Evil {Pooping} Genius

James is starting to outgrow his infant carseat, so he and I went out to purchase a new one today.  When we got home, I snapped this picture to send to Dada at work.

He had a kind of weird expression on his face, but I didn't realize until I picked him up and felt an uncomfortable warmth on his rear end that he had "christened" his new carseat on the way home. 

I have three theories as to why he did this:

a) He wanted some naked-baby-crib time, which he LOVES.  We just discovered this the other day - if you put him in his crib naked, he thinks it's the funniest thing ever.  He does his little happy bounces, flaps his arms, and laughs his head off.

b) He wanted to wear his IU onesie in support of the game tonight, but wasn't sure how to tell me.

c) He's a pooping evil genius.  Remember his baptism story?  Does my son secretly find joy in having diaper blow-outs at the most inopportune times? 

Vote for your favorite theory in the comments :)

Turkey Day

Since Matthew had to work today (Friday), the three of us had a nice, quiet Thanksgiving here in Madison.  Here are a few pictures from our day:

 Many of you may not know this, but Matthew is the pie crust maker in our family.  He uses his Aunt Evelyn's recipe, and it turned out really good this year. 

 

We made a 10 pounder.  It was the smallest bird I can find, so we'll be having leftovers for quite some time!  James couldn't wait to dig in.

 

When do we get to eat???

 

We had a lot to be thankful for this year, and although we weren't able to spend the holiday with our extended family and friends, we feel very blessed to have you all in our lives (and we miss you all like crazy!).  We're looking forward to seeing the Indiana crowd at Christmas this year.

Hope everyone had a Thanksgiving that was as nice as ours.  XOXO!

For your viewing enjoyment

 

8 Months

8 Months already.  It seems like each month goes by faster than the last.  An email I received from a friend today mentioned that James is starting to look more like a toddler than a baby, and I couldn't agree more.  Look how long those legs are!

 Continuing with the "We've been seeing a lot of this lately" trend , here's what the little guy is currently doing every chance he gets:

 If there is something within his reach, you better believe he's going to use it to pull himself up to a standing position (including the cats - he hasn't had much success with that yet as they typically get up and walk away, but he keeps trying).

He hasn't shown must interest in trying to walk yet, which is just fine by me.

James is also starting to spend more time with one toy.  As soon as he started crawling, he'd bounce around from one toy to another, but now he'll play with something for an entire minute.  Maybe even two.

 

And now, the little man in action:

 

 

November 10 on 10

Yesterday I took part in the 10 on 10 project.  Once a month on the tenth, participants take a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours to document the life and beauty among the ordinary things of our day.  Click HERE or on the button to the right for more information about the project.  Enjoy!

Fun & Exciting Day

James Hardin had a big day this past Wednesday - he had a visit from Grandma & Grandpa and saw his first snow!

Playing with Grandpa and Grandma

We recently bought a new car, and Grandma & Grandpa graciously offered to fly out to Madison to drive Matthew's old truck back to Indiana.  James had a great time with his Grandparents (and we did, too!).

Not quite sure what to think of Grandpa's new beard

Showing Grandma & Boo how fast he can crawl

Let's go play in the snow, Grandma!

This snow thing is not as fun as it looks.

All bundled up for a walk around the neighborhood

This picture was taken earlier in the week, and I just had to share.  This is how Dada likes to fix James's hair :)

Evening Stroll

 

Tonight we went out for a little walk in the woods near our house.  It was a beautiful fall evening, and James saw his first owl, a large buck (it was a 6 or 8 pointer), and a cardinal.  We're pretty amazed at all the wildlife that lives in our neighborhood.  We've seen groundhogs, chipmunks, turkeys, and loads of squirrels - and that's just in our backyard!  We've also seen rabbits, hawks, and frogs when we've been out and about.

James keeping his eyes peeled for more owls

Enjoying the ride

Post-walk hai

And no, Uncle Matt, it is not yet time for a haircut.


Hope everyone has a great week!

Visit to Brightonwoods Orchard

We took a trip down to Burlington, Wisconsin today to visit our good friends Karen and Addison at Addison's parents' apple orchard.  Karen was in the same residency program as Matthew out in Seattle, where Karen and Addison still live.  You can read more about the orchard here.

It was a fantastic day.  Not only did we get to spend some time with great friends, but we also left with two huge bags of apples - one for making apple butter & apple sauce, and one for eating :)

Here are a few pics from our day.

 

 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!