Air Force Show

One of our little man's current obsessions is airplanes.  Somehow I'm not surprised since he has been quite the frequent flyer over the past year and a half.  We go back and forth to the airport so often that lately he thinks Ryan actually works at the airport....I mean every day when I say "Daddy is at work" James replies "airport." Oh well, whatever.  We decided to take advantage of living so close to an Air Force base and go to the air show this past weekend.  We had a GREAT time.  One of our best family days that we have had in a long time. James got SO excited when he saw all of those airplanes. I'm somewhat of a history nerd so I also enjoyed hearing about the various aircraft, and Ryan was thrilled that they sold cinnamon pecans (we get excited about the little things in life in our family). It had rained the day before which cooled things off and it was supposed to be around in the seventies.  Well when we got out of the car at the base it was freezing!!!  I searched through the car and got all sorts of random clothing for us to put on.   Poor Ryan had to wear one of my jackets.  Overall though it was a great day, and we will definitely be going again next year!  

They had all sorts of airplanes and helicopters that you could climb in.  

Ryan tried to get JT to wear the ear headphones, but he wouldn't keep them on for the pic 

That's us at the very top.  This was an airplane that is used to  re-fuel midair.  I totally felt like I was on the movie  Air Force One. :) 

I was trying to show how big this plane was.  Ryan and JT are tiny in this picture. 

Up close 

Already forgot what plane this was- should have done the blog sooner!

I wrapped James in a free t-shirt that I had won at one of the Mardi Gras parades, and it just happened to still be in my car.  Haha. 

Yikes- family portrait

Cannot believe our terrible sleeper did this 

Or this! 

 The funniest part of the day was that we got interviewed for the news broadcast.  We were laughing so hard about it.  Ryan had the idea for me to take a picture of the TV when it was on to document our family debut on television. :) 

20 Months

I told Ryan the other day that I felt like I woke up and my baby had been replaced with a toddler.  20 months sounds so OLD.  It's almost time to think about someone turning two.  Where has the time gone???  This second year is going by SO much faster than the first. 

James, I wish I could somehow document every detail or bottle up this time in your life because I don't want to forget a thing.  You are SO fun!  I cannot believe the new things you are learning each day; its more than I can keep up with.  You are talking so much more.  We tried to make a list of all the words you know and we had to stop because we couldn't keep count.  Your favorite things to play with include balls, trucks/cars, airplanes and of course the water hose.  You also continue to love to read.  The other day we read 10 books before breakfast!  You enjoy coloring and doing stickers and playing with your friends.  You can identify the colors red, blue, purple, green, orange, and yellow but your favorite colors are definitely blue and purple.  We didn't even know that you knew your colors- you just told us one day!  For some reason you also can identify the letters "s" and "t" and its funny the places you notice around town with those letters. I guess we will work on the rest of the alphabet this summer. You love all of your friends at Mothers' Day Out and that we play with and you ask about them by name every day.   You enjoy books about animals and you make us laugh with your animal sounds, especially the pig! When you see your daddy after he has been at work or we pick you up from the nursery you run towards us, waving both hands, and grinning.  It melts my heart every time!  The sweetest thing you have been doing over the past month is showing your love for Jesus.  You love to read your bible, you remind us to say the blessing before we eat, and when we ask you where Jesus is you put your hand on your chest and say "heart".  Our prayer is that you always remember that and continue to have a love of learning about Him.  Your dad and I love you and are incredible grateful that you are our son! 

Trying some gas station pound cake with Daddy.  We love this stuff! 

Taking Daddy's work bag to the door for him

Ball- toy of choice for many many months 

Play date friends, minus baby Avery

Playing hide and seek 

Your favorite restaurant :) 

Loving on your bear 

Cutest pirate ever 

Lego creation 

Typical sight 

Yes I confess I have "first child syndrome" and think everything he does and says is cute. :)  

What Will We Do?

Now that all of our visitors are gone?  We (I in particular)  have been spoiled having so many people come to see us over the past few weeks.  And the sad truth is no one wants to come from May through October because it's too hot!

  It worked out that Ryan's parents were able to fly back with me and visit for a few days.  I was so thankful to have them to help entertain my very active child on the airplane.  We really enjoyed our time together and all of us (JT especially) were so sad to see them go. .     

JT loves Pop 

Playing with Nana

Going down the BIG slide

Nana bought James several fun outdoor toys.  

Trying to learn that the water hose is for plants and grass...not people! 

2 dedicated people blowing up that pool! The things you do to make kids happy.

One thing I really worried about when I found out we were going to have a kid was that our children wouldn't have a close relationship with their grandparents because we live so far away.  I can honestly say that that fear is completely gone now.  James LOVES his four grandparents.  He calls everyone of them by name, asks about them every day, and talks about their pictures all over the house.  He even knows exactly which toys they gave him (and he tells us all the time).  I have no idea who invented Skype but it has allowed us to "see" our families every week and given our families the opportunity to participate in everything from mealtime to bath time from over 1000 miles away.  

A Peek into Our Week

Here is a little peek into our week in NC. While we were in NC for Easter we got to do a lot of other fun things and visit lots of special friends and family. Our time there always goes by way too fast, and we are so sad to leave!

Sara picked me up at the airport and my mom along with Amy and Eve met us in Wilson for lunch.  Sara is a saint.  Picking up a friend, a toddler, carry-on and checked luggage as well as a car seat is not something all people would do! 

What a great welcoming committee! :) 

James would have been happy to have spent the entire week outside playing in the yard.

JT loves his Pappy 

Climbing trees with Granny 

Sweet boy 

Taking care of the trash on the tractor

Still a little obsessed with playing with balls! 

He also managed to find some fun things to play with inside as well.

Cool toy

One afternoon we decided to go pick strawberries.  James thought it was more fun just to run around than to actually help pick.

My mom knows a thing or two about picking strawberries since she was a farm girl growing up. :) 

Everything lately is a hat, even a strawberry basket 

He was a little more interested in the animals.

And he was REALLY interested in the homemade ice  cream!

I don't think Granny Deb and Pappy minded getting up with this sweet face each morning!

Ok, yes this is a strange outfit. My dad said he looked like a clown. However   it was COLD  while we were there and  I had already packed up all his winter clothes.  

I was so excited to see Judy, Meredith, and William. It took a lot of work for Meredith and I to get a picture with both grandmas and grandsons. Can you believe I have pictures of our moms with me and Meredith at this age???   

Kathleen was in town visiting from Chicago. and I was so excited to meet sweet Collins!

It was a great week of hanging out with friends, eating at favorite places, taking walks around the neighborhood, and of course taking advantage of having the grandparents' help!