We like to be outside, A LOT, so naturally we thought it'd be fun to rent a canoe one sunny afternoon for the boys to enjoy. What a great idea--let me tell you!
Often times we take the boys to walk/run around Lady Bird hike/bike trail, but our James has never been ON the lake before. Since his older brother is such a pro at all things water related, Jackson took the ropes this time around and showed James all about a canoe (or what little he knows).
He made sure to tell James and I to, "not touch" the 'peddles' (paddles) because only him and Dada were going to row our boat.
James and I didn't mind. We were too busy taking pictures anyways...
It was a successful trip in my books. I mean, I did have to keep James from jumping over the boat the ENTIRE time, but he thoroughly enjoyed the ride. So did Jackson, he managed to stick to the 'peddling' for the entire canoe trip without getting tired!
We decided to celebrate the successful boat ride with oysters, champagne and a banana pancake for the boys. WIN!
I know what you are thinking. Why haven't we talked about dinosaurs in a minute? It's been too long! Well chill a second because this past Saturday we attended 'Dinosaur Zoo' at the Long Center in Austin.
We honestly didn't have a clue what this was going to be like, only that Jackson would obviously like it and that James obviously didn't have a choice.
These puppets were pretty cool, I must say. The puppeteers were also pretty entertaining. They engaged the audience during the entire performance and picked kids at random to join them on stage. Jackson and I tried desperately to get him selected, (at one point he was half way on stage before we called him back) but alas, they picked other kids besides our cub :(
No matter though, he was soooo happy to just be there. Jackson's eyes were GLUED to the stage and James loved it too. He was dancing like a crazy guy, (which is typical James fashion, it had nothing to do with the show. The kid just dances. A LOT. ALL the time).
During the second half of the performance the puppeteers told us that "THE T REX HAD ESCAPED!" and they were looking for him up and down the audience. I thought Jackson and James were going to be scared about this (I kind of was) but they didn't flinch. James was kind of disturbed by the triceratops on stage, but other than that he braved the performance like a champ.
After the show the boys had the opportunity to meet and greet the dinosaurs out in the front of the auditorium and we asked Jackson if he wanted to meet them but he told us "No, I just want to eat my sandwich outside and have a picnic". So we did just that....
Yup, it happened! FINALLY! We were wondering when James was going to decide to take the plunge and he thought it'd be fine time the day after his 1st birthday.
We were convinced he'd be walking before age 1, but in true James fashion he proved us wrong (I think on purpose) and walked on 1 year, 1 day old. What a punk...
He's been gaining strength and confidence daily since his first steps and I was able to capture it on video today for the first time. I'm so proud of him! What a rockstar :)
To all of the amazing fathers out there but especially to my dad and to this awesome dad right here...
...When the 3 year old asks him to switch out his shirt so that he can match his brother and him, Jack doesn't even bat an eye. That's a good dad in my book :) Happy Father's Day Dada, we LOVE you!
We came to El Paso this weekend to celebrate our James' 1st birthday in style. It was on a whim because we were coming in to town anyways to drop the boys off for the week, (more on that later) so we decided it would be fun to celebrate with family and close friends.
In Spanish, birthday party translates to 'piñata' so I thought it would be funny to have a Piñata-themed piñata.....
His cake was amazzzzzing! I couldn't believe how perfect (and delicious!) it turned out!
I had some piñata cookies made and my mom bought a TON of piñatas to decorate with. Even the tablecloths were perfect. Orange and yellow undertones--the colors of the sun, because Jackson and James are the suns in my universe :).
James' guests began to arrive and he came downstairs in style with the help of his amazing Dada (who is currently his FAVORITE person)...
I don't even think he realized all the fuss was about him, but he enjoyed himself none-the-less...
The best guest of all was of course our Jackson cub. He BEGGED me for cake ALL day long and was soooooooo excited about James' birthday party. I sincerely think Jackson's head was going to explode if we didn't get to eating dinner/cake right away. Here his is looking handsome as ever GUARDING the sugar...
FOOD! My mom's paella is legendary. Perhaps the best I have ever tasted (and I've had A LOT of paella) she even made a small one sans pork because my friend Sophia is allergic to pork. Seriously, are other people's mom's this awesome?
Then, it was FINALLY time for cake!
This kid and his awesome godmother...
One of the twins (Jackson's favorite people in the whole wide world)...
and the King himself, enjoying his little slice of heaven....
After cake, the kids all took a quick dip in the pool and before we knew it, it was bath time and the quickest bed time ever. Our bear cub was exhausted from all of the excitement of the day...
I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all. Jackson and James most definitely enjoyed themselves and we are so lucky as a family to have such incredible family members and friends who love these boys just as much as we do. Thank you for everyone who made it out and made James' very 1st birthday the best it could have been. Love you all!
My baby boy turned one. I cannot believe it. I can honestly say that with the first baby you feel like time flies by, but with the second one it's like breaking the speed of light--it's sooooo much faster.
James is such a sweet baby and he is so good. He just goes with the flow and adapts quickly, he fusses but mostly if/when he wants to be held or is tired. He is such a trouble maker--we've had to add sooooo much baby proofing with him that we never even thought for a second about adding with Jackson but it's ok, he makes every ounce of trouble seem fun.
He loves to always be on the go, always explore, always play. He is so busy and does not ever sit still, (wonder where he gets this from?). He love his brother, loves his momma and really loves his dada, (thank goodness because Jack says he was feeling left out).
He loves to act shy when people say hello to him and bury his face in our chests. Sometimes he likes to bury his face in our chests just because and we really have to go with it every time because James is extremely independent and only shows love on his terms. It doesn't stop me from kissing him, hugging him and eating him alive daily though.
I love him. I mean I really and truly love him. I never thought it'd be possible to split my heart in two for these boys of mine but the truth is, is I love them equally. I love them for different reasons, I love them for who they are independently of one another and I love them for how incredible they make me feel for loving them. It's just one giant cheesy love fest around here. Hopefully they appreciate this one day. One day....
Anyways, back to the program....
James Davis had a great night of sleep and woke up on June 4, 2014 in a mediocre mood. We quickly turned that around however when we turned on the lights and he saw his amazingly decorated room ;).
Jackson wasn't awake yet so we sung 'Happy Birthday' to James and decided to give him his present. It was good for him to get his own time...
He was a happy cat playing with all the streamers and his balloon :). We decided to get him a work bench for his birthday because he had soooo much fun playing with Bobby's at his house in Fulshear last week.
Turns out it's exactly what he wanted because he hasn't stopped playing with it since we gave it to him!
After getting dressed we went downstairs for breakfast. Yogurt mixed with fruit is James' absolute favorite so that is exactly what he had...
Jackson finally woke up, came downstairs and wished his little brother a 'Good Morning and Happy Birthday!'.
Once we dropped off his brother at school, James and I headed to his last swim class of the season. This boy did marvelous, per usual. He absolutely adores swimming and all things water related so he gets excited just looking at pools...
James passed out in the car from all of the swimming excitement which allowed me the time to sip coffee and look at homes for sale in the neighborhood. We ended up at Mayfield Park and it occurred to me that James had never been here before and had never seen the peacocks at Mayfield either....
Turns out he didn't like them! I thought surely he would love them but once they started squawking James just about lost it! Strange too because I don't think I've ever seen him get scared of anything before this...
He told me, "Let's get out of here momma please!" so we did just that. Grabbed lunch, picked up Jackson and headed home for nap time (my favorite part of the day!)...
The remainder of the afternoon was spent playing with our brand new work bench, a slew of new Lego's and some old favorites. The boys were so good all afternoon, ate their dinner promptly, bathed, relaxed and before we knew it, dada was home just in time to sing "Happy Birthday" in style....
Remember how I told you Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? is James' favorite book? I decided to incorporate into his very first cake!
He was impressed! (If you know James, this is hard to do!)
Jackson of course loved it. He only asked about James' cake about 30 million times and was the only one out of the four of us to eat every single bite of his slice...
James was a fan too. He told me 'Gracias' (he really can say it--signing and verbal. Also on his own terms though).
Finally we ended the night with our tradition of reading, On the Night You Were Born, which always gets me teary-eyed....
James Davis, or 'Jamesie' as your brother calls you, you are my sun. You shine brighter than any other star in my universe (but just as equally as the other sun, your brother ;)), you give me warmth, you help me grow. You are my life. I love you sweet boy, Happy Birthday!
