Anna's Shower and Bachelorette Party

This past weekend I went to Fort Wayne to celebrate my sister's upcoming wedding.  She will tie the knot on May 15 to her perfect match, Scott, and we're all pretty excited about it!  We started the festivities by making some decorations (idea via my great friend Erin...check out her blog "The Huberts" on My Blog List).  They are made of 10 sheets of tissue paper, folded like a fan, tied in the middle, and then separated to make these gorgeous puffy balls of fun!  :-) 

If you notch the middle before you tie your ribbon or wire in the middle, it makes the separating of tissues a little easier. 

The Bride to be, Anna. 

After the shower was the BACHELORETTE PARTY!

A few of Anna's closest friends came to celebrate and we had a great night.   First, we started the fun by decorating an outfit for Anna to wear.  We had lots of random decorating items that we attached to a t-shirt, tube socks, and a crown-veil!

She was smiling here, but in the car on the way to the bowling alley, these orange balloons mysteriously fell off???  hmmm.......she blames the car door, but we know the truth.  :-)  Hahaa!  Oh well, at least she still had the bird on her shoulder!

Sarah found Anna some new orange balloons, but we had the hardest time attaching them to her shirt!

There were prizes for the Winner, Loser, and most Strikes.  However, I should have given a prize for most inventive bowl...Sarah may have had a shot at a prize...  :-)  *just kidding, Sarah*  xoxo

James' First Cereal

James had is four month appointment on Friday and everything looks great!  He is 14 lbs 14 oz and 24 3/4 inches tall which is right on the 50% mark on the charts.   His little bow legs and turned in feet are just fine, in fact, the doc said they are perfect for walking since babies center of gravity is low.  She also did this cool trick where she rubbed the outside of his foot, and James turned it square...so everything is working like it should be!  Pheww!  We (well....mostly me) were worried!  However, we are getting referred to an ear, nose and throat doc to check out his little tongue.  He has always been a pretty poor sucker, and we think his tongue may be attached too tight.   Let's hope he doesn't have to get it clipped.  :-( 

Steven came home on Friday night and we had a nice time.  James was so excited to see him and was very full of smiles!  On Saturday morning we got up and fixed James' first bowl of rice cereal.  He was less than impressed to say the least!  We tried feeding him some more that evening as well, with pretty much the same results...furrowed brow, spitting it out, and finally screaming.  Oh well, that won't stop me....we're going to keep trying!  hahaa!  It will be a fun activity to pass the time....and get him ready for his bath.

Week Recap

Well, it has been a crazy couple of weeks.  Steven started his Captain's Career Course at Ft. Knox, KY this past Monday, and I went up to Indiana.  Steven had a great first week of school, he's glad to be doing something different...it was an interesting year, to say the least, and he's glad it's over!  Now it's on to bigger and better things...and speaking of that...He got accepted to attend Special Forces Selection!  Basically, for all of the non-army readers, he put in his resume for Special Forces and it passed the board.  Now he has the opportunity to tryout and see if he passes "Selection."  This will not happen until after his CCC at Knox, so we're looking at an October through December time frame.  The Selection process is a 2.5 week tryout and at the end, you either get selected or not!  If he does, that means we will be moving to Fort Bragg, NC for 14-19 months sometime in early 2011 most likely.  This is Steven's life-long dream, so please keep him in your prayers.

James and I took a trip up to Indiana for Anna's bridal shower, bachelorette party and some grandma/pa holding time so i could make Anna's wedding flowers...post on that to come later!  On the way up we stopped in Indianapolis to see one of my best friends, Megan, and her little man, Cole.  Cole was born just three weeks before James, and we finally worked it out to meet up.  We meant to get together a month ago, but with screaming babies in the car and trying to coordinate travel, it just didn't work out.  Anyway, with Lacy in tow, we met up at Megan's adorable home and had a nice visit.  Megs, sorry it was short, but we'll get together again soon!  James and i had so much fun!

Cole and Megan...he is such a great mix of Megan and Ty!  adorable!

The Drool!  it has begun for James too...ewwww

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

James rolled over from his belly to his back for the first time today!  He really has not enjoyed tummy time at all lately, and i could hardly get him to push his head up, let along think about rolling!  Yesterday, however, he played for a bit on his stomach and used his arms to keep his head up for a long time...but i never thought he'd be rolling over only one day later!  How fun!  I missed the first roll, but caught the second one on video.

He really has been changing so much lately.  He's cooing and gurgling nonstop during his awake time, and he loves when daddy and I sing to him, he gurgles right along.  so cute!  he's sitting in his bumbo chair, playing with his toys, and even enjoys looking at himself in the mirror.  We can't wait to see what he does next.

He loves reading books!

A Smile

Finally....a smile caught on camera!  James is such a happy boy, he smiles, laughs, coos and talks to us so much.  However, I do not have the "capture these happy moments on camera" skills.  I definitely need to work on that so I can share his adorable-ness with you all! :-) 

Family Vacation

We just returned from a two week adventure to Fort Wayne, IN and Long Beach/Longview/Woodland, WA visiting both of our families.  We had a great vacation and were so glad to have time to visit with our loved ones. 

James watching some of the NCAA Tourney

His Uncle Greg (and Godfather...you feeling guilty?)  being a bad influence...

Great Grandma Dowling

Steven James Fundingsland

Baptized March 21, 2010

St. John's Lutheran Church - Pastor Easterhaus

Pastor Presenting James to the Congergation...James not so happy!

The whole extended Dowling Family.  Great Grandma & pa Dowling, Grandma and Grandpa Dowling, Great Grandma&pa Quance, Greg and Sarah Dowling (Godparents), Anna Dowling and fiance Scott Van Westen. 

All the Grandparents and Great Grandparents

Aunt Sarah

Grandma Sue

Godparents, Greg and Sarah Dowling...my brother and his wife.

After spending about 4 days in Fort Wayne, we jumped on a plane to Washington.  James did amazing on the plane, no issues at all...slept like a baby!  :-)  We first spent a little time with Steven's dad, Steve.  He met his only grandchild for the first time and was completely smitten with James.  It was so wonderful to see them together! 

Three generations of Steven Fundingslands! 

We met up with Grandma Fundingsland, Aunt Diane and her daughter Shayna. 

Aunt Diane

Grandma Fundingsland

We then headed down to "The Beach"  aka...Long Beach, WA to visit Steven's mom, Terry and some other aunts and uncles.   We had a great time with Grandma Terry, enjoyed the beach, and went to a few museums. 

James in the backpack!  It is Insta-sleep! 

Long Beach is just up the road from Astoria, OR which sits at the mouth of the Columbia River.  These big frieght ships are amazingly huge!  Some little trivia you may be interested in...many films were shot in Astoria and along this section of the Columbia River....The Goonies, The Guardian, Free Willy, Kindergarden Cop, Short Circuit, Ninja Turtles, the scary church from "The Ring"...more , but Steven can't remember any more right now :-). 

"Bowpickers"

This is what it looks like.  A little boat in a parking lot, but don't let that fool you!  The fish and chips that come out of this little boat are so delicious!  It was packed too...we waited quite a long time to tast this amazing treat.  It was worth it! 

Steven's Cousin Christina.  They haven't seen each other in several years, and they had a nice time catching up.  Grandma Shirley put toghether a reunion with lots of family we haven't seen in a while, and many i had not yet met.  we had a great time! 

My great friend Marci and her 8 mo onld son, Mason.   We met Martci and her husband James at Fort Benning a few years ago and became quick friends.  They are stationed at Ft. Lewis in Seattle and James is currently deployed in Afghanistan.  We missed you, James!