32 Weeks of Cookin' Cash

32 weeks of cookin' Cash = 1 huge Momma! Jim and I are convinced he's going to be bigger than James, although the weight gain is still right about even (12 lbs with 7 weeks left, perfect for a pound a week)! Went to the doctor on Tuesday, July 19 and all is looking good! Holding steady at 14cm of amniotic fluid (normal 10-25) and he is DEFINITELY a boy ;-) haha! He's moving around a ton and has finally flipped himself into the head-down position (thank you for a bit of breathing relief) although he's on the edge of my pelvis walls, pushing out a bit (not so much thank you for the continued pelvic pain). His heart rate is consistent, still at 146bpm (perfecto!) Going to appointments once a week now and non-stress tests starting in 2 weeks -- getting close, better get ready for C$ to come!!!
Jim won a lottery for 2 free tickets to the VIP opening of the new Rivers Casino. I was the lucky one to be his date, so we enjoyed a night of awesomeness (technically, there is a basement below it that has water in it to count as being on water) as James hung out with the Schillingers.

One of my favorite parts :: the parking garage has colored lights above each spot so you can tell if the spot is open or not without having to drive down the aisle (although I wouldn't trust them, some were green that had cars in them)!

They had some interesting characters walking around all night with plates of desserts and other samples. Something I over heard, the imported wooden design on the ceiling in this picture cost approximately $3 million.

The delicious desserts at the buffet -- we came back just before leaving for a re-tasting :-)

The way my VIP card hung made it look like Cash was the VIP and I was just the body who was transporting him around :-)

Mommy's Birthday

James and I got to hang out all day on my Birthday since it wasn't one of the days he goes to school :-) He and Jim got me an awesome new HD camera (above pic is first one on it) because someone (a toddler to remain unnamed) has a love for taking pictures, but is not so good at patience and waiting for it to be ready (thus, old camera would toggle randomly between picture and video). By bedtime, James still wouldn't acknowledge it was my Birthday. When I asked him why, he said "Mommy, no candles, no hat!" haha, the minds of children! So I put his stuffed bunny on my head as a "hat" and he sang me "Happy Birthday." Then when I got downstairs I had Jim put a candle in a Klondike bar and had him sing, too :-) James is right, not a Birthday without a candle and a Birthday hat!

Fun Pics

Amanda was babysitting her nephew, Davin, so they came over for a play date. I don't know how, but they managed to squeeze themselves into this storage bin together :-)
The picture doesn't quite do it justice, but James was rockin' some SA-WEET hair when he woke up from his nap :-) Very Adams Family-esque
He loves going around both school and the house saying "I fixin' " and pretending to fix everything -- the loft, his mower, our ottomans -- all boy!

Playing with Daddy (BEWARE :: you never know when you'll be attacked by the jumping toddler)!

Drawing of Our Family

James was using the DoodleBug app on my iTouch and this is what he described as "Daddy, Mommy, James" :-) His first drawing of our family!

Swimming Day

The summer sure is heating up! We took some weekend time to go for a swim and cool off.
Jimmy got out the underwater protector for my camera -- pretty snazzy look at our swimming Bug.

The best "family" shot in the pool that we could get out of James. Note :: I'm only 1 more week pregnant from the last bathing suit shot -- look how that belly has shifted and popped out more (I'm seriously questioning how much more my stomach can handle, forgot how crazy the body is)!

Uncle Ed, I want to go back in the pool. No, I don't care that my lips are blue and I'm shivering beyond belief, please take me to the stairs.

Getting a shoulder ride from Daddy was pretty much one of the coolest parts of the day

3rd of July Party

3rd of July Pool Party at Gma Chele's house :: all of the family members involved
Look at that belly! Holy cowboys, you'd think I was ready to pop -- NOPE! Only 30 weeks preggers here! Cash has made sitting for long periods of time extremely uncomfortable (I could barely make it to this party -- leaning waaaaay back in the car) -- all those crazy pregnancy hormones have relaxed my joints too much, so my hips/pelvis shift almost every time I try to change positions, etc (sleeping is also a real treat). We were supposed to go to my cousin, Mallory's, wedding in Cleveland over this weekend, but I wouldn't have been able to move for about 2 days probably. I was really sad to miss it, but have been really impressed with the pictures I've seen so far of my beautiful cousin! Congrats to Mal and Matt!!!

We are working on James asking for permission to get in the pool (don't need him just jumping in with no one watching to get a toy or something) but he's usually quite content with his bucket, shovel and paint brush. He did have a good time showing off his swimming skills on the noodle with Daddy :-)

Jamie, Laura and I

Our family of 3 (+1 cookin)

James was soooo excited for fireworks this year! Yeah, my favorite holiday, so I'm happy he enjoyed! We took his own chair out into the viewing area at Gma's so he had his own special place. He screeched/screamed for the first 5 minutes or so, trying to imitate the whistle of each and every firework (ended when I gave him my camera for entertainment).

Watching fireworks with Mommy -- we had to put on the long sleeves again this year, but it was awesome weather!

One of the pictures James got of a firework exploding -- not too bad, Bug!

The screeching I was talking about -- you can hear how excited he was about the show though!

Last Swim Lesson

James' first swimming lessons have ended :-( We are so proud of his progress! He went from screaming for the better part of his first lesson to pretty much swimming around by himself at the sixth and final lesson!!! It is so fun to watch his gross motor skills in action -- truly amazing!
James really loved his one-on-one pool time with Daddy

Look at our lil' fishie -- he swims like he runs, FAST!!! He told his teacher, Mr. John, "Look at me!" and was giggling the whole time :-) Now he screams when we make him get OUT of the water!

PS -- this is my 301st posting -- what a milestone! Thanks for reading :-)

Apron Art

Enjoying some art time at home with Mom
He had missed making an apron at school, so his teacher let us borrow the fabric paint to make one...gotta give his teachers credit, it was not easy to set up, coordinate so as not to have a huge mess, and then clean up with him running around -- and they have more 2-year olds running around at once! He used his fingers and then a popsicle stick to decorate.

I got out the hose to clean up afterwards and James loved it...so much so that he was soaking wet and screaming when I made him put it away to go eat lunch :-) He even accidentally sprayed himself on the head a few times and didn't freak out -- Easton got to cool off, too!

"Easton! Hug!" Very demanding hug giver

Big Boy Bed!!!

8:15am :: "I got out, Mommy! James did it!" Such a proud lil' man, climbing out of his crib all by himself -- our monkey man (appropriate PJs that have a monkey on them) didn't even make a noise as he hoisted his leg up over the railing, pulled himself up, rotated his hands and slid down.
James' new found freedom meant we were trying out the big boy room and bed! He wasn't such a fan at first, needed to get used to it...below is how he napped after 40 minutes of straight screaming...passed out on the floor.

It was a loooooong week of transition with Mommy having to get up every hour to go give him a kiss at the gate to let him know we were still there. Thank you, video monitor though!!! Hooked that puppy up and have used it as a way to keep him on his bed at night because he really doesn't want his door shut or the gate up. He's waking up a bit earlier then he did in his crib, but not needing Mommy to come say hi in the middle of the night every night anymore (we've gotten about 5 good nights in a row, which I'll gladly take)! We are going to decorate the storage wall with some cool trucks and car decals (totally up his alley), so he's really excited! Also a good motivator :: Big Bird and Cookie Monster stamps in the morning if he stays in his bed all night long and gets ready nicely in the morning :-D Cute side story :: Mr. Helper James has to put away the stampers, and this morning he gave them kisses and said "Bye Bye Big Bird" and "Bye Bye Cookie" before putting them up and leaving for school...awwww, such a love bug! He loves to get smiley faces on his reward chart, too, hope this motivation eventually kicks in at potty training time!

School Randoms

James loves the house on the playground -- he's always "I cookin' "

Superheroes Mommy and James showing off some of his scratch-off art work

Future tree huggers of America (Corey will be so proud) :-)Good idea of James' hand print at just over 2 years old -- I'm happy he is willing to get dirty now and enjoy more of the art projects :-)

James is really perfecting those circles! He holds a crayon the "right" way that will lead to future writing skills and is helping with his above-average fine motor skills (i.e. he insists all the blocks must be straight while building a tower, whereas most of his age will build the tower but just let it fall when it goes off balance....a future engineer? Daddy and Pops will be proud)!
During a "farm" themed week at school, the kids enjoyed painting with corn on the cob -- how fun?!?!?!

Father's Day

We came home from Indy to wish Daddy a "Happy Father's Day" -- this picture wasn't from the actual day, but it was one of the most current I haven't used yet and a good one of Jim wearing James' fishing hat :-)

James painted a fish for Daddy at school as an appreciation for all he's taught him

"No Mommy, James workin'" as he told me when I asked him to leave Daddy's " 'puter" -- something else he's learned from Daddy (because we know I'm not going to get any school work done at home with him running around)

Trip to Indy

James and I took a trip to Indy to visit our friends and family. We got there on Thursday afternoon but our first adventure was on Friday at the Splash Park with Jen and Kennedy! James pretty much stayed by this water fountain the whole time with the buckets, but he had a blast doing it!
James and Kay shaking out the picnic blanket -- loads of fun!

All bundled up to go home and take a nap after being in the bright sun all day

Had to throw this picture in there, just too cute, that lil' tooshie!

James finally smiled for a picture with GG!

We loved getting to see the Motes family! James loves playing with Baby Ains (below he's giving her a kiss) and he had a blast playing with the hose with Maddie!

James decided to show off his acrobatic skillzzzz on Thursday at nap time and climbed out of the pack 'n play -- luckily GG and Pops were prepared with this perfect toddler bed. It took some work, but he eventually fell asleep.....

....for a bit of the night anyway. I had a visitor at about 3:30am -- who then promptly kicked me out of my bed :-)

Aunt Cassie was able to come up for a bit on Saturday -- YEAH! She helped keep James entertained while he got a haircut and then we got some yummy frozen yogurt :-)