Rockin' and a Rollin'

On Sunday our church celebrated its 20th birthday with a party in the park! It was windy but God blessed the event by preventing any storms or rain all day! It was a fun day but we were totally exhausted at the end of it. Here's James with 'Aunt' Andrea.
You may notice James' little tongue sticking out. He's been discovering it recently, twisting and rolling it in his mouth. It's funny to watch. Mark has also taught him to 'Give me 5'. He's pretty sure James understands and gives him a five whenever he sticks out his palm.

James was a total trooper and took one nap in his stroller while I walked him around the parking lot and took the other nap during a concert on Mark's lap.

Wait! This isn't James! This adorable little bundle of cuteness is Elianna, the daughter my friends Kristen and Ricky. Isn't she beautiful? James had his first official playdate yesterday...with two baby girls. Actually, it was a more of a mommy playdate. The other sweet baby girl was baby Ellie, Allison and Chris' daughter. I didn't get a picture of her because she's a super napper and was still sleeping when I had my camera out!

I've been teasing Kristen since she found out she was having a girl that James might just marry her some day and that she'd better pick a name that sounds great with James' last name. I just had to get a picture of the two of them together, just in case they really do get married some day. Wouldn't it be great to have this in their wedding slideshow? (Mark thinks I'm getting carried away with comments like this....I'm sort of teasing) James was really interested in her but wanted to touch her--he's not too gentle and wants to put everything in his mouth, so we tried to keep that from happening! Later he touched her hair. It was the cutest thing in the world. Doesn't he look like a giant next to her?

James is making a little progress on gettng around, but mostly just rockin' and rollin'. :)

A few 'keepers'

It's Thursday night. On Thursday nights I get free time (after 7pm, that is). Mark is meeting with the guys at a coffee shop and I'm at home by myself. I just spent the last hour or so perusing food blogs. It reminded me that it has been a while since I've shared any recipes. Okay, I realize that the majority of you check the blog to see cute pictures of James' little face, but I think one or two of you have mentioned recipes I've posted before. So here are a few 'keepers' that I've tried recently. I've found a pizza dough recipe that is so easy and quick. You don't have to wait for this one to rise at all. Just mix all the ingredients in your mixer and press onto a pan, top with toppings and bake! Woo hoo! I substitute whole wheat flour for 1/2c to 1c of the flour. Oh, and here's a really delicious pizza sauce. I know, it's so much easier to buy it, but I ended up buying about 15 cans of tomato sauce (I use it instead of the tomato paste the recipe calls for) on sale....so I've been making my own sauce. It's really good and has a little zing to it. (I omit the anchovy paste....sorry, Grandma!)
Kung Pao Chicken....you can actually make this stuff at home? Yes, you can! I was pretty surprised at how delicious this was. And Mark is pretty crazy about it, too. You do have to hunt down sesame oil and rice wine vinegar (not ingredients I had on hand, anyway) but it is worth it! Once you have the ingredients chopped up, this comes together pretty quickly, too! Just make sure to have sticky rice made in advance...This recipe was immediately added to our 'list' of go-to recipes.

These were called "Super Power Muffins" by the person who posted them on a blog. I call them Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins. I can't even bring myself to admit how many I've eaten in the past four days. There's something about peanut butter in a muffin that is really genius, if you ask me. They also contain whole wheat (healthy), applesauce (healthy), and brown sugar (hmmm...delicious). I've heard they freeze well, too. Here's the recipe. You have to scroll a third of the way down the page to find them in the comment section.

Let's see. These are pulled pork sandwiches on homemade hamburger buns. The pork...well, it's a long story. In short, I got a huge cut of pork on sale (of course) and made pork tacos and then had a few pounds of shredded pork leftover. So I heated it up with BBQ sauce. The buns--it was a cold blustery day (just a few weeks ago) and I was avoiding a trip to the grocery store, so I decided to make hamburger buns. I wasn't sure if that was a lazy move or not. I'm so glad I tried them. They are outstanding! I'll make them again! They 'stand up' to the meat, too. You know, they don't wobble around and get mushy and soggy. And they freeze great! Here's the recipe.
Oh, and the mac and cheese recipe was new, too, but I wasn't terribly impressed. Good, but not a 'keeper'.

Okay, this one is definitely a keeper, too. :) This picture is for anybody that was disappointed that I was posting recipes again and hoped to see James.

James & Ricky - 7 Months

James is seven months old now. I wanted to take his picture sitting up next t0 Ricky the Raccoon to commemorate this 'birthday'. It took three times as many tries as what I've posted here to get him and Ricky facing me...phew!'Oh, you wanted him to be sitting up next to me?...oops'

'Let's see here.....I'd better check things out....eyes, nose, mouth....yep, they're all there'

'I'm getting very bored. Hmm...I want to play with that toy.'

'This bunny is tasty!'

'Okay, if I pose for you, will you stopping taking pictures?'

On another note, James has slept all the way through the night (well, til 6:00 or 6:30) the past few nights. This is major news!! I'm trying not to have t0o high of expectations...but wouldn't it be great if he kept it up?

Finally, a video to finish things off. The other night we had sticky rice with some kung pao chicken I'd made. In order to buy a few extra minutes without him getting fussy for more asparagus puree and yogurt (which he'd already finished), we thought we'd let him experiment with sticky rice. This is really his first attempt to self-feed. I'm sure he didn't eat more than three or four grains of rice. You just should have seen him afterward. Covered in rice.

Rubber Duckie, You're the One...

Thanks Uncle Joel & Aunt Elizabeth! James received an inflatable duckie tub for Christmas from them and used it for the first time tonight. It was delightful watching him splash. Just last week James started sitting up for minutes at a time on his own, so until now he's had his baths lying down on a big bath sponge. He's never minded baths, but tonight he LOVED it! I took at least nine videos but will just include this short one from bathtime.

(Does anybody else remember Ernie's song he sang about his 'very special little pal,' Rubber Duckie, on Ses*me Street? "Rubber duckie, you're the one....you make bathtime lots of fun...Rubber duckie, I'm awfully fond of you...bo do do di doe" I just looked it up on YouT*be. Vintage Ses*me Street is what came up. That makes me feel old.)

Our other big 'sitting up' adventure occured at the grocery store. I usually prefer to grocery shop without James, because I've never really mastered the skill of fitting his carseat carrier on the shopping cart. I just feel like it's never very secure. So I've always put him in the basket part, which leaves next to no room for groceries and defeats the purpose of making a grocery run. Until today! I took along the shopping cart cover my mom made him for Christmas (it has monkeys and bananas on it--really cute) and he sat up in that. He acted like he was the king of the world. He was just thrilled every time I picked up something crinkly or rattly to put into the cart, and he smiled at and 'talked' to lots of people! Sitting up has been a pretty big deal around our house!

Easter & Slideshow

I've posted a slideshow of photos from Easter and the week leading up to it. I chose a new format and it sort of zips through the pictures with no way of slowing down--sorry! We really had a great time with Mark's family-birthday party, Easter egg hunt, Easter baskets, practicing handbells, a big meal, and then a handbell performace at the home where Grandpa Lester lives...we packed a lot into a day! All of the festivities pictured took place Saturday and Sunday we returned home after church. James had his first 'accident'--he fell off of a counter top and landed on his tummy & face. He only got one little rug burn on his chin. It was really traumatic for me. That's a major understatement. He was under my supervision at the time and just wiggled off! He's doing just fine now. God is so good and protected his little body! I am so thankful that it happened before he had any teeth. It was a not-so-fun way to end an otherwise wonderful weekend!! On a different note, during a visit to the doctor today James weighed in at 17lbs 1oz. He's a seventeen pounder! :)

The Mango Tango

I'm not entirely sure why I entitled this post "The Mango Tango"...yes, James tried Mango today...but Tango? It rhymes. That's all....and it sounded catchy. Today James had his six month appointment. He's gone from being in the 50th percentile in weight to the 30th percentile! But 75th in head circumference and 66th in height--big head, tall and skinny. The doctor wasn't concerned as long as he is growing length-wise. He's just burning more calories now wiggling and rolling around!

James is becoming very observant. When he gets fussy, we just put any object in front of him and he's usually distracted by it! He's totally curious about everything. He's been discovering his voice more, babbling and shouting to see what noises he can make. It's pretty fun to hear!

thinking hard about how to get that watch off...
James has eaten brown rice cereal, peas, and mango in the past week. I might have been a little hasty with the mango I bought today. I think it needed to ripen a day or two more. I think parts of it were a little too tangy and when pureed, it made the whole 'batch' too tart! Oops. Here was his reaction: