James Joins 'The Club'

Last weekend was a big day for our sweet angel! James Davis Zinda was baptized in front of friends and family and most importantly in front of God at St. Theresa's Catholic Church here in Austin. 

We decided to do the baptism ceremony at the very last minute so it was quick, quiet and perfect. Well, almost perfect...

Turns out I got the time of the baptism wrong, (in true Missy fashion) so when we showed up the Deacon explained to us that he could no longer do it that day and would have to wait until next year! Well, you know that wasn't going to fly so I begged, pleaded and pretty much demanded (also in true Missy fashion) my boy be baptized if not that day then the following. Turns out I'm pretty convincing, and the ceremony was set for the following day. 

Fine by me, more time to enjoy some dinner and drinks to celebrate James! (Pre Baptism mind you)

We were all decked out so we had to have somewhere to go right?!  

The following day we woke up bright and early and got ready to go to church for the real ceremony to take place. Jackson gave his brother a pep talk: 

We proceeded with the ceremony and James was cool, calm and collected. His big brother told him to 'be good' and James was. He was a perfect little angel. 

 James' godparents are my brother, Bibi and my cousin, Celia. We could not have picked two better people to show our boy the importance of having strong Faith. They are dedicated, committed and relentless in every aspect of their life and their Faith is solid. We are blessed to have them in our lives and even more so to have them as godparents to our James.

 James didn't even flinch when the water was poured over him. He completely accepted his fate and was so happy to have water splashed on his head.

We were given the final blessing at the alter and the Deacon welcomed James Davis to the church...

 He listened intently...

 And even said, "Praise be to God, AMEN!" at the end.

 We couldn't be happier!

 Once finished, Jackson gave James a hug and a kiss and then asked to go eat 'panqueques y huevitos' (in true Jackson fashion).

 All in all a perfect day to have a perfect baptism. Sweet baby James, we love you and we are so very proud of you :).

Frozen

While in El Paso over the break I had the opportunity to take Jackson to his very first movie. My friend Claudia suggested it was 'time' for him to go. I have to be honest, I've been holding out of fear that we'd have to walk out of the theatre because the boy's attention span isn't very long. 

I wasn't afraid  he'd misbehave but I just didn't feel like sitting around waiting for him to get bored. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the movies either. I like to watch them at home on my couch under 3 blankets and in my pj's. Surprised? Me? Boring? Yea, yea...

Anyhow, turns out my sweet angel did wonderfully well. I think it helped we went with one half of his bff's, Luisiana (Mara chose to stay home with her grandma). Since he adores these girls, Jackson will pretty much do anything they do and since they are older they show him the ropes! 

Jackson had NO clue what the movies were, where we were (I don't even think he's been in an indoor mall before?!?) and why we were going out past dark. I know, I know, I'm no fun :(. He was a little frazzled and hesitant and stuck by me the whole time. His innocence is priceless and sweet :). Then Luisiana came up with her mom, Claudia and you could literally see Jackson's fears melting away. 

Which funny enough leads us to that night's feature, Frozen. It was awesome. Disney movies really are the best. 

 We sat in our seats, ate our popcorn, talked about all the previews, and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

About 30 minutes out Jackson did get bored and was up and down in his seat but it wasn't anything bad or that I couldn't handle. He loves to be loved so he just sat in my lap and let me hug him. We had a great time and I'm looking forward to doing this again with my little guy more often than not.

James does Solids!

Now that our sweet James is six months old, we have gone ahead and introduced him to solid food. Actually he was officially 5 1/2 months, and I only started because he was having some digestive issues.  Solids seem to have done the trick though, and he is muccchhhhhh better. Back to the fun stuff...

James was NOT a fan at first, like most babies, and obviously didn't even know what all was going on. We started with oatmeal (per Dr's orders) and then ventured into prunes, sweet potato, butternut squash, mango's, bananas etc etc etc. 

Unlike his brother, James seems to be a big fan of his veggies. If you recall, Jackson was a HUGE fan of fruit. Quite the opposite with the younger one. James is wayyyy more into sweet peas, butternut squash, carrots, kale, spinach, green beans. You name it. 

I have to say though (because I'm proud of him), Jackson now eats all his veggies and pretty much anything we put on his plate. His healthy eating ebbs and flows but overall he's a good kid and eats what you give him. Whatever it may be. 

But back to the bear cub...We are proud of him too. He has days where he doesn't want to eat a lot and days where he is 'starving' but overall he is happy to try everything. He's such a happy boy :)

Here is James eating some roasted butternut squash I made him. He's a fan of my cooking too! Likes it more than the pouches. These boys don't bite the hand that feeds them ;) 

And because we are on the topic of food, here is a video of Jackson drinking hot chocolate for the very first time. He didn't understand nor like that you had to drink it hot. He isn't a fan of eating hot food (it has to be practically cold before he eats it) so he wanted it to cool down before drinking it. I had to convince him to keep taking sips and ultimately he threw it away himself. He's such a diva. 

24 Hrs in Arizona

While in El Paso for Thanksgiving my mom told me that my cousin, Giselle was having a bridal shower in Tucson and that we were invited. My initial thought was 'heck NO' since James is NOT a fan of the car seat and 5 hours in a car going anywhere isn't really my bag anyways. 

Well, guess who won that battle? 

If you know my mother, you know best not to argue with her. I complain, but really, I had a lot of fun and I'm truly happy I got to spend time with my cousins, Giselle and Monica.  It was so great seeing them and spending time with the to-be-wed couple. 

What's more, Monica has a son who is 2 months younger than Jackson and our cubs were SOOOO excited to meet and play with their new primito, Nicholas. 

They of course had a blast playing with each other after Nicholas woke up from his nap.

and we of course had a blast catching up with my family. 

The shower was vintage themed and so cute.

And our hotel was pretty awesome. Jackson LOVED running around the property grounds and it was great to just sit and listen to the desert. 

We did a good job of breaking up the driving with some much needed pit stops and even had time to offer James to the Arizona Gods in thanks for a good trip. 

They didn't take him though, apparently they don't appreciate all his yelling talking. 

It's cool though, as I've said before,  James Davis is definitely a keeper :)

Mami, thanks for making me go and until next time Arizona. Which may be sooner rather than later ;)

6 Months!!!

Thanksgiving 2013

This Thanksgiving we spent in El Paso. It was relaxing, delicious, full of laughter, food, friends, parties, etc. etc. etc. Coming home for me really is a blessing and I'm thankful I have the boys around--otherwise I don't know if my parents would like me going up there as often as I do. 

Jack and I woke up extra early Thanksgiving Day and ran in the Iron Turkey 5K. A family friend of ours asked us to do it and we happily obliged. Tutu and all ;). 

 After that we were STARVING and ready for food. We didn't end up eating until after Jackson napped in the afternoon but it was well worth the wait....

 My best friend Sophia (Jackson's godmother) and her husband, Gustavo joined us for a little while and the boys were happy to have them around. Can't you tell? I swear they love you Sof :).

 While James didn't get to eat any of the food, he said it smelled delicious and happily played next to us as we ate. For some reason Jackson wasn't as interested in eating (which is strange for this lion cub because he loves food) and was being a bit grumpy.

Eventually he perked up though, ate his brussel sprouts, green beans and turkey like an angel and happily played until bed time. I'm thinking the pie at the end of this course was why he turned his act around. Whatever works though right?

And straight to bed we ALL went too, even the dogs! That turkey made us all soooo tired. The boys went down early and we were right behind them. Until next year turkey!