Whirlwind Weekend

This weekend we traveled with James by car three hours to attend a giant family reunion birthday party for my great Uncle Kenny. We were able to attend three of the five gatherings packed into the weekend. Thirteen relatives from Denmark even came to celebrate with us! Now that James is much more mobile and active, the weekend sure was a reality check for me. It makes me appreciate all the more all the family that travels with young children to get together for holidays! And skipping naps left and right was hard on all three of us. James made lots of friends with all sorts of family members he was meeting for the first time, but never stayed put too long. He loved toddling around and exploring every new nook and cranny he could find. He was completely exhausted both nights.

The first event photographed was a picnic in the park. This is my Aunt Alice and Uncle Lyle's annual event, only this year they had oodles more guests! Mark jumped on in to help grill breakfast. It was delicious!! The second event was a big cookout at my grandparents' house. Finally, there are a few pictures from the actual birthday party Sunday afternoon, a catered lunch in a town hall. There are so many family members I don't have pictures of that it's shameful. It was fun to see and catch up with a few of them, but a lot of our time was indeed devoted to chasing our little guy around! Mark was super dad and did most of the chasing!

August Update

We are a little squinty in this photo, but it's the only one from Sunday. We finally got around to dedicating James at church. We've just had too many other schedule conflicts during the previous dedications. Both Mark's parents, as well as mine came over for brunch before church. Mark's sister Jody and my brother Jeff were also along. James was pretty well behaved during the dedication, which we were nervous about. There were four babies dedicated, and he was the fourth. Standing at the front of the church gave him plenty to observe!

Yesterday afternoon James had a case of the giggles. It started with me 'bonking' my head with his empty bottle. He laughed so hard over and over about it. This was toward the end of the silliness. What a funny sense of humor he has.
I can't even believe James will be 11 months next week! He has been getting closer to walking, taking two or three steps at a time now. James has also been paying closer attention to music, bopping his little head when he hears a tune he likes. It's so fun to see him grow and discover new things!

James and the *Giant* Peach: The Sequel

I jumped the gun with my first post on this topic. My mom sent these to me more recently. Yes, more pictures of James slurping on a peach. I really like that you can see his little elbow resting in the juice. What a peach! Not only does he not usually get to eat an entire peach for lunch, but I rarely give him the opportunity to get down and dirty like this. I need to do that more often!

James and the *Giant* Peach

I must give credit to my mom for the idea. She was peeling and freezing peaches and peach pies this afternoon when we visited her. I diced up a peach to mix with his plain yogurt. She called him 'J*mes and the Giant Peach', and I thought it would be cute to get a photo. And then take it away from him. James had something different in mind. Before we finished taking photos, we noticed dents in the very ripe peach and juice running down his arms and all over the tray. He proceeded to munch on the peach, peel and all. It may not have been very 'giant', but it was delicious, indeed!

I feel inspired to check out the book and read it. I somehow made it through elementary school without reading J*mes and the Giant Peach! Any personal book reviews?

Random This & That

It's been a while since I posted any pictures...so I scrounged up these photos from the past few weeks. James is in constant motion. I've noticed that I have less time to spruce him up for photo shoots, and most of the pictures I have of him are a blur. Literally. My kitchen is in a constant state of disarray; "his cupboard" is always emptied all over the floor, and toys are sprinkled from the living room throughout the house. I figure it's pretty normal, though.

James is 10 months now! And he officially took his first step and regained his balance over the weekend. He's able to stand on his own for several seconds at a time, too. It won't be long til he's walking on his own! With still only two teeth (bottom and center), he's usually gnawing on something and drooling everywhere!

my little laundry helper...it's too risky to leave him alone upstairs while I gather the laundry when it's done, and this was the best way to carry him along with the clothes back upstairs!

we had a pop-in visit from Grandma

we've had quite the tomato crop! we chose the 'better boy' variety and boy, oh boy are they great! we've been picking six or seven at a time and some of them are huge! my favorite thing to do with the extras is peel, dice, and freeze them for soups and chili this winter.

Touring Around Town

We've been so busy! Last Wednesday our Danish relative, Vibe (pronounce Vee-beh), arrived and, while she's staying with my parents, we have been helping to 'host' her by showing her around the area. It's fun to see your own city from "tourist" perspective. I've gotten to experience a few things for the first time myself! We had been to this farm petting zoo before, but James was much more into the cows this time around. He even made mooing sounds when he saw them!

What a great view of the city!

After a nice Spanish dinner of tapas, we went to a jazz club! It was a really nice, and the music was great! Mark stayed at home to babysit James, so we'll have to go again!

Baseball! I hadn't been to a game since I was pregnant with James. The weather was gorgeous and my feet weren't swollen this time!

Unfortunately, our team lost. But we had a great time anyway. I told Vibe she looked 'all-American' in her team T-shirt and cute new cropped jean capris!

We have a few more events planned with her, blueberry picking included! First, though, she's going to spend a few days with my grandparents.

Summer Swim with Cousins

James has just LOVED having his big cousins stay with us this week. Jacob and Brock (and their mom Shari) are spending the week with us and attending a b-ball camp in town. We think James has been enjoying all the extra attention and entertainment! Yesterday the boys filled up the pool for James and then decided to join him. They didn't last long (obviously..there was hardly room) but James lasted about 15 minutes, despite the chilly temperature. He just splashed away!

This was pretty posed, but doesn't he looks so smart? We ate at a Chinese restaurant with Ricky, Kristen, and Elianna. James sure made friends with everybody there. Tonight we ate out again (at Olive Garden) and just about decided our days of dining out with him are numbered. It's a lot of work to keep him entertained that long!