Tanglewood (Dec. 11, 2012)

 James got to enjoy his first Christmas light viewing at Tanglewood in North Carolina thanks to my parents.  He was thrilled to get to be unbuckled in a MOVING car and sit in his Nana's lap up front.

 He was pretty fascinated as you can see.

 The hardest part for James was getting long enough to see and absorb each display.   As with all 3-year olds his attention span for some things is surprisingly long.

 I think he'll look forward to seeing them again next year!

Cutting down the Christmas tree (Nov. 29, 2012)

 One wonderful thing about having 4,500 Christmas trees in your backyard, is that it is so easy to go chop one down for your holiday celebrations!  After work one day we all bundled up and headed out the door.

 We have some brambles on the path so James opted to be carried over those.

 I think James was irritated by the camera flash in this one.

 We had scouted out the tree a few days before when family was over and picking out theirs.

 James is wearing a hat I made for Tim a couple of years back.  Tim is wearing one that I made to match the cardigan I made him two years ago.

 We didn't get a picture of the decorated tree this year, but I think an annual tree cutting picture trend has begun.  Ironically as I write this post (March 3rd 2013) the Christmas tree is still in the tree stand on our porch!  Some day we'll get it down and let it dry thoroughly before making it the centerpiece of a bonfire.

11th Anniversary

 While I put James down for the night, Tim made a delicious dinner of ribeye steaks with mushrooms and parsley sauce, au gratin potatoes, and homemade caesar salad (including the croutons and dressing) all the while holding Robert. Note also the handwashed dishes in the background he had done before taking charge of the baby. Then he gave me the most wonderful present- a ring of the same kind he gave me after James arrived- this time with pink sapphires (James' ring had blue). How blessed am I!

Visit with Nana & Grandad

Last Saturday my parents drove up to come for a day visit.  James was THRILLED.  They brought him and Robert both gifts - sea creature tub toys for James and a darling stuffed bunny for Robert (James has a stuffed bunny at their house, so now each boy has one).

Getting help from Nana with putting on Tim's snow boots.

I think Robert was trying to decide who was holding him and if it was me coming to feed him.

They also brought my favorite flower- the hyacinth- one for each boy.  These flowers have been blooming all week on my windowsill perfuming the room.  Note the added match box cars decor.

Hard for me to imagine that James will most likely have bigger feet than Tim, these boots are so huge on him now!

Fire Starters

Since Tim is making Sharon's kitchen cabinets we have an abundance of maple wood shavings, chips and sawdust.  Time to make some fire starters for our new wood stove!
We melted down a few old candles...

Cut some wicks to length (picture taken by James)...

Dipped the wicks in the wax to prime them...

Then all the steps not photographed...wrapping the wicks around the pinecones,  rolling the pinecones in the wax, and then nestling the pinecones on a bed of wood shavings soaked in wax.

We tried out two last night and they worked fabulously!

James is falling for Robert

This morning James asked if he could hold Robert.

I think Robert is getting more kisses than Tim and I are!

And Robert has gradually been tracking James' voice and antics the last couple of days.  I think he is going to adore his big brother.

He was so proud to hold him.

One Week Check-up

Monday was Robert's one week check-up with Dr. Wonsick.  We are lucky in that we, as a family, go to a family doctor who specializes in OB/Gyn.  So Dr. Wonsick is the one who did all my prenatal, she did the c-section, and she is Robert and James' pediatrician as well.

Upon discharge Robert was 6lbs 15oz, today he weighed in at 7lbs 5oz (then he promptly nursed so probably gained that last ounce to get to his birthweight).  She did the basic check of muscle tone, color, reflexes, eyes & ears and said he looked wonderful.

His next appointment is March 18th.