Rachel

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Christmas in Wenatchee

Here are our pictures from Christmas in Wenatchee with Nana and Papa. Enjoy!

2008.12.24-27 - Christmas in Wenatchee

I love Nathan!

My brother wrote this blog entry a couple days ago and I loved it so I had to share.

By the way, my brother Nathan is probably one of my favorite people on the planet and although we don't talk nearly enough, I love him and thank the Lord for him.

I love you El Presidente and I will always cherish and remember our Thursday night dinners at CPK. Love ya Nay.

Snowed in....still.

We have been stuck in the house (except for a crazy trip the the grocery store, church on Sunday and Ryan going to the office a couple times) since last Thursday and I am going a little crazy! The roads aren't too bad near our house now but our hill is a mess so we've been parking our car at the bottom of the hill and making the trek down if we need to go anywhere.

Here are the highlights of our snow filled week:

• Got to know a bunch of our neighbors.....which is something we've been praying for, Praise the Lord!
• Were invited to a neighbors house for a drink as a thank you for all of Ryan's shoveling work. Had my first hot buttered rum because it was the drink offered......pretty sure there was a lot more rum than there was hot or buttered. Sipped slowly and tried not to make a face every time I brought the drink up to my lips. Yuck! Neighbors were great though and we look forward to getting to know them better.
• Went to Fred Meyer (grocery store) along with what appeared to be all of Issaquah. Got the last cart available and fed James his lunch while waiting in a line to check out that almost went out the door. Pandemonium!
• Made soup.
• Made cheese biscuits.
• Wanted to make cookies but discovered we are out of butter! Thought about asking Ryan to go to the store for butter and then remembered our previous Fred Meyer trip plus the crazy blizzard outside and thought better of it.
• Braved the roads to go to church on Sunday along with about 25 other folks (normally there are more like 500+).
• Watched James feed himself Puffs (aka baby crack) for the first time (after a little coaching from Ryan) and was genuinely amazed by my growing boy. Ryan was excited because it appears that James is more coordinated with his left hand than his right which I am told bodes well if he is ever interested in a career in baseball.
• Waited all Sunday for Ryan's sister's flight to come in only to find out that she got stuck in Las Vegas and can't get home for Christmas. Ryan and I searched the internet for 2+ hours looking for another way to get Meghann home..no luck. She's back in Dallas today. :-(
• Writing this blog.

So there are the highlights...oh and I think James is getting his top teeth this week.....all he wants for Christmas are his two front teeth.......

Ryan in his element

The crazy weather that we're having (18-30 degrees, ice, snow etc.) seems to bring out the best and worst in people and today I have seen both.

The sun has been shining all day and although it is still pretty frigid outside we thought it might be possible to make it to a store or two and get out of the house. The problem is however, that we live on a hill that is covered in snow/ice and we weren't sure if it was drivable. So Ryan and his constantly cautious self said that we should slowly creep down our street and stop at the end before descending the hill to assess the situation.

Well we found out pretty quick, by the three to four stranded cars, that we would not be driving any further. We also found a few nice neighbors that needed help......and one not so nice neighbor who wanted to get off the hill in his big SUV and was frustrated with the stranded folks.

If you know Ryan at all you know that he loves to help people and possibly more than that, he loves to help people if it means wielding a shovel or any other manly type of tool. So as the pictures below show you, as soon as we saw one of our neighbors stuck in the snow and scared of sliding down further Ryan grabbed his shovel and got another neighbor to join in on clearing the road. (By the way, he didn't know I was taking pictures or that I am writing this blog right now since he is still out in the snow helping other neighbors to free their cars and clear the road.)

Ryan has been outside shoveling the street for about 2+ hours now and last time I checked there was an almost clear path from our street to the bottom of the hill. A few other neighbors have joined in so James and I brought them a big jug of water and cups and they are plugging along.

I love my husband and I love the way he loves people. Thank you Jesus for giving Ryan a heart for others.

James and Mommy watching the action.

Snow! Snow! Snow!

Take a look at our photos from yesterday. James in our snowy neighborhood for his first glimpse of snow since he was three days old.

Snow!

Fuzzy Wuzzy

James got a package in the mail today from his Nana and here's what was in it:

Thank you Nana B! James will be warm and cozy this Christmas.

Nappy Boy

With all of James' new accomplishments I forgot to mention a few weeks ago that he is pulling himself up on everything and specifically standing up in his crib. This means every day I am welcomed by this cute little image when I pick him up from a nap....although sometimes tears are included.

Hi Mommy!

What's with the camera?

Hey...what's goin' on here?

October wrap-up

Being that it's almost Christmas, we thought the time was right to post some videos of James wrapping up his first October on the outside.

The bar was set high. (Recall the early days of October were action-packed!) But James continued to deliver. Additional major break-throughs included swinging, (for-real) crawling, and the highchair equivalent of jumping into a puddle.

(SEE BELOW!)

Hopefully this tides over the Gigi and Nana types until the November clips are polished and ready for posting.


A swingin' good time! (Oct. 15 at Ebright Creek Park, Sammamish)




James knows how to crawl for real now... (Oct. 24 at home)




A water slappin' good time! (Oct. 26 at home)

James' favorite basketball player

Howdy fans & fam!

Here's a brief article on James' favorite college basketball player, UW's Jon Brockman (#40, pictured above). It illustrates why Brockman appeals (to James' rugged sensibilities).

Enjoy!

~Dad Singletary

Cozy

James got a new winter hat and some gloves yesterday. He's not so sure about the gloves but the hat seems ok. Here are some pictures of the little muchkin:

Weekend with the Hendoos

This weekend the Hendrickson family (Kyle, Ann and Daniel!) came to visit and spend the night. Much fun was had by all and although James did try to attack their sweet little Daniel a number of times, everyone got away unscathed.

Here are some shots from the weekend.

Weekend with the Hendoos

Today

I know it's kinda mean to take a picture of someone when they're crying but today James was just too cute to not capture on film.



Here's another goody from today, after the crying had stopped.

James in November

Here are a bunch of photos of the boy in November.

November week 2-3

Cry Baby

I was blowing my nose today and out of nowhere James started crying. I thought it was a fluke but when I blew my nose again later it happened once more. So apparently nose blowing terrifies my son and makes him cry, here are some other things that make the little guy burst into tears.

1) Loud and unexpected laughter.
2) Loud and unexpected noise of any kind.
3) Shawn Stinson (see #1 & #2)
4) Harmonicas, the noise that they make.
5) His car seat. He used to hate it, then he didn't mind it, and now he hates it again. Bummer.
6) Barking dogs. Especially when there are four of them barking at one time......like at his Gigi and Bapas house last week.
7) Diaper changes. Although this one induces more roaring and yelling than actual crying and tears.
8) When I leave the room.

Thanksgiving in California

Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving trip down to California.

Thanksgiving in California

Merry Christmas To All

The Singletary family is starting off the Christmas season right. Enjoy our dance, it took a long time to coordinate, especially with an 8 month old.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Things I love this week

I am having a moment of overwhelming thankfulness and so I've decided to create a top 10 list. Here is a list of 10 things I have loved this week:

1) That as I sit here typing I can hear my sweet husband over the baby monitor as he sings songs to our baby boy, slowly lulling him to sleep. This is what I refer to as the Daddy Magic and Ryan has it.

2) That Ryan spoke these words this week and they made me crack up: "Sneeze vomit and nugget poop makes for a stinky combination." You can leave it up to your own imagination.

3) That we got to have a really nice evening at Adam and Nicole's house on Friday and FINALLY see their new place....which isn't really that new anymore. Dinner was wonderful (who knew Nicole could cook so well?!) and I loved spending time with my lovely Nicole, my oldest friend in Washington and a beautiful woman who I love. Oh yeah, and her husband's pretty great too!

4) Talking/crying to my husband about the things that are weighing on me and being completely vulnerable with him. Feeling so much better, almost lighter, afterwards.

5) Seeing, and feeling, James get his THIRD tooth! Can you believe it?!

6) Watching my little boy learn. It is so amazing how fast he learns new things. One day he tries to pull himself up on the coffee table and three days later he's a pro. I am so thankful for my sweet boy.

7) Hearing our pastor preach the truth of the bible. Specifically the series that we are in right now going through Song of Solomon and talking frankly about what the bible says about sex and marital love. Thank you Lord for marriage and the amazing intimacy and freedom we can have with our spouse.

8) Meeting with two of my favorite ladies on Thursday and talking about Jesus and praying together.

9) Watching as our church body banded together to pray without ceasing for a sick boy and a sweet pregnant friend who is trying to keep her baby in her tummy as long as possible. Seeing prayers answered.

10) My husband. "His mouth is most sweet, and he is altogether desirable. This is my beloved and this is my friend." Song of Solomon 6:16

Here are some photos of our week:

November week 1

Comic Relief

This blog , which I am slightly addicted to right now, just provided some much needed comic relief on our day without sleep. Nothing better than a little cake humor.

James 2, Mommy 0

Day one of trying to let James cry himself to sleep at nap time = James - 2 & Mommy - 0. I put a time limit of 25 minutes on the crying each time and so far he's winning.

It is now 3:35pm and James has had two twenty minute naps today and both were in the car (normally he sleeps for a total of about three hours a day) help! I have foregone work for the day (except for a meeting this morning) and instead am sitting on the floor with a very tired seven month old who can't understand why I keep leaving him in his crib alone in the dark.

He needs to sleep and let's be honest, I need him to sleep so any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Dread Pirate James

We had an awesome Halloween with friends and a bunch of babies who were all experiencing their first Halloween. Thanks Jay and Kim!

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Halloween

BIG DAY!

Oh my goodness today has been such an amazing day!

First we dedicated our sweet baby boy to the Lord and Ryan read proverbs 3:5-8 as a prayer for James:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones."

James, your Daddy and I both pray that you will grow to be a mighty man of God. We pray that you will come to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior at a very young age and that you will ask him to forgive your sins and guide your life. We acknowledge that you belong to the Lord and that he has entrusted you to us. We pray that He would give us the skills and love that we need to lead you to him and we know that he loves you even more than we do and knows every hair on your head. We love you and are committed to teaching you about Jesus and we ask our family, friends and church family to support us and do the same in your life.

Here is a photo of us on stage during the dedication:


After the dedication we had a very nice lunch/day with Ryan's parents and his grandmother and prayed all day long for my sister Mary because she was in LABOR!

Finally at 5:30 this evening, on the dot, Matthew Caleb Boaz Weber was born at home weighing in at 9.5 lbs and 21 inches long. My sister Mary is AMAZING and gave birth naturally to her fourth baby with her wonderful husband Joe at her side. My Mom called me at 5:34 and I got to hear Matthew cry over the phone.....which of course made me cry as well. Thank you Jesus for bringing this little boy into the world safely and for being with my sweet Mary through it all.

Here are some pictures of our little Matthew a few minutes after he was born:

Matthew

Wanna come to church?

If you live in the Seattle area and are around this weekend then please come join us on Sunday at 9:00am at our church to support us as we dedicate James.

Ryan and I will be up on stage with our little man at either the end or the beginning of the service (I can't remember which) to dedicate James to the Lord in front of God and our church family and dedicate ourselves to raising James according to God's word.

We would love to see you there!

James Attack

Today I was attacked by a wild James and somehow I got away unscathed (except for the drool that landed in my EYE!) and with these photos. Please forgive the poor photograhy, I was taking the pictures myself mid-attack.

Daddy & Me

Here are some pictures of my guys.

Daddy & Me

James the Climber

Well it has been a big week for James and today was no exception. To start, today marks two Sundays in a row where James has gone to the nursery at church for the whole service without any problems. Our church gives you a pager when you drop your child off so that the folks watching your little one can page you (on buzz of course) if there is a problem and so far so good, no pages to speak of, just a couple parents that miss their boy terribly after the hour+ long service is over.

In other news, James has been trying to pull himself up on things for the past week but today marks the first time he has successfully pulled himself up on the coffee table (with supervision to protect his head from bonks of course). This is a big feat for our little man and although it make me nervous, I'm excited for him and how pleased he looks when he has learned something new.

Here are some photos of our week and the little guy in action.

James the Climber

Oh and one more thing. James is a full fledged crawler now and he's fast too, video to come.

Carob?

What is the deal with Carob? I thought this terrible chocolate impostor had been eradicated in 1990 along with leg warmers and side ponytails.....oh wait those are back too.

Today at the grocery store I saw a container full of carob chips for sale in the organic foods section and I was instantly brought back to a time in the late 80's when a "friend" offered me some "chocolate" that turned out to be chocolate's evil twin, carob. Friends don't let friends eat carob.

Yes, I admit that I am a bit of a chocolate snob but honestly who eats this stuff. Carob is only good to give to kids who have never tasted real chocolate because they are allergic and don't know any better.

Does anyone actually like this stuff?

Ok, carob tirade is complete. I apologize to all the carob lovers out there reading this however I strongly suggest that you admit you have a problem and buy some Ghirardelli chocolate ASAP.

October

Here are some photos of what we've been up to in the past couple weeks.

October

Annie's Blog Adventure

I've been feeling a desire to write lately and put some of my thoughts and ideas down on paper (or on a blog). So instead of using this blog (our family blog) to bare my soul (as I have done countless times in the past) I've started a new one that you are all free to view or not view as you wish. Sometimes it will be funny, other times it will make you think, and hopefully it will always give you a little view into my heart.

Here is the link:

http://anniesingletary.blogspot.com/

I'm baffled

I just took James out of his excersaucer to change him because it appeared by the puddle at his feet that his diaper had sprung a leak.

(for those of you who don't know what an excersaucer is here's a picture)
The baffling part is that as I began to disrobe young James I could not find a wet spot on his clothing to save my life. Also the fabric seat in the exersaucer is completely dry so I am perplexed by how the puddle of pee formed below him. Could he have magic pee?

How did he walk (or crawl as it were) away unscathed by the liquid that so obviously came out of his body while in a confined exersaucer seat? The world may never know. Baffling.

...yes indeed and I'm TALKING...

We knew little James was getting close (Oct. 4):



By the time he returned from California he was a certified talker (Oct. 10):



Certified talker, hah! Our little Monster Man is an orator (Oct. 12):

Big week

It's been a big week for little Jamser. In the past seven days James has spoken his first word and received his two front teeth.

His teeth are just barely there but you can already tell that his toothy smile is going to be adorable. We had a couple days of crying and mouth grabbing for the little guy but now that the teeth have broken through his gums he is back to his old smiley self.......mostly. (As I wrote those words James woke up crying and grabbing at his mouth. I now have a sleepy boy lying on my chest.)

As for the first word, drum roll please........it is Da Da! He doesn't quite know what it means but it still melts our hearts ever time he says it.

Well that's all for now, I've got to go put this boy in bed.

California...again

Here are some pictures from the past week while we've been in California.

California Trip

Shades

James is getting ready for his trip to California this weekend.

Solid foods equals......

...solid poops. Enough said.

More Video

Here are a couple new videos of the little man.

James LIVE! (Look over there ---------->)

Check out our new "Custom Player" featuring nothing but James Ryan, all day every day! Click on the video to go directly to YouTube or click the right/left arrows to scroll through the videos.

New Addition

Well the work out video thing hasn't exactly been working out (pun intended) and I have recently felt that I need to get healthy, not super sexy and fit, but healthy. It has been way longer than I want to admit since I have been to a gym or done any consistent physical activity and I am feeling it. I don't have the energy that I once did and with a growing boy I want to be able to run after him and play, not sit on a park bench watching from a far.

So Ryan and I decided that since we have some free space in our two car garage, that is now only housing one car, we are going to build a very simple home gym and I am so excited!

We are trying to do the home gym thing as cheaply as possible so yesterday I flipped when I found an upright stationary bike (just what I wanted) in good condition for $45, woohoo! So I emailed the woman and within a few short hours it was in our garage..um..I mean our gym. :-)

Here she is, ain't she a beaut?



Also it sounds like we might be able to have/borrow a friend's weight bench and weights for free. It's all coming together.

Did I also mention that some of my fondest memories/silly times with Ryan have been when we used to work out or climb together? Well they were, which makes me doubly excited for what's to come.

Trust

Trusting God seems to be a big theme in my life right now. I feel like everyday something new comes up that I cannot control but I try to anyway and fail miserably. I know in my heart that my response should always be to trust Jesus and come to him with my problems, asking him to bear the weight and lead me to a solution. I know that only the Lord can sort out the trouble and only he has the answers, but because I am stubborn I don't always do this. Instead I end up spinning my wheels until I am brought to the end of myself when I realize, yet again, that I cannot do anything without Jesus.

This reminds me of a song that we sing in church that begins:

"The feeling of walking around in circles is getting old.
Dead ends and detours on the road of life, they make me fall.
I surrender, I surrender, I surrender all to you my Lord.
Surrender, surrender, surrender all to you my King."

This song often brings me to tears because the words are simple yet totally piercing. As a christian I know that the answer is always Jesus. Jesus is the great redeemer and our faithful counselor. I know that a relationship with him is the only way to true joy and happiness, as well as the only road to heaven, but as a sinful human I don't always seek him or surrender to him as I should. Instead as the song so pointedly states, I walk in circles trying to fix my problems without talking to the Lord until the weight of it all brings me to my knees and I can do nothing but ask for his forgiveness and help.

Being a new mom this has been a reality more than I want to admit. It seems like I have spent a good part of the past six months trying to manage situations and keep my life "under control", which inevitably leaves me frustrated, crying and completely overwhelmed....ask Ryan, he'll tell you. However when I do pray in times of trouble and surrender to the Lord admitting that I cannot do this alone, it seems like even the craziest days are doable. He gives me the strength to keep going and peace in knowing that he is in charge. God is great.

So I have been praying lately that God would change my heart and help me to trust him completely and not allow worry or anxiety to plague me as they do. Although God's plan is not always the most comfortable or glamorous, I know that his plan is perfect and I desire to go down the path that he has set out for me, not off on my own beaten path.

So, Ryan's car died, officially and finally, a couple weeks ago and instead of my first reaction being "Ahhhhh, what are we going to do?" I thought "Well, we'll figure it out, God knows how to deal with this and I trust Him." Which surprised the heck out of me to tell you the truth. I am not usually this faithful right off the bat and never this calm, but by the grace of God I was at peace, without anxiety or worry, and truly living out Proverbs 3:5:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding."

The Lord has been teaching me to trust in him lately and finally I responded faithfully. Thank you Jesus for being such a wonderful God who teaches us slowly so that we can get there eventually and give all the glory to you.

"O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in you!" Psalm 84:12

Peas Please

James has moved onto bigger and better mushed up foods this week. He is just about six months old so Mommy and Daddy decided to try out some peas on the boy. Night #1 of peas was less than a success, lots of spitting peas and making awful faces, but night #2 seemed to do the trick and James is now a pea eater. Enjoy!

More Peas Please!

Quick thought....

Have you ever thought about how we say "putting the baby down" when speaking of putting a baby to bed and yet we also say "putting the dog/cat down" when speaking of euthanizing an animal. Strange huh?

James in September

More pictures.

Night Owl

James is normally a very good sleeper at night. His typical bed time is between 8:00 & 8:30 and once he's down he'll be asleep until about 5:30, at which time he wants a snack and then bed for a couple more hours. However I have learned over the past 6 months that babies are constantly throwing you for a loop. Just when you think you've finally got it all figured out something changes and their "schedule" is totally different.

So a couple nights ago James decided that he was not going to bed at his usual time and after three attempts at putting him down I caved and let the little guy come downstairs to hang out with Mom and Dad. He proceeded to stay up until almost 11:00pm and although Ryan and I didn't get our usual alone time, we had a great night cuddling and playing with our little fella.

Here are some pictures of James and us hanging out late night.


Our DVD player broke a few months ago so I wiped down the DVD remote, took the batteries out, and gave it to James as a toy. He loves buttons and remotes in particular so this has fast become his favorite item.


You're getting sleepy, sleepy, sleepy......


Daddy, Mommy and James have a family cuddle.


After a few big toots (That's why he couldn't sleep, perhaps Mommy should lay off the burritos....it seems that burrito breastmilk doesn't agree with James) he finally rolled over and fell asleep next to Daddy. Aren't my guys so wonderful!?

Funny Face

After reviewing some recent photos of James and myself I have finally found a photo (top) of James where he looks like me (bottom). Take a look below and see for yourself.





Ok, so really we're both just making the same silly face but isn't his classic! I love this boy.

Here are a couple more cute photos of the boy to tide you grandmotherly types over for a bit.

Port Townsend

On Sunday we headed out to Port Townsend for Dan and Carrie's wedding and got these shots. Unfortunately we didn't think to get a picture of Dan and Carrie or the wedding at all for that matter, but I assure you that they both looked stunning.

Blueberry Picking and Eating

Here are some photos of our blueberry picking (and eating) adventure with Shawn and Kalle this past Saturday.



Sorry for the weird slideshow format, Picasa has changed some things and as a consequence we don't know how to post the way we used to.

Happy Birthday Nana B!

Dear Nana B,

Since I don't have a whole lot of money in the turtle bank that you gave me (thanks a lot Mom and Dad) I decided to have Mommy post this picture of me today as a birthday gift from me to you. I picked this picture because it was taken just yesterday and because I am wearing the funny sun hat that always makes you laugh.

I love you a lot and I miss you singing me Carolina Moon....so please come visit me soon.

Love,
James

SAFETY ALERT: Simplicity "Close Sleeper" Bassinets

In case any of you haven't heard/read about this yet:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/safety/2008/09/graco-bassinet.html

From the article:

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that SFCA Inc., the company that owns Simplicity's assets, has refused to cooperate with the government and recall the bassinet. Because SFCA would not agree to a voluntary recall, the CPSC issued a safety alert on August 28 asking parents not to use the 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 convertible "close-sleeper/bedside sleeper" Simplicity bassinets. The CPSC also helped persuade a growing list of retailers—including some of the nation's largest—to pull the Simplicity bassinet from its shelves.

Tell your friends too!

~Papa Singletary

p.s. Thanks, Dad, for teaching me to love and follow Consumer Reports!