11 months

Why hasn't my mom updated this blog with my 11 month info?!?!?!?

11 month events:

Thanksgiving at Kmama and Daddo's- didn't want to nap so Baby James sat at the table and enjoyed dressing and sweet potato casserole

My 1st bonfire- when the bonfire lit up Baby James yelled "light", he wasn't fascinated for long though (see above picture)

Sat on Santa's lap- James was not so sure about Santa or Mrs. Claus for that matter- pictures to come

Words: Ball, Bye-Bye (this means bye-bye and car), Light, Daddo, Dada, Mama, TaTa (thank-you), Tickle, Side (outside), Night (has only said this a few times), Hey (yells this most every time the phone rings) Uh-Oh (syas this any time he drops or throws something) and his new favorite- NO NO

Animal sounds: Woof, Moo

Currently he enjoys shaking his head and saying no-no to everything- I do not enjoy this as much as he does

He had gotten very good with his sippy cup

He has recently started to walk pushing his walker toy

Favorite toys: light switch (he loves to turn on and off the lights), ball popper (he is knows how to push the red button to make the balls pop out), learning walker, drum with shapes (he throws it to open the drum and closes the top and loves to push the shapes in if we put them where they need to go), dinosaur ball pit, books with lights (I am amazed at how quickly he learns how to make the lights go off on his books)

Clingy is his middle name

He loves his blanket- the second he gets his blanket his thumb goes into his mouth (he will no longer take his paci)

We put up the christmas tree today and he loves it!!

James is such a joy, we are thankful everyday for the blessing of raising him!

Thanksgiving

Below are a few pictures from Thanksgiving 2009. The food and the company were both wonderful!

Our Little Tiger

We had a fun Halloween night with our little Tiger! We went to Zack's Mom's house for a festive evening complete with pumpkin shaped cheese balls, lots of yummy food, smoking punch, full-screen outdoor movie, fire-pit, smores, and much more.

James isn't big on hats so he didn't much like wearing the hood of his outfit. He did like how his soft his outfit was though- during dinner he kept resting his head on his arm and snuggling with his costume. So precious!

10 months

My baby is 10 months old!!!

What he's doing these days:

1) pointing

James is loving to point as of the past few days. He especially loves to point at fans and lights. He has also started chattering all the time- especially when pointing to said light fixtures. It sounds like he is saying "see that, see that, see that?"

2) clinging

All of the sudden my son who would go to anyone at anytime, has started to cling to me if someone wants to hold him. He also is starting to cry (aka pitch a royal fit) if I leave the room. On the same note- he loves his babysitter Lilly aka "Putt Putt (what she wants him to call her). He will, at times, cling to her if I want to take him :( But I am thankful that she loves him and he loves her- it is a huge blessing on the days I go to work to know he is happy!

3) bye-bye ing

Bye Bye is his favorite word. He says it anytime we leave in the car or go strolling. Did I mention when he went for his 9 month check up he greeted Dr. Wood with a big bye-bye? She informed him he didn't get away that easy. He is also associating cars with by-bye. Whe we read a book with a picture of a car he points and says "bye-bye".

Other words: Tickle, Mama, Dada, Ball, Dado, Hey Dare (says this when Zack comes home), Hello (says this as he holds his arm up to his ear like a telephone)

4) Reading

He is really loving lift and look books- especially his Peek-a-boo books. He also has a book "My first words" and he loves the pictures of the boy and girl, cat, dog, teddy bear, and car. He is starting to sit still for longer so it makes reading time a lot more fun.

5) No-ing

With crawling comes lots of "No No". After Remote controls and telephones, James is intrigued by cords and outlets. Now when he crawls past the outlet in the kitchen he shakes his head no as if to remind himself. Too funny!

6) Biting

Umm- a couple of days ago he started to enjoy biting- not good. Every time I try to brush his teeth (I usually use a washcloth as it seems (or used to seem) to work better than a tooth brush) he bites down with all his might. You also better watch your toes and legs if he is crawling.

7) Being the sweetest most precious baby- we love him so much!

Are you ready for some football?

Last weekend we went to see my nephew Will play football. Will's team, coached by his father I might add, won the game.....AND WILL SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!!! Baby James had so much fun- he enjoyed being a big boy and playing with all of his big cousins. Lucas and Ross were staying with my parents and baby James really enjoyed watching them. At one point James, my son who never sits still, stood still for about 30 mintues just staring at all the big boys in awe. It was too cute. Below are a few pictures from the big game.

War Eagle

We've got one serious Auburn fan here!! WAAAAAAAAAARRR EAGLE HEY!!!

In other news....Baby James is 9 months!! I can't believe it. Most of the past month has consisted of chasing Baby James around the house, baby-proofing, doctors appointments, looking for baby sitters, so much to catch up on. James has several new "tricks" such as waving, pretending everything is a telephone, throwing his hands above his head when we say touchdown, and he loves to chase his Daddy around the house in his walker.

New Tricks:

Waving Bye-bye

Touchdown Auburn

Telephone

Crawling

Pulling Up

Loves to:

Play Peek-a-Boo

Chase Daddy in his Walker

Tackle his blue bear

Cuddle with his sheep

Anything outside

Babbles all the time. Says Dada the most, not sure if he is associating it with Zack yet. Says "dye" when he waves bye-bye.

He is starting to grab me around the neck and snuggle his head against me when someone wants to hold him. He doesn't cry when he goes to them, but he is starting to be a little more clingy.

He also had his first first cold...so pitiful!! But he is much better now.

Here are his STATS:

weight: 20.5#- 50%

height: 29 in- 75%

head circ.: 48.5- 95%

My Heart

Herbed Chicken and Pasta anyone?

James really wanted to feed himself tonight! He had a blast! I did not have a blast cleaning it up however....

Breaking the law

We had a grand weekend. We went to Atlanta for Erin and Patrick's wedding- which was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. by the way. The wedding & reception were at The St. Regis hotel, and we had so much fun dancing and celebrating with everyone. In typical fashion, Zack and I arrived at the hotel (rooms were fabulous) at 6pm and the wedding started at 6:30 so we made a quick presto-chango into our wedding attire and off we went to the wedding...and in my haste I left my camera... so I have no pictures to share.

Another wonderful thing we did was to visit family and friends in Atlanta. So as we were leaving the St. Regis, in search of a Starbucks and heading to Karen and Corey's, the navigation system quits working. We pull over to the side of the street and try to figure out what is going on (bc there is NO way the 2 most directionally challenged people in the world are going to make it from Buckhead to Roswell to Tucker without a navigation system!!). Next thing we know here come the flashing lights. Well, Mr. Policeman comes over to the car and demands we put our hands in the air. Seriously? As he approaches the truck, our hands in the air, he questions us why we were pulled over to the side of the road. Well apparently he wanted to make sure we were not casing the neighborhood to rob the houses in Buckhead- which we were obviously not. Anyway, he laughs and sends us on our merry way.

We had so much fun visiting with Karen and Corey- Shae is full of tricks and Mason is just too precious. Then we went to Jane and Andrew's. Their new house is wonderful- and we had the best pizza ever, which Jane "invented" by the way. We also got to taste some of Andrew's home brew which was really good (and I don't even like beer). Apparently his beer is low on hops, high on malt, and high on deliciousness in my opinion (this gives it a nice smoothness and it doesn't have that after-bite most beers have).

Speaking of beers- did you know it was only within the past few years that I knew beer has an "s" when plural? I thought it was like deer- 1 deer 2 deer. Well apparently not!! And how did I find this out you ask? Well when we counseled patients at the VA during my 4th year of pharmacy school we would often times need to find out how much alcohol the patient consumed on a usual basis. Then, after each session, we would type up these detailed SOAP notes in which I would I would write "so and so consumes 3 beer a night" - well the folks at the VA thought it was hilarious- which I guess it kinda is!! Oh well you live & you learn.

On the way home we got to visit with the Courtney, Scott & baby Hattie again because I left my purse at their house on Saturday (I sure am glad I did!!) I think Hattie looks like a perfect mixture of Courtney and Scott. Since I've been unusually focused on alcoholic beverages this post, I thought I'd mention that Scott is making Lemoncello- I think he even has a blog about it.

We sure had fun visiting with everyone, but I was so glad to see my precious Baby James when we got home- we were only gone a day, but I sure did miss my baby!!

Since I did not take any pictures of our wonderful weekend I thought I would leave you with some pictures of someone who is so cute it is a crime :)

Take 2

Remember what I was saying in the last post....like father like son...well look-a-here.

Notice the swing in the background. James is TOO BIG for it, but he loves to swing in the morning. Our mornings look like this: he wakes up around 6am and he eats, then he crawls all over the world and pulls all of his toys out of his play basket, then he eats breakfast, then he likes to chill in his swing and watch Praise Baby before he takes his nap....and if he likes to relax in his swing for 30 minutes (and I get to drink a cup of coffee without those precious, chubby little hands grabbing for my hot cup) then who am I to tell him he is far too large for his swing?

BYE FOR NOW.....

Drive

James is his father's son. Zack loves all things that one can drive. I would say cars, but it's much, much deeper than that. He loves trucks, tractors, motorcycles, boats... in short, any mode of transportation. Well, anytime I put James in a toy car or anything with a steering wheel he knows exactly how to hold his hands on the steering wheel and off he goes turning back and forth. It can't be something he has seen- he faces backwards in his car seat in the car!?! Is this some sort of innate talent? A necessary reflex men are born with? Who knows why, but I think it is just too dang cute. We read a book at night called Just Like Daddy with animals who do things just like their Daddies- well as evidenced from the picture above, this little guy is "just like his daddy". And furthermore, don't you know this little heart-breaker is gonna drive the ladies wild!! **Disclaimer: don't worry, the baby pictured above was not actually driving the golf cart...he just sat in it for a second for his glamour shot!!

My cup overflows!!

I am constantly overwhelmed at how much I love this precious child God has so graciously allowed me and Zack to call our Son. He is so sweet, so quick to smile, with an infectious laugh that brings such joy to the depth of my soul. It is amazing how in an instant this little child transformed my life. As he is quickly changing, I know my role as a mother will quickly change as well.

I remember the days when I was in, let's say, 3rd or 4th grade, and the 10th graders seemed so old- and well, someone in college was certainly a full fledged adult. However, as I reached those stages, I didn't feel old enough to be a tenth grader, a college student........ a wife, a mother. I guess I thought that once I reached those milestones that I would know exactly what I was doing. Well, needless to say, I did not and do not. I know that I am about to enter one of those new stages... a stage where my role as a mother is different than when James was a newborn, a stage that includes teaching, guidance, and instruction. The responsibility is huge and I feel so inadequate, I am so inadequate. But in my inadequacy, I am reminded of my heavenly Father's perfection. He created my precious child. He is in control. He is perfect. He can do all things- including guide a mother who feels like she has no idea what she is doing. He has a perfect plan for my precious child, HIS precious child.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

I am truly overwhelmed at.." how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ". My cup overflows!!!

Crawl.

My baby is crawling!!!  I am so very proud of my big little man.  I guess the next step is baby proofing the house.  Good thing I have the next few days off from work- finally!!

4th of July Pictures

As I mentioned in the previous post, we had a blast celebrating the 4th of July with Zack's family.  Here are some pictures...

James chillin' in the pool

Sweet Hattie

Max

Scott & Max

                                            Z-Diddy
MiMi and Hattie
Hattie Caroline
MiMi and James
Ryan and Max

                                                                  Me and James
                                                                    Mel and Courtney
                                                                Zack and Sam
                                                           Paw Paw and James

                                                               Mel and Zack

July Happenings

Wow- It's been over a month since I've updated this little blog. We've been very busy at the Barker house!! Well June was a very special month...Hattie Caroline Crawford was born. She is so beautiful and sweet- we are so happy for Courtney and Scott. We also went to Sea Island for Bo and Collier's beautiful beach wedding...we were able to stay with Jane, Andrew and their little ones- what a wonderful treat. To finish up June, among other things, we spent a weekend at the Lake with Joe and Rachel, put our house on the market, and had BaBa's 6 month check up (90th for height, 50th-75th for weight, and 95th for head circ.).

July has been super busy...Zack's Dad was in town for a few weeks from New Hampshire and we had so much fun spending time with him- James loved playing with Grandpa!! Aunt Kathleen, Dad, Rudy, Will and Adair all celebrated their birthdays- Happy Birthday everyone!! We had a big 4th of July shindig at Zack's Mom's house and got spend time with his sisters and their families as well as his Aunt Robin and cousin Rachel from LA, Aunt Elaine and Uncle Scotty from TN, and James got to meet Baby Hattie.

Hattie & James

Then my biggest nursing home had State Survey so I worked the next week non-stop- but all was well, and when it was over we packed up Zack's truck (umm- so packing for a week out of town with a 7 month old is insane- who knew someone so tiny could require so much stuff!!!) and headed to Bear Mountain (Cashiers, NC). We had a wonderful long weekend with my parents, the Swinharts (including Samantha :)), and The Sanfords. I'll update with more pictures later!! AND Mom and Dad celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary on the 15th!! Happy anniversary!!

James happenings:
Sitting up by himself
Has 2 teeth
Loves his Jumperoo and Exersaucer
Says: DADADADADA and BABABABABA and clicks his tongue all the time
He loves to laugh, and will currently laugh hysterically at the following: sneezing, peek-a-boo, lifting him in the air, and letting him grab my hair
Went swimming for the 1st time- 1st at the lake and then at Mimi and PawPaw's
AND... last night when he was supposed to be asleep we watched (via the baby monitor) him pull himself up to a standing position in his crib
He is one sweet boy- we are very blessed!!

I'm uploading pics but its taking a while so here are a couple Zack took in NC last week....

Lake Baby

Here are a few pictures of Baba James from our latest trip to the lake...