cousin Drew

My youngest nephew, Drew, spent a couple of nights at Nana this week, so Eli and I got to go love on him a bit. Eli has reached an age where he gets excited about other kids and can usually call them by their correct name without being prompted (i hope that makes since) Anyway, here are some pictures of our sweet baby Drew.

"insert clever title here"

Okay, so I'm drawing a blank when I try to think of a title for this post, so whatever.........Eli has recently discovered that he can crawl into his crib!! When he is not in his crib the side rail is usually down. About a week or so ago he started putting every stuffed animal he owns in to his crib and one day decided he wanted in with them. So, we put him in. Well, it wasn't long before he thought to push his rocking chair up to the crib and climb up the back of it and flip into his crib. It is entertaining to watch. I am amazed. It is fun to see him think through something and figure out how to do what he is wanting to do. Now, it is easy for me to say this since he can't crawl out and I still have control of him getting in, all I have to do is raise the side and he can't make it over. I will most likely sing another tune when he thinks a little harder and discovers another way around these obstacles. But for now I will just enjoy it. Here are a few pictures of the process.

Happy Father's Day!

Well, it's that time a year again where we honor our father's. I have been truly blessed to have such a wonderful man to call Dad. I am so thankful that God allowed me to have him as my father. And then I met and married Nathan and gained a father-in-law, and again I feel very blessed to be apart of the James family. Nathan's dad has played a very important role in his life, too. So our blessings doubled when we united in marriage. As most of you know it wasn't long after we were husband and wife that we started our own little family. I have already mentioned what a blessing my father has been to me and then I was blessed with a great father-in-law, well now I have yet another special father in my life, the father of my children! What a wonderful, godly man I share my life with!!!! And then to top that off I think of my Father above ALL Fathers and I am blown away. I have learned a lot about our Heavenly Father through my relationships here on earth, especially all the dads. So today I thank God for His presence in all of our lives and for the love He has shown us. I pray for continued knowledge of who He is and who He intends for us to be. I thank him for all the men that are father's in many different ways to many different people and pray for those that have an absence of an earthly father figure in their lives.

Ryder is 2!!!!

Ryder Robbins turns 2 this week and we got to celebrate last night with his family and friends. A good time was had by all! Thank you Dennis Family.

Elmo's World, Boi!!

When looking for the video of Elmo dancing (see my previous post) I came across another video I felt the need to share. Again, enjoy.

Elmo Rocks!

So, Sesame Street had become a part of our morning routine. I have loved many different parts of the show, but Elmo's segment has brought many smiles to my face. One of my favorites has been when Dorothy, Elmo's goldfish, imagines Elmo dancing on the moon. I think it is great. I wanted to share this with you. Enjoy.

A night with my girls

You may or may not know that I had the awesome privilege of having a group of high school girls in a bible study for all their four years of high school. I loved all 4 years and each of the girls that I had the honor of being involved with through those years. There were 3 girls that remained very consistent throughout the 4 years and have continued to stay in touch through their freshman year of college. Well, these three are home for the summer and called to see when we could all hang out! It made my day. Soooo, where I am going with this is that they came over last week and we cooked a pizza from scratch, ate brownies w/ice cream, watched a little So You Think You Can Dance and then talked till 1am!!!! I was one tired momma when Eli started calling for me around 6:30-7am the next morning (thank goodness for Sesame Street) All that said, they are soooo special to me and I love the relationship that God has blessed us with over time. They are not just girls I had in a study, they truly are my friends. Here are a few pictures of them to show you just how beautiful they are!!! (left to right Kaylee, Rebekah, Elyse)

Summer summer summer time....(oooo summertime) Time to sit back and unwind

We had the privelage of hanging out with 2 wonderful moms and their boys yesterday. We met up with Whitney, Wilson and Campbell AND with Victoria and Cal. We started the morning off at the River Market and then headed to the pool. It was a nice way to spend the day.

"I KNOW!"

So my poor baby has a horrible diaper rash. I mean HORRIBLE. It turns out that oranges really do a number on him the the general diaper rash area :( It started yesterday mid morning and we are working real hard at getting it all gone. So, needless to say he isn't particularly fond of getting his diaper changed and I feel so bad the whole time that I am cleaning him up. When I am changing him and he is hurting or just not wanting to sit still (which is a lot of the time even without a rash) anyway, I tend to say "I know, I know.." sympathetically over and over. Well, this morning his rash had really flared up and as I was changing him he cried "I know, I know" along with the usual "All done". It was sad because of the pain, but too stinkin cute at the same time.