Three months

James is three months old today! (He's also exactly 13 weeks.) He has been so much fun lately! He's giggled a few times for us in the past week. Mark and I have made total goobers of ourselves trying to get him to laugh over and over. And sometimes he makes this fake 'coughing' noise to get attention. It's pretty cute.

We're pretty sure he went through a major growth spurt last weekend, as he slept hours more than he normally does during the day. Most days he only takes four short naps (35-45 min) but then sleeps from 9pmish to 7smish in the morning, waking up only one in the night. So the long naps really threw things off. Post growth spurt, many of his newborn onesies are now too small!!

This little outfit is pretty cute. It has scooters on it! I think my friend Jenny W. gave it to James.

We're getting pretty excited to see family in less than a week! Our next three weeks are packed with friends and family!

One week away...

Christmas is just around the corner! Can't believe it's only a week away. This is the cute little "Bumbo" chair that Auntie Elizabeth brought us from Chicago. He loves being able to sit up and look around! In less than a week we'll be with my family, celebrating Christmas...and on Christmas day, we'll be with Mark's family! Can't wait!!!

A Post for "Foodies"

"Foodie" is a new term for me lately. I actually came across a game for "foodies" at Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago, with all kinds of trivia questions for people who love and know a lot about food!

Well, although much of my attention is given to James, I have found time to cook and bake a little in the past twelve weeks. I was even able to remember to grab the camera a few times to take pictures! The last two days were 'inclement weather days'...just too cold to take the tiny guy out and about. So I baked. Today Mark took a platter of Christmas goodies to work. I tried a few new recipes; Cookie Dough Truffles and Sugar Cookies!

Here's a picture of the cookie dough truffles before being dipped in chocolate. And that's my make-shift double-boiler. It worked great!

These truffles are SO rich...you really have to love chocolate chip cookie dough to dig these. It's a Paula Deen recipe found here. I tried them this summer at a friend's house and have been waiting for a great excuse to make them....a snow day is a good enough excuse, right?

I hadn't made sugar cookies for a long time. I used this recipe and then discovered I only had circle cookie-cutters. Oops. So I had to get creative and made ornaments and snowmen. The dough really did hold up nicely. I used this recipe for the frosting. It was really creamy.

Here's the turkey we made a week after Thanksgiving. I tried my friend Natasha's turkey rub. It was the best turkey I've ever had. I also 'brined' my turkey. Brining is a new concept for me this year. It all worked pretty well, except for the fact that our turkey was done two hours before our company was to arrive!! Oops again. It turned out to still be delicious. We had it carved and cleaned up before anybody came! :)

These were the easiest Pumpkin spice muffins to make...and so yummy! VERY vew ingredients and three of them are spices. I mad ethem a month ago. Here's the recipe.

A few weeks ago my Uncle Paul and Aunt Mary Ann were in town. I tried making Spanish Paella for the first time, shrimp, chorizo, saffron, and all! It was awesome and not too hard to make!

12 Weeks

Getting bigger by the day...

It might just be his outfit...but I think he looks older today! What do you think? I know, I know, some of you are thinking, "Just wait a few more months! He's only 11 weeks!"

11 Weeks

James is 11 weeks old! The top picture is of him stretching out. He looks like he's frowning, but it's just the face he makes when he stretches! In the past two weeks he's been holding up his head nicely when he's on his tummy, too! Yesterday we noticed him reaching and touching toys with his hands.

Thanksgiving, Part 2

Here are James and I with my grandma. Doesn't she look great? We all hung out at my parents' house Saturday. We ate a lot, as usual!

I love his hat. Doesn't he look ready for winter?

Aunt Elizabeth loves to hold James! He was so cozy with her!

Aunt Elizabeth made his darling hat! It went perfectly with his Christmas onesie!

Here we all are, minus my grandparents....