Merry Christmas

These are a few pictures of Tori and James in their Christmas outfits the Sunday before Christmas. Tori thought her dress was very fancy wanted to wear it all the time.

Here are Tori and James on Christmas morning. John had to work at the hospital on Christmas morning so I kept the kids happy up in our room having breakfast in bed and watching all of the classic Christmas cartoons we recorded off TV until John made it home at around 9:30am. It was the first time I can remember being showered and ready before opening presents on Christmas morning- which I actually thought was pretty nice.

These pictures are of Tori and James with their presents from Santa in front of the tree. As you can tell, the airplane and tiana doll were both a big hit.

Below is James in the new jumper he got for Christmas (probably one of my favorite Christmas presents :)).

Christmas Parties

Tori was a very lucky girl and got to sit on Santa's lap three times this year. We were just very glad that she was consistent when she told him what she wanted for Christmas - a Tiana doll (the newest Disney princess from the Princess and the Frog movie). Above is a picture of Tori at the dance studio's Holiday party for the 3-4yr old kids. Below is Tori and some of the other dancers eating so of the treats after dancing and sitting on Santa's lap.

Here is Tori with the very silly dance party Santa. Tori loved everything to do with Christmas and Santa this year. She loved seeing him, talking about him, making him cookies, we wrote him a letter and an email (he replied to both). This is Tori's first note to Santa that she wrote all by herself (just a little help with spelling the words from me):

"Dear Santa, This is your note. I want a tiana doll. Love, Tori."

Above is Tori with Santa from the church Christmas party.

Below is James also enjoying the Christmas party.

Snow Much Fun

Here is James all ready to play in the snow! He wouldn't be smiling if he knew how cold it gets here.

Tori, James and Dad on the mound of snow Tori and Dad made.

It was really cold out that day, so I was pretty impressed with how happy James still was.
Cute snow bunnies.

We took the picture of James above in the snow and it felt like just yesterday we were taking the same picture of Tori in the snow, so I went back and found it because I wanted to see how much they really do look alike (everyone's comment lately when they see James is that he looks so much like Tori).

Tori trying to teach James the joys of being pulled around in the sled by Mom and Dad (we really need to find a hill around here).

Still smiling after his adventure in the snow.

6 months old

6 Months Old

Weight: 19 lbs. 70th percentile

Height: 29 in. 97 percentile

Here are some fun pictures of our big boy. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by!!

What is James up to at 6 months?

He can roll both ways, but usually if I set him down on his back he rolls to his tummy and is then very frustrated because he can see all sorts of things he can't get to. No crawling yet, but he really wants to. James can sort of sit up, but he generally chooses to dive to his belly or side instead (just like his sister used to do). He has discovered how much fun toys can be/taste. Still his favorite thing in the world is his big sister Tori. At his 6 month doctor appointment he was starting to get really tired and fed up and I asked Tori to play peek-a-boo with him. She started doing that and dancing all around in front of him making silly noises and he just started to belly-laugh so hard - it was adorable! All the nurses in the nurses' station came to watch, it was really cute.

Thanksgiving Swimming

When we went to IL for Thanksgiving we got to stay in a hotel with a pool. This was probably the first time I ever went swimming on Thanksgiving day. Once Tori saw that there was a pool at the hotel she was desperate to swim (we are very much missing the summer lately).

Tori and James had a blast. This was the first time James was ever in a swimming pool. It was fun that he got to wear the little swimsuit that his dad bought him shopping one day.

James got a kick out of just sitting on my lap splashing with his hand. He was really having fun and splashing pretty hard - we tried to catch some of it with this video.

Below is a video of Tori doing her favorite thing in the pool - jumping off the side into Dad's arms. She has it down to a science and knows exactly where she wants Dad to stand and loves it if she splashes big enough to get Dad's face wet.

After our fun trip to IL, when we came home I decided I wanted to do a little Thanksgiving dinner for just our family since I love to cook all the Thanksgiving food. It was also a lot of fun since my mom came back from IL with us and helped me make it. Above is a picture of Tori and James after Tori helped me set the table with the china, which she loves to do.

Thanksgiving in IL

This year we got to spend Thanksgiving in IL with all my Dad's family. My parents and my sister and her family came, too. It was wonderful to get to see everyone and be with family for the holiday. Below we are having breakfast at the hotel.

Tori's really gotten good at the big sister roll and she loved "sistering" her little cousin Olivia, who is about 2 and 1/2 years old. Olivia thought anything involving Tori was wonderful so they got along very well. It was actually really cute to watch since Olivia and Tori have the same age difference as my sister and me and Tori looks and acts very much like I did and Olivia looks and acts very much like Danielle did. My mom said it was like going back in time.

Some precious pictures of Tori, Olivia and James with Great Grandma and Grandpa. It was so wonderful to get to see and spend time with them.

Tori and Olivia reading with Grandpa Eric.

Aunt Danielle getting her baby fix with James. :)

The cute little cousins.

We had Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant in IL with the whole family. The food was wonderful and we all had a great time. (Above - John, Me, James, Tori, Olivia, Danielle and Dan)

5 Months Old

Here's our little five month old. I'm not sure how big he is since we don't go see the doctor until 6 months, but he's still as cute and happy as ever. James has really started to discover toys, which makes my life easier and harder at the same time, since many of his toys tend to frustrate him, but he screams if they are taken away.

He also enjoys his bedtime story, though, most of the time he just tries to get the book in his mouth.

This is where James spends most mornings while I get ready. One morning he finally got a hold of both the toys at the same time and he was so proud of himself and happy - I ran to get the camera, but the picture doesn't do it justice.

Just, my cute naked baby. I'm not sure why both my kids just love to be without clothes, even during Iowa winters - maybe it's easier to get your foot in your mouth that way?

A couple of James's favorite things

James is changing so fast and discovering new fun things everyday! Here are just a few random pictures of things he likes. Very high on the list of things James likes are his feet. In the past few weeks he has found them and loves to hold/suck on them. He has also discovered his lips. Below he's sucking on his lower lip (another favorite thing to do). He likes to try and make different funny faces with his lips that are very cute.

Dad has always been a big favorite, especially when he's introducing him to such cool things like football on TV and the remote (two peas in a pod).

James also loves being outside on walks and anything involving Tori.