Baptism & Birthday Party

On the Sunday after James' actual birthday, James was baptised and after church we celebrated his birthday party at my parent's house. James' baptism was so special. We were so fortunate to have all of our parents there, Zack's dad was in town from New Hampshire, as well as my Papa and Aunt Kathleen, our brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and some very sweet friends. James did very well during church- we sat up front and he was mesmerized by the pianist. During the baptism an elder always stands with the family, so it was really special that my Dad was able to be standing up there with us. James was a hoot- he loved all the attention, and actually didn't want to come to me or Zack after the baptism- so Pastor Bell just walked him down the aisle. Below are a few pictures of the gorgeous gown we had made. The gown was a gift from my parents- we had the slip monogrammed with his initials and the date of his baptism. Hopefully his grandchildren will have their initials monogrammed on it as well some day.

Here are just a few pictures of us before we left for church.

The baptism.

After the baptism everyone headed to my parents house to celebrate James' 1st birthday. Sweet, sweet Sybil came down the day before and made delicious beef stroganoff that we ate for lunch. It was the perfect celebration of James' birth, baptism, and God's wonderful covenant promise. Below are a few pictures from the party. I didn't take many pictures. But here are a few:

Bonfire

How did I not post more pictures from our Post-Thanksgiving bonfire? After Thanksgiving the Newton (& Barker) clan headed to the Lake. After Zack and the boys gathered wood and piled up the bonfire, we gathered our hangers and hotdogs and headed down to the lake. After some questionable lighting methods (by my father I might add) the bonfire was up and going. Baby James loved it at first exclaiming "light" when it was up and going, but got over it quickly- so, needless to say, he and I didn't spend much time down there. Anyway, here are a few pictures. Enjoy!!

12 months

Happy Birthday to my precious, precious son! James, you have been such an amazing joy the past 12 months. You have enriched our lives and changed who we are forever. When James was born Dr. Phillips reminded us of the verse Psalm 127:3. I included this verse on James's birth announcement. As I reflect on the past 12 months I am overcome by how true this verse is. What grace our Father has to reward us, people who deserve no rewards, with such a wonderful blessing. To be this precious child's mother- thank you Lord for allowing Sweet Baby James to be in our lives, a blessing that I do not deserve, but one that I am overwhelmingly thankful for.

On to the 12 month update. James has such a precious personality. He is very curious and likes to take everything apart and put it back together. I think he is going to be just like his Daddy!! He is also so fast at figuring out how something works. You only have to show him once that a particular button makes his toy or book light up or play music and he's got it!

Words (these are really 12-13 months)

Mama

Dada

Daddy

Zack

Dado

Shoe

Cheese

Thank you

Tickle

Night-Night

Bath

Bye

Ball

MiMi

No-No

Uh-oh

Hey

Light

Side

He can also say Woof and Moo. He has done a Meow as well, but this one hasn't "stuck" yet.

Favorite activities:

Strolling with Lillie

Running in his walker

Kissing pictures of babies

Kissing himself in the mirror

Putting his blocks in his drum

Trying to play with Henry's dog bowl then shake his head no

Biting his bath toys

Playing with the Ball machine

Turning on and off the lights

Pulling up and taking anything he can of the table next to Daddy's chair

Playing with the phone and the remote

Snuggling with his blanket and sucking his thumb

Turning book pages

Putting anything and everything in his mouth

Playing with Shoes and putting his toys in Daddy's boots

I will save pictures from his "official" birthday party for a later post. He had a big celebration with all his family- including Grandpa all the way from New Hampshire- but that post is for later. His birthday fell on a Wednesday -but you still gotta try a little cake on your first birthday. Zack and I gave James his V-Tech train and some little cars and gave him his first try at a little birthday cake. Then K-Mama and Dado surprised us by stopping by to give James a Red Flyer Rocket from Papa and new super soft blanket from K-Mama and Dado. Please excuse my appearance in these photos- I had just come home from a very long and stressful state survey at one of my nursing homes. So excuse me and focus on Sweet Baby James!!

NEW POST BELOW AS WELL!! Christmas, Birthday Party, and Baptism to come!

Christmas at the Crawfords

So much blogging to do: Christmas, Birthday Party, Baptism, 12 month and 13 month update. I thought I'd start with a few pictures from our 1st Christmas celebration. Below are some pictures from our Christmas with Zack's Dad at Courtney and Scott's house. It was so much fun and we all enjoyed getting to spend time with Grandpa!

Grandpa!

The family photo

Uncle Zack and Sam

Max, James, & Baby Hattie

James and Sam

Mel & Sam

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!