FIFTEEN MONTHS

A few days after James turned one he started walking.  Now, he is officially running!  He surprises us with new words every day.  He says "tank too", "bye, bye", "uh oh", "ball", "dog", "woof", "mama" and "daddy".  He's such a little daddy's boy.  I'm chopped liver when Jordan is around, but it is the sweetest thing to see him playing and interacting with Jordan.  

James has such a fun personality.  He definitely isn't shy.  Usually, he will go up to people and start talking gibberish--he's quite the little talker.  And he's not afraid to grab stuff from people either.  When we were at church a few weeks ago, I was talking with this lady and before I knew it, he grabbed the cookie out of her hand and shoved it in his mouth real fast.  Not really sure why, but he loves brooms, canes, & vacuums.  I hope that means he will help around the house, but I'm not counting on it.  He is now giving kisses & hugs, which is so sweet.  

We went to the doc for his 15 month check up and he is still in the 95% for weight and 98% for height (33.5 inches).   The doc said he looks like a perfect little 15 month old!  I'm so grateful for a healthy little boy. 

Dear James,
We love you so much sweet boy.  You have no idea how much you have changed our lives, for the good.  We pray for you non stop, and hope that you will surrender your life to Jesus at a young age. 

PROCESS OF OUR POOL

Well for those who don't know, we added a pool to our house last summer.  The process began in June and lasted for 8 weeks.  Then it took a couple extra weeks to finish landscaping and getting patio furniture.  The process was a little overwhelming to me because I knew nothing about pools or any of the terminology.  Kool Deck?  What the heck is that?  Coping edge-yeah, not sure what that is either.  But now, I now I know what those are :)  I probably annoyed the heck out of the employees because I'm a perfectionist and wanted to love it!  But Pamlico Pool in Milledgeville, Ga did a GREAT job and I give them props for putting up with me!  

Here are a few things about our pool if anyone is interested in the details:

1.  The width is 16 feet and the length is 36 feet.

2.  It's a gunite pool.

3.  We have an automatic cover for safety reasons (since we had a 4 month old when we started building it).

4.  The coping edge (which is basically around the perimeter of the pool) is travertine.

5.  We got kool deck instead of plain concrete or even acid stained concrete because concrete is unbearable to stand or walk during the summer.

6. The pebble tec comes in various colors, and we chose Caribbean Blue.

7.  We have a retaining wall because our backyard is sloped.

8.  That area next to the spa is the tanning ledge.  Our one year old LOVES to play in it.  It's perfect for kids!  

Enjoy the pictures!

JAMES IS ONE!

My baby is one!  It's been a super fun year!  And it's definitely been a learning curve being a parent. 

Not a lot has changed has changed since I wrote my last post.  James is still his crazy old self.  He still loves to tear apart our pantry when he gets a chance, and sneak in the bathrooms and go wild with the toilet paper.  He is 25 1/2 pounds and 32 inches long (99% percentile for height) and has 2 new teeth--the top 2.   He's taking several steps but not fully walking...loves to clap and snuggle with his teddy bear.  He is still taking 2 naps a day, but I have a feeling we will cut it down to 1 soon!  Oh and he still loves to read books.  The teacher in me eats that up!  

We had a great turn out for his first birthday and I can kick myself for not taking one picture.  I wanted to document it, but I dropped the ball on that one..maybe next year!  

We LOVE you so so so much James.  We pray that you will use your energetic personality to serve the Lord.  Just know, that we pray for you on a daily basis.  

Love, Mommy & Daddy

Here are some of my faves from the past month:

ENTRYWAY

I have learned in the past couple years to not buy things unless I LOVE it, which is why it takes me forever to find stuff.  Not only do I need to love it, but it needs to be in my price range.  However, I finally found things I loved for my entryway. 

I searched all over for an entryway table and finally found one after several weeks.  And guess what?  It was 40% off at Hobby Lobby.

It was a little embarrassing trying to fit this thing in my car, and James was back there wondering what was going on.

Now I just needed a mirror, some lamps and baskets.  Picking out the lamps wasn't that difficult, I found some I had and used them.  As for the baskets, I had a $25 gift card to TJ Maxx so I found 2 of them there. 

I saw a mirror I liked at Lowe's.  So I ran home real quick to measure out 38 inches by 48 inches with painters tape above the table.

It looked about right.  The only problem was that I wasn't looking for a black mirror, so I had this idea to paint it cream!  I double checked to make sure it wasn't too big before I painted it.  So I placed it on the table & I thought it was the perfect size!

Then Jordan hung the mirror that night and I added a couple of pillows and a blanket to make it look cozy & homey! 

All for $150, not bad!  Happy early birthday to meeeee!


Check it out on Hometalk, click on the link below:

http://www.hometalk.com/b/7057844/room-makeover-on-a-budget

JAMES//9 MONTHS

I can't believe my sweet James is nine months.  These past two months have been my fave by far!  He is in that stage where he is super happy, but doesn't require disciplining quite yet!  He has been crawling like a champ, he has one tooth (got it around 8 months), pulling himself up, babbling a lot, wearing 18 months, terrible traveler, hates his pack n play, he fights sleep, eating like a man, burping like a man, grunts like a man, basically he is a man child.  He is 23 pounds and 29.5 inches long (90th percentile for both).  He is ALL boy and I love it!  He puts everrrrrything in his mouth, I guess he thinks he needs to taste test everything.  He takes two naps a day, a morning nap and an afternoon nap and goes to bed anywhere from 7-8:30 depending on how well he napped.  He is seriously as sweet as pie and brightens our days.  We love you more than words, James!

Here are a few pictures & videos from the past couple months: