James Vacations in Indy with Pops and GG

After the 4th of July, James was busy cracking us up as I packed up for him to join GG and Pops in Indy for a week while Jimmy and I vacationed in Las Vegas, NV. July 6 -- James was in a fit of laughter as he started trying to "jump" -- a very exaggerated bend at the waist, then full body extension with arms raised above his head and an "ahh" screech (didn't get video on this camera yet). July 7 -- James points to his chest when Mommy asks him "where is your heart?" July 8 -- Laura S. joined us for the trip down to Indy to drop James and Easton off for their vacation (only had one melt down at the end, overall, not too bad).
Above :: turning 16 months old (thanks GG and Pops for getting this pic for me)
Below :: laying down with Pops

Telling Pops he needs to put his new fire pit outside and make him a S'more
Hamming it up with Charlie
James is obsessed with shoes -- he goes and gets people their shoes (even without a request for said service), loves to place his shoes on his "shoe shelf" and gets very excited now and says "shoes" even when he just sees a pair of socks -- I guess that is much improved from the 10 minute screaming fit he had when we first tried to put real shoes on him :-) Below, trying on Mommy's shoes.
Being silly and putting his shorts on his head -- must have gotten Aunt Cassie's genetic matter there as we have lots of pictures of her with things on her head :-)
Slide show of my pictures from Las Vegas -- not too many as we've been a few times now, but some new things we saw (City Center, Encore, Vegas at night from the top of the Eiffel Tower) and you can never have enough pictures of the Bellagio fountains :-) We stayed at the Monte Carlo -- not a fan of the room at first, but it grew on us -- good location kind of in the middle of the MGM properties and close to the trams to help get you places with ease...only went to the pool once, but had a lazy river and wave pool (which made me rock for about 2 weeks, not sure if it's the flying or the water, but last 3 vacations I've been a dizzy mess by the end, not cool).

We missed our Bug dearly, but it was nice to have a vacation by ourselves. And from the sounds of it, Pops and GG are missing the little troublemaker :-)

4th of July Weekend

We had a busy busy 4th of July weekend here at the Montalbano household! The week started with James finally getting a new tooth :-D #5 came through the bottom left while he was napping at the Wehrle's because we still didn't have any air conditioning in our house (I believe the final tally was +18 hours for two people to do the install, 3 overall days). They got our siding finished on Friday, so we didn't have to worry about it raining over the weekend (whew). Friday we went to Gma Chele's for a 2nd of July pool party and fireworks. James loved both! He had so much fun playing with Vince, Tom and Dominic -- they were troopers to entertain him. On Saturday, James attended his very first parade! It was an hour and a half long but he had fun watching the floats and playing with Abby and Bella. His favorite things were the marching bands and the truck and "choo-choo" floats. Sunday brought another first for James -- a trip to Arlington Race Track to see the "shoes" (as James called them). That night we saw some more fireworks with the Wehrle Family. I guess the fireworks got his blood pumping, because James decided to wake up at 4:15am on Monday (so not cool) but I still heard some fireworks going off then -- crazy people, GO TO SLEEP! We met up with family again for some yummy Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza -- YUMMY! What a fun, family-and-friend-filled holiday weekend -- wish they were all 3 days long :-)

House Makeover

We came home from Cass & B.Rosie's wedding to find our house a nice, comfy 88 degrees -- with the A/C supposedly running. Had a guy come out to check it out (Sunday of course, luckily they charge same amt for weekend checks) and found the short power outages we'd had the week before probably caused the A/C capicitor (or something all technical) to blow and we had to start from scratch with a new A/C unit. OK, we were on borrowed time for a few years with our as they only last about 20 years and it was closer to 25. CHA-CHING! The hail storms from a few weeks prior had done some significant damage to the siding (the hail was peach-pit sized and bouncing halfway back up the height of the house) and the roof had wind damage on the top level -- so thank God we have insurance because CHA-CHING! Really happy with the way things went and had the siding done before our vacation. Getting lots of compliments from the neighbors and even the old owners love it!
Above :: I forgot to get a "before" picture and can't find one now either - but the siding was a very faded, 30-year old light blue, big 70s style pieces of aluminum. They put in insulation and then Tyvek wrapped the house.
Below :: CHA-CHING! The back corner of the house had water/mold damage from the sunroom gutter not being properly installed since, oh, probably 1997 or so. So the inspector wouldn't let them continue in that corner until we got a contractor out to fix it. Had to find a contractor, pronto, to do the work...had some issues with that and permits, etc, but it all got done.

The first 2x4 in was completely rotted out, it didn't even touch the ground anymore, so it got replaced; the subflooring was also rotting out from water damage so a good piece of it got replaced; the joint boards were replaced in that corner; the inside panelling had to be pulled off, cut down to remove the mold and was somewhat salvageable; the trim was just disgustingly moldy and had to be throw away (hmmm, mold is not good for someone with mold allergies, weird). But the siding guys hopefully fixed it (thank you, Will!!!) and they totally ripped off that gutter and cut a new one, installed it with the proper pitch to go AWAY from the house and it doesn't run flush with the house, so if the water overflows because of such heavy rains, it will be outside onto the dirt. YIKES -- WHAT A FRIGGIN' MESS THAT WAS!!!!

View from the inside of the damaged corner subflooring.

All finished on the inside! Not too bad, considering!

New, dark grey siding and new white, non-slatted shutters (love them)! Looks like a whole new house!

CHA-CHING! Insurance only covered the top level of roofing and we didn't want them to a) be different ages and b) not match, so we got both levels done after vacation. It's the multi-colored shingles which give the roof lots of texture -- even a hint of green in there with the right sunlight. We had them take the ugly wooden widow's peak off the top level too, so the house actually looks taller. Good thing because they had to replaced 3 sheets of plywood up there because where the wooden posts were, there was water damage -- go figure! Also had to replace some plywood in the back by the sunroom! Message here :: if you are getting an addition -- make sure they are doing it properly or you'll have BIG BIG problems 10 years down the line!

View of the back of the house all re-finished :-) So happy with it! Everything is nicely finished and caulked up -- love how even the water spiggots are trimmed and caulked, so pretty!

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)?