Bad thing about summer tv...no good tv
Good thing about summer tv...more family time

Good thing about summer food...yummy fruits and veggies...easy to eat healthy
Bad thing about summer food...crave ice cream (ok, this is a good and bad thing)

Bad thing about pacis...James waking up in the middle of the night and crying for it.
Good thing about pacis...settling him down when he gets fussy in church, car, etc.

Bad thing about James rolling over...I can no longer put him on the couch or middle of the bed and leave for a second.
Good thing about James rolling over...it's a developmental milestone that he has reached.

Bad thing about Josh's back situation...the obvious...Josh being in pain...me being exhausted from not getting a break and doing everything that involves lifting
Good thing about Josh's back situation...putting life into perspective again and having a strong reminder of how God takes care of us

Bad thing...got in my first minor wreck with James in the car yesterday afternoon(someone plowed into me from behind b/c they didn't see me yielding)...scared me to death when he started screaming (thinking he was hurt)...My neck is sore today
Good thing...noone was hurt...wasn't my fault...God took care of my sweet baby!

Good Things...
*Bryon lending Josh his truck until his back gets better b/c it's easier to get in and out of
*Nice breezy evenings lately...sitting outside and enjoying them
*Summer smoothies
*Elizabeth teaching me good cooking tips earlier this week
*My snuggly sweet baby...watching him grow and do more things every week
*Seeing my friend Molly's precious new baby yesterday
*Old friends stopping by on their way through town today
*Josh feeling more and more back to his old self with each day that passes
*Homemade frozen cookie dough balls in my freezer (my fav)
*Fun weekend ahead...Michael and Jilinda coming for the weekend, celebrating Josh and Elizabeth's bday, Josh's best friend's graduation from law school and then dinner party with his family at my fav restaurant!

We went to the other doc yesterday and REALLY liked him. He's a Dallas doctor who has an office in Waxahachie, and we really felt like God was taking care of us in leading us to him. He agreed that Josh didn't necessarily have to have surgery right now, and that he could possibly manage the pain with medicine, physical therapy, getting epidural shots, exercising, and using proper body mechanics. This was very encouraging to Josh, who is not a "sit around the house and take muscle relaxers" kinda guy. He definitely feels much better this week than he did last week. He went to get an epidural yesterday afternoon, so hopefully he'll start feeling even better soon. This doctor said that he might need surgery in the future, but that surgery techniques are only going to get better and better every year. I can't thank y'all enough for your prayers and concern over this!

In other news, James rolled over this morning!! I was so proud of him! We had Thomas spend the night last night, and this morning, Thomas and I put him on his tummy, got down on the floor to talk to him, and he rolled to his back like it was nothing! Also, besides waking up once for his paci in the middle of the night, James slept for 10 hours, ate and then slept another 2 hours! I hope this continues! Now that life is settling down for us a little bit, I'm going to get some more pictures of him and post them soon.

We went to the neurosurgeon today and were very encouraged. He said Josh has a "crappy" back with old injuries and now a new injury. His disc is herniated and pressing on the nerve. He never wants to opt for surgery at first...only if there is no alternative. He wants to have him do injections in his back for pain relief and to reduce inflamation. He said that works about 50% of the time. If that doesn't work he will have to have surgery. He will also have him go to physical therapy. He said Josh will have to be "smart" and be very careful with his back...no bending, lifting, or twisting. The doctor was very impressive and encouraging to us. We're going to see another doc tomorrow for a second opinion. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!

The MRI results came back, and it was not what we were hoping for. It actually showed that both things had happened: he herniated his disc further and he fractured his vertebrae further, which is lodged in his nerve. We're trying now to research the best neurosurgeon around to do surgery on his back. He has an appointment with one on Monday here and another in Waxahachie on Tuesday. I'll keep you updated as we know anything. Please keep us in your prayers.

Today is Josh's 27th birthday! I thought this would be a good day to write the story on how we met.

Junior year of college, a big group of friends went to Dixie Cafe for a girl's birthday. Josh had just become interested in this girl, and I had a crush on another boy who was going. We both wanted to sit next to these people, but didn't with the craziness of a big group, and ended up across from eachother. Josh made me laugh throughout the entire meal and had the best time. I asked one of my best friends, Kim, (who was good friends with Josh) if Josh was wanting to date right now. She said YES and that she would try to casually talk to him about me to see if he was interested. Well, Josh asked the bday girl out, went out with her a few times, and it didn't work out. I went out with another guy a few times, because I just assumed Josh wasn't interested. Over Christmas break, I told my mom that I just knew that I wasn't going to find "the one" at HU, and that I felt really good about graduating single, moving to Dallas, and finding someone there at church or something. Well, in January when we got back to school, Josh did not like that I was dating this other boy! He told Kim (top secret :)) that he was really interested in me, and Kim and Amanda, who really wanted us to get together, ran in after school and told me to stop dating that other guy because Josh wanted to ask me out. I knew there was something to him, so I told that guy that night that it wasn't working out and there was someone else I was interested in. The funny part was when that guy asked me if it was Josh. I was surprised, and he said that he could tell Josh was interested in me. I, of course, loved that! Well, at the end of January, we went on a group date and had instant chemistry. I felt so comfortable with him and just knew something big was happening because I'd never felt that way before. On February 8th, we went on our first date to a restaurant 45 minutes away, talked nonstop, and the rest was history! I knew almost immediately that we were meant to be together. Everyone else knew it, too. All of our friends said, "I don't know why we never thought about it before!". We got engaged that October and married the next June. Happy Birthday, to the man who swept me off my feet and makes me feel like the most blessed woman in he world!

**Update- Josh went ahead and went to see his family doctor to see if he could get him in any faster. The dr. was concerned because he was losing function in his foot, which means nerve damage. Josh is going to have an MRI done tomorrow morning, and when the results are back (hopefully by tomorrow afternoon) they will show whether the nerve is being compressed by his herniated disc (what we want) or that his vertebrae has fractured into the nerve. If it has, the only road is back surgery, which we don't want because people have such mixed results with back surgery. PLEASE say a prayer that it's the first one! I'll let you know as soon as I can.**

Josh is having major back trouble right now. He has a back condition, and majorly hurt it in college playing football and lifting too much weight (back when he would work out 1-2 times a day). It has been better since he has started doing certain exercises to help it, kept his weight down, and gotten an epidural stop to help it. He'll reinjure it from time to time playing softball, basketball, and football (he says it's worth it), helping people move, etc. and really hurt it recently helping my sis and bro-in-law move. He always offers to help, and wants to be able to handle it, but I think from now on, he'll remember why he shouldn't. He has not been able to sleep because the pain is so bad, can hardly walk, and now is starting to have pain wrap around his leg. He says this is officially the worst it has ever been. He's going in to the doctor on Monday (he's been calling everyday to see if they have a cancellation to no avail). Please pray for his back to get better, hopefully without surgery! His birthday is tomorrow, and I'm having my family and his best friend over for hamburgers, hotdogs, birthday cake, and presents. Hopefully this will cheer him up a little! I'll keep you updated.

Today James is 3 months old. 1/4 of a year old! I can't believe how fast time is flying, and I can't believe he's only been around 3 months. I just updated everything he's doing, so I won't update again. I looked today at all of his pictures since he was born, and I got a little sad at how much he's already changed. His little newborn face is a memory now! I miss it, but I love everything about him now, so I would never want to go back. I look forward to many more months and years with my sweet baby James, watching him grow and change, and falling more and more in love with him as I have these past 3 months!

This has been a much needed relaxing week so far, full of cleaning, playing with James, and trying to get him back on somewhat of a schedule. I do wish I could be in Florida right now on our yearly trip there with Josh's fam, and I miss my sister a ton who is on the Cape right now (wish I could be there, too), but since I'm here, I have to say I'm really enjoying it! I feel like I finally have all of my energy back, which I haven't completely had since almost a year ago! I forgot how nice it was to have energy!

James is so much fun right now. His little personality has really come out this past week! He smiles all of the time, is being more expressive with his coos, unknowingly makes funny faces (he already has this raised eyebrow look that makes us laugh a lot), and has even done some mini-laughs. My favorite face is his open-mouthed smile with squinty eyes and scrunched nose. It's like he's so happy he can't contain himself! I kiss him constantly and can't get enough of his soft baby cheeks! He is still extrememly cuddly, which just melts our hearts. He has done a lot of changing in the past week and a half. (Warning...possibly boring details that I want to document.) Last week, he discovered his hands, and he cracks me up when he stares at them right up to his face making him cross-eyed. He clasped his hands together this week and is starting to reach out for objects. He loves his activity mat and has started kicking it to make the music start. He loves to stand up in our laps and gets so excited when he does. He can hold his head up for a long time now and in the past couple of days has started lifting his head to try to sit up when laying down. He is a solid boy at 17 pounds!

Tomorrow, Josh is going to Boston for work, and since my brother is also out of town for work, I'm going to go to Dallas and spend the night with my sister-in-law, Jilinda. I'm very excited and glad that James is so portable right now where I can do that. I know it won't be like this for too much longer! I will work on trying to get some of James' faces that I talked about on camera and post them soon.

I got this from Audrey's blog...

Three people who make me laugh:
1. Josh
2. Cody (Josh's friend who just got married...funniest person I know...besides Josh)
3. Nicki

Three Things I love:
1. Being with my husband
2. my job now
3. staying in nice hotels

Three Things I hate:
1. bugs
2. when Josh goes out of town
3. cleaning baby poop off of things I can't stick in the wash

Three things I don't understand:
1. child abuse
2. What Josh does for a living (investment representative)
3. the Saddams and Hitlers of the world

Three things on my desk:
1. Don't have a desk at an office, but at home, my computer
2. pictures
3. James' baby book - I was just using my blog to fill it in (thank goodness for blogs!)

Three things I'm doing right now:
1. Holding James
2. Watching Josh cut the grass out the window
3. Talking on the phone (I'm multi-tasking)

Three things I can do:
1. Teach and relate to kids
2. figure out most things on the computer or fix-it problems around the house
3. cook

Three things I can't do:
1. Always use my time wisely
2. speak in a formal setting
3. anything business (all 3 Josh's strengths...hmmm...)

Here are some photos that highlight our first big trip away from home. We had the best time and did not want to leave. I hate when work gets in the way of vacation!! The highlight of our trip to Birmingham was getting to see Kim and her 7 month pregnant belly! We also loved getting to have a mini college reunion with a lot of our (mainly Josh's) college friends. We thoroughly enjoyed showing off James to all of Josh's side of the family. He has so many people to love him, and it was so special to us to get to see them so in love with our little baby. We miss everyone already!

 
My favorite part of the wedding weekend: getting to see Kim!!

 
Josh and me with the bride and groom, Cody and Lauren

 
The guys (Josh's best friends from college)

I'm taking a moment to blog from Atlanta. The wedding was gorgeous, and Josh and I are very much enjoying our first little trip (far away) as a family. It was so good to see our college friends! We have had the best time showing James off to all of Josh's family. He has seen most of them now, and is officially spoiled to pieces. He's been passed around to about 30 new family members and handled it like a pro! (I've also gotten in several GOOD naps while they did this!!) I completely melted because on two different occasions, James preferred a girl with dark, curly hair like mine! It makes me feel like he's starting to really know who his parents are!

About the name...I have had 3 different people in the past 2 weeks ask me what Lazi was. Two people thought it was lazi, pronounced like lazy. To clear that up, lazi comes from my nickname from my parents growing up, which was lazentoodles. The la part is pronounced the same way as the lau in lauren. It is shortened a lot to lazi, lazens, laz, etc. Hopefully noone will think I'm lazy anymore! :) I have lots of pictures to post when I get back on Wednesday morning. Happy 4th of July!