Farewell to Long, Lazy Summer Days

The birthday boy enjoying his first taste of cake!
This cake was delicious and so awesome looking.
James helping Uncle Paulie steer the boat at Houghton Lake.
James and Grammy Sandy enjoying the Hammock at the cottage.
First boat ride!
Looking out onto the beautiful lake.
Hanging with daddy at our pool.

Tomorrow marks the end of summer fun. Teachers return, James heads to baby sitting. It was a busy, BUSY summer. We moved, I finished my masters, we traveled, we had a first birthday for James. I thought I wouldn't be upset about returning to work, but I find myself very sad tonight thinking about all the fun we had as a family home this summer. I'm going to miss our morning walks and long, lazy days hanging out by the pool. James has grown up so much in the past few months. He's a little boy now. He has become very attached to me over the last few months so I'm worried about how he'll do at daycare. He loves his baby sitter and so do I. Luckily, my mom and dad will continue to watch him two days a week so the transition won't be so hard. I'm sad that his cute little tiny self will be so much more grown when we come around to this wonderful time again next summer. I wish we could freeze time right here for a little longer.

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!

10 Months

Where is the time going? James is fast approaching one year, and he is a very active little dude. At his most recent doctor appointment he weighed a little over 17 pounds and is 28 inches long. He's a little guy...4th percentile in weight and 41st in height. He has begun to pull up on everything and can cruise around the house pretty well on furniture. He gets himself hurt every now and then. Poor guy has had some falls. Tonight he took a little spill in the bath tub because he insists on standing in there too. Fortunately he wasn't hurt! It scared me though! The true test is going to be successfully packing up our house and moving to the new place. Our closing date is June 8. I wish we could have moved before he was mobile. Luckily, he's very fond of hanging out inside cardboard boxes. He might have to spend some time playing in a few to keep him occupied. School is out this Friday and teachers at my school have to come back next Tuesday, but then we are DONE! Unfortunately, I have to complete a month long internship during the month of June to complete my masters in reading. We are looking forward to July! James' first birthday, a new house, vacation, a new pool, and seeing friends and family. It's going to be busy, but fun.

9 Month Wiggles

Well, everyone told me to enjoy the time when James was immobile and would sit endlessly in one place playing while I emptied the dishwasher, checked my email, did laundry, etc. Those days are officially OVER! he is a man on the move and boy can he move fast! The crawling officially started about 3 weeks ago. It was a little rough at first, but he's definitely mastered the crawl. Now he zooms straight over to the most dangerous item in the room. (What is with babies and being attracted to danger!?!) I need to get this house baby-proofed even better, but I feel it's irrelevant because we are under contract! Yup, we will soon be moving to a new house that we just put a contract on ourselves. The new place is a sprawling ranch with a really open floor plan, lots of big windows, and the icing on the cake--it has an in-ground saltwater pool! We will need to get James some swim lessons soon. Our closing date is June 8. There is so much to be done between now and then...my head is spinning. James is so active now that I'm really wondering how I'll manage to pack up our entire lives and successfully unpack it without him getting into trouble. These days I put one knee on top of him for diaper changes, otherwise he's rolled over and off. Here are some 9 month updates:
- 6 teeth (2 bottom, 4 coming in on top)
- Claps hands and waves bye bye
- Crawls, pivets, sits up, turns
- Can walk with a rolling walker
- Today pulled up into standing position
- Sleeps through night still with one long nap and one short nap
- Had first ear infection (up every 20-30 minutes all night screaming!!)
- Loves books and laughs out loud at pictures
- Weighs 16 pounds
- Says, "da da" "ma ma" "ki ki" (cat) and definitely knows other words just can't say them yet
- Laugh sounds like a really rusty door opening (you just have to hear it!)
- Super thick head full of blonde hair
- Eyes turning hazel

California Baby

The Elite 8 Months

We have had some big firsts here lately for Mr. James. He took his first plane ride with my sis and I to visit Sarah Rich in L.A. Our flight was not too bad even though he never really slept. We couldn't have asked for better weather while we were there. It was 80 degrees and super sunny the whole time. James got in the roof-top pool at Aunt Sarah's downtown loft. We rented bikes and headed out to Marina Del Rey for an afternoon with Kristyn. James loved rolling around the board walk near Santa Monica Pier. He even experienced his first earthquake. That happened at about 4 a.m. and was a 4.4 magnitude. No damage, but definitely shook the bed and the loft a bit. I wouldn't say that it was scary, but I was super nervous that it was the "small" one before the huge earthquake. Luckily that never happened! Brian was on spring break this week, but he left for 5 days for his grandpa's funeral and to spend some time with his family. It's good to have him.

Other updates include:
- 2 top teeth have surfaced
- We finally stopped swaddling at bedtime this week (going well!)
- Eating all sorts of foods (avocado, tofu, peaches, bananas, peas, carrots, etc) he loves it all
- New favorite past time is walking with our help. He cruises around the house this way and screams joyously the whole time
- Can now sort of clap...especially to patty cake
- Says "ki ki" for the cat, "mama mama" "dadada"

Oh, and the title of this blog entry is because MI STATE made it past the Elite 8 once again...and is heading to the Final Four!