Kane County Cougars

James got to experience his first Kane County Cougars game on the Saturday before Father's Day. It was a much different experience for me this year with him at a baseball game because he's so mobile and just wants to run, run, run! We were able to put him down between the seats (good thing the people didn't show up that had these seats or I'd not have seen any of the game). Michele and John

John and Bailey

Jamie, Laura, Mary Jo and Ed all took a turn entertaining James (Thanks).

Daddy and James waiting for the fireworks to begin

James did great with the fireworks, he actually really enjoyed them but was just soooo tired he couldn't watch them all.

Family photo op :: this is also the beginning of James' current obsession with fingers up noses (usually his own -- gross)!
Myself, Gma Chele, Jimmy and James

The cousin crew :: Taryn (Bailey's mom), Bailey, John, Jamie, Eddie, Vince, Dani, Jimmy, Laura and James

Baltimore Orioles at Chicago White Sox Game

On Sunday, July 19, Jim was going to celebrate day #2 of Dominic's bachelor party at the White Sox game. However, it ended up a couple people who were supposed to go had to bail at the last minute and James and I got invited to our first bachelor party :-) The Sox lost 10-2 but we had a good time with good friends (note: the Sox are 0-2 at games that James attends....maybe I should take him to more, hehe).

James had a good time when Daddy gave Mommy a break and took James for a bit (and then I went into spastic photographer mode)!
James thuggin' it up with the backwards cap courtesy of Dad (maybe starting a new trend with "love thuggin'").

Mom gets a hot dog; Dad gets nachos; James gets breast milk and Daddy's thumb for dessert :-) We have to enjoy the ball games where he isn't begging us for treats from every vendor that passes!

James and I posed for a pic with the bachelor and his father (I thought it was an unwritten rule to have no pictorial proof of what happened during a bachelor party extravaganza but I got permission for this one and the bride-to-be was there with us so there were no known shenanigans :-)).

First Baseball Game!

On July 9, 2009 James attended his very first MLB game! Amanda offered to take me for my 30th birthday and the White Sox were playing the Indians, so James and I were in for a trip to US Cellular Field! Her mom and Jamie S. and her mom joined us. James was appropriately dressed in his new Indians onesie (thanks Aunt Lynn and Mal), denim overalls, red socks that look like tennis shoes (fake laces and all) and say "Little Champ" and a cute blue cap (that actually fits his head, thanks Cassie)! It was a battle of the bats and the Indians won 10-8 -- woo hoo!!! James is their good luck charm I guess as he's watched two games on TV and attended one in person and they've won all 3 -- I think they should pay us to travel around with them the rest of the season ;-)

James and I with the stadium in the background -- baseball fields are so relaxing :-)

Myself, James and Amanda

Myself, James and Jamie


James started to get real antsy and tired, so Amanda and I walked the concourse with him. They were doing promos for the Brookfield Zoo Dinosaur exhibit so we got our pic taken w/ the T.Rex/Alligator thingie (you be the judge)...he was walking around with a lion, so we weren't quite sure.
The walk worked! James snoozed on me for a couple innings towards the end of the game. He did such a good job -- he loves being outside, it's just hard to keep him protected from the sun since you can't put sunscreen on babies until they are 6 months old (weird, as they are probably the age that needs it the most).

On the way out of the stadium we decided to get a picture of James as Joe Crede. I was walking and feeding him a bottle, so I walked behind the photo, asked Amanda if she was ready and hurriedly pulled out the bottle and presented him all "Hakuna Matata"-esque...he was screaming his head off but got a group "awwwww" from the crowd that was waiting their turn.
(sorry these 3 pics are so small...for some reason it won't upload them in any other size).
We had such a great time, Thanks Amanda!!!

Cubs v. Indians Game

On Saturday, John and I went to the Cubs game for an early birthday present and Jimmy stayed home to have some QT with James (his longest stretch alone w/ the lil' man...he survived ...whew). It was an inter-league play weekend and the Cleveland Indians were in town -- my two fav teams! I didn't know who to cheer for, it was tough! I found myself cheering for the Indians but also clapping for the Cubbies. We had some SA-WEET seats -- 5th row even with the bullpen home plate on the 3rd base side.

Actor/comedian George Lopez led us in "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch.
Here's a photo of my favorite Cubbie, Mr. Ryan Theriot (Tear-E-Oh) up to bat.

We decided to leave at the top of the 8th because a) it was hotter than hot and we were both soaked with sweat and b) we needed to get back home in time to shower before church that evening as a mass was being said for Jim and John's dad -- it's been a long year since he passed away and we all miss him dearly.

The marquee outside Wrigley Field showed a tie game when we left. We got home and the game was still going and we really didn't miss anything -- the Cubbies ended up winning in the 13th inning off Kerry Wood's second blown save in as many days (to his defense, the catcher did airmail a throw into center field to move Fukudome to 3rd base and in scoring position...THEN Wood threw a wild pitch for the game winning run to score). Oh, Tribe, how you break all of our hearts!

Week 5

Man o man, I've gotten a little behind on the blog this week -- had intentions of getting on here to post, but kept getting distracted! It's hard to post while holding a baby that will only nap when being held (thank goodness he is sleeping well at night or I think I'd be a mess) and there were things to do around the house while I was "wearing" James in the Moby wrap, so the blogging had to get bumped. The weather was great towards the end of the week, so we got to take a couple walks w/ Jim and Easton, which was awesome.
Well, we all know who runs this house -- so Easton wants to control the TV now that his position as ruler has been taken over by a baby :-)

James & Mommy -- sometimes you just gotta sing & dance to keep everyone happy

All 3 of my boys working on "tummy time" - I think Daddy has it down pat

Side note: I believe the Blackhawks squeezed a win out for Game 1 vs. the Calgary Flames this night -- 12 sec in to OT, Havlat scored the winning goal -- James & I had just settled in for his bedtime feeding and Jimmy was letting E out and had to come racing up the stairs to see what I was yelling about -- LET'S GO HAWKS!Looks like tummy time is over if James has anything to say about it -- Easton has his so over this baby crying face on

(Focus 1: thumb; Focus 2: swirl at front of head) James started w/ the whole back of his hand in his mouth and moved to just his thumb while hanging out with Jim...I had to get a picture first bc it was so cute, then we removed the thumb (from the mouth, not totally removed, geez) in hopes that he won't become a thumber sucker bc it is soooo much easier to take away a binkie than it is to take away a thumb ;-) Gotta think long term sometimes people

This week James has become a much bigger fan of his bouncy chair -- I actually got to prepare and eat (whoa) lunch in all one swoop one day bc he was so content in it enjoying the vibrations and looking at the toys swinging along with him. He has actually hit the snail a few times too -- not sure if it's on purpose, but he always seems to be intrigued with the results :-D

...and we're out for the count
On Friday, Jamie S. came out to visit us for the day -- it was a great visit and we hope she wants to hang with us again soon when she has work off!!! ; Look! The sun was out and I got to open up some windows on the sunroom during the afternoon -- EXCELLENT!

Friday also brought a Cubbies win over the St. Louis Cardinals -- had to get some video of James and I singing for the victory! I'm hoping to sing it many more times this summer and maybe it will be his first song that he sings when he gets to talkin' -- GO CUBS GO!

Saturday was pretty low-key, just ran some errands then watched baseball. We needed salad-goods for "Girls Afternoon Out" so we had to get out of the house. Sunday the girls (Amanda, Jamie C., Lauren, Lynn and Tasha came over to meet James. We had a salad fiesta with all sorts of yumminess. Tasha brought her youngest son, Jacob, so James officially had his first playdate. He just slept and ate and Jake got more play time out of Easton (which, thankfully, Jake survived with no major injuries). Thanks for a great afternoon ladies! Also, the Cubs won again on an Aramis Ramirez walk-off homer in free baseball (extra innings) to take the series 2 games to 1 over St. Louis (Sunday's game was rained out) and the Cleveland Indians ROCKED the Yankees in their opening series in their new multi-million $$ stadium -- 22 to 4! Go Tribe! They scored 14 runs in the 2nd inning alone -- that record should stand for awhile! And more sports notes (can you tell I love my sports? I think Physical Education was a good choice)...the Hawks took a 2-0 lead over the Flames on Saturday -- very promising (and lots of singing w/ the Chelsea Digger song when the Hawks score -- dat datta dat datta dat datta da-da-da-da-dat [also from the Amstel Light commercial to go along w/ Go Cubs Go])!

Lauren C. and James during her visit last week -- she liked him so much, she had to come back for more! I think it's the swirl...that swirl will get all the ladies ;-)

4 Weeks Old!

Last night was much better than Saturday or Sunday night! I didn't have any dairy ALL day (woo hoo, good job me) and James was able to settle down for bed much easier than the past few days (it still took almost an hour to get him to sleep, but it was progress people). I found his Cubs booties (they were well hidden under some Winnie the Pooh shoes)and made sure this was the first athletic apparel he wore in his lifetime. You can't tell from the picture, but it was pretty funny because they were 3-6 month size and, thus, a bit big for his little feet :-)

Today James is 4 weeks old! I was sad bc I couldn't say he was a month old yet, that has to wait until next week. This pic cracked me up bc it looks like he's shading his eyes from the mommy paparazzi or something -- maybe he's destined for fame?

James and Mom chillin' during the day

Look at Mr. Too Cute!

I decided to be a nice wife/friend and put James in his White Sox sleeper that Aunt Amanda bought him last season when her and I went to a game -- of course, he wore it after wearing the Cub booties ;-) I'm pretty sure he didn't like being dressed in White Sox gear though, sorry Daddy, Amanda, Mikey and all you other south side fans, this boy may be cheering for the north side (we practiced singing Go Cubs Go last night after they beat the Astros). I took him out of the outfit though bc he bunched his feet up and was stretching it out, so that way it can still fit him when he gets a little bigger (and Daddy puts him in it). Alas, James did see the White Sox win today as Jim Thome (we like him) hit a 2-run shot in the 8th to take the lead.

Play Ball!

YEAH FOR BASEBALL!!!

I have been waiting patiently for baseball to start again (I miss it sooo much) and it's finally here! How relaxing to hear Joe Morgan and Jon Miller calling a game :) I wanted to get James in the spirit of the season and dress him in some baseball gear, but I couldn't find his Cubs booties (I think Daddy may have had something to do with that) and he's still in NB sizes but all his Cubbies clothes are at least 3-6 months, so he'd be swimming in them and end up just stretching them out w/ his crazy busy kicking legs. I am not putting this child in White Sox grub unless they are actually playing and it's the only sleep 'n play left in the dresser (which may have to happen tomorrow since they wussed out and cancelled their game -- yes, it's very cold but they could have gotten the game in as there isn't too much snow or rain today as expected -- and the dresser is getting bare) and he doesn't have any Indians sportswear (although they are having a rough start to the season down in Texas as Cliff Lee got rocked today)...so James ended up in his "Make Way for Ducklings" (<--pretty cool teacher website link) onesie and a layette that has red/blue/white fire trucks and puppies on it to get close to Cubs/Indians colors :-)

On a non-baseball note, James had us up until 3am again last night. We think the lil guy may have an intolerance to lactose and he was pretty miserably gassy as I had some cheese yesterday :( Poor guy and all Mommy's fault :( So I'm going to try and cut out the dairy too. Add it to the caffeine, which I was already doing during pregnancy and that wasn't so hard, and tomatoes, which I'm slightly allergic to also, so no biggie -- but dairy! I have been loving my cereal lately and we just bought some yogurt and cottage cheese that will sadly go to waste now because Jim won't eat it. I hope this works and helps his belly out because we need to sleep! He won't sleep for more than 10-20 minutes if he is lying down alone unless we put him down around 3-5am. Needless to say, that doesn't make it easy for us and we're getting frustrated at night. It's amazing how much easier it is to deal with a screaming child when there is daylight outside! I actually had to have Jim get the Moby wrap from downstairs so I could at least hold James while I sat in the glider and rocked him. Of course, he fell asleep quickly and after rocking for 2 hours and figuring he was sound asleep, I tried to put him in the cradle and PRESTO! within 5 minutes, waterworks (well, no water yet as his tears haven't come in fully, but screaming none-the-less). So Jim took him to change him and give him a bottle (don't worry, it was not formula) while I caught a few minutes of shut eye and he ended up rocking him from 3-5am and then James finally slept in his cradle while we both got to sleep. 5 hours of broken up sleep is rough -- this infant stuff is not for the weak of heart I tell ya! We thought we had it good last week when he was actually sleeping from 12-5am...hopefully the growth spurt will finish just as the lactose is out of my system and all of this will be resolved!

Back to baseball: I'm in heaven, 5 games on espn and espn2 today! Sorry 'Nati fans, but I just watched the Reds lose to the Mets -- good game though and I love watching Brandon Phillips...now it's Yankees/Orioles time -- always hoping for a Yanks loss (sorry Sheryl). Cubbies game time in less than 2 hours -- LET'S GO BIG Z!

First Week All Alone

As I'm typing this blog, it's snowing outside. That's right, I typed SNOWING! Did Mother Nature not get the memo that it's April? She can be so downright moody sometimes I tell ya! I'm so over it and am contemplating trying to talk my family into moving someplace with a more stable climate -- San Diego anyone?
James and I were on our own this week (above is a pic Gma Chele took of us - very good one of James, me, not so much)...scary to start but we made it! The mornings are always interesting because I have to time out feeding him with a shower as he naps and then we have to go downstairs for the day. I'm still limited on the amount of trips I can make up/down the stairs, so we must plan ahead (which isn't always my strong point)! Needless to say, there were definitely a few days where I didn't get to eat lunch until almost 3pm -- someone feels the need to be held constantly and I can barely get anything accomplished (i.e. making lunch) before he starts to cry again (it makes for a bit of a long day). I did get something to help though :) I had ordered a Moby wrap from Target last week -- you essentially "wear" the baby -- and was set on having to wait until late April to get it because it was on back-order and a 2-6 week delivery...however, the UPS man was our prince in brown shorts and delivered it on Thursday! Woo Hoo! Once I figured out how to get it on properly (it's prolly 10 ft long all stretched out) and get James in it safely it was game on. Only problem is he falls asleep in it (good) but has super radar as soon as I try to lie him down in his pack n play for some shut eye myself (bad, Mommy needs naps too).
Wed. night we took James out of the house somewhere other than a dr. appt. - very exciting! He joined us at St. Matthew's as we had to attend a mtg. to be able to get him baptized (which we wanted to do before U. Larry gets deployed). Visitors this week included Gma Chele, Aunt Jen K. and her momma & grandma - it was a busy Thursday! Then on Friday we took James to see Jen's new house and watched some Blackhawks hockey (they cliched a playoff spot - stellar) with her and U. Dominic.

James has been very fussy this weekend & I feel like I'm always feeding him & that my body can't keep up (I know it will though)... hopefully it's just a growth spurt and not the start of colic (keep your fingers crossed for us). I'm excited to introduce my love of baseball to James this week as the season officially opens Monday! Let's get a Cubs-Indians World Series for him
now :-) GG is coming again this week for a few days over her spring break -- can't wait to see her!!!