New Friends

James and I made new friends this month!  Tara just joined the book club I belong to, and her son Garrett is just 2 months older than James.  The boys play together nicely and I really enjoy Tara's company.  These pictures were taken at the park just yesterday by Tara.  Isn't it amazing what a good camera can do?  Wishing I had a fancy one like hers.....ahhh...someday....it does help that these subjects are especially photogenic!  Thanks Tara!

Wednesdays...

James and I have been spending Wednesdays with my friend, Kelly and her kiddos.  We usually get together for lunch and try to fit in some adult conversation between legos, trucks, books, blocks, and balls.  It's tricky, but we find a way!  She has become such a dear friend, it seems like we've known each other for years and years, she's just so easy to talk to.  Kelly also has her own photography business, (Kelly Gray Photography...check it out here)  and she took our family pictures last weekend.  I'll post those when i get them!  Here are a few pics of the kiddos from one of our Wednesdays. 

Kambel, James and Ty

Ty has lots of big trucks that make lots of noise, James loves them.

Military Ball and Weekend Fun

The weekend of October 15th we spent in Elizabethtown, KY (Ft. Knox) in order to attend Steven's Military Ball and visit with my parents.  They came down from Ft. Wayne to spend the weekend with us and to help out with James while Steven and I enjoyed the ball! 
The ball was so much fun!  It was nice and small, amazing food, great dessert, inspiring guest speaker, and fun friends.  It's really nice to have an excuse to get all dolled up!  I love seeing Steven in his blues, so handsome! 

 His class of 60 guys is splint up into 4 different groups, and these next pictures are of the guys in his small group.  He's made some good friends while at the Career Course and learned a lot from his instructor. 

 The decorations were so beautiful.  It's hard to see really clearly here, but in the dim light of the room, these lighted votives with roses were really pretty.  It was very feminine for a military ball, but so nice! 

 This is what they call "Grog."  Every Military Ball has this same ceremony and it's fun to see (and taste) the differences.  They get some kind of alcohol that is a representative from each significant battle that unit has participated in, tell a little story about each one, and dump in into a big pot.  This time the Grog was dumped into this barrel which was then dispersed out to all of us for drinking.  "Was it good?" you ask...let's just say ere was plenty left over...not so tasty!  They also raffled off the barrel at the end of the night. 

 "Booted Out of Knox" was the theme of the ball because this is the last Maneuver Captain's Career Course that will ever be held at Ft. Knox.  This course as well as the whole Armor school is moving down to Ft. Benning, GA.

 Maj Garner is Steven's instructor.  He's been great and Steven has really enjoyed working with and learning from him.  Quite the cheesy smile too!  ;-)

 Steven and Mike Bell

We spent Saturday up near Bardstown, KY, visiting a few antique shops and two wineries.  The weather was beautiful and Bardstown was such a cute little town.  We snapped these pictures at Springhill Winery after a delicious tasting.  Thanks Mom and Dad for making the trip down, we had such a great time! 

 I love this one, James is giving Grandma big hugs.  So cute! 

Busy Boy...

James is always into something these days, and it's just so much fun!  We had some friends over a week ago, and we made a couch fort for the kiddos to play in.  James has decided that this is an extra cool activity since he's able to get onto the couch by himself and have his own little place to play peek-a-boo. 

I love this picture of him because I can tell he's right in the middle of babbling.  He's almost ready to say "mamaa" and "dadaa," and he gets those sounds out, but just not consistently or at the right times for him to mean it.  oh well, i'm sure in a few weeks we'll have all the "mamaa" and "dadaa" we can take!
He had also just finished petting Lacy and is covered in her hair.  This is a constant battle with no good solution...we just do lots of laundry. 

I love this pic of James and I.  Since I'm the one normally taking the pictures, I don't make it into many, so I'm glad Steven was home to capture this.  Plus, I just had to show off my new haircut...bangs!  I really like them! 

Since we don't have a playroom, the living room does double duty.  James has his basket full of toys which we hide in the corner on the side of the couch.  He loves getting back there, dumping out the toys and playing. 

What is it with this kid and the vacuum?  He loves it, I don't get it...but I'll tell you what...I'm counting the days until he's strong enough to push it...then the vacuuming duty is all his!!  hahaa! 

Check out that outfit...who dresses this kid?  not me!  ;-) 
He loves to push the chairs, bar stools, his toy car, books, whatever he can get his hands on, all over the place.  Today it was the bar stool in the kitchen.  He's so busy! 

9 Month Update

James has had a busy month of growing and changing.  With that, he's also much more mobile so I'm chasing him all over the place, and in turn, I have been a horrible picture taker.  Sorry.  When I talk to my mom on the phone she's always saying, "you need to write that down!"  I've pretty much decided that this blog is going to be his baby book...so here it is:
22.5 lbs - 75%
27 in - 50%

At nine months, these are James' favorite things to do:

• He's walking behind his little car, and when he gets to the sofa or wall, he steps around it and pushes it away from the wall from the other side!  what a smart kid!  ;-)  Either that or he keeps slamming it into the wall, hoping it will keep moving forward, while screaming for me to come turn it around...ahhhh!
• He still LOVES his bath time, and now he's laying down in the tub and putting his mouth in the water.  It kinda grosses me out, and I hope he's not drinking too much!  He does come up coughing once in a while, but mostly he just gets bubbles on his face and then laughs!  I think I'll take him to the pool next week and teach him how to blow bubbles.  He also loves to chew his foam alphabet letters.
• In the kitchen, he throws and chases this little hard plastic cup.  It makes tons of noise on the tile floor.  He has resigned pretty much completely from the exersaucer.  He'll play with the toys from the outside a little, but he's not a big fan of being put in that thing anymore. 
• James likes to play "Fort" under the kitchen table.  He's just the right size where he can stand up and walk around between the chairs.  He even ducks his head when he's near the edge.  This usually ends in me crawling under there to get him out, which is not so much fun! 
• When I walk into his room to pick him up from bed, he usually greets me with a smile while jumping up and down, holding on to the side of the crib.  
• Cabinet doors are his favorite.  He loves to open them all the way up and then slam them closed.  He's had a few smashed fingers, but he still goes back for more!
• He holds his bottle by himself while lying flat on the floor.  I know it sounds funny, but that's how he likes it! 
• James loves his Farm Animals book, I bet I read it 20 times a day!
• Lacy!  He chases, pets, aggravates, and adores her.  wish that was a reciprocal feeling.
• The Vacuum Cleaner:  He is obsessed!  James loves it, I have no idea why, but it does make the chore a little more challenging when your kid tries to climb on it while you're vacuuming!  Even when it's just sitting in the room, it's his toy of choice.  We all know what his chore is going to be here in a few years!  YES! 
• Food:  He eats everything I put in front of him....kind of.  It has to be almost completely pureed or mashed up.  I don't get it.  He will chew on a chunk of something for a few seconds but will never swallow it.  I've tried everything...any tips?  He just doesn't like to swallow chunks/finger food!
• Still no actual words yet.  He does vocalize a lot and has grunts and noises for everything, but he hasn't put it into words.  However, he is starting to wave bye-bye once in a while, and he knows the sign for "more" at the table but , I'm not sure he knows the content to use it!
• He goes to bed between 7:00-7:30 and sleeps until about 6:30-7:00.  He takes two, two hour naps a day and loves his bed.  I just lay him down awake and he goes to sleep on his own...thank God!
• No more teeth yet, just the bottom two, but I feel like he's been teething FOREVER....i hope they come through soon! 
• James loves his daddy!  When Steven walks through the door on Friday nights, he squeals and races towards him!  James doesn't take his eyes off Dad all weekend, they are best buddies!  

I walk into James' room to pick him up from bed, and this is what I find.  He's taken his whole arm out of his shirt...so funny! 

Again, these are not good pictures, but every time I get out the camera, James crawls towards me to attack!  He loves everything electronic which does not help when trying to get a cute photo of him! 

 

 

 

He loves his ball!