Our Visit to the Frozen Tundra

In Mid-November, James and I took a long weekend trip to visit "Crazy Aunt Jeanne" for her Birthday. Now, Jeanne and Erik recently moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, so this was quite the adventure for both of us. I hate the cold and James had never been on a plane before, PLUS Q had to work so we attempted this feat by ourselves. Luckily, all went well with the flights, the layovers and plane changes, and all of the transportation. Jeanne's lucky! If it had been a disaster I don't know that I would have done it again....

This is James sitting in his car seat on the first leg of the flight. We flew out at 6am in hopes that he would sleep but no such luck as you can see. We got into Minneapolis at about 2 in the afternoon, and I look like a GIANT disaster but we took a picture in the airport anyway to prove we survived the flight in good spirits. Since it's not cold here in Southern California, Jeanne greeted us at the airport with fleece booties and an adorable hat with ears that James is modeling for us.
Once we got back to Jeanne and Erik's apartment the excessive documentation of the weekend began. Here is James and Jeanne hanging out on her couch.
And James, Erik and I in the hallway of their apartment building, randomly posing since James' hat is so adorable.
James and Erik cuddling up on the couch in the morning.
Jeanne and I at the Mall of America....cause you just CAN'T go to Minneapolis and NOT go to the mall!
Later that afternoon, Jeanne and I went to visit Erik at work and have lunch. James couldn't partake in the Chipotle burrito that I was having so he decided that the table would be a tasty snack.
Jeanne and Erik posed for a photo while James reached for his favorite toy of the weekend....a paper cup filled with ice....
He tried to get the whole thing in his mouth without much success......
Here is James sitting contentedly in his carseat in Jeanne's bug, showing off the hat that his Aunt Carol made him.
Q and I are big fans of a show on the Food Network called Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, apparently MN is home to a huge assortment of awesome hole-in-the-wall restaurants and I just HAD to try the Wienery after seeing it online. So, I dragged Jeanne and Erik out in the freezing cold to have hot dogs. The food was AMAZING and the place was tiny and completely awesome...
The Menu:
Erik, James and I in front of the "Kitchen"
James apparently loves live music. He sat at watched Erik play the guitar for at least 45 minutes while Jeanne and I made a swiss cheese fondue for her birthday dinner.
When Jeanne and my Dad drove to MN as she was moving they documented their trip with "Stick Bug" (don't ask...the story's too long for this blog :-) ) So, we thought it was appropriate to get a picture with stick bug too! and we have NO IDEA why there are random Charlie Brown statues all over St. Paul...but we got a photo with the one near their house anyway.
One of the last things we did on our tour of the city was visit a Childrens Bookstore called "The Wild Rumpus." It is a completely amazing place. There were tons of animals running around with the kids, more (like a Ferret and a Chinchilla) hanging out in cages, a teeny tiny door for the kids to use, a tree house for them to play in and of course TONS of books.

Here's the chicken wandering around....


And James trying to say HI once it went to it's home...
We played with a Giraffe hand puppet in the toy section.
And spent some time petting the kitties.and then we headed home. Back to the warmth of the OC and the craziness of the holidays.

James sits down to dinner at Noodle World

James sits in a restaurant highchair for the first time...
And intensely inspects the menu

Maybe, just maybe....

....James might look a little bit like me after all....

You be the judge!

New Family Pics

On Halloween we met up with Adrea from Bright Waters Photography to get a few quick pics....here's one....for now....more to follow :-)

Jumping Fun

Sawyer, who shares his cars so nicely, also agreed to share a doorway jumper with James. James hasn't Quite figured out how to jump in it yet but he loves standing and watching......and making it play sounds.

Fun with Friends

James has a good buddy in Sawyer, who just turned 3 this week! They like to "play" by making faces and noises at each other. And they share cars quite well. Here are 2 pictures of Sawyer holding James, who has grown just a little bit since June when the first one was taken. The second photo was from the end of September meaning we're already due for another one. Hooray for Play!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was a low key affair. James the Giraffe and I went over to my Aunt and Uncle's and sat on their deck watching Young Frankenstein, eating chili, and handing out candy to the passing kids. Plus, this way we didn't miss bedtime!

Teeth!!!!

Sonia was able to get a pic of James' teeth :-) Hooray!

In other news.....

James also has TEETH! I haven't managed to get a picture of them yet since the only time he shows them to me for long enough is when he's crying....and it just seems wrong to exploit that for a photo op. LOL. He has 2 teeth, the bottom middle ones. Photos to come as soon as I'm able to get some.
Also, as a few of you may know, DT and I have had the best year in music EVER. James got to attend some of it by virtue of not being born quite yet, but I figured that before I forget, I should commemorate the awesomeness with a list so he can see how insane his parents were when he was a little tyke.September 15, 2007: LA Invasion
The Smashing Pumpkins, Foo Fighters, Velvet Revolver, Kid Rock, Chris Cornell,
Cypress Hill, Satellite Party, Hot Hot Heat, Against Me!, Paramore
February 6, 2008: Velvet Revolver at the Wiltern
March 5, 2008: Foo Fighters with Serj Tankian and Against Me
April 3, 2008: Bad Religion at the Anaheim House of BluesJune 24, 2008: Stone Temple Pilots at the Hollywood Bowl
September 20, 2008: Rancid with H2O at the Anaheim House of Blues
October 26, 2008: Foo Fighters at the Harley Davidson Love Ride, Pomona FairgroundsOctober 28, 2008: Chris Cornell at the Anaheim House of Blues

and upcoming......
December 18, 2008....at the Forum....METALLICA!

Life's just too short to listen to bad music.

MHS Homecoming

Last Friday was Maranatha's Homecoming Game :-) James and I went with DT to visit old friends and ran into Grandpa Jebbia and Tim, Kathy, Jason and Kristin, and Lindsey who were all there to watch Mark play. MHS played a great game and won! Which is a definite improvement over the sad state of the football team when I went there. LOL. Here are some pics of James with his Great-Grandpa.

It's been far to long....

....since I've posted! We've been running around like crazy but it seems like nothing was particularly photo worthy.

Here's a picture of James wearing Q's hat:


And one of James sitting by himself! He just started doing that this week and we're all very excited to see him growing up.

Big Q and Little Q at Disneyland

Awwww....Poor Auntie Tizzle! Class until 7, missing Disneyland and then Korea for a week! Little Q and Trish are going through withdrawals. But, too keep everyone up to date with their James fix, I begged and pleaded for Mike to get me the photos he took quickly. It looks like James had a TON of fun romping around in the stroller all day long.

Daddy's ear makes a great handle!

I wonder if there was a hot girl walking by......both boys are VERY intent on something....

Flying Baby

Catching a nap

Big Q, Little Q, and a Lonely F

Auntie Tizzle is stuck in a Tuesday evening lecture until 7PM!! But this doesn't stop the dysfunction which is how attached she is to her Qs...  They are presently at The Happiest Place On Earth....without her.  And it is driving the Tizzle crazy that she is missing out.  Mama Q is trying to ameliorate the situation by emailing her pictures of the fun to entertain her and keep her from falling asleep in class.  Aww.  Sniff sniff.  Here is a snapshop of The Qs Three on Buzz Lightyear.  They've got some practicing to do if they're going to take on the Fieldses w/ those scores...  -- Post by Auntie Tizzle

Sleeping in the Shadow of the Buddah

James went on an expedition with Q and Auntie Tizzle today to Pho 54 in Westminster, our favorite Pho place, thus far, that isn't up in Alhambra. As usual for our Mr. James, he ate a bottle and slept in his stroller through the entire meal.

Auntie Tizzle and Uncle Fike - An Explaination...and Dim Sum!

This world is full of Michaels. We happen to know at least 8 of them! But there happens to be a special breed of Michael lurking out there...the Michael James. Because of the endless "my Michael" and "your Michael" that ensued when DT and I tried to talk about our husbands to eachother or anyone else when we were together, both of these Michael James' needed nicknames. Therefore Q and Fike were born. Q I'm quite sure is obvious, Fike maybe not so much. So here's an explaination, convoluted though it might be. The non-Q Michael James is a Fields. So Michael Fields became Fichael Mields...which was then shortened to Fike. There, that should be clear as mud now.

Auntie Tizzle is quite another story. DanThanh (which is her "real" name, though we haven't called her that since High School) and I have known eachother for years. Sometime in early college, she, and everyone at UCLA, decided that DT was just easier and that has stuck. Well, shortly thereafter, there was the "Fo Shizzle" craze....and DTizzle'PhoShizzle was born. Don't ask me why...there is no explaination. Of course, James can't really be expected to conquor that mouthful and so after about .5 seconds of thought, Auntie Tizzle it was!

For more Fields craziness, see the blog under "Friends and Fun" called *Beware: Fields Antics Ahead*

Now that we have our dysfunctional nicknames explained, here are some pictures from this morning at Dim Sum...the world's greatest breakfast.

Look: Ears! ~Thank you Jason and Karen for the awesomely ridiculous small paul hoodie. :-)

Beep-Beep, Goes the Jeep

James is finally big enough for some of the toys we got at our baby shower. The Jeep was a fantastic idea that James' Great-Grandparents on the Jebbia side thought of. Like all new baby toys it is completely obnoxious and plays songs and has a working horn. James grabs the steering wheel at 10 and 2 just like you're supposed to and cruises around (backward) in the living room.