Big day, my boy met Santa.

We decided not to go out to the mall over the weekend after Thanksgiving, in our own family tradition.  But, with our little niece's 3rd birthday around the corner, we had to head out to our favorite local mall.  Well, we got lucky, because not only was Santa there, but there was NO LINE to see Santa. AND he let us take our own picture with him.  What a jolly fellow. :-)

James actually liked Santa this year. Look at that little smile!!  Santa predicted this trend will not last. haha.

oooo I'm so excited for Christmas.  Getting our decorations put up and then we'll have some pictures to show.  I love Christmas even more now that my boy gets to experience it.

First (second) Thanksgiving

We were lucky enough to have my whole family come to our house to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We missed my sis Michelle and her new hubby RH, but they were having a nice time with his family for Thanksgiving Day. It was my first time making a Thanksgiving dinner, and we only forgot our Cranberry. Dang!

We make roasted turkey, smoked turkey, mac 'n cheese, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy, special gluten free mac 'n cheese for my Mom, crescent rolls AND of course pumpkin pie and gluten-free apple pie.

Matt got me a new table runner and coordinating napkins (that I picked out) for my birthday, so I was really excited to get to set the extended table for 10!!

James totally got into the act and ate a little of everything.  Seriously everything- he turned into a potato face by the end. But, he got to wear his special 'First Thanksgiving' shirt and his 'gobble gobble' bib! haha, its too much. I couldn't resist.

Friday I got to give James his first Christmas present- the Little People Nativity Set!! I was so excited- of course he only gets to have it out during the Christmas season, so we have to start as early as possible. :-)  Christmas decorating starting soon... !!

Thanks again to all my family for coming to spend Thanksgiving with us. We have so much to be thankful for.

Sweet Baby Jack

We were so blessed to be able to celebrate with Mike and Natassja and help them prepare for the arrival of their first child, Jack Michael Prose.  Natassja looked WONDERFUL at her baby shower- so adorably pregnant.  How every woman wants to look when they are pregnant- just a sweet baby bump!

Mrs. Teresa, my mother-in-law, did a great job getting everything together for the shower, and I was so glad that I was able to help.  I was so blessed by the shower that she and Natassja threw for me that I really relished having the opportunity to kind of pay it back.  Natassja's nursery colors are baby blue and white, and her theme is world travel, hence the Eiffel Tower diaper cake, by yours truly.

I do have to give credit for the Martha Stewart pom-poms to Dana from the Orange Cat Photo Halloween party- such a fun decoration!

My highlight of the shower was watching Mike and Natassja play the 'diaper the baby' game where they see who can diaper the baby fastest while blind folded.  Of course Natassja won, so we set up a consolation prize for the loser, a 'Daddy Diaper Tool Belt.'  It was hilarious.  He'll be ready next time for sure!

We are so excited for James to have his first little boy cousin and our first nephew!! Yeah Jack! coming sometime around January 12, 2011...

James was playing around with Daddy and his 2nd cousin Amelia while we were having the shower.  We got a kick out of James' balancing act with Daddy, and we couldn't believe how much taller he was than Amelia- such a petite little thing! But she can walk already, so there James. :-)

definitely my favorite family pictures to date.

I have been thinking of posting this pictures, but I kept hesitating because I almost feel like they are so good that someone could want to steal this image. haha, I know. But come on, these are special photos.

But, I want it in my blog book. so here it is.

First Thanksgiving

James got to celebrate his first Thanksgiving this past weekend with Matt's family (not to mention that we celebrated my Dad's 50th birthday and Mike and Natassja Prose's baby shower for little baby Jack! We had a BIG weekend to put it mildly).

He got to wear his special shirt a little early.

But he DID NOT like his little pilgrim hat. My poor boy! Oh well, maybe his cousin Jack will wear it next year.

We had such a wonderful time seeing our family.  Isn't it funny how when you are so rushed to get out of the house that you want to pull out your own hair, you can't get everything you want to do done, you are so tired and worn out, BUT when you get around family you feel rested and refreshed at the end of it??  It does not add up, but I am so thankful for a family that makes me feel that way.  Almost like a vacation. ha. :-)


I can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving all over again this week with my side of the family.  Round two, here we go!!

Sharing, playing- clever little boy

James is a clever little fellow.  Most of the time, he's playing now.  He loves picking things up, putting them back, and then putting them in a new place.  Great example: bath time. He picks up all his ducks and puts them back into the little pail we keep the ducks in. Then, its time to see how many ducks he can fit onto the soap shelf- the record so far: 2. It is so funny to watch him play!

Another great example: Roo's ball. He loves to play ball with Roo; he laughs now and will hand him the ball most of the time.  Every now and then, he'll accidently roll it away. But, I let him play in the den, and I watched him take all the balls he could find and put them on the couch- behind the pillows as far as he could get them.  Another acceptable place to hid the ball: the tv console table. Dang though, it keeps rolling off. :-)

Here's your ball Roo!!

Our boy is smart. Yes, biased, but also not blind. He's flipping his toys over and trying to stack them all together. My clever little engineer.  Its hard to remember to write the really sweet things down that he does these days.  Too many things go by and too little time is left over.  But, hopefully the Lord will grant me sweet memories that don't fade. too much. :-)

Happy 10 Months James

My boy is 10 months. 20.5 pounds. 29 inches long.  I'm actually getting excited about his first birthday and all of the holidays coming up.  I know the days are going to fly by over the next two months. Can I just freeze frame for a little while? At least I'm getting over my picture hiatus.

In other news... we gave James one of his Christmas presents early. We had been planning to give his a walker for Christmas, but it just seemed like he was ready to use it now, and we didn't want to make him wait.  Who am I kidding, we didn't want to wait. :-)

You know, just going for a little stroll...

Say cheese!!

take a break...

Wow. I've gone 14 days without blogging. anything. It is actually kind of a reflection of the craziness in our lives these past few weeks. Praise the Lord they are behind us. Praise the Lord for the insight we've gained about ourselves and what we want in life. And what we don't want. Praise the Lord for new friends and even saying goodbye for a while to some 'old' friends. Praise the Lord for family and how blessed we are to spend time together. And the holidays begin!!

I had to share these of James.  He's beginning to play and becoming so creative and clever- it makes me laugh everyday.

Don't we all have these days?? Oh, to see the world through his eyes... :-)

James the not-so-cowardly lion

My precious boy was all decked out for Halloween.  Here are some favorites.  We didn't really do the traditional 'Trick or Treat', but took James up to Orange Cat Photo for Dana' Halloween party.  The kids all got their pictures taken for free and we get a complimentary 5x7.  I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out. :-) Anyways, James got to hang out with all his little buddies there: Anna Kate, Josiah (below as the bear), Addison, and Olivia.  They had too much fun!  Dana did a great job, we had a blast.

One more of my little dinosaur. (thanks Grammie) This one was too much fun, couldn't leave it out. :-)

Happy Snappy Halloween!

How do I choose a picture to put in this Halloween contest?? Seriously, a very hard decision.  My little lion and his buddy the teddy bear.  Of course my boy is totally into his part! haha, 1st Halloween costume made with love by his Mimi - hand knitted lion mane all the way to his hand painted pacifier.  One definite masterpiece!