.

Where was our first date: Technically, Ned flew in from AZ to meet up with me in Indiana. We did a ton of fun stuff our first weekend together. The most memorable of which was we painted plates for one another at a pottery store. Kind of cheesy, but it was really cute.

How old is Ned: He's 28

Who said I Love You first: He did...but the feeling was mutual!

Who is taller: Ned by a landslide. He is 6' 7'' and I'm 6' (Although I like to think of it as 5' 13''

Who sings better: Well, I used to sing when I was younger, but Ned has a WONDERFUL voice. So it's a tie, I'd say.

Who is smarter: It depends what it is. In most cases, it's Neddie. But I have my strong points, too.

Who has the worst temper: Anyone is reads my blog and knows me already knows the answer to this question!

Who does the laundry: I do all of the kids' laundry and my own. Plus I do Ned's civilians. HOWEVER, I don't touch his uniforms. He takes care of all his uniforms and presses them and sews on all of his patches and everything. Yes, fellow military wives...I know I'm a lucky woman.

Who does the dishes: Me, usually. But Ned always clears the table every night!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: He used to, but then I switched because I was feeding Carson at night and it was closer to the crib.

Who mows the lawn: It Connecticut, Ned used to. Now that we're in a townhome, the Navy-Housing guys take care of that. Thanks, boys!

Who proposed to who: Ned, of course! That was a crazy day. I had flown to AZ to meet his whole family. Ned picked me up from the airport and took me to see the Mesa Temple. He totally popped the question right there on the Temple grounds. It had always been my dream to get engaged at the Temple. How did he know...

Who has more siblings: Ned does. He has 7 and I have 4.

Who wants more kids: We are both happy with two for right now. Afterall, we did get the best two kids around!

My Hubby Brag: I really love Ned more and more everyday that we're together. It has been a crazy 6 years, but a very wonderful journey so far. Ned is so caring and kind. He is such a geniune friend to me and is the best Dad around. It is so rewarding to watch my kids get so happy when he comes home! I know that Navy life is hard, and that he makes a lot of sacrifices for us. I appreciate his love for us, and I recognize all that he does to serve his Country! I am blessed to have him in my life-even when things are crazy! We may not have it all together, but together we have it all! I love you, Ned!

So now it's your turn!

This is Tatum's picture with Santa from the ward party. It's a little late being posted, but I had forgotten about it until just now! My friend took the picture for me and I just remembered to ask for it!

Welcome to the James family blog for 2008! I thought since it's a new year, I'd change it up a little bit with a new look. As you will read on my next post, Tatum graduated into Primary last Sunday. However, her last week in Nursery was pretty memorable and I just thought I'd share with all of you!

Tatum attended her last week of Nursery in Ed and Susie's ward. (Ned's parents!) Anyway, my sister-in-law, Sarah, is the Nursery leader there. So I guess Thomas S. Monson attends church in the same Ward building as my in-laws. (only the next block of time...) Well, Sarah opened the door from Nursery and BOOM, there was Thomas S. Monson hanging up his coat for church! So Sarah, being the outgoing person that she is, said hi and invited him into Nursery! So he popped his head into the class to say hi and made the comment that the kids were so cute and small. Anyway, what a fabulous end to Tatum's Nursery days! It truly doesn't get any better than that!

This Sunday Tatum went into the Primary at church. I still can't believe that my little baby girl is a Sunbeam! Tatum did great in Primary (I'm the Chorister) and it was so rewarding to watch her sit reverently and listen. Great job, Tatum!

Daddy and Carson. (Carson got his first haircut in Utah, by the way...I didn't get a picture, but you can tell his hair is a lot shorter!) What cute guys!

If you are a regular reader of my blog...you have probably noticed that about half of my pictures have a toothbrush in it somehow. My kids LOVE thier toothbrushes. Anyway, I thought it fitting that I share with you a milestone in Tatum's life! She is now moving on to child's toothpaste, instead to the training paste. I noticed a while back that she was spitting out the training paste as you should. So we moved on and she's thrilled. It's her favorite time of day. I still don't know why....but I guess I shouldn't complain!

Well, along with the new year, we've also had another "first". Since we arrived home from Utah, Carson has graduated from the high chair. I admit, I still feed him snacks in the high chair. But as for dinner, he sits with everyone else at the table. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Carson is thrilled to be sitting with the rest of the family at dinner!

Christmas, 2007! Tatum and Carson were thrilled to spend Christmas Day with Ben, McKenzie and Brayden (Amy's kids) in Utah. They had a blast opening presents and all of the fun that comes along with Santa. Carson cried the entire time. HOWEVER, in his defense he wasn't feeling well. We hope Santa didn't take it personally!