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...

Who da thunk it??

I'll post pics to accompany this post later- they're on Zack's camera.

James has started trying solid foods. The doctor said he could start trying stuff at his 4 month appt, but for whatever reason we started at his 5 mo birthday.

So rice cereal and oatmeal were a hit. (well...maybe I should say he seemed ok with what little made it in his mouth)

Next we tried squash. I had heard to start with lighter colored veggies (easier to tolerate) and the squash at Publix looked yummy so I steamed Baba James (this is what Lucas calls James and now everyone calls him Baba...I am so afraid it is going to turn into Bubba.......but that is neither here nor there...)some squash and pureed it in my cool baby food machine my parents gave me. James seemed to like it.

Next we tried Avocado. Zack & I love it... but humm would a 5 month old like Avocado? I mashed one up and added a little water and oohhh did Baba love it.

So oatmeal check, squash check, avocado check...time for some sweet stuff. I raved to Baba about how wonderful his dinner would be and how much he would love the sweet treat he was going to taste. All the books I've read say baby's prefer sweet food so I knew this was the start of something wonderful. He was going to gobble it all up. Well, let me tell you, Baba James has proved them wrong. Baba HATES!! HATES!! HATES!! applesauce. Thinking the sour face and turned head may have just been a fluke (maybe he was tired, maybe his tummy hurt), I thought I'd try it again today. Nope! Today Baba blew bubbles in the spoon spraying it all over my face, gagged, pushed the spoon away, and made the most disgusted look you've ever seen. I guess we will be trying applesauce again at a later date... a much later date.

Well, it's back to veggies...I never would have thought a baby would prefer avocados mashed in water over applesauce. Humm what to try next???