Ladies and Gentlemen...

...We have a crawler!

Notice that he crawls to Boozie the cat instead of his mommy.  I'm not quite sure what to make of that.

Happy Friday!

Going the Distance

As promised...

James's Baptism

James's beautiful Baptism cake, made by his Grandma Nett

 This past weekend, James, Matthew and I traveled back to Indiana for James's baptism at Sacred Heart Church.  He was very lucky to spend his special day with his Godparents, Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt.  Since James wasn't able to ask them in person, he asked Jill and Matt to be his Godparents over the computer.

Before I get into the pictures from his Baptism, I have a little story to share first.  After Matthew, Uncle Matt, Papaw Boone (my Dad), and Pa (my Grandpa) all decided that the christening gown that Gigi (my Grandma) had made for my sister Emily was too girly (Pa said, and I quote, "You're not going to put that dress on him, are you?!?"), I spent some time trying to find a baptismal outfit that 1) wasn't too girly, and 2) had a cap (as Gigi really likes them!).  I finally found an outfit that I liked on the internet, ordered it, and had it shipped to my Dad's house in case it didn't arrive here in Madison in time.  It arrived the Tuesday before the baptism in great condition.

The day of, Matthew asked if we should dress him at home or at the church.  I figured it would be easier to dress him at home, and that I could just throw a bib on him in case he spit up on the way.  When we got to the church, Matthew lifted him out of his car seat, and we saw that James decided to give us a little present for his Baptism: the back of his new baptismal outfit was covered in yellow poo!  This was the first time something like this has happened, and of course it happened on his big day.  We just had to laugh!  Aunt Jill and Grandma Nett tried to help me wash it out in the bathroom, but we weren't successful.  So James Hardin was baptized in an off-white onesie that had an elephant on the chest and striped sleeves (you can kind of see it in the picture below).  I'm so glad that I threw that into the diaper bag at the last minute, or he would have been baptized in a bright green onesie that said "Mommy's Little Man"!

We did get a few snapshots of the little guy in his new outfit before we left the house.  Isn't he adorable??

 

He did really great throughout the ceremony.  He kicked his legs and smiled throughout the renewal of the Baptismal vows, didn't mind getting water poured on his head, and sang during the communion song.  The only time he fussed was when Father made too many announcements at the end of Mass :)

 

Lord, 

bless this baby boy,

walk beside him,

hold his little hand,

and be his Guide.

Someday,

those sweet little wobbly legs

will grow strong and brave,

taking our son into the world

on a faith journey

only God can imagine.

Today, we celebrate the first step.

6 Months

I know I say this every month, but I can't believe our little man is already 6 months old.   He can't either :)  James and I had another fun photo shoot this month.

There was some chewing

 

Some sitting

 Some showing off

 Some drooling

 Some hanging with his old pal Teddy

 Some posing (he calls this look Blue Steel)

 Some staring

 A little more staring

 

Some grabbing

 Some grimacing

 Some playing 

(By the way, meet James's newest friend, Apple Juice.  He was my teddy bear when I was little.  I brought him back to Madison with me after our last trip home.  Amazingly, Matthew had the exact same teddy bear when he was little, but his wasn't cleverly named Apple Juice like mine was).

 Some giggles

 And smiles

 Oh, and more staring

 This time around, however, what we had the most of was yelling

 

James has really discovered his voice, and is having lots of fun using it.  He likes to say ba ba ba and ma ma ma.  Matthew has been trying to get him to say dada, but hasn't had any luck yet.

James is also getting more mobile.  He's not quite crawling, but he does this army crawl/inch worm thing and can cover some pretty good distance.  Especially when he's going after someone's watch (have I mentioned his fascination with men's watches?).  I'll try to post a video later this week.

After all of this pictures, someone was ready for a nap. 

James was a little tired, too :)

Little Sweet Potato

I woke up this morning with every intention of participating in the ten on ten project, like I've done for the past three months, but for some reason, I wasn't feeling it this month and only snapped a couple of shots.  But I think I have something better to share.

The day started off with a nice family snuggle.

But after breakfast, James was trying to tell us something.

Breastmilk just wasn't cutting it anymore.

So today for lunch, James had his first taste of actual food.

(Sorry my hand is blocking his face for the first minute).

Yummy.

Oh, and I have one more picture from earlier in the week that I just had to share.  This is what we call "Super Baby".  Check out the hair!!

Back Home Again in Indiana

A couple of weeks ago, James and I flew to Southern Indiana to spend some time with family for a few days.  As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time! 

Hanging out with Grandma, a fellow IU fan.

James & Gigi

One of James's favorite toys: the water glass.

Pa and James checking each other out

Playing with Papaw on the floor

Outside by Grandpa's chicken coop

James's first tractor ride!

James can't wait to help Uncle Jason cut grapes

Uncle Jason's vineyard

Taking a break with Aunt Jill

Watching his first Colts game with Papaw

 The entire family met us for an early breakfast at Cracker Barrel on Saturday morning.

Laura, James, and Grandma

Jill, James, Joey, and Jason.  Your name had to begin with J to be in this picture.

It didn't take him long to find the water glass.

James's (soon to be) Godparents, Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt

Of course, we had to play a little basketball while in Indiana.  James worked on his defense.  Be afraid.