Finals are over...YAY!!!

I am happy to post that Jake and I finished up finals yesterday afternoon!!! We are both waiting for a final grade in one class each..Jake - Soft Tissue and myself - Endocrinology. Other than that we both did great in all our other classes.

It was a busy qtr. Jake took almost a full load of classes and began out-patient clinic. He now has 6 patients! Jake also has been working diligently at learning and developing his skills in Pettabon. (a chiropratic tehcnique). He continues to be the V.P. of the Pettabon Club on campus as well as attend 2-3 seminars a qtr. in Orlando FL.
I was quite busy myself taking 15 credits this qtr. I also attended the Pettabon Club on campus every week. I had a great qtr. building new freindships on campus with some other mommies as well as enjoyong time with my older friends!

James had the best qtr. of all! In these last 3 months James has learned to crawl, pull himself up to stand and SO much more. He is close to having 6 teeth & eating all sorts of good food!

We are happy to see this qtr. close as we get ready for FL in FOUR days!!!!!!

Next qtr. we will be just as busy. Our wonderful friend Lindsey will watch James 7 hours a week and our other friend Tatum will be with James 5 hours a week. I will be taking a few more credits and working toward improving my adjusting skills. Jake will be taking on more patients...getting that much closer to graduation..woohoo!

The end of the summer qtr we will travel to Michigan and Massachusetts to visit family and friends as well as celebrate James' 1st birthday. Our little boy is growing up so fast and amazing us everyday. We are so blessed!

Thank you to all of friends and family who helped make this another successful qtr. We miss all of you who are far away and look forward to our travels this summer.

Here is great video of James hanging out with daddy yesterday after we were all done with finals.

Sending you all our love!!!!

Easter #1

We had a really nice Easter #1 Sunday afternoon. Grandma Debbie is here helping us out with James while we take finals (so wonderful!) The 4 of us went to the Flying Biscuit for a very yummy brunch. Unfortunately Jake and I had to study for finals so the Easter day was cut short.
However.....my family celebrates Greek Orthodox Easter the end of April. My mom will be here visiting so we will have the opportunity to have a second Easter Sunday.
Brunch was really nice. We were in a very decorative room and James was fascinated by the sunflowers. He also enjoyed chewing on a straw.....or anything for that matter with those teeth trying to pop.

Friday's Playdate

This past Friday we had a fun & relaxing afternoon with Zooey & Bre. James and Zooey had fun playing all afternoon while the mom's, Jake and Grandma Debbie sat on the couch and relaxed.
It is amazing to see all the changes with our little ones. Bre and I had the wonderful experience of being pregnant together and it is hard to believe how grown up James & Zooey have become! Zooey is on the brink of walking and James is crawling around like crazy.
He pulls himself up onto his knees and bounces up and down. His is also trying to figure out how to pull himself up to a standing position. We had to lower the crib because he will stand up before we know it.
James is also the teething machine. On Friday we knew he was teething his top tooth..well it turns out James is teething his top FOUR teeth. The last one is about to pop..hopefully in time for FL so we can get some sleep.

Fishtank

As most of you know Jake has put together a beautiful fish tank for our home. It is a 40 gallon cube and it is a perfect little ecosystem. We have some great fish and other great inhabitants....a starfish, cleaner shrimp, hermit crabs, snails, corals and the funniest green crab you have ever seen. You may ask how is a crab funny....this is how....

So smart

It amazes Jake & I just how quickly James' learns new activities. We will show him how to play a game only a few times before he does it totally on his on.
This is his new favorite activity. He will just keeping trying..and trying..and trying with careful determination to get it right. And even when he does get it right..it does it all over again.

Jake and James

Seeing Jake and James together is just about the sweetest site you've ever seen. After bathtime every night James has stories read to him..usually by daddy. I had to take a couple of pictures tonight because they two of them looked so cute together. They really are the perfect daddy-son combo. I am one lucky woman.

Loving his bath

There is no doubt about it..James loves his bath. Usually Jake or I will give James his bath, but tonight we decided it would be fun to both be there. Regardless of who is there..James has fun!

It is amazing to think that over Christmas break James could barely sit up in the tube without our help. Now, just a few months later not only is he sitting up, but he is getting up on his knees and crawling around.

Jake and I always talk about how quickly time travels when you are graced with becoming a parent. It really is important to savor every minute and I can honestly say our family does and it is wonderful.

Talkative and Easily Distractable

When we first introduced James to food he would eat up every bite with little effort. NOW.... that James has really found his voice (and loves to hear it) dinner is well..more of a task. He loves to tell us stories and is easily distracted by his daddy...suprise..surprise!

Friday's Playdate

James and I had a play-date with our friends Crystal and Priscilla last Friday afternoon. Priscilla is a special friend of James because they share the same birthday. James was born 7/1/07 @ 3:12 in the a.m. and Priscilla was born a mere 8 hours later. It has taken awhile for us mom's to connect but better late then never. We really enjoy spending time with them (even though Priscilla is a bit shy and James frequently makes her cry.) It is so great seeing the to children interact. Crystal and I have fun laughing about the same mile-stones and cute things they d0.

I don't think Priscilla was too happy with James trying to grab her hair.

There's Priscilla's daddy in the background.





Fun with sippy-cups!!!

Easy like a Sunday morning...

We had a very relaxing Sunday morning. We were planning on going to church but when all of us slept in (even James), we decided instead of rushing around, we would take the morning and relax as a family. Jake made a very cozy fire and we played with James as he crawled around like a pro. We rarely have the opportunity to have a leisure morning as a family - it was very much welcomed by all of us. (Not to mention… it was a good thing we decided to stay home, since we forgot about the time change we would arrived at church as it was ending.)

Snuggling with mommy in her bathrobe.

Daddy kisses are the best!

Fun Updates

Everyday news things are happening with James. What seems like forever now James has mastered saying "BABA!" Jake and I are always practicing saying DADA...daddy's duck & MAMA...mommy's milk. Over the last couple of days James has been working on DADA.

This morning Jake got James up so I could sleep in a bit longer (he is so great!) I could hear them playing out in the living room. James is being his usual cute chatty little boy in the morning and then with a big burst of energy his yells out DADA!!!! I could hear Jake burst into laughter. It was great!

Let's see what else....well James tried mango this morning for the first time. I mixed it with some mother's milk with the hopes it would sweeten it a bit. I am guessing by James' face it didn't. We'll try it a few more times. : )

Lastly I wanted to share with all of you that James will be met tomorrow by Atlanta's Kiddin' Around Modeling Agency. I had submitted 2 pictures and we received a letter last week asking us to come in for a formal meet & greet. There they will see how James does with a camera and with strangers. If it goes well Jake & I will have to attend a parent business seminar before they call James to any photo shoots. It should be a fun process and Jake & I are looking for to the experience, regardless of the outcome. Who knows..maybe in a few months we'll see our little Hammie in a babierus ad!!!

On the move...

The Saturday before my 30th birthday James took his first crawl...backwards! Since then he has been working hard at moving toward his toys, just never forward...always backwards. While after almost 2 weeks of the backward crawl James figured this morning that moving forward is an option. Jake and I were with him in the living room when he decided to change things up a bit. He is doing it with some frustration but the satisfaction of reaching his destination is great. It is hard to believe our little man is finally on the move. He is growing up so fast right before our eyes!!!

Laughter!!!

Get ready for the funniest video of James laughing. Last night Jake was feeding James peas. Well James hit Jake's hand and peas went flying everywhere. Out of frustration Jake said an abbreviated version of the "f" word. He said "fu" with NO "ck". James thought that was the funniest sound in the world.....

My Surprise 30th Birthday

I have the most amazing boyfriend in the whole world! Jake along with my wonderful friends threw me a surprise 30th Birthday party last night. Jake first took me to our favorite restaurant, Seasons 52. We had a fabulous dinner and dessert. After dinner we walked around the Perimeter mall for a bit (I now know it was to stall...so we would get back for 7:30.). We then headed to our house so we could put James to sleep. Now, our original plan was to go to a comedy club. I was excited but, also hesitant leaving James with new babysitters.
So after James went to bed Jake told me we had to go next door to Carly's because she was coming with us and she wasn't ready yet. Well.....I walk in and see a huge Happy 30th Birthday banner on the fireplace and all my friends jump out from the dining room and yell "SURPRISE!!!!!'' It was great!! I was so shocked and excited my knees were shaking. It turned out to be a perfect night.
I am happy to embrace being 30 and close the door to my 20's. That decade was full of growth and changes and I am ready to embark on this decade with an amazing love for life! I am so grateful for where I am in my life, for Jake,my little boy James and for all my friends and family near and far. God continues to bless me everyday and for this I am thankful!