When you turned 1

You don't sleep often, but I could stare at your sweet face for hours when you do.

The night before you turned one

You are a dare devil (favorite places to play in our new house?  The stairs and brick fireplace...of course!).

Your big brother loves you like crazy...even if sometimes he has an  not very nice  interesting way of showing it (we're working on it).

He was so excited to help with your cupcakes!

You and Jake have really started to play together.  I love listening to you growl at him as you play dinosaurs and "vroom" and "rooooom" as you play with the cars (it never ceases to amaze me how early you boys perfect your sound effects).

Yep, that is Daddy.  He is just one of the boys whenever possible

You have really started walking.  Although you spent your birthday walking around like a mummy, within a few days you looked like a pro.  

Note: Your first steps were months ago, so we are pretty sure that the only reason you finally committed to walking was that you realized you couldn't run with a football or kick a soccer ball doing your skateboard crawl.

You are silly about your feet.  Shoes and socks?  No thank you, that would be so restrictive.  When we are crazy enough (or we just don't want people to think we are neglectful parents who let our baby run around in the middle of winter barefoot ) to try put them on, you will have the first one off before we have started on the second.  So My Love, before your first birthday, you had already triumphed over us once.  You spend most of the time barefoot and we let people stare at us in horror.

It's okay, Mommy is pretty obsessed with those toes too!

You love chocolate!  I will say though, that I find it very interesting that you can gag on tiny pieces of carrot, egg, or even rice, but hand you an entire chocolate cup cake (with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting) and you are good to go.  

Well, Bubba we feel pretty much the same way about you as you felt about that cupcake...  

We just can't get enough of you!

Here is to another year of grins, giggles, and lots and lots of kisses! I love you my birthday boy, more than I could ever express. 

Full of Thanks

While we were home my amazingly talented friend Fiona, took some beautiful family photos for us.  She is an incredible photographer and was able capture what I was thankful for most this past Thanksgiving (and every other day) perfectly.

Note: I did the editing on the photos.  So in order to see more of her work, check out her website ...like I said before...she is A-mazing!

We recently got them printed out for our mantel, and each time I walk by them I love theme even more!

While on the subject of Thanksgiving...we were able to spend the day at Arthur's Aunt Bertha's house.  It was a day full of amazing food...

Tio Frankie made an incredible turkey and mash potatoes that were so yummy they quickly disappeared (and made his aunt a little jealous)

and lots of family: Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins (Uncle Ethan was even came with us!) and a Chinchilla

Can you guess where Jake spent most of his night?

I didn't get too many pictures.  I was too busy spending time with everyone.  As Arthur sometimes has to remind me, "It isn't all about the pictures."  But I couldn't help getting some of James spending his first Thanksgiving very much the same way Jake spent his.

Turning One!

My little peanut is turning one...I can hardly believe (or stand) it.  But as I reflect on this past year, all I can really feel is gratitude that it happened.

I knew months before his birth that James would come early.  He radiated this energy...this intense eagerness just to get here and those feeling flooded my body and mind throughout most of my pregnancy.  While he may have just been excited, all it did was make me feel anxious (I even had to stop shopping at the commissary because the narrow aisle made me claustrophobic).  So it was no surprise when my contractions started in the middle of November even though he was not due until the end of December.  Of course, the doctors assured me that they were only Braxton Hicks...I knew this baby would not wait until Christmas.  The day after Thanksgiving I decorated the house for Christmas, and I remember Arthur saying, "now he can come."  And it was only 72 hour later that he made his debut.  

After only one year, I can tell you that James' life is a direct reflection of his birth.  His little body was not ready, it needed more time.  But ready or not, he wasn't going to wait anymore.  It may have been dirty, messy and down right terrifying, but that wasn't going to stop him. 

Well, that is his him.  He shows no fear, rarely hesitates, gives 100%, and wants to be doing whatever his big brother is doing (especially if that means playing with Daddy).  He is almost always happy and can be amazingly mellow, but he also has remarkable determination, rarely gets discouraged...and has the cutest naughty smile anyone has ever seen. 

James, you (and your brother) are my greatest gift.  In your short life you have already taught me so much about embracing life and finding joy in life's simple things.  You fill our family with such a warm light, and none of us could imagine our life without you in it.  Thank you for joining our little team.  Happy Birthday Little Howler Monkey!

Tea Time with a side of Toys

There are no words to describe the special relationship we have with our Nanna.  On paper she is Arthur's grandmother and my boys great grandmother.  But in life, she is our go to nurse and montessori teacher, our friend and confidant, and (as my mother so perfectly described her) our very own fairy godmother.  Here are some special moments I was able to snap during our last visit back in the beginning of November.  I think they capture the deep love and friendship she has cultivated with our boys.  She and grandpa are such a blessing to us.

Life lessons I learned at Halloween

1) If you wait until the day before Halloween, you are too late to find a decent costume for little boys...Anywhere (luckily Halloween PJ's and a hand me down costume can work too)!

2) A three year old will do anything for candy, including sitting still for a complete make over.  Although, in truth, Jake is great at "committing" to things.  Once we decided on a skeleton, he was excited to do it all the way.

3) The second child is often more easy going than the first.  Jake was terrified of this tiger costume as a baby...James couldn't wait to start growling. :-)

4) Slipping in a puddle of water will not detour a determined skeleton from Operation Get Candy.  I was worried that he was hurt, but all Jake could cry was, "MY COSTUME!"  However, after he realized he still looked all right, he never complained about his wet jammies.  Honestly, I was pretty proud of him for not letting is ruin his night because I know he had have been uncomfortable.

5) 11 months is not too young to understand how Halloween works.  After going to several doors, I figured James could skip one or two.  Nope, he took my fingers and marched himself up the walk way after his brother to retrieve what was "rightfully" his. :-)

6) Mommies do get jealous and sometimes have a hard time sharing, but then I see the love and joy in my children's eyes and I am reminded how lucky I am that my boys are so loved.

7) Sometimes family pictures turn out better with an uncle than a dad. :-)

With Daddy

With Tio Lui

8) Christmas isn't the only holiday when children can learn joy in giving

Happy Halloween!!