Labor Day Weekend with Heidi and Dane

We were so excited to have Heidi and Dane here! They drove through the entire night and got to the cabin at 4 am! I couldn't have been happier to see them :) 

Post bath time

The best blueberry muffins...so delicious

   Thank you Dane for these beauties

 "Hike" to the waterfall. It's a nice little dirt trail that takes about 3 minutes. It was the perfect intro hike for James

 He is so cute in the carry pack!

 One spoiled boy! He got held all weekend

 Way to work the sleep magic aunt Heidi

 I am so in love with this face :)

Pike's Place. James was perfect, literally slept all day!

 It was great to have everyone in town for James's blessing. Matt and Lindsay were here along with Dane and Heidi. As you can tell, he wasn't the happiest baby. He was whining through the first part of the meeting and continued his cries as Taylor brought him up the front. Luckily he calmed down during the blessing only to start right back up as soon as Taylor finished. Taylor spent the rest of the metting in the hall. 

And finally, I just have to brag about my tomatoes. Growing tomatoes in Washington is darn near impossible. But! I have had great success! And I have some beautiful dinner plate dahlias growing as well. The flowers have suffered one too many uhm...incidents...so they are looking a little shabbier now, but still beautiful!

At the Farm

Long before James arrived I bought a Groupon for Remlinger Farms. So, we decided to take the little guy and make a day of it!

 Exhausted Digesting Face

 Aren't my boys cute?

 Taylor thought I was ridiculous, but I really wanted to put James's face in all the little cutouts!

 This little lamb said "See Ewe at Remlinger Farms" soo clever. 

 We were waiting in line for the train and James started to fuss. Try our best he was still pretty fussy when we got on the train. But I really wanted to go! (That's a good mom for ya) Lucky the loud rumble once the train got going was just what we needed and James loved it as much as I did. 

Still crying into my shoulder

We had to document this occasion! One of a very few times he has actually taken the pacifier. I am continually trying to convince him he wants to take it.

He just loved the animals...well one day he will.

Finally loving the train!

Jame's First Smile

Well, we almost caught the first smile on tape. He was nearly 6 weeks. Ever since he's been smiling a ton, but we've never actually got a picture or video...

This is the closest we've gotten...

Weekend with Allison

Allison came over a month ago now, but it's never too late to post pictures! It was so good to have her here. She was a huge help :) And she got the first taste of what her life will be like come January. I don't think it scared her too much. Having her here did make me quite homesick, but I just booked a ticket to Utah in November!

Is this a Holmes shot or what?

 

Blueberry Picking! 

It was Taylor's 27th birthday while she was here, so we worked on a special little present for Taylor. We were both very impressed by our creativity :)

1 Month of Joy!

In the contest of cutest baby: Taylor and Ashley victors!

We've got a 12 pounder!

Behold the mighty strength of James' neck. This kid just keeps on impressing us.  And robbing us from sleep.  Like a boss.

- Taylor Millett (guest blogger)

The Early Days

I'm finally sitting down to update the blog and post photos! The last four weeks, yep four whole weeks James will officially be one month tomorrow, has been a complete blur. I can't separate days from nights from weeks.
As for the whole labor experience, epidurals are the best things in the whole world. That pretty much sums up the whole thing. Post meds, labor is the easiest part of the first two weeks. It's a good thing that I mostly remember how awesome it was to have the epidural as opposed to how awful the contractions were because I told Taylor multiple times that this was it, I was never going to experience labor again. I'm grateful the brain has a way of suppressing the memory of pain!

First photos! These were taken just a few minutes after he was born. He is so sweet! There is nothing like holding his warm little body for the first time. It was such a sweet moment to have him cuddled right up with me. 

 Taylor is such a cute dad! He was smitten at first sight. I love how much he plays with and talks to James.

First family photo!

I love those eyes! James has the best expressions. He is so alert, more often than not he's wide eyed and looking at you. 

 I can't get enough of this face. That little wrinkly forehead is the same one that greeted me fresh out of the womb and every time I burp him I get another glimpse of it. Adorable. 

 Frist bath! Isn't he cute.

 The park has become our go to place when we need to get out of the house. One day he'll love the sun as much as his mom!

 James loves to be held. Which is great, but also makes getting anything done pretty difficult. Thank you carry pack! I got a whole load of laundry done with him just sitting and staring at me. 

He raises his left eyebrow all the time. One day it probably won't be as endearing. 

The little guy has completely stolen our hearts. Taking care of a newborn is the hardest thing I have ever done, but every time I look at him I fall right back in love and can't remember why I was all stressed out ten seconds ago.