U-N-O!!!

James left his infant-hood behind and jumped into toddler town in style this Saturday as we celebrated his one year birthday. Following a fabulous week in Michigan where we got to see tons of family and friends and where James had many firsts including boating, beautiful Michigan in the summer, DVD in the car for the road trip, and of course lake-life at Houghton Lake, we headed back to Missouri with the entire Rich clan in tow to celebrate the big boy's birthday. We threw a "yacht rock" themed pool party. Everyone dressed in character by wearing their finest short-shorts, tropical shirts, big hats, gold jewels and docksiders. Even though it was a raging hot (somewhere in the 100's) we all had a great time. James got to eat his birthday cake in front of 50+ friends and family. He got so many cool new toys and nice gifts. It was a fun celebration. He was a trooper even though he barely got a nap and stayed up late. It's sad to have all the family gone and the festivities over with. The house is so quiet. Here's a link to more pics.

One Crazy Summer!

Wow! Things have been busy around here! I'm a little late getting James' 11 month pics up. He is getting SO big! I can't believe my little guy is going to be 1 in just 3 weeks. Where did the time go? He is so funny. Lately he's all about babbling, laughing, imitating us, dancing, crawling and almost walking! We are all settled in our new house. It was hectic getting moved with a little crawler, but we got it done with lots of help from family and friends. Brian has been home for two weeks enjoying the pool and taking walks with James while I finished up my Masters program. I had to work for 3 weeks full-time as a reading specialist in Clayton School District's summer tutoring program. I'm all finished now and ready to enjoy the summer! We have another 3 weeks of Brian being home. I go back to school in 6 weeks. I can't believe how fast this summer went. Oh well! We're going to maximize the time we have left. We head to MI in just a week from Monday to visit with Grammy and Papa Rich and aunt Sarah. We're going to head to Houghton Lake to hang out at the Rich lake house. We are going to stay there for 8 days and then the Rich family is going to cruise back here for a visit at our new house and to help us celebrate James' first birthday. The weather has been absolutely fab. No humidity. Clear skies. Mild temps. Not typical at all for July in St. Louis...but we'll take it. Here's some James updates:
- 7 teeth
- Eating lots of "real people" food
- Still taking 2 naps
- Crawling everywhere
- Pulls up and "cruises" around on furniture
- Can stand without holding on to anything for a few seconds
- LOVES Elmo and music (he gives his Elmo hugs and kisses)
- Enjoys kicking around in the pool
- Can wave bye-bye
- Babbling a lot but only says "maa" "daa" and "kiii" (cat)
- Likes to mimic loud high pitched noises
- Always has his tongue out
- Very smiley and happy


Getting these pics while holding a sign is getting harder and harder...
I can't believe how big he looks in this chair now!