12 Months

So we finally reached the BIG Milestone of turning 1! I look back at all the posts each month and it is so fun to see all the changes that each month brought. We have a toddler on our hands now! I look to this next year with GREAT anticipation! I know it'll be a blast!

Here's what James is up to this month:
- Crawling everywhere
- Stands on his own for longer periods of time
- Walks along furniture, walls, people...you name it if he can pull up on it or hold on to it he'll do it!
- He now knows who Mama and Dada are and is saying other words....ball, ba ba for bottle.
- He drinks whole milk now. This week we'll be moving from the bottle to the sippy cup full time!
- He loves trying new foods, our latest like...Chicken Orzo Salad. Yum!
- Loves to dance
- Waves bye bye
- Loves to play outside in his new car
- Is still taking two naps a day. Mama doesn't want that to ever end! :)
- Started a new music class. It's been good so far!
- Got a new tooth for his birthday. We are now up to 7 teeth!

It's been a great month! We are busy to say the least. Who needs to workout when you are chasing a toddler around! So fun!

Happy 1st Birthday Buggy!

I can remember a year ago today like it was yesterday. That's part of the reason that I can't believe it's already been a year. On September 8th I went into Labor at about 1:30pm. By 4pm we were checked in to the hospital and ready to have a baby! After hours of waiting, walking the halls, finally getting my epidural and more waiting....it was finally go time. At 3am I started pushing and two hours later at 5:14am on September 9th, Manuel James Rodrigues was born!

He was 7lbs. 2oz 19 3/4in! And absolutely perfect in every way!

As I look back on this year, I honestly cannot imagine what our lives looked like before this little blessing entered our world. I have learned so much about myself through this first year of being a Mom. Some good things and some bad. :) I feel overflowing with gratefulness to our sweet Heavenly Father. That he would allow Manny and me to parent James.



Now for James:

Buggy,

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet boy. Your Daddy and I are so proud of you! You are such a big boy! We are so thankful for you. You bring so much joy to us both and to others around you. Since the day you were born, people would say that you had such kind eyes. You still do. You always smile and have such a sweet and kind way about you. I love that about you and hope that that never changes about you. Our ultimate prayer for you sweet boy is that one day you would come to know your true Father. That you would fall in love with Him like your Daddy and I have. That you would know as much as Daddy and I love you, HE loves you even MORE than that. We pray that you follow the paths He has laid out for you. And have a true desire to have Him in your heart and life. God has big plans for you Buggy and Daddy and I can't wait to see what they are. We love you deeply. You bring such delight to us!

We love you,
Mama and Dada

Happy

This almost 1 year old has a way of just making his Mama happy! Such a squish!

Lately...

We took James to this little thing in Weddington this weekend that some friends told us about called "Weddstock". It was a cute fair-like event, but much smaller scale. They had a petting zoo that we took James too. He was fascinated by all the animals. He didn't quite want to touch them though. One of the sheep wanted to touch us though. Ha. I freaked just a bit as you can tell from the photos. Ha!

11 Months

My apology for the lack of blogging. We have had a lot of exciting things going on in our family the past few weeks (future blog to come on that). I couldn't go without doing a post for my sweet boy and his 11th month of life! I feel like Buggy has changed so much. I think I say the same thing with each month, but lately I feel like he is such a little boy and not a baby anymore. It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks he will be turning 1! I cannot wait to celebrate his life!

Here are a few things that Buggy is up to lately:

- You are still a great crawler
- You eat all table food now....some of your favs are: turkey, cheese, yogurt, blueberries, chicken, and grilled cheese
- You are walking assisted (with little walker toys or along furniture) any day now you'll be on your own!!!
- You are still a great sleeper, still taking two naps during the day both 2 hours
- You recently tried apple juice and you love it!
- You wave Bye-Bye
- When we ask you how big you are you lift your hands to the sky
- You can dance
- You talk all the time to Mama and Dada
- You love to open and close any door

Your daddy and I are so proud of all of your accomplishments this month Buggy. You are growing up way too fast. We love you so much!

Here's my sugar!

Annual Family Beach Trip

We just got back yesterday from our Annual Kallam Family Beach trip. We went to Kiawah, SC this year. It was our first time to Kiawah and hopefully not our last. To say we had a wonderful time would be an understatement. We had 5 kids under the age of 6 and one might think that would be crazy, but it was a blast. The kids all had so much fun being together and truly love each other. The weather was beautiful all week long. Our days were filled with lots of sunshine, lots of beach time, laughter, smiles, yummy food and spending time together. We wanted to savor every minute. Now that The Flemings are in Georgia we didn't want to let a minute pass without us enjoying it. It was hard saying goodbye at the end of our week. But I was certainly glad we got the time we did. Enjoy the photos!

10 Months

Happy 10 Months Buggy!

I can't believe how big you are getting. You are growing into such a little boy. I have loved watching you as you begin to explore and understand things better. Here are some things that you are up to these days:

- You are crawling all over the place
- You pull up on everything
- You have just started standing a little on your own without holding on to anything
- You still sleep 12-13 hours at night and take two naps during the day
- Your hair is getting thicker and longer. It's Mama's color
- You LOVE going to the pool, you like to splash and play with your toys
- You have 6 teeth and are about to have 8. You are not a big fan of new teeth and neither is Mama
- You drink through a straw and love it
- You talk all the time, say Dada, Mama and the rest is baby talk

Buggy, your Daddy and I love you so much and find pure delight watching you grow and change. You bring so much joy to us. I can't believe you are going to be a year in just two months. Pull out the tissue box!