Food!!

On Sunday afternoon James had his first taste of baby rice cereal. You'll hear my mom in the background, as she and my brother Jeff were over. He had quite the audience. Since then I've fed him cereal every afternoon...and he LOVES it! I think there's hardly anything cuter than the bits of mush all over his tiny face. Next week I think we may try avocado or sweet potatoes.

What we've been up to lately...

23 Weeks and Under the Weather

He doesn't look too bad for a baby with a nasty cold...poor little guy. Today we had our second visit to the doctor this week. After days of a stuffy, drippy nose , a low-grade fever, and a terrible coughing fit this morning we went back this morning and he had several tests done; blood work, x-rays and all! He was actually a little champ and didn't cry a bit. He tested positive for RSV, which is, from what I understand, a really bad cold, instead of just a cold, pretty common and contagious. They ruled out pneumonia, though, which is a blessing! But all I can do is try to keep him comfortable and as 'upright' as possible. He's still pretty perky and playful. Hopefully Mark will avoid the cold. I haven't been so fortunate, catching it yesterday morning. Yucky!

Five Months & a new Slideshow

This little boy is too much fun. Just as sweet as can be, he's becoming so observant. He watches us so intently when we're eating, talking, or just entering the room. He smiles when Mark comes home after work. His hands are always busy reaching for anything near and thrusting it into his mouth. And he's been drooling a lot. During dinner he sits up in his highchair (although he isn't eating solids yet) and keeps us company with squawks and babbling. All typical five-month-old behaviors, but I find each little 'new' thing so thrilling!

And now...here's a slideshow of pictures our photographer friend Sarah took a few weeks ago. I think she's incredibly talented. Here's her website, in case you're interested.

First video clip post!

This is my third attempt at posting a video. Did it work? This is a daddy/son moment right after Mark got home a few days ago. It's fun to see how excited James is to see him at the end of the day! Mark was fake coughing and James thought it was the funniest thing!

21 Weeks

I've tried lately to post some blogger videos I took on our camera, but they just aren't uploading. These are from last week. This little guy is more and more fun all the time. Tonight he was just giggling away every time Mark made a fake coughing noise. It was hilarious. Can't believe he's almost FIVE months!

And the winner is...

One week ago Mark and I attended his work's Winter Event. There were 1500 people or so there (we're approximating). It was a nice evening of mingling and eating appetizers and desserts! There was also live entertainment, a speaker, a video celebrating 20 years of business....and the annual drawing for prizes that they give away. Well, there are people that have gone for years and never won a thing. Since the company grows and grows, your chances are more and more slim each year. They give away gift cards to shopping centers, big tvs, etc. There were about 20 or so gifts. The way they 'select' names is through a computer program that sifts through names and pops up name one letter at a time on 'the big screen'. You better believe this is building to something exciting. The grand prize was a trip to Chicago. "Oh that would be fun...we could visit Joel and Elizabeth," I said thinking about my brother and his wife who moved there a year ago. Lo and behold, we watched the screen and my husband's name popped up!! Are you kidding me? We won a trip to Chicago! Two nights in a hotel, two plane tickets and some money on a credit gift card. Crazy, huh? So now we're planning a trip, prolonging it a little to stay with my brother, and going to take James!! Most likely this summer. If you think we're crazy feel free to tell me so. Four days would just be so long to be away from him.
20 weeks and lookin' good in his new duds from my Uncle Tom and Aunt Janet. This is one of the outfits they picked out and I love it!

Love this picture, double chin and all.

We were going on a walk with my mom and she insisted I dig out some shades. I found these hand-me-downs in his toy box! He actually didn't mind them once we were outside!