Cassie and Brian's Wedding

We had a great weekend in Indy for Aunt Cassie and Uncle Brian's wedding festivities! It was nails and rehearsal dinner Thursday; getting hair and make up done and wedding ceremony and reception on Friday as well as getting to see lots of family and friends; Saturday I helped Kristen get started on a baby registry so we can throw her and Larry a shower (Gma Annie helped too) and then Sunday we had a pretty good drive home and I finished one of my books from Christmas by Jennifer Weiner (love her writing). It was great to see everyone and we had a wonderful time! James was so happy to show off all his new dance moves to everyone (he and Maddie were the first ones on the dance floor). It was a beautiful day! Congratulations and Welcome to this crazy ass family, Brian! We love you both!!!

Father's Day

We busted out the water table on Saturday before the baseball game. James had a blast with it and I'm hoping he'll be more likely to play with the water when at school. He loved when Daddy put water in the blue bucket to make the green wheel spin :-)
All my boys playing outside -- Easton loves to run in the backyard

Happy Father's Day, Jimmy! James painted a cube for Dad at school and then his teachers put in pictures of him and Daddy.

Doing the sign for "duck" (or trying to get the camera) -- just wanted to get his "Dad's Silly Monkey" outfit shown in honor of Father's Day.

James has taken to reading adult books -- favorites include A Healthy Heart (I think he wants us to read it) and Webster's Thesaurus and Dictionary -- I read him a new word and it's definition when he gets them out, maybe I'll expand my limited vocabulary in the process :-)

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

Future Occupation?

I often wonder what James will be when he "grows up." He is interested in so many things, I can't wait to see where they take him on life's journey :-) Garbage man? Engineer - loves those blocks; Zoologist - loves ducks and dawwwgggs and E-I-E-I-O; Teacher - loves to read; Soccer player - loves to run run run and more running (and you can make fantastic dough playing in Europe) ;-)
Above :: the reason why all the garbage cans are elevated above toddler level :-) (also a funny picture in that it looks like his poopin' face, although I think he was clean, just good timing on the picture snap). James loves to push the can around for awhile and then dump it's belongings out on the floor -- usually he enjoys helping to clean up the mess, as below, but it gets a little old for people who don't enjoy trash quit the way he does (maybe I should stop reading him Oscar the Grouch books)?

Pool Time 2010

Friday I took James to the ENT (hopefully last dr. appt until mid-July re-check at the allergist) to finish up with the last doctor to check out his whole airway/breathing issues. He had been really good for about a month and then picked up a cold and got all runny nose/congestion again but not too horrible (he's also probably teething to compound it all). The doctor didn't see anything going on in his area of expertise -- even did a nasal scope to go look at his larynx and make sure no swelling or redness there -- looked good! So now we have three doctors that all think James may have reflux + not eating much or keeping it down this weekend = James gets to try some Prevacid (just like Mommy again, poor Bug). So we're going to give this a shot and if it that was the issue, he'll start to feel better, start eating more and start to gain some weight....and, eventually, come off the Nebulizer/asthma-preventative meds (woo hoo)! After the ENT, we stopped by Gma Chele's for James to eat and we went in the pool for the first time this season. James loved painting the ground with the water and paint brush (just like Daddy did when he was little and played at this same pool with his Grandma)!

Above :: Baby Picasso

Above :: Enjoying some splash time with Gma Chele

He was a really good kicker, which surprised me, but is a great skill to have for when he learns swimming strokes! (Note he still has the paint brush).

James and Mommy -- he won't keep his sunglasses on (they go on-off-on-off to check and make sure the sun is still there or something) but he's been pretty good and patient with the floppy hat (fits him much better than last year)!

It's always funny for him to stick his fingers in other people's mouths (and we wonder how he picks up every cold and virus).

He loved the water bottle that Gma Chele got to open "magically." What a great smile -- this picture lets me hear his giggle and shrieks of joy and excitement :-D

He didn't really enjoy being on the mat even though the water was warm, so he spent most of his time on the stairs.

Hopefully all this pool time leads to him liking water play more at school! He's a boy, he's gotta get down and dirty (although climbing and driving cars is a very boy thing to do, too).

More Dancing

He was being really silly on this day -- dancing and practicing his newest move :: the football "hike." I was calling out "blue 42 - hut-hut-hike" and he'd lift up his leg like a quarterback (he watched lots of Peyton Manning this year) -- of course, he stopped doing it while I was video taping, but I did catch this interesting move. It's happy feet with a little bit of funky chicken in there, finished off by head butting Mommy and giving her a kiss on the leg :-) MWAH! :-*

Picnic Lunch at School

James' school had a special summer picnic lunch for the parents to join their children on June 17th. We were both able to go and enjoy a mid-day visit with our Bug! He had eaten some of his food in his classroom already and then stole some of my potato chips and my brownie -- above it what happens when you let a toddler have chocolate :-)

It's no wonder this boy is so skinny -- he made it about 5 minutes and then had to go explore the trees (or, "dreeze" as he calls them) with Daddy.

Posing with Mommy and Daddy -- well, more like trying to squirm away w/ Daddy, but we still got a pic :-) It was a really cute idea and the kids were all so excited! He also had his first "water play" day at school that week but him and the two girls in his class, S & P, (there are only 4 of them in there right now) decided it was more fun to climb and drive the cars instead of splashing with Z and Ms. J and Ms. N.