James' Stats

At 9 weeks old James now weighs 13lbs 12oz and is 24 3/4" long. He is getting very big and is advancing very quickly. He can now hold his head up while laying on his tummy, and can rotate in a full circle while doing it. He can roll from back to front and front to back while laying on the floor, and he loves his jumper. He likes to sit up more now. and will lunge forward to try and get something he is interested in. He still loves to chew on his hands, but hasn't "discovered" them yet. He is very interested in his feet though. He likes to scoot down in his swing and stick his legs straight up in the air and watch them. He is also becoming more vocal, and absolutely loves to talk to people. The doctor says he is advancing very quickly and is on par with the average 4 month old. That makes me happy and sad at the same time because my baby is growing up so quickly. It wont be long now before he starts crawling. He still loves football and often sits with Daddy and George (George is his monkey) and watches the game. He even yells at the players. I'm not sure if he is cheering them on or if he is trying to tell them how to play lol. One thing is for sure, and that is that I am the luckiest woman in the world. I have a wonderful husband who supports me and loves me with all his heart, a son that makes me laugh more times in a day then I can count, and two very spoiled cats that are trying to train the baby that they are really the ones that rule the house. Maybe if he is nice enough to them, they will share the couch with him someday.


Thanksgiving 2010

Fun facts

I'm taking a leaf out of my cousin Amber's book and updating this to keep sort of a family record for my son so that when he is grown he will be able to look at it and learn about the early years of his life. That way I wont forget things that seem so cute now, but will no undoubtedly be forgotten later.

At 6 weeks of age, James weighs 12lbs
He loves the taste of the following things:
Bacon
Apples
Pears
Vanilla Ice Cream
Avocado (sort of)
And his own hand

His favorite thing to do with Mama is:
Sleep
Sing
Go for walks
Pull out my hair
Stare at me
Talk (or make sounds.)

His Favorite thing to do with Daddy
Smile
Stop smiling when daddy reaches for the camera
Squats (yes, they work out together lol)
Laying on Daddy's chest.

James has already started to sleep through the night. Which is a great, because that means that I get to sleep through the night as well! He is turning me into a morning person which is something I never thought I would say. We're usually up by 6:30am now.

Things James dislikes:
Bananas
Fighter Jets (The Navy does its practice flights out of the air port a mile from our apartment and they are loud)
Loosing his Bink
Not being brought into the bed with me after John goes to work
Not being talked back to when he is talking.

This kid is such a joy and so funny. Some of the simplest things make me laugh. Like the fact that when he farts when he is half asleep, it scares him awake and makes him cry. I know I shouldnt laugh, but its the funniest thing in the world!

The story of a birth

So lets begin with me being 9 days late for delivery. That as prolly the most un-fun part of the whole process. The weather up here in Fresno was not being kind, and I had gained about 38 pounds so I was a bit uncomfortable as it was. Then it happened...

( the day before giving birth )



It was about ten minutes to five in the morning and I hadn't been sleeping very well. I got up to go to the bathroom and BAM! My water broke. At first I wasnt sure that it had really happened, so I waited about 10 minutes before waking up John. We had had so many false alarms and gone to the hospital so many times that I didnt want to wake him just in case it wasnt "time." Besides, we were getting induced that night anyways. So the ten minutes went by and I was sure that it was "time."



John woke up so quickly and calmly that I was really surprised. He has always been great under pressure. He said "ok" and walked into the bathroom and got dressed. I should have taken the chance to eat breakfast, but I was too excited/nervous to do much of anything but stand at the bathroom door and stare at the door till he was done. We double checked the bags, fed the cats, walked around the apartment to make sure we hadn't forgotten anything, and we were out the door.



We arrived at the hospital in short time, and were taken into a room to make sure I was in labor. I could have told them I was, but they wanted to hook me up to a machine and do a couple of tests anyways. As usual, I was right and we were taken to a private room.



Robin arrived shortly after with a big cup of coffee for John, and a much needed sense of humor for both of us. It was going to be a long day and the fact that she was there to talk with us and give us support is something John and I will never forget. It was a true blessing and we are so lucky to have such a great friend! She even helped John coach me through labor!



By 11:30am I was still only at 4cm so they decided to start the pitocen(sp?) and give me an epidural because the contractions were coming very fast and hard. The only part of it that hurt was the numbing stuff they inject, the rest of it just felt like pressure. It was a little difficult because I have 2 messed up disks at L5 and L3 and thats the area they needed to set it up at.



So with in an hour I couldnt feel my legs. It was awesome. and by 4:15 ish I was fully dilated. The whole pushing part only took me an hour and 2 minutes. The staff thought that I was a little crazy because I would joke and laugh between pushes. We were all on tender hooks. Our little girl was almost here! But wait, what?

( Just getting ready to push)


They told me I only had to push one more time and Aly would be here, so I pushed and John said "Its a boy!" I remember clearly saying "What?" and Robin laughing and saying "No its not." and John looking at both of us with the most shocked expression I have ever seen on his face and saying very seriously "I'm not joking, its a BOY!"




And then it was dead silent. And then my little boy cried and everyone started laughing.



The nurse asked us what his name was and I looked at John and we both said James. We had picked out first names for a boy and a girl before we found out what we were having, but hadnt picked out a middle name for a boy. We ended up settling on James as a nod to our middle school band teacher Mr. Boyer. He has been a mentor to John and has been a huge part of both of our lives.John said he was speechless when he called to tell him. We picked Samuel in honor of John's grandpa who sadly passed away two years ago.

( Laughing and crying )


We ended up staying in the hospital for only 24 hours after his birth. Both sets of parents made a mad dash up to Fresno from Lake Elsinore. A five hour drive. My parents werent able to stay very long due to my dads health but they both got to hold their grandson. John's parents stayed for an additional day and a half to help John exchange all the pink stuff that they could.

( Johns dad, Scott, holding James with us )


( John's mom, Lisa, holding James )





So now we are all at home. James is great. He is sitting on my lap at this very moment, chewing on me, and grunting in approval of the telling of his birth. One thing is for sure, he will have a great story to tell! He is the most precious thing in the world. John and I are already wrapped around his little finger. This kid will have a dog and a motorcycle by the time he is 2! We love him so much!

Life with a baby

The last time I posted a blog I was still pregnant, so it is beyond time to update. James Samuel Thornton was born on September 30, 2010 at 5:30pm. He was quiet a surprise for us because James was supposed to be Alyson. Yes, thats right, they had told us that we were having a girl. We even had an ultrasound one week to the day before we had him (three days after he was due) and they double checked and said "yup, its still a girl!" Imagine my surprise when John said "Its a boy!" I said, "No, its a girl." and John looked at me and said "No, seriously, Its a BOY!!!"

He is the most perfect little angel. I might be a little biased though. He was 8lbs 5oz and 21 3/4" long at birth. And it looks like he is going to be a very big boy. He had already gained a pound and 4 ounces by his 3 week appointment. He makes John and I laugh constantly, and we even have nick names for him. Monster baby, or pig pig. He snorts when he is happy, and growls like a little monster when he gets upset. He is just a little bundle of fun. He even started smiling the week before last.




We feel truly blessed to have been given such a beautiful son! I feel so luck every morning to wake up next to my wonderful husband and my cute little boy. Oh, and my two foot warmers, Blue and Sneezy. We cant forget the cats. Everyone knows they are really the ones that run the house! I will post the story of the birth right after this. Its a great story and I laugh a little more every time I read it!

Baby update

Hi everyone! It's time for a baby update. I'm currently at 30wks, 4 days and getting bigger by the moment it seems. The doctor has put me on bed rest due to the fact that I started having contractions at 27 weeks. Baby Alyson is looking great though! They estimate that she is around 3lbs and about 15 1/2" long at this point. She moves around constantly, and one of our favorite past times has become watching her move. This does lead to a bit of a problem when the nursing staff at the hospital try to hook me up for the NST (non-stress test). They have started calling her Houdini baby! By the look of things I will be on bed rest until I hit 36wks. At that point they are confident that she will be developed enough to be born. John and I are so excited for her to get here already! We cant wait to welcome this little addition to our family!

Pregnancy

For some of you this is old news at this point, but for the rest this will be all shiny and new! We found out on January 13th that we are expecting our first child. John and I are both very excited and cant wait to start this new leg of our journey together! Here are some photos from the last two weeks. Both taken on Fridays. One set is of me at 12, 4 days and the second set is of me at 13 weeks, 4 days. I hope you all like them!

How terrible am I?

While reading through my big cousin Amber's blog (love you Ambee!) I thought that it would be a good time to update everyone on whats been going on up here in Fresno. For starters, since my last post on August 30th, I have returned to the wonderful world of Home Depot. My back isnt 100%, but it is getting better every day, and I'm so thankful for that. John really helped out while I was going through the bad parts. He even did the laundry for me. I was so shocked that I had to laugh through tears. That is his most hated chore.

Hooray for great husbands!

Also while I was off work we helped John's mom do an audition video for The Amazing Race. Her and John's Aunt Vikki are hoping to make it on to the next season.
Good luck to Lisa and Aunt Vikki!


As of right now we are just getting ready for the holidays. I especially love this time of the year. There is just something about the cold weather and peoples attitudes that makes this time worth waiting for. We were lucky enough to be able to go down south for Thanksgiving. We had dinner at both the Groves and Thornton's houses. Needless to say, we were stuffed!





















The center piece John's dad made out of plants and flowers from their back yard.


























Scott(John's Dad) Carving the turkey.



The awesome cheese cake I made the night before. I love to bake!


I'll update again (hopefully) before Christmas. If not, God bless, Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to you all!

-Mist

If its not one thing....

While working a closing shift on Thursday night I came up against a situation that unfortunately happens on a regular basis. A customer needed to have three 50lb bags of cement loaded into their car for them. The customers were a very sweet elderly couple. The husband had recently had knee surgery and his wife looked as if she would break in half if she tried to lift more then 10 lbs. My cashiers did everything they could to find someone to load. They called for building and lumber, but as always they were no where to be found. They paged over head and on the radio for anyone that was available to help but no one answered. When I walked up to the register my cashier Emmanual looked at me with a very distressed look on his face and said that he couldnt find anyone to help. I offered to load the customers my self.

I have loaded 50lb bags thousands of times in the three and a half years that I have worked for Home Depot. I didnt think much of it and assured the customers that it wasnt a problem. We got out to the parking lot and I got the first bag into the truck with out incident. On the second bag, however, I started to loose my balance and the bag started to fall. As I started to try to get everything back together, it happened. I felt a "pop" and then my lower back started tingling the way your foot does when it falls asleep. Then it "popped" again and thats when the pain started.

I managed to make it back inside and get a hold of the manager on duty. Next thing I know Im sitting in the emergency room at St. Agnes Medical Center. The doctor had to give me three full syringes of pain killers before they could take me to x-ray to see if I had fractured my spine. The x-rays look good she said, but she thinks I may have one or more slipped or herniated disks. As it stands right now I'm not allowed to drive, I can not walk on my own, sitting or standing is a challenge and I can only sleep on my left side. I never realized how much I loved sleeping on my stomach!

When all this went down I was by my self. John had left earlier in the day to go to Long Beach to pick up a shipment for work, and our nearest friends live at least an hour away. I ended up having to go through the emergency situation alone, but I had two wonderful nurses that stayed with me until John's uncle could get there from O' Neals to take me back to their house so I would have help until John could get back.

I'll be going to an occupational therapist on Monday to find out if I will be able to return to work. I'm really hoping its soon. I'm already going stir crazy not being able to do anything.

John has been wonderful. He has been taking care of all the things I normally do like dishes, laundry, moping and cleaning the bathroom and kitchen and so forth. He checks on me every few minutes to make sure Im comfortable and that I have enough apple juice or chocolate milk :)

I'll keep you all posted on what happens on Monday and how things are progressing. Wish us luck!

Quitting

John and I sat down today and decided that we are both going to quit smoking. WE saved our receipts from the last month and tallied up how much we were spending on cigarettes. It was almost $600! between the two of us. I was going at just over a pack a day, and John was at almost 2 packs per day. Our day to start quitting is next Friday. I plan to use the patch/gum approach and he is going to try using just gum while doing this. The last time I tried quitting I got very moody and tried killing everyone around me so I'm hoping for a better outcome this time. John has already managed to get down to less then a pack per day, and I am so proud of him! It takes a lot of will power to be able to to this. My goal is to be smoke free by my birthday. 10/10/2009. Im going to need a lot of support and I know I have John backing me 100% of the way. If you guys find any information that may be helpful in this endeavor feel free to send me an email. mdgroves1@yahoo.com. I could use all the help I can get. Wish us luck!

Misty

"On the road again, do do do do do On the road again..."

Yay! Looks like John and I might be heading down to So Cal next weekend for a quick visit! We will most likely leave on friday, arriving sometime Friday evening, and will head back up on sunday night. Yay!

Today he would have been 86

Today is June 5, 2009. My Grandpa's birthday. He was a wonderful man and he loved his 6 grandchildren to distraction. I think of him often, but I have gotten to the point where it doesnt hurt as much anymore and I can think of him with a smile. It used to be that I would be so angry and burst into tears at just the mention of his name. The circumstances of the day he died still make me angry. I know it wasn't of natural causes, and I know that the Riverside county sheriffs department was wrong to not launch an investigation into the situation with his "wife" but there is nothing that I can do about that now. All I can do is remember the good times. The endless supply of Pepsi and butterscotch candies, the times that he would take me to school, watching the Dodgers blay ball, waking up to his TV blaring The Waltons because he fell asleep and rolled over on the remote. He was a wonderful man, and I know now that he is with my Macon now and that they are both happy. It saddens me that he wasn't able to see me get married, and he wont be around when John and I start our family, but he knew John, and said from the beginning that he liked him because John treated me the way he treated my Macon. So today, I will be happy and not sad, because it is his birthday. And Im going to have a Pepsi, some butterscotch candy (even though I don't really like it) and a piece of fillet for him. Its kinda silly, I think they have those things up in Heaven. I just think it is a nice gesture, :)

Professional wedding pictures

Ok, so we finally got the link to our professional pictures. Melissa worked so hard and took a lot of time to make sure everything looked good, and I have to say they didnt look good, they tooked GREAT!!! I couldnt have asked for a better photographer, and Jenny McMasters was a wonderful addition to the team for the day. Both women did a wonderful job and made the process of standing still for the pictures (especially with all the little kids) a fun and entertaining experience! I would recommend them to anyone looking for someone to shoot their wedding or engagement, maternity or family photos. Both women are professional and at the same time give you a feeling that you are with close friends who will be capturing the memories that you will cherish for a lifetime.

so here is the link to look at all of the pictures.
go to www.melissapalomo.com/proofs

There will be a little box on the left that asks for a code. The code is: grovesthornton

Once you enter that you will be able to access the gallery. She has it organized so you can see the "getting ready" photos, the "ceremony" photos, the "formal portraits" and the "reception" photos.

Have a look and I hope you all enjoy!

Copying my cousin Amber

My cousin Amber did this so I thought it would be a fun thing to do since I'm trying to procrastinate until John gets home this evening

My day (well yesterday)

7:30 am: Alarm goes off, reset it for 8 am.

7:45 Johns alarm goes off, I forgot he had a late start at work.

8:15 Am, Pound on bathroom door. John has been in there since 7:50am. He thought I had the day off. I really gotta potty.

8:45 Am: both of us out the door to work.

9:05 am: Arrive at work. Lots of traffic today

9:08am: Walk into break room, get apron out of locker, set out my drinks for the day, talk to several other associates and cashiers, talk to fellow Head Cashier about coverage (or lack there of)

9:25am: clock in and walk to the front end. Great customers on the way. Stop at warboard to find out what im covering. Get Till, do two manager approvals, sign 5 pk and sign off on a strip

9:37: head to the returns desk

9:40: tell Choua she can count out her till and go home. Jot down notes on things she thinks we all need to discuss at cashier meeting on Sunday. Grant 4 returns, Log attempt 2 returns, RTV 26 items and get Choua out the door before her 5th hour.

10:45: Pull everything out of the drawers and off the shelves and clean the ENTIRE returns desk. By 11 the knees of my pants, both my hands and a good portion of my face is completly black.

11:30: Fellow HC Maryann comes to give me a break, says we have a call out, and tells me she is already 3 breaks behind. Leave for break, call John to see how his day is going, Call mom to see how her day is going, Call John's mom to see how her day is going.

11:43. Return from break

12:15: Michael our lot associate comes to me to let me know that he found a dead snake in the parking lot and to find out if he should throw it in the compactor or if we need to do something else with it. Call MOD Hannah to find out what to do with dead snake. She says to make sure it is dead first and if it is to throw it in the compactor. If not, call animal control.

12:20: walk with Michael out to the parking lot to see if snake is really dead. It is, so Michael takes care of it while I go to special services to do an approval and a markdown

1:10: Maryann comes to tell me that her and I are both schedualed for lunch at the same time. We have to have one HC on the floor at all times so one of us is going to have to go to lunch a little early and one of us will go a little later. I go to lunch

1:47: Return to returns from lunch. Maryann goes to lunch.

2:05: Its slow, so I stand and great customers, make a list of things I want discussed at our meeting and joke around with people from other departments that walk by.

3pm Everyone and their brother shows up to return stuff

4:45: Rush is over, Returns desk is a mess, begin pussing back go backs, sweeping, whipe down counters and go to last break

6pm: head home

6:10: walk in and say hi to john help him with dinner and start playing the wii

6:30 stop playing wii so we can eat dinner. Relax and talk to John. Watch a little tv and catch up on e-mail.

10:15: shower

11:30 bed time!!!!

Two weeks!

As of today John and I have been married for two weeks! We're both still so excited and happy! It makes me laugh because when you have a birthday everyone asks if you feel older, and the answer is always no. But when people have asked me if I feel different now that Im married, I have to say yes! Its a wonderful feeling going from "girlfriend" and "fiance' " to Wife. I never could have imagined that I would be this happy, and I feel like I have coat hanger stuck in my mouth from smiling so much lol.

We're doing great. We've started looking for a bigger apartment since we got home. I came to the realization while unloading our gifts (which I still havent finished doing because I'm a slacker) that we have no room to put anything! We will probably stay in the apartment that we are in for at least 6 more months, but its fun to look anyways!

At the moment Im lying in bed while John and our two cats slowly take it back over. This is a common occurance around here lol.

The calm after the storm

Just a quick update for everyone. Were back in Fresno, the wedding rocked, the honeymoon= not so much, but I'll go in to more details later. As soon as I have some good pictures to put up I'll bore you all to death lol. Thanks to all the family and friends who were able to show up! We loved having you there and we both wish we would have gotten just a little more time with each of you. Hopefully pictures will be up in the next week or so. If you would like to see a sneak peek, head on over to to our photographer's website by clicking here. Come on! I know you want to. Just click on the link for her blog and start scrolling down. You cant miss us. Hope you all enjoy and I'll yack at you again soon!

Mrs. Thornton

Wow, two posts in two days!

Ok, so I only have one photo so far from my bridal shower last month, but there will be many more to come. It was on March 21st and I think everyone had a blast. The only down side of the whole thing is that I was sick so I couldnt hold all the cute kids that family and friends brought along. Otherwise, it was a great day!

We had 26 people come to celebrate, and a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a long time were there. It was great to catch up with my Aunt Linda, my cousin Ashley and my cousin Amber. I dont get to see them that often, and Amber was able to bring her beautiful new baby girl Maddy! She is such a beautiful little girl and a wonderful addition to the family!

I'll post more pictures in a few days so everyone can see how much fun the day was!

Just a quick update

Sorry its been so long since I posted anything! Im such a slacker, but things have been crazy busy! We only have 19 days left until the wedding, and we still have so much to do. I didnt realize how much planning would be happening or how much of my time it would take up! It seems like this has been my whole life for as long as I can remember!

Anyways, Im heading down to So Cal on the 18th and John will be joining me down there on the 23. We still dont have a minister to perform the wedding ceremony, but were getting close to picking one out that we like. Other then that everything is almost done. We have a whopping 97 people comming so far! I didnt think that many people would respond. It was quite a plesant surprise. I think the thing Im looking most forward to is seeing all the family together again like they used to be. Im also going to be meeting some of John's family for the first time which is so exciting! Things have fallen into place nicely, and I just feel so blessed to be marrying my best friend! John is such a wonderful man and I cant wait for all of you to meet him!

M.D.

Its been a while

I just came to realize that its been a long time since I've posted. ( November, Yikes!) I figured that you all needed an update as to our goings on around here.

So far things are great. I got another raise at work, which Im very excited about. I wish it would have been more, but in this economy it is better them most could have hoped for, so I am grateful!

John and his uncle are working on a BIG bid at work. I wont go into details with the numbers, but they have been shortlisted by the company and things are looking promising! Even if they dont get it, I am extremely proud of both of them for the amount of work they have put it.

Wedding planning is going great. We have our flowers and cake finally, and everything is falling into place. John will be going to to pick out his tux tomorrow, and thats one of the last major things we need to get done.

Life has been an exciting roller coaster for us since November. After Johns grandpa passes, we came back home and it seemed like no time at all until we were back on the road to So Cal. Here are some of the pictures from our drive down there.



WE also had a wonderful Christmas with both family's. It was the first Christmas with out John's grandpa, so things were hard on everyone. None the less, we all had great fun and even had a visit from our own personal Santa!

Artistic

Ok, so I got this link to a page where you can draw and paint with your mouse using different tools. I saw a lot of different pictures that other people had drawn so I decided to give it a shot. Mine looks more like something a 5 year old would finger paint in art class, but I had fun anyways! Let me know if you can figure out what it is.

http://artpad.art.com/gallery/?kc27st1i3ch4

Since it's the Christmas season I thought I would share with you some of my fav things to look at. Christmas lights are always nice, but I think it's just a little more special when people take the time to put on a big show just because they are in the spirit! here are some of my favorite videos that I have come across this year. John and I always look for new ones on the web, so if you happen across one feel free to send me the link!