blessed boy.

James couldn't have had more fun at his 1st birthday party.  

What birthday party is complete without a little cake?

Had to sit and read one of my new books with Grandpa.

And the big surprise of the day was a shot gun from his Papa.  You can see Daddy was excited too, haha.  His Papa picked it out because it was made the year James was born, and he's going to have it engraved for James.  Papa's excited for the day when he and James can go hunting together.

James' face- WHOA.  Is this mine?

James and Papa getting a picture with his gun.

Thanks to all James' GRANDparents who made his birthday super special in so many ways.

Giddy up, Giddy up!

James' favorite part of his party was the pony ride.  He LOVED it.  We honestly almost couldn't get him off!  Check him out.  Happy little cowboy.

Too much fun to be had.

A brief break from the pony to pet the animals with Dad.

Back on the pony to ride with Amelia Mae.

Big boy hanging out with his Daddy.  He makes pony riding look soo easy. :-)

Thanks so much for an awesome party.  Mimi and Grandpa, Old McDonald didn't have have a farm as cool as this.

Old McDonald had a farm, and he invited James to hang out for his 1st birthday

James has some awesome grandparents.  He is blessed to have all four in his life, and all four that love him in unique and creative ways.  His Mimi has a talent for planning a stellar party, and for James' 1st birthday, she created Old McDonald's farm, complete with a pony ride and petting zoo.  James was outfitted for the occasion as party of his birthday gift as well.  Check out our little cowboy in training.

Yes sir, real cowboy hat and real cowboy boots.  Straight shooter.

James and Grandpa- best buds in their cowboy hats.

This one is precious.  Matt's brother Mike in his 'cowboy' hat holding his 2 week old little bundle of joy Jack, who had a matching outfit with James in case you were curious.  Oh Mike, fatherhood looks so good on you, paci in your mouth and all.

What boy wouldn't love a slide to play on for his 1st birthday??  This little face was priceless.  "look Mom, I'm climbing up the slide!"

James and his Mimi hanging out in the petting zoo.  too cute!

one more little bit of Christmas...

I just got a hold of my Dad's pictures from our first Christmas with James, and of course, I have to share.  We were able to go to my Mom's office for their Christmas party, and James got a chance to tour the place and meet Santa.  The sitting on Santa's lap didn't go so well (we had some tears), but he was a trooper and did a great job being sweet to all the people his Grammie introduced him to.  Here is our little fella in his Santa hat and "Santa's little helper" shirt.  At least he looked the part to hang out with Santa!

Our poor little fella had a rough Christmas fighting off some sickness, but we got some really sweet smiles in some of these pictures on Christmas Eve.  My Mom was pretty excited to give James his first 'boo boo' which is the title of the cherished blankets that my two younger sisters had when they were little.  Its a crib sized down comforter, and he loved it.  As you can see, he is diving into the boo boo, of his own volition.  Seriously, we opened it up and he jumped right in!

As I'm sure you can imagine, a favorite for many years to come I'm sure, will be this big, stuffed reindeer that sings Christmas carols.  James loved when he would sing and his antlers would light up.  He liked it so much that it was worth a great big kiss on the nose, as seen here.

My brother and sis-in-law scored big time with their gift.  They got James this giraffe toy which separates down into different musical instruments.  The feet detach and become a maraca and a castenet respectively.  The neck piece becomes a tambourine, and the body is a guitar.  The head sadly is without significant function, but hey, what's a giraffe instrument without a head.

Loved this face.  Does his say 'Christmas (Eve) morning, or what?

Thanks Mom and Dad.  We had a great time.  And, you spoiled us rotten. :-)

just a little more cake...

We had to have a cake on our boy's actual birthday, so yes, he did have cake 3 times in a week.  Brace yourselves for one more series of cake shots.  Indulge me! I can't leave out our precious time with our birthday boy.  We cooked a special birthday dinner, and he got some new shoes from Mommy and Daddy.  He big gift was a crawl tunnel and play tent - let me just say, he LOVED it.  Can't even really tell you how cute it is to see him crawling in and out of it with Roo, his best buddy.

Happy (actual) Birthday James.  We love you so much!  Our little buddy.  He likes cake.

Go for it.

12 month pics

The birthday pictures from good ole FL are on their way... BUT I have had these that I took on James' first birthday as his 12 month shots.  None of them really turned out the way I wanted, I was hoping for smiles, BUT his little face is just too cute to pass up sometimes.

Here you are. Enjoy!

Happy 1st Birthday James!!

James, your Daddy and I love you more everyday.  We are so proud of you and love watching you grow.  We are so excited to celebrate with you!!

Snuggle puppy, you're the one.  You make everyday so much fun!  Snuggle puppy I am awfully fond of you. :-)

Cake. James had his and ate it too.

We were so blessed to celebrate James' first birthday with all our friends up in Hickory this past weekend.  The reason it was so special to us was that not only did we get to celebrate James, but we got to celebrate Anna Kate too!!  They have spent their whole first year together, and it was so much fun to see how much they have changed. Wow. one year goes by fast.

First off, Kelly did an amazing job hosting this party.  It was a house FULL of little ones, and she was so kind to have us!  Check our her blog about their sweet family at The Webb's.

Second, my boy had a great time.  As you can see here.

My favorite moment of the whole party was: cake time.  I had been hoping and crossing my fingers that he would just tear into his little cup cake, and I was not disappointed.  On the contrary, Anna Kate showed James how to politely refuse, not that he took any notes.  So, forgive my indulgence, but here you are: the cake photos.

"Yes, Happy Birthday to me- I'm ready for cake!"

"Oh, don't mind if I do..."

"Yum??"

"Don't mind if I do!"

"Um, what now?"

"Uh oh, was the the camera flash?"

"Hey, you gonna eat that?"

Happy Birthday James.  Happy Birthday Anna Kate!! We love you so much.

"The picture's over- back to business."

A special thanks to Meredith at The Hazel Hive for making James and Anna Kate's '1' t-shirts.  They looked so sweet, and I loved that they got to match!  Check her out at Living Simply.  

James and Anna Kate say, "Thanks everybody who came to celebrate our birthdays!! We had a great time. Bye bye!!"

Snow Day :-)

Happy January 10th - Our first snow day of 2011!!  We love us some winter wonderland...

1st sled ride!!  Check out those boots... We got them for a steal up in Boone and bought them big so they would last through next year hopefully.  They look HUGE! haha, poor boy couldn't really walk in them.

Who loves the snow most?? Daddy.  Look at that grin.

I loved this look. "what do you expect of me mom? I am only 1..."

Happy Snow Day. :-)

Giddy up little cowboy, and meet your new cousin!!

December 30th was a big day for us.  Our big plan for the day was to do something fun since we were all finally over the stomach flu!!  We thought it would be great to take James out to see his Mimi's horses and become a real cowboy.

Check out the legit cowboy hat. haha- we tried to get him to wear it on the horse, but no dice.

In the middle of our little horse back ride, Mimi got the phone call that Natassja was in labor!!  So we of course hustled back to the house to get packed up and down to Tampa to be there when little Jack Prose was born!!

We were lucky enough to be in the state, and we were even luckier that my parents were available to watch James for us- feed him and put him to bed!!  That was the first time that his mommy hasn't put him to bed.  But, it was for a very good reason- we got to be at the hospital and see little Jack after he was born.

Jack Michael Prose - Dec. 30th 2010. 9:53 pm. 8 pds 4 oz and 21 1/4 in long.  Such a little cutie with his blond hair!!

We took James back on New Year's Eve to meet his cousin Jack.  He reached out for him right away!  Definitely gonna be buddies one day.

Congrats to the new Mommy and Daddy!  That definitely was the best way to end 2010. :-)