Dress-up

 James went with me to my first appointment for the new baby. He wasn't THAT well-behaved and pulled almost everything out of my purse while I talked to the NP. He also created a dirty diaper- of course- which made the small appointment room seem even smaller. Nice. After the appointment we went to Burger King and James became the new BK.

 James made this doggy mask at school the other day. Apparently, he didnt want to take it off all afternoon and even when we got home that evening. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and he left it on that whole time. He finally allowed us to remove it for his bath that night. I was afraid I would have that weirdo kid that wanted to wear something bizarre all the time. Dodged that one!

Happy Birthday Pops!

My dad's (Pops) birthday was on May 9 so James recorded a short video to wish him a good one. I love technology!

A Belly Button For Your Birthday

Some may think it's cruel to schedule a child for surgery on the day after their birthday but I think when James grows up, he'll appreciate the belly button he got for his 2nd birthday. You see, when James' umbilical cord healed, it formed an umbilical granuloma (or what I referred to as a scar tissue kidney bean). Ha.
We've been discussing what to do with it since he was about 6 months old. He's had two ultra-sounds on it at Children's Hospital and a couple of consultations. Finally, last week, we had a pediatric surgeon at Vandy remove it. Below is a picture of James PRE-Op. You will notice, there are no post-op pictures...I'm sure you can guess why. James was put under full anesthesia but the surgery only lasted about 15 minutes. He was treated like a king at Vandy and after surgery had his choice of many fine treats including popsicles and ICEEs. I, of course, cried like a baby and blame it on the pregnancy hormones. It was hard to see him in that condition but by the time 2p rolled around that day, he was back to his old, wild self. No slowing this kid down for long.
Yesterday, the sterri strip fell off. I was nervous at first to see the final result but I when I finally looked, I was very pleased. And, I teared up again. He has a normal belly button! Happy 2nd Birthday James.

Two days before surgery, we had an actual birthday party for him. It was Thomas/James the train themed. His Grammy once again made his birthday cake and really outdid herself. Can you believe she made this? It tasted great as well. My friend, Emory, made him the most adorable train applique t-shirt which he adores. James loved blowing out the candle and we had to relight it about 4 times so he could keep blowing it out. He eventually let us cut into it so we could eat it.

His real birthday present (aside from the new belly button) is a wooden swingset. His daddy and grandpa assembled it and we spend alot of our days swinging now. Here's a picture of James and his cousins at his birthday party enjoying the swingset.

Supa-Bowl

Superbowl is a big deal for guys (and some gals). Steve made sure to share that with James yesterday. James ended up having a great time at the "SUPA-bowl" party we went to and performed his own half time show. He has a "thing" for Madonna, I think. He stood about 5 inches from the TV and danced as if he was alone in the room. It...was...awesome!

O' Leis

We had a luau themed birthday party for Steve a couple of weeks ago and James took a special interest in the leis. He wore all 8 of them for 3 days straight, nearly. He wore them to daycare and apparently had a fit at nap time when Mrs. Kay made him take them off. She placed them next to him while he slept and that helped calm the storm. That evening when I picked him up, the leis were back around his neck. I had to go to one of those little clinics because of a sinus infection and James came with me. He wore the leis with pride through Kroger and at the Little Clinic. He was quite the spectacle. I just wonder what other women thought about me!!!

Swamp People

Happy Halloween from Troy, Elizabuf, and gator!

Shannon Payne Photography

We had our first session of professional photography with James and I'm pleased to say that he cooperated. It was a mini session with Shannon Payne Photography (I highly recommend) so we had 30 minutes to make it happen. Here is a sneak peak.

Slide

This is James' new toy we got second hand from Craigslist. Do you know these suckers are like $90-$130 brand new? Highway robbery! This was a cool $30...definitely nellynomical.
Oh, and yes, he does not have pants on.

Eatin' some corn

James has always been a good eater but his immediate mastery of eating corn on the cob surprised even Steve and me! James had just fallen on the aggregrate in the back yard and has two nasty lumps on the left side of his forehead. You can see the lumps towards the end of the video when he's eating his off-brand otterpop.

Sesame Street Live!

The folks at Gaylord were very thoughtful and offered two tickets to Sesame Street Live to James and me. We met our friends, The Bloomfields, there and James had a great time playing with Emma and eating concessions. He watched a little bit of the show but I think he was a little young to fully enjoy the whole thing. We left about 30 minutes before the show ended because he had enough.
Here is a picture of James looking interested in whatever Emma was doing...that's how he spent most of the time.
Here's a picture of James and me in the lobby area at the arena. We also spent time in the lobby during the show so he could run around and burn off some energy.

This was my attempt to make James sit in the seat at the show. It was a disaster and he nearly fell out on several occasions as you can see from this picture.

NOLA in May

Nana doesn't really insist that James wear clothes at her house...especially in the hot summer months. One of his favorite things to do at Nana and Pops' house is to ride around in the tailor tot. For those that don't know, the tailor tot is something from ancient times...like around the time of the dinosaurs. =)
Here are some pictures of James and me at the famous Cafe du Monde in Metairie! We love beignets!

Double Platinum Leslie took us to the Hard Rock Casino on the gulf coast for a few days. We were all set to have a fun-filled day at the cabana which was outfitted with lounge chairs, a ceiling fan, fridge, and fruit platter. Nature had other plans...like, say, hurricane force winds and rain. Even though it wasn't what we originally planned, we had fun hanging out in the suite and watching the rain over the gulf from our balcony. The added bonus was that Pops surprised all of us by "popping" in (pardon the pun) unexpectedly!

This picture was taken on the day we left...gorgeous sunshine, isn't it!?

Zoo day!

We joined the zoo earlier this year and our zoo buddy is Quinn. He normally meets us there with his mommy, Lindsey. We have a great time but I think the boys like to play in the play area more than looking at the animals. Although, the flamingos and the lorikeets do keep their interest for several seconds. Ha!
Here are the boys goofing off for the camera. James is playing an unprompted game of peekaboo and Quinn is smiling for the picture.
When James gets really excited these days, he grits his teeth together and starts smiling really wide. It's pretty funny.

Such a dude!

There's something in the male DNA that makes them want to get dirty, crush things up, and bang things together. There are days when James gets multiple baths because he manages to find the dirtiest thing to keep his attention. And, if it keeps HIS attention, I have a hard time saying no. The first picture speaks for itself. In the second two pictures, the smudge on his face is from the used piece of charcoal that he crushed in his hand and then smeared all over his face. This is my life people!!! Ha!

Updates

Time flies when you're having fun! Since I see James every day, I forget how fast he's growing and changing. Apparently, he's done alot of growing since his birthday in April. Here are some recent photos of our summer fun!
This is James at the "poor man's pool"! Ha! It's the fountain at the Streets of Indian Lake. He had a great time and I didnt have to worry about him drowning.

Spaghetti!!!!

Happy Birthday to my lil' General Lee!

James had a great Dukes and Hazzard themed birthday and I'm so grateful for those that were there to celebrate with him. It's been a very eventful year...alot of ups, some downs, lots of learning, and lots of love.

James' Gramma made his big cake. She's quite the artiste! I made his small smash cake. I actually created a two layer, small round and not only created orange icing but also piped black icing as the "01". That's alot of effort for me!!! Ha!

His Auntie Katie got him this onesie...I wonder why?

This is James with his cousin, Layla, climbing into his new chair!

Mimi and Dr. Pops gave him these ultra cool sunglasses from Janie and Jack. He really likes them but being that his head size is in the 110th percentile, they barely fit around that noggin.

He's ready for summer! We can't wait to wear all of his new summer wardrobe to the YMCA and to Mimi and Dr. Pops new poolside oasis!

Dr. Seus from Uncle Ron! Classic! I can't wait until he actually will sit still long enough for me to finish the books.

Daddy got James this tubular Tonka truck.

He's ready for his birfday cake ALREADY!

Happy Birthday to you!

Yums!

Birthday Present

Nana and Pops gave James this picnic table/water table for his birthday. I've learned since he started daycare that he really likes to sit at the table like a big boy to eat. He also likes to splash around in the tub so I thought this would be a great, multi-functional gift. And, he loves it!

Easter

Jumping on the bed...

...is typically not allowed by any parents...unless you are an infant and look this cool doing it!

James' Fort

Thanks to his Nana sending the carseat base back to us in TN, James got his first cardboard box fort. It was hilarious to watch him play in this thing. What you don't see in the video is that later on, James decided to quit using the "door" and started crawling in and out of the window. He's such a boy!

"Christmas is the time of year....

to be with the ones you love" and that's exactly what we did for Christmas of 2010. It was a milestone holiday for James and I had a blast watching him experience his very first Christmas.

Here is a picture of our house after one of the many snowfalls Nashville saw this year. This was after the snow melted a bit and we have actually had days that accumulated much more snow than this. You will not often find me out in the cold so the fact that I took this picture in the first place is kind of amazing. Everyone asks me if I took James out in the snow. The answer to that is a big fat "NO". What fun would it be for me to stand out in the cold holding a 22 lb baby? If he walked or really even had any idea what snow was/meant, I would definitely have gone out with him. I will enjoy the warmth this year but I'm sure next winter season will be a different story.
I would also like to make a quick shout out to Steve for hanging Christmas lights this year. He really didn't want to but I begged him until he gave in.
Here is James multi-tasking again. He has a lot to accomplish so he tries to squeeze in as many things as possible. He is practicing standing and drinking his bottle at the same time. For a kid who just learned how to pull himself up to stand, his balance isn't half bad...which is a good thing because I'm sure the wood floor is less than cozy to fall on. (And, of course the world's most annoying dog is in the picture. He's like "Where's Waldo"... play along as you look through the rest of these pics.

Since we spent Christmas day in New Orleans, we celebrated Christmas day in our own home a few days before we left. James got just a few toys, a Mustang tshirt (from his dad), and a sippie cup.

When we got to New Orleans, Nana and Pops had a lot of fun things on the agenda. One of those items was to visit Fulton Street. Here is a picture of Pops and James in front of a giant gingerbread house made in the shape of the Superdome. It was impressive and made me hungry for something sweet.

Christmas morning was a blast at Nana and Pops. James must have made it onto the nice list because Santa was very generous. I'm not sure I would have put James on the nice list but I suppose Santa is a bigger person than me. Ha.

Auntie and James....do you like his new vest?

Uncle Mike!

James and believe it or not, Pops, in the tent that CiCi gave him. Having fun!

Now it's back to the real world and a new year. I think 2011 will be a pretty awesome year. James is growing by leaps and bounds and its cool to watch. I'm going back to work two days a week and James will be staying with Mrs. Kay at her in home daycare. I think it will be a good opportunity for me to make a few extra bucks and have some adult time during the week and I really think it will be great for James to be separated from me for a few hours a week. He'll get to play with other kids and learn a little bit of independence. I'll also get my Gaylord discounts back which is a huge plus!

Hope you all have a wonderful 2011!