9-month-olds are busy

 James is army crawling everywhere! We have had to majorly baby-proof our house, as you can see (in the picture below) from our lovely baby gate going around our fire place and electronics. James is so funny because if he is going somewhere that he is not supposed to go, he speeds up when you go to pick him up. He is a little ham! 

We had a play-date with Benjamin Graupner (his dad works with Ryan as an Internal Medicine resident, and I absolutely love his mom, Kayce!) 

James wasn't quite sure what to think of Benjamin. He kept trying to grab his face!

Hey mom!

James loves his glow-in-the-dark dinosaur shirt that his Pappy and Gigi got him! (He is busy talking to me here about it.)

James and I traveled to Oxford, MS for the weekend to see some of my friends from college and to see my parents. We had a great visit! While we were there, James turned 9-months-old, and I had to capture it! :) (Side note: he was up most of the night before this with a fever because he got his first cold while we were in MS. ) 

Here are all of the things that James is currently doing at 9 months: 

• Loves to give hugs and kisses. He is a huge flirt and smiles at everyone! 
• Starting to have some stranger anxiety but he is usually pretty happy around anyone
• Army-crawling all over the place (he gets up on his hands and knees sometimes, but he is faster when he is on his belly)
• Goes from a crawling to a sitting position
• Eating stage 2 and 3 baby foods and eats whatever we give him! (thankfully he is not picky)
• He likes to feed himself with his pincer grasp. Gerber's puffs are his favorite (I call them crack puffs because they are seriously like crack to him. If he even sees the yellow package at the store, he goes bananas! I have to avoid the baby food aisle at Walmart.) 
• Pulls to stand and LOVES to jump
• Imitates sounds and will say "dada, hey, and baba" occasionally. I am working on "mama." 
• Claps his hands for patty cake, waves "bye", and will raise his hands up in the air
• Likes to click his tongue, blow bubbles or raspberries, and squeal really loud 
• Hums when you sing to him and also likes to "dance" when he hears any kind of music

Here are a few pictures from this previous weekend:

We went and ate at City Grocery, and it was delicious as always!

We had to go visit our old stomping grounds: the Kappa Delta house

We ate at the Oxford Grillhouse, and it is my new favorite steak restaurant. Sooo good. Seriously. If you are in Oxford, go eat there. 

While I was home, it was my mom's birthday! We got to spend a little bit of time together before I had to head back to North Augusta. Here are some pictures from our lunch together:

James is checking his Pappy out

Home sweet home

Showing off his ocean pajamas 

Ryan got to go with us for James's 9-month checkup! We had to strip James down to his diaper to have him weighed and measured, and Ryan was worried about him getting too cold- hence James being bundled up like a burrito in Ryan's jacket!

James and Ryan in the waiting room 

James is a big boy!

Not sure what to think about this

We went to Cracker Barrel after our doctor's appointment and had some fun with the toys

James as a cowboy

Here is James doing what he does best: flirting. He is smiling at one of the nice ladies that works at Cracker Barrel. That's all folks! 

Happy Holidays!

How is it already January, 2016? I have gotten really behind in blogging, so this is a pretty lengthy post. There are tons of great pictures, so without further ado: 

James is growing like a weed, and he is so much taller and bigger than the last time I blogged. It's crazy!

James got to meet Santa Claus, and it went pretty well considering it was in the middle of his normal nap time. Santa looks a little constipated if you ask me. 

I try to do crafty things with my chalkboard, and thank goodness for Pinterest. I copied this from there. Doesn't it look good?

The week of Thanksgiving! 

We had a wonderful time at Ryan's parents' new mountain house in Morganton, GA. I planned to take our Christmas card pictures while we were there since there is such beautiful scenery to choose from. It was a lot harder than I thought. Here are a few pics that did not make the cut out of tons more...

It was wonderful to spend time with everyone over Thanksgiving break. It was very relaxing, and we ate so much yummy food. 

James loves his Aunt MaryAnn

James and his beautiful Mia

I love this picture of James getting kissed by his Grandpa

We had a lot of fun going into Blue Ridge. MaryAnn got to try out an electric/motorized bike. Who knew such a thing existed? 

Once we were back in North Augusta, I tried to take some more pictures of James by himself for the Christmas card. Let me tell you- it was almost impossible. James is usually such a happy baby who smiles all of the time, but he wasn't having it this day. He finally smiled at some strangers who walked up to help out. Thank goodness for them, or it wouldn't have been possible. That little stinker!

Growing, growing 

Look at me Mom!

He loves taking selfies.. not sure if this is a good thing! :)

Ryan and I went to the Internal Medicine Christmas party, and it was a blast!

We were able to do Christmas in Georgia and Mississippi, so it was great. We got to see everyone! 

James turned 8 months while we were in Jonesboro, GA. James has gotten very mobile, which makes taking pictures of him much harder than usual. He also loves to put anything and everything in his mouth- making the Christmas tree an easy target! 

Randy got to show James off at his office

This picture cracks me up. He did not want to take this picture, but I figured- hey, this is real life. So oh well! 

Much happier here with his new shape sorter that his Mimi got him for Christmas!

We went to see Star Wars while we were in Mississippi. It was amazing to say the least. 

Uncle Austin and his girlfriend, Chelsea, flew in from San Diego, and they had a blast with James!

We got to eat at Ajax, and it was just as great as I remembered!

Bailey came into town, and we had so much fun seeing her!

We wore James out, poor baby! He fell asleep just like this. 

One of my sweet friends, Erin Smith, sent us a Christmas care package in the mail! It was such a treat, and James loved his new book! 

Ready for Christmas! 

Mary Cile was home for the holidays from Montana, and she came to Oxford for the afternoon. We got to meet her for lunch at Ajax, and James loved her! I sure do miss you MC!

James finally getting to open some presents! 

Uncle Austin, James, and Chelsea on Christmas morning

Fins up!

Do you like my bow?

James loved his football

It was so warm while we were in Oxford, that we got to hang out outside a lot. It was so nice!

Thank you Austin and Chelsea for my Simba! 

James loves his Pappy!

James got a lot of wonderful Christmas presents. He is one blessed little boy!

James loved his soccer ball too! He is so athletic already! :)

And musical! 

We got to test out the new bowling alley in Oxford, and it was so fancy! 

On the way back to North Augusta, we stopped in Jonesboro to see everyone one last time. 

Thank goodness for that selfie stick! 

James got to meet one of Ryan's oldest friends, Mike! 

MaryAnn's funny snapchat

Back at home!

Cheering on the Rebels in the Sugar Bowl! It must have worked because we won! 

James still loves to jump! 

James spotted his favorite Graduates puffs (I call them crack puffs) while we were on the baby food aisle at the grocery store, and he threw a fit... so I gave in and let him eat some while we were in line. He has me wrapped around his little finger already. 

James loving his Winnie the Pooh bear that Mimi got him! 

How we rung in the New Year- in our pajamas

James showing off some of his new threads that he got for Christmas from the Greenbergs! He is so fancy! 

Lastly, this is Ryan reading to James last night before he went to bed. So sweet! 

That's all folks! Have a great weekend, and try to stay warm!