New Carseat

This is James in his newborn carseat before his first car ride April 6th of last year! He looks so tiny.

This is a picture of James tonight in the same carseat. He has maxed out the height limit by over an inch and it is getting pretty tight for him, so it was time for a change.....

James is so proud of his new seat and he knew as soon as we took it out of the box that it was for him. He had fun climbing and sitting in it before we took it to get installed. It is convertible seat so it goes rear and forward facing. We are keeping him rear facing according to the new AAP guidelines that recommends keeping toddlers rear facing for as long as possible or until they reach the rear facing weight limit for the seat. In our case that is 35 lbs.

Road Trip, Braces, and a Very bad fall!

My Grandma Helen had a very bad fall in her AZ home on Wednesday afternoon. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to move to call for help and wasn't discovered until Thursday morning by a neighbor. She was rushed to the hospital where they determined she had a broken hip. She had surgery Thursday and has been in recovery ever since. She is still in a lot of pain and has a long road of rehab ahead of her. My mom flew out to be with her and sent me a picture of her walking around this afternoon which made me smile! Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers! We hope she gets better soon!

Friday afternoon I headed to St Charles, MO for a girls weekend with my friend Ashlee. This is the first time that either of us had been away from our kids and husbands at the same time and overnight. We had an AWESOME time, had beautiful weather, and enjoyed some really yummy food! We really enjoyed the quaint downtown of St Charles located on the MO river. The town had a very historical feel to it with cobblestone streets. We ate every meal at a different outdoor patio restaurant and each got massages Sat afternoon. So much fun!







Today I got my top braces put on. So my mouth is not very comfortable right now! James is very interested in these foreign objects. I'm already counting the days until I get them off. Hopefully, by next Feb.

James is walking more and more! Here are some videos from tonight.

some more steps

some recent videos

This post is for a certain Grandma in South Dakota that is missing her grandson. We tried so hard tonight to get a video of James taking some steps, but he always does it when we are not expecting it. As you can see from the videos everything we do is hilarious to James. He loves feeling my hair and it makes him laugh so hard. Last night he started saying duck in the bathtub so now he says 3 words. 1) Dada 2) Ugh Oh 3) Duck

James the pirate

Yesterday James' eye was a little red and I thought he had bumped it on something. This morning he woke up and his eye lid was almost swollen shut. He looks like a baby pirate. Todd took him to urgent care and they think he had an allergic reaction to something or got a bug bite. We were outside quite a bit Wed-Friday. It doesn't seem to be bothering James and he isn't scratching at it. I had breakfast/pedicure plans for Jami's birthday this morning and when I was gone I missed a HUGE moment! James took his first steps for his daddy. He took three steps and only did it one time. Hopefully we can get some video in the next week!

Look at my new toy!

James got a new swingset for his birthday. Since we have had some cold, rainy days we haven't had the chance to go outside much. Today was a beautiful day and James loved swinging.

Easter

Egg Hunt and Easter Bunny

Saturday morning we went to Powell Gardens for brunch with the Easter Bunny and an Easter egg hunt!












Saturday afternoon we walked around the Plaza to see the bunnies


3 kids in a tub!

Fun with Friends

Our friends Glen, Ashlee, Corinne(2) and Caleb(6 months) from Chicago came to visit us this weekend. They arrived late Thursday night. Friday morning Todd and I went to the funeral of my Great Uncle Wallace in Leavenworth, KS and Ashlee and Glen watched James for us. It was so great of them to offer because James would not have enjoyed sitting still. Friday afternoon another Cornell friend, Rachel came over with her 8 month old daughter Evalana for lunch and a playdate. Later in the afternoon we went to Deanna Rose Farm which the kids all loved! I only wish it was a little closer to our house.

Surprisingly this is one of the better pictures we got of all 4 kids.

James loved looking at all the animals

Corinne enjoyed feeding the baby calves

3 Generations

James and I spent the day with Grandma Helen. James' Great Grandma. She made an unexpected trip to KC due to the death of her brother in law Wallace Jackson. She accompanied us to the Dr and enjoyed meeting Dr Yannette. She was impressed with how much time he spent with James. We love Raintree Pediatrics and feel like we get such great care there. I don't know who had more fun this afternoon, James or Grandma??

Dr appointment and the dreaded shots

It's almost like James knew that he was going to get shots because he was cranky as soon as we walked back to the exam room. He was crying so much that it was hard to get accurate measurements, especially with his weight. He got happier when the Dr came in but as soon as he saw the nurse again it was all over. I had to carry him out of the office partially dressed. Being in a moving car usually calms him and he was happy by the time we got home. His stats are:
24lbs 8 oz - 75%
31 1/2 inches tall - 90%
46 cm head - 55%

He is hitting all of his developmental milestones and got a healthy report. He doesn't seem affected by his shots but we'll see how the night goes.... I'm so glad that after his 18 month checkup, NO more shots for several years!!!

Easter Preview

Happy 1st Birthday James