growing like a weed!

thought i'd share this little visual of how fast scotty is growing. both pictures were taken on the same boppy.

scott just a few months ago:


and scott just a few days ago:

scott, scott, and more scott.

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The Iowa State Fair... this deserves to be capatilized.

for those of you who don't know just how famous the iowa state fair is... let me tell you, it is. and its held right here in our little des moines. the fair is big time and the food there is almost always on a stick! james and i both enjoyed delicious corndogs for a buck each. and since the iowa state fair isn't around everyday we decided we needed to indulge in yet another deep fried treat - funnel cake - which is "essentially a giant frenchfry covered in sugar."
we went to the fair with a bunch of other dmu students and their wives as pictured below.
L-R me, james and scotty; shalise and devin kearns; jamie, adam and their son caleb; allison and doug.

here's a cutie-pa-tutie picture of james and scotty. scott decided that he didn't love the iowa state fair. maybe next year.

here's a close-up of scott not loving the fair.

and here's a picture of him finally falling asleep. and the party begins!

okay, i just had to get proof of this. deep fried twinkies? how do they expect us to live past the age of forty!?
you know you're in iowa when...

you're staring at a 1,250 pound hog. poor thing couldn't even stand up for the picture.
and this wasn't even taken on the day of the fair. but seriously, have you seen a cuter little boy in your life?

chapter I, volume II

its real now. all those years of hearing the question, "what do you want to be when you grow up?" add up to this moment. and those endless games of M.A.S.H. when we'd anxiously wait to find out our future spouse/job/car/pet... bring us to this moment when james is offically starting his medical school career. today james had his first official day of medical school and though i've been a stay at home mom for eleven weeks now, it somehow feels more real today than it ever has. james is such a good medical student so far. he's in the other room studying his little heart out at this very moment. and though he's forgotten to take the lunch i've prepared for him every day since we got here... (do you think he's trying to hint something?)... i know that he's going to be the best student DMU has ever had! today is also the day that we finally got our computer all hooked up so that i can reunite myself with the rest of the world. don't be fooled however, iowa is a lot more hip-hop-happenen than you might believe. it has all the most necessary chain stores one might need in their day to day life. everything from babies r us to barnes and noble. we even have a Cheesecake Factory... which may be the total downfall to our so-called "budget". we've been much too busy - with james at orientation and me trying to find the carpet in our apartment beneath the piles of boxes - to take many pictures. but i will post some pics of our drive out here as well as a cute little video of scotti playing with his favorite toys. and just below this blog is a slideshow of scott in the past month. no pressure though, i understand i'm bogging you down with a lot of information. i'm just trying to catch up on the blog and clear my conscience. despite the fact that our stuff is piled to the roof of our car... scott's life was never in jeopardy. and a road trip wouldn't be a road trip if james didn't have his fresca, which thanks to his mom and sister amanda he had plenty to last him the whole 1,000 miles. here's some

The License Plate Game...
james was very determined to see as many license plates from different states as he could and i have to say he did pretty well. all in all he spotted license plates from 36 different states on our 1,000 mile drive along I-80. He was so proud of them that i just have to list them here in the blog:
alabama, arizona, arkansas, california, colorado, florida, hawaii, idaho, illinois, indiana, iowa, kansas, kentucky, maine, maryland, massachusettes, michigan, minnesota, mississippi, misouri, montana, nebraska, nevada, new york, north caroline, ohio, oregon, pennsylvania, south carolina, south dakota, tennessee, texas, utah, washington, wisconsin, wyoming
action footage of the trip:
my great aunt maxine was nice enough to let us stay with her one of the nights that we were traveling. she lives in olgalala nebraska and she showed us a good ol' midwestern time. here's a panoramic of downtown des moines. as you can probably tell... it's huge. james' school paid for us to go to the iowa cubs baseball game. scott was a bit tired and was cooperating even less than usual at holding his head up for a picture... hence my hand in the picture to prop it up for him. daddy and scotti watching the game. we're already true blue cub fans... even though they happened to be playing the salt lake bees that night. okay, i know i already have some older pictures of scott in this very towel, but everytime i give a bath i can't help but whip out the camera. he's so darn cute!

and last but definitely not least, a cute video of our little tyke. enjoy!

the past month or so...

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scott's first bath in a kitchen sink...

the end and the beginning...

okay, so i need to take a few steps back in time right now. with the baby being born and all the fun happenings that accompanied it, i missed posting pictures of james' graduation. and since its such a huge accomplishment, i just couldn't let it pass us by. (my one regret about this posting is that i don't have a full body shot of james in his gown... he decided to save us some money by wearing my mom's graduation gown. not only was it the wrong color but the sleeves went to his elbows and the gown went to his knees. it was hilarious!)

anyhoo, james graduated on may 1, 2008 from the University of Utah with a BS in exercise and sports science with an emphasis in physiology and minors in chemistry and nutrition. he was a busy, busy boy.

and while this phase of our life is ending (what will the U be like without us??) a whole new chapter of our life is beginning! though, i can't help but reflect on the past couple years and feel truly blessed that james and i both decided as 18 year old teenagers that the U was the school for us (james, because he got a better scholarship here than at other schools and me because this was pretty much the only place i could get in to :) )

it was on the U's campus that james and i had our first conversation. he told me he wanted to be a pediatrician someday and i said, "aw, cute!" and pretty much knew i was going to marry him.

it was on the U's campus that we had our first date. we ate at the Pie and went to a free movie at the Union Building... again, james trying to save money. :) another sure sign that i wanted to marry him.

it was on the U's campus that james first sent me flowers (a lily pot... "because lily pots don't just die after a few days.") - and you wonder how we got engaged so quickly??

it was on the U's campus where we drove together every morning before sunrise and left together everyday after the sun had set.

it was on the U's campus that we ate lunch together every day between his classes and my work schedule (i worked in the U's purchasing department).

it was even on the U's campus where our little scott was born (at the University Hospital)

and it was finally on the U's campus where james graduated, so that we can move on to bigger and better adventures in the great state of iowa!

amanda, patricia, james, phil, allie, and me, and scott...still in my tummy. (my mom is taking the picture) if you look closely you can see that james' gown is blue. the rest of them were black.

now onto the more present photos. here are a few more recent pictures of scott. when he first got home from the hospital we had to lay him in the sun a bit because of his jaudice. the kid looked so happy and relaxed laying in the sunshine... we just had to capture the moment.

and if this isn't the cutest picture ever, i don't know what is.

yyyyyyyaaaaaaawwwwwwwnnnnnnn...........