See a snapshot of our week! Life with kids can make time and memories slip through the cracks. So here is where we will write the story of the joys with our family.
Monday...
Well if it wasn't for the pandemic we would still be at the Stobbs in Worcester... But we are not. Which doesn't mean we won't enjoy our holiday week this week! We started off the day by playing bed together and then James was all over his train set. He loves pushing them up the bridge and then back down again. He then went down for an early nap which was very short.
We wanted to go out but it was below 0 degrees outside. I don't mind the freezing cold (I grew up in Utah) and James doesn't complain but he does want to be held the whole time we are out and that just makes Matt gets really tired (and plus Matt can't stand the cold being below 15 degrees haha!). So I've sacrificed my sense of outdoor adventure this week to my boys. Anyways, James had loads of fun sliding down his wobble board.
And while Matt was making lunch he made an obstacle course with his matching game. I love seeing him invent activities.
We then headed off to our friend Jeanny's house. We are house-sitting while they are off in Poland. James loves playing there! He does miss Maksy being there though. After an hour or so we headed home to have dinner.
We then had a dance party in the bedroom (he always takes his music in there). And he would tell us what songs he wanted to dance to as he jumped on the bed. It was so much fun watching him and dancing along with him.
In the evening James had loads of fun in the dark. He had us turn off all the lights and play with the lazer his Uncle Daniel got him. He loved especially the UV light. He would run around the whole house and see what would glow. Surprising the glowing toothbrushes were his favourite haha! Also his baby doll's eyes (which was super creepy haha!). We then headed off to bed and James was down by 8:30pm. I got to do loads of reading as I sat next to him (one of my favourite night activities). Also, it's been a week since we have stopped night feeds! Yay! He sleeps all through the night snuggled up with me and on his own at times.
Tuesday...
Even though he had an early night James got up at 9am. I slept a bit longer as James run up and down the bed haha! I soon gave up trying to sleep and James came for a cuddle. He didn't want to leave the bed after that haha!
Eventually, I was able to escape and start getting breakfast ready. We then headed out to the shop for our groceries. WWF is raising money through clothes and I saw an Orangutan outfit that I just had to get for James! We had to be very frugal in this shop so we were able to not spend more than £23! We have so many Christmas sweets at home that we will have plenty haha.
We got home and James went down for a nap. It wasn't a very long nap but that was okay. James was so fun to watch as he played around. Here he is taking a photo with a bit of muffin in his mouth haha! He has been really into his music basket these days and his favourite is the pan flute I bought on my mission in Perú. I never thought my firstborn would fall in love with it 6 years ago when I got it!
We ate dinner and played the rest of the night with James. It was so lovely watching him giggle and run around. We of course had another dance party before we headed to bed. That night he chose to cuddle up to Matt as he fell asleep it was so cute and nice for me! I love my boys.
Wednesday...
We headed out first thing in the morning to Leeds! We were planning to finally meet up with Paul and Hanna who have moved to Redditch so we decided to meet halfway on a day there was going to be decent weather. The roads were fine but there was beautiful snow on the ground! We had a fun time in the car as James listen and danced to the music. He makes me giggle with his song selection of Holy by Justin Bieber to Jaja Ding Dong from Eurovision to Head and Heart by Joel Corry.
We finally got to Roundhay Park (that is conveniently by a Montessori School haha!) and James was obsessed with all the birds in the lake. Paul and Hanna got there and we were so happy! James even ran up to them. I can't believe it's been 3 months since we've seen them!
James was able to play on the amazing playground they have there. He loved the train and picking up all the ice. He didn't seem bothered at all by the weather. I loved watching how other children would come up to James.
My toes were freezing so bad! I'm not used to being out in 0-degree weather! It was so lovely catching up with Hanna! It's so natural to talk to her and be with her. I love her so much! Paul and Matt seemed to be very deep in Star War topics and general philosophy stuff haha!
It was so hard to say goodbye as I could stop talking to them. James as desperate for a nap and to get out of the cold so we said our goodbyes and headed back home.
James fell asleep quickly but then woke up crying. It took me about 30 of humming to get him back to sleep and he stayed asleep for the next 1 hour until we got home. I love him so much and love being his mum.
When we got home we warmed up by the heater and then headed back out to the shops to get some food. James was very helpful with getting it all for us haha! Then we went home and made some warm enchiladas. James and Matt chopped up the tomatoes together (well Matt chopped while James took a bit out of the tomatoes haha!).
After dinner, we did a bit of exercise. We have noticed that at night we are having a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep and I think it's because we are not going out as much... It's just too cold! So we have decided it's time to do so exercising inside. As soon as we say the word James does a big stretch to the sky (he knows I always start with Yoga haha). It's fun to watch him do his downward dog and follow me around the house as I do my lounges haha!
James wanted me to call Papa Bo (my dad). So we did just that. James was having so much fun playing with my dad and showing him all the things he loved. I wish so bad that they could be together in person but James seems to love my dad just as much as everyone else he sees in person. Then after that call, we called Steven and I was able to talk to him and Tiff them for ages. It was so lovely! I love them both so much and I am so happy they are getting married in a few weeks! Soon we had our Come Follow Me and then headed off to bed. It was a late night but we fell asleep so much faster.
Thursday...
James had a few emotional moments during the night so we cuddled a lot. In the morning Matt let me sleep in while he and James ran around playing (which didn't even wake me!). Finally, when I got up we had breakfast and started to clean the house. Being in Tier 4 and Matt being on holiday feels like we are back to March/April this year when Matt was furloughed and we were in national lockdown. James was very helpful while we cleaned the house. I love watching him master his skills.
He then had loads of blueberries as a snack of choice before we started exercising. James also joined in on Matt's exercises haha! While Matt was trying to do rows James just kept climbing on him. It was hilarious. And then James went down for a nap.
Once James was up we had a quick snack and then we went to the quayside near our house. James made Matt throw all the rubbish he found on the ground in the bin. Such a responsible citizen haha!
It was pouring rain and freezing but we were happy to be out. When we finally made it to the quayside we watched the bridge change colours and James loved walking along the edge (which made me so nervous!). I love seeing how well he knows the area and he feels so confident with where he wants to go.
We hung around the quayside until the fireworks started going off at 6pm. They were all around us. It was beautiful watching them from here. Even though the weather was miserable we were happy that we came out to celebrate.
We quickly went home and had dinner. We then played with James for the next hour or so until it was 9:30pm. We then got out the shortbread, cheese and schleor (Scottish Tradition). Matt put on the firework show at London last year and we celebrated the end of the year and welcomed in the New Year by singing Auld Lang Syne (British Tradition).
James really liked marching around to that song. We then watch some more firework shows of previous years as we brought out some grapes (Spanish Tradition) and did "ching ching" with our glasses. We are not doing grapes to the stroke of midnight yet while we have little ones... It's a choking hazard haha! We will introduce it later.
We were all in bed by 11pm. I couldn't sleep so I went through some of our memories and gathered up our favourite ones it was bittersweet saying goodbye to such a beautiful year! But I'm excited about what 2021 holds! My brother getting married, being able to see family and friends indoors, getting pregnant (hopefully), my parents flying over, seeing my brother-in-law go off on his mission, holding my new niece/nephew, visiting Dundee (where Matt's Scottish side comes from), travelling abroad somewhere (Iceland, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands?), going into the temple and finally watching James grow! It will be a beautiful year too.
Friday...
Welcome 2021! James and Matt read in bed while I slowly woke up. All night long I was sandwiched between my boys haha! I loved it but wasn't able to move when I needed to. James welcomed the new year with a smile on his face.
I got breakfast ready. We had Churros with Colacoa and Maria's (our version of the Spanish Tradition). It was lovely sitting together and talking about the new year and what it could bring.
After breakfast, I got busy cleaning while Matt and James had a dance party in the bedroom. Although James kept calling for me so I joined in too.
Then he got onto Matt's shoulders and had him run around the house. His laughter was so loud! It was so fun watching him giggle. He went down for his nap after that.
When James got up he wanted to have shortbread and cheese again and insisted on watching fireworks once again. So we did. We watched the 2021 London Fireworks and they were phenomenal! James had so much fun celebrating again haha!
We then went out on a walk. It was 5 degrees outside so it wasn't the worse it's been. James loved doing our neighbourhood walk. He was so happy throwing stones into the river (I was nervous that he was so close to the edge!). He once again splashed around in his favourite puddle and then we made our way back home. He took us a different route but we made it back and had some hot chocolate.
Then we had dinner and played around in the evening. His favourite game was playing with his laser in the dark. One of his best Christmas gifts. We then put all his teddies to sleep and got into bed.
Saturday...
James is consistently getting up at 8:50am these days. We read the Tiger Who Came To Tea as he ate a biscuit. We then noticed there was snow outside! It was so lovely! Probably won't stay but that is what I like about English Winter.
We put James his Orangutan top. It's so cute! It has explanations on it about orangutans.
After breakfast, we got ready and headed out to the shop. James had a quick play in the snow before getting into the car. He loved throwing snowballs and seeing them break when they hit the ground. Surprisingly the shop wasn't busy so we were able to make it home quickly.
James then went down for his nap. It was a really long nap (almost 4 hours) and I was even able to nap a bit with him. I love having him in my arms while he sleeps.
When he got up I video called my mum and we chatted for ages. It's so good to see her and hear from her. I really miss my parents around the holidays but one day I'll see them again (hopefully this year but for sure the year after... Which will make it 2.5 years without hugging them...). Oh well, what can one do during these times!
We had dinner after I finished talking to her. Then it was playing all night with James. We did some stretches and exercises and James was more than happy to join in. He makes exercising a challenge and adventure haha!
Then it was following his lead for the rest of the evening. It was nice just being with him and giggling with each new activity we did. We finally got to bed at 11pm but since I had a nap I couldn't sleep so I stayed up reading. And I finished my first book of the year!
Sunday...
We got up this morning with energy! I wanted to tell Matt all about the book I read and the new one I started as James nursed. We had our sacrament and then tuned into Sunday School. It was lovely and James let us listen to the whole thing! Then after a little bit of shortbread and play James went down for his nap.
It was a long nap and I was able to almost finish Insights From a Prophet's Life about President Nelson. I feel so inspired but the man he is. I love his dedication to the Lord and to healing hearts. When James got up we had our dinner. James then wanted to celebrate New Year's again so we got the cheese and shortbread out and watched fireworks. I love how much it lights up his face. Matt rang home while James and I watched family videos. James really wasn't in the mood to run around for some reason. By 10:30pm we were getting ready for bed. I had the opportunity to finish A Theory of Objectivist Parenting (only 76 pages long). It is absolutely amazing! I highly recommend it! And that finished our week!
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