Happy Birthday Sweet Baby James!

Dear James,

Happy Birthday to our sweet baby... now almost a toddler!  Where did the year go?  It seems like just yesterday I was taking a long walk in hopes of jump starting my labor so that I would get to see your precious face for the first time.  It was that same day that we headed to the hospital awaiting your arrival!  You have grown leaps and bounds in your first year and accomplished so much... 

Meeting you for the first time!  You were 8lb 9oz and 20.5"

My 1 year old boy!  You are now 26 lbs and 32"!

You have been very busy since those first days.  As you come closer and closer to walking you have become quite the little explorer.  You are a boy in every way and we love it!  You navigate your way around the house through a combination of walking along walls and furniture and crawling and you have mastered climbing up the stairs... thanks to daddy:)  I can't take my eyes off of you for a moment as you are sure to be getting into a drawer, closing a door on your fingers, pulling a lamp by the cord from a table or getting into a waste basket and unraveling the toilet paper.  When you are awake there is no longer a dull moment!  You are eating mostly table foods and stills some chunky purees.  You also still love your baba and take four bottles of milk a day.  You are quite the persnickety one... it must be warm or you will not drink it!  We are working on the sippy cup and have no doubt you will master that soon.  You are still napping twice a day and sleeping 10-12 hours a night.  Your newest game is to shove your lovey in and out of the bars of your crib and down into the bumper.  Unfortunately that often means lovey ends up on the floor and then you cry hysterically until someone comes in to retrieve it for you.  We love that you love your bed and you also play well independently.  I typically put you in your playroom after breakfast and take a few minutes to clean the kitchen.  I love to listen to you chat and sing and usually find you looking out the window or flipping the pages of your books... a favorite past time.  You talk all day long and are getting close to saying some actual words!  The past few days we have heard a lot of "uh oh" and it is quite entertaining to watch you try to get the sounds out.  You are too cute!

My sweet baby James... you are more loved than you will ever know.  You are simply a joy in our lives.  As a celebration of our first year with you we invited family and friends to share in the fun while we hosted a carnival themed birthday party in the backyard!  Aunt Rini even made the trip all the way from Georgia with your seven cousins!  It was a very special afternoon.

We had a concessions stand with your cake, cupcakes and all kinds of other treats!

We had a photo booth!

Chloe and Max in the photo booth with funny hats!

Your cupcakes with fun toppers!

A year in photos so we could see how you had grown!

Your new chair from Nana and Pop

We decked out your high chair with balloons and a banner!

You smasher cake decorated with love by Mama!

When we first started to sing happy birthday you were a little unsure...

After a tentative first taste...

You went all in...

And loved it!!

It was a fun time!  By 7:00 you were done and I put you to bed.  Then I opened your gifts with the help of a few other little ones!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who came to share in our joy.  It was a very special day and we look forward to many more years of birthday fun!

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

they will sing before the LORD...

~Psalm 95:12

11 Months Old!

Dear James,

You are 11 months old and busy doing new things every day.  This has been a very exciting month as you have reached some big milestones!  Just when I was sure you were never going to crawl and were going to go straight to walking... you took off.  Well... a more accurate description would be two weeks of rocking back and forth on your knees in extreme frustration and crying while you tried to figure it out.  Honestly, this has become one of the biggest challenges for me as a parent because I want so badly to do things for you so that you don't become frustrated and you just have to figure them out on your own.  And so far you have done amazingly well and all in your own timing.  Here are a few of the things you have been up to most recently:

- Crawling... everywhere and the same week you started crawling you also started pulling yourself up on things and walking around!
- Trying to say words... you chit chat all day long!  You are very close to saying ball, but not quite there yet.  We are working on it!
- Eating more table foods.  You like peanut butter and jelly, pasta with tomato basil sauce, toast, bananas, yogurt and cheese.  You are not so fond of fruits unless they are pureed.  I have tried giving your strawberries, blueberries and watermelon and you take one bite and look at me like I am crazy.
- Drinking whole milk!  You officially gave up formula without a fuss and are happily sucking down 4-5 bottles of warm milk a day.
- You are interested in toys that you have to figure out... like stacking rings, shape sorters and lift the flap books.  You also like the simple pleasures like unrolling the toilet paper and tearing it into shreds!  You are very busy and I can no longer take me eyes off of your for more than a few seconds.  You keep me in shape!
- You are still wearing 12-18 and some 18-24 month clothes.  You seem to be slowing down just a wee bit in growth!
- You have become a snuggler, which I love!  At night when I am putting you to bed you often push your bottle out of your mouth, let out a sigh and snuggle up close for a rock before I put you in your crib.  There is no better time in my day than those sweet moments!

You are becoming such a little person.  It is so much fun to watch you grow and discover new things every day!

My prayer for you today and always is that you will grow to be strong in the LORD.  I pray that you will know Him from a young age and that you will faithfully serve Him for all of your days.  I know God has big plans for your life and I am humbled that He has chosen me to aid you in that journey.  You are the sweetest little angel and I love you more than you can possibly ever know.

And the boy grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                               ~Luke 2:40

Memorial Day... and other fun!

It has become something of a tradition in our family over the past few years to attend the annual Memorial Day Parade in Sewickley.  The kids get all decked out in their red, white and blue, eager to stake our their place on the curb to watch the stream of fire trucks, soldiers in uniform, marching bands and kilt clad bag pipers moving past.  It's always a good time!

Last year the babe was in the belly...

 What a difference a year makes!

He had a much better vantage point this year!  James was positively gleeful watching the fire trucks go by and he especially enjoyed the unicycles and the sweet dogs from the Humane Society.  It was so much fun to share this tradition with him!  He posed for a photo with Chloe...

Later we went to my sisters to help her plant her flowers.  He sat on a blanket in her front yard and played with his toys for two hours.  He is the sweetest little guy.  I am truly blessed!

This week has been a scorcher and we have all been doing our best to keep cool.  While I have been busy scurrying around planting flowers and trying to keep them watered... James has been chilling in his new pool.  This was five bucks well spent!

These are the joys that fill my days and my heart to overflowing.  Summer... here we come!

Cousin Love

This past Thursday we had the pleasure of having our sweet little Chloe over for the afternoon while my sister took her twin boys to their Mother's Day program at preschool.  James always enjoys his time with Chloe.

She sings him songs and reads him books and he is fascinated by everything she does!  Chloe helped me make chocolate chip cookies while James played on the floor.

While we waited for them to bake Chloe made some pretend rice cookies for James in the playroom.  She is very imaginative!

Chloe is going to be a big sister again very soon with the arrival of baby #4 for my sister and her husband and she is going to be a wonderful help!  She is very nurturing and eager to do anything that you need.  I love that girl!

She later taste tested our finished product.  We each needed to have two just to be sure they turned out okay!

They were delightful!  And so was our afternoon!  James was tuckered out and slept well after his play date.

We look forward to more fun summer days with the cousins!

Ten Months Old!

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

~James 1:17

Dear James,

You are ten months old today!  I cannot believe we will be celebrating your one year birthday in just two months.  The time has gone so quickly and I am loving every moment with you!  You truly bring joy to my heart in a way I have never known it before.  Spring is here in all its beauty and splendor and I find that our days are slowing down and filling up with simple pleasures in anticipation of summer.  This is what we have been up to...

Playing with lots of toys!

Digging for more...

Riding in your "new to you" Pooh car from Aunt Lala!

Swinging...

Eating while watching the birds outside the dining room window...

Reading books...

Ok, really you just like to pull all of the books off of the shelf!

You love to take long walks around the neighborhood and ride in the jogger at the park.  When we go places people go wild over your sweet face and big blue eyes and your big head of blond wavy hair!  You love riding in the shopping cart at the grocery store and often sing me sweet songs in the car.  We are working on crawling!  But you seem to have more of an interest in sitting or standing against the furniture and banging things wildly with your hands.  You do everything in your own time and we love that about you!  Just recently you have started to move all over your crib.  We finally lowered it from the newborn position!  I love going in your room at night and watching you sleep.  There is nothing sweeter!

You are eating more finger foods and rarely miss your mouth!!

Some of your faves are Cheerios, Gerber Cheese Puffs, Gerber Grahams and Yogurt Melts, but you pretty much eat whatever we put on your tray!

You are such a sweet and content little guy.  I am so blessed to be your mama and I thank God for what He has given me every day.

These are the days

These are days you’ll remember

Never before and never since, I promise

Will the whole world be warm as this

And as you feel it,

You’ll know it’s true

That you are blessed and lucky

It’s true that you

Are touched by something

That will grow and bloom in you

Thank you for making these days so special.  I love you.