Cards I ordered for Valentines Day

Candy Hearts Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

22 months old...time to start planning a birthday party!

Here is a picture of my little sweetheart. I took it this morning as we were playing in the snow. He was not interested in playing in the snow, but was happy to swing while watching Daddy shovel snow.

These are a few of the things I want to remember about James at this age:

* He is super smart! In fact, he knows about 80% of his letters by sight. He is learning new words and concepts everyday and I love every minute of it!

* Videos continue to be a huge source of entertainment for James. I think he likes to have his brain busy all the time and watching TV is a way to do this. We try to limit his TV time but he REALLY loves to watch Elmo, Barney, and train movies.

* Speaking of trains, they are still the highlight of his life! He got 3 sets of trains plus a train table for Christmas. He plays with all of them every single day for at least 30-45 minutes.

* He has a train book that says "trains trains trains, I love trains" and he repeats that phrase multiple times a day. It's cute because it is SO him.

* Size-wise he is now wearing size 5 diapers and most of his clothes are now 24 months.

* Thanks to Rod, Chipotle is one of his favorite places in the world. He likes to eat their beans, rice, cheese, chips, and guacamole. He can even say "guacamole" and "Chipotle"!

* I think we have a little night owl on our hands. He keeps getting on this schedule of going to bed at 10:30 and sleeping until 8:30 in the morning. I keep trying to get him to bed earlier but he seems to like this late schedule.

* His second Christmas went slightly better than his first. He was more engaged and actually played with his toys but he didn't really like opening the presents.

* He despises messes of any kind. If he is tired or cranky he will easily cry at the sight of a mess. He is now to the point where he will pick little pieces of fuzz or dirt up off the floor and throw them in the trash. It's funny because Rod and I don't make a big deal out of messes but he acts like the world is ending if he spills something. LOL!

We love our little man so much!!!!

21 months old

This boy is cut out to be an entertainer. He is so funny, he loves to sing and dance on command and he especially thrives on the attention of a group of people. Want to see what I mean? Look at this face!

The picture above was taken just after his haircut a few days ago. He did scream and cry but wasn't hysterical like the last time we took him to the salon. But, even though he was mad at the lady for cutting his hair, he politely said "thank you" and then proceeded to give her all kinds of cute looks to make her laugh.

Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age:

* I think I start off every month's list talking about his vocabulary. This month is no different. The child can say just about anything we ask him to. He says a lot of words that he doesn't understand. Just the other day he said, "disguised" when we were reading a book.

* He is still in love with Elmo and will hand me the remote control when he wants to watch. Now he says, "Elmo, Abby, Bert, Ernie, Sesame Street" to try to communicate exactly what he wants to watch. He is also liking Thomas the Tank Engine and Barney DVDs.

* It has been fun watching him take in the joy of the Christmas season this year. He really likes our Christmas tree and frequently talks about how pretty it is. Rod set up one of his trains to go around the base of the tree and he was delighted with that idea! We can't wait to watch him open his presents next week!

* James' imagination has really sparked over the past month. He is starting to chatter while playing with his trains. It sounds like he is telling a story but we can't quite decipher the words. He really enjoys landing his helicopter in the Christmas tree and then talking about the "crash" when it falls out. Another example of his imagination is when he takes his trains and makes them pretend to eat.

* He has always been vocal about his likes/dislikes when it comes to food. He has started asking for certain foods even when they are out of sight. Some days he will ask to have "bread" (french toast sticks) for breakfast and other days he will ask for cereal or "tatoes" (tater tots). He is also very clear about what he does not want. This morning I was eating a banana with peanut butter and offered him a bite. He said, "no, it's gross". LOL!

* He can count to 10 and also knows good portions of the alphabet. He can even identify a few letters: T, G, W and O. We are working on colors. He can say the names of lots of colors but he cannot identify them yet.

* James is a sweet little boy who brings us more joy than we ever could have imagined. He makes us laugh constantly. I honestly think I have laughed more this year than any other year of my life.

The big 2-0 (months)

The lighting isn't great, but the above picture is one of my favorite recent family shots. It gives a good glimpse into how much joy James brings us.

Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age:

* His vocabular continues to amaze us. He says "exciting" a lot now...especially when talking about trains. There are many other words that he picked up over the past month. Pretty much every day brings a new word for him.

* His enthusiasm is unmatched. Driving in the car, I often hear "Tree. Oh wow! It's pretty." That's his approach to everything.

* James has very clear ideas of what he wants. He typically starts off asking very politely for the things he wants. However, if his wish is not granted he progresses to stage 2 which is "please? OK!" accompanied by an full-body nod. It is VERY hard to resist this cuteness bu if that still doesn't get what he wants he resorts to whining and crying.

* One of his favorite activities is to throw blocks down the stairs. He also LOVES to watch DVDs. Arthur, Thomas the Tank Engine and "Fishies" are his current faves.

* James is all about people. He greets everyone by name and frequently says "hi Mama" as he walks past me in the house. He wants to know that all of his favorite people are around him at all times. When they aren't around he asks to see pictures on the computer.

* A few weeks ago James and I had our first night away from each other. He stayed with Daddy while I went to NYC with some of my friends. James and Daddy had a wonderful time hanging out together. This is the start of many more Mommy-vacations!

* Just today a colleague was asking me about James. At first he said, "how old is your baby now?" I replied that James is 20 months old. Then he surprised me with the next question, "do you like him?". I didn't know how to answer. Saying "yes, I like him a lot" seemed like such a gross understatement. I think I said, "he is about 1000 times more fun than I ever could have imagined". Even that is an understatement! I don't just like him and love him, I truly think he is one of the most fantastic people I have EVER met. This morning on my way to work I got all teary just from seeing a glimpse of his precious little face in my rear view mirror. He is the epitome of joy. :)

5 reasons James made me smile this week

5) He learned how to nod his head. He is very proud of this new skill even though he isn't very good at it yet.

4) On Tuesday James was on my bed throwing pillows onto the floor. I said, "James why are you making a mess?". He replied, "mess funny!".

3) James has developed a new laugh. It is very loud and very fake.

2) He likes to line all his trains up into one big train. It fascinates me to watch how he organizes them and reorganizes them. I also appreciate that this new game can entertain him for up to 30 minutes at a time!

1) As I was changing his diaper earlier this week James grabbed his boy parts, giggled, and said "it's a toe!".

OK, one more bonus story for you just because I love to brag about my little boy. :) I was sitting on the floor next to James as he was playing with cars. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and told him how much I loved him. He then turned to me with an adorable little smile and said, "it's a smooch!". His favorite book of all time is The Pout Pout Fish. At the end of the book the main character (The Pout Pout Fish) goes around kissing everyone. It says "smooch, smooch, smooch" as he kisses each character. I guess James figured out that my kiss on his cheek was also called a smooch. Little smartypants!

19 months

James is now 19 months old and just as feisty (yet lovable) as ever!

* He says so many words. I can't even begin to count them. He is a little parrot and will try to copy most things we say.

*James has always been really social but I think he gets more friendly every day. He says, "hi Mama, how're you?" several times each day. He is on a first name basis with my Mom (calls her "Jo"). He also makes nicknames for people. Tim is Timmy, Tom and Thomas the Train are both Tommy to him.

* For some reason he has decided that he dislikes clothes. A few weeks ago he would not sleep until we took his pajamas off.

* He does not like to have a dirty diaper. Usually he will immediately come to us and say, "poo poo change". I think that's a good step towards potty training but we aren't quite ready yet.

*James still loves to be active. He thinks it is his right to visit a park at least once a day. He says "park. swing swing. slide." and that's our clue that he wants to go to the park.

* While driving around town he recognizes many of the roads and landmarks. He knows we are almost home when we are 3-4 blocks away. He also recognizes when we are getting close to his cousin's houses, the park, the grocery store and this one particular fruit market that he calls the apple store.

* James knows the names of almost all of his family members and can usually tell you who goes with who (so when he's talking about his cousin, he will usually mention his aunt and uncle too).

* He really likes animals and doesn't seem to be afraid of them no matter how big they are! We have gone to the fair and a couple of petting zoos recently and James marches right in with no fear.

* He has mastered all of his toys so he gets bored pretty quickly at home. Within 15 minutes of getting in the door he starts asking for some of his favorite movies, "fishies" or a Thomas movie.

All these quirks add up to make our precious little boy. :)

12 on the 12th - October

I try to do this every month but only remember once every 6-7 months. The idea is that you take 12 pictures of your "everyday life" on the 12th of each month. In October, the 12th happened to fall on a Tuesday. Since I was off work, it was a little easier for me to take 12 pictures. So, here you go...this is my average Tuesday with James.

Right after he woke up, James was pretty whiny. I was still tired and longed for a little more sleep. I brought him into bed with me and he watched a whole episode of Curious George while I rested.


After we got dressed and ate breakfast, we headed out to run some errands. Before we left, I took this picture of my pathetic pumpkin that's taken over the front of our house.


The first place we stopped was Dunkin Donuts. I got their delicious pumpkin coffee. Yum!


James read his new train book (thanks Dad and Linda - he loves it!) while waiting for me to get my coffee.


Next stop - the park! We are so lucky to have 10+ parks within 10 miles. James really needs to go somewhere to get his energy out everyday so most Tuesdays include a trip to the park. This was the first time in 5-6 months that we've been to this particular park, so he was really excited to explore it.




I took this one of myself to show off how pretty the view is from this park. Isn't that farm fabulous?


After he got all of his energy out, we went to the grocery store. I didn't take any pictures in the store but you can imagine a whiny, crying, screaming toddler trying desperately to climb out of the cart all the way through the store. LOL! He knows there is a mechanical train outside the store and he thinks that the quickest way to get to the train is to scream the whole way through the store. Next time I might let him go to the train before we go into the store and see how that works.


He ate lunch while I put the groceries away. James is a picky eater but when he finds something he likes he gets very focused. In typical fashion, he eats with one hand while holding a dirty fork against his head with the other hand.


After lunch, James took his nap. I cleaned the bathroom, did some laundry and made some phone calls. Nothing worth taking pictures of there! I did make this cottage cheese loaf, though. It was delicious, too! (Thankfully this picture doesn't showcase the eggshells that fell in the casserole.)

Rod left for work at 6:20AM and arrived home at 8:20PM. He had to pack for his trip (a school trip to Williamsburg) so we barely saw him at all. Beasley tried to sneak into Rod's bag.

Thanks for looking!