Introduction to James, Elias, and Cora

Tobias and I bought a disposable camera soon after James was born with the idea of taking a picture every month to see how he's changed. For the past year, on the 15 th of every month we've taken a picture of James. We wanted to share them with you! November - so little! December - we finally figured out that we could use the bear for some perspective. January - so skinny! February - He looks like himself now. March - such a little man! What a remarkable change in just a month! April - you can see his personality coming through now! May - I guess I caught him by surprise with this picture. June - you can see it was pretty hard to get him lying down and staying still! July - I gave up trying to get him to lay down. Just look at how grown up he is! August - my goodness such a cute kid! September - look at that morning hair! October - just chillin '! November - Such a big boy now! It's so amazing to see him grow and change.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the food and there is no pressure like there is with Christmas. This Thanksgiving weekend has been wonderful. We started off the celebration by ringing the Salvation Army bell on Tuesday afternoon. James was a big hit! Sorry we didn't get pictures of that. James' school hosted a Thanksgiving luncheon on Wednesday that Tobias and I were able to attend. They had all the kids decked out like little pilgrims. It was super cute! My dad came out on Wednesday evening. He hadn't seen James since May, so they had a lot of catching up to do. Chris, a friend of ours who is a ROTC instructor at Villanova , came down for the day too. Chris and James had a great time together - too bad Chris only stayed for dinner on Thursday before heading back up North. James enjoyed his first piece of pumpkin pie on Thursday too. It was obviously a big hit! My favorite part of Thanksgiving is the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. We usually don...

James' first birthday is actually tomorrow, November 2, but we celebrated today. Our church is throwing a big bash tomorrow after the service and then a friend is having an adoption party (to celebrate her finalization) in the late afternoon. Since we were so busy Sunday, we threw a party today. We have dear friends, Al and Lorrin, from church - who have adopted us! When Tobias was gone James and I spent every Saturday evening with them, and we loved it. This afternoon we had a great time celebrating James' birthday with them. Al and James share a special moment this afternoon. Lorrin and James played a very special rendition of Happy Birthday for us on the piano. It was unique! Lorrin made a wonderful birthday dinner for James and very special birthday cupcakes with sprinkles on top. James really enjoyed the cupcakes. Al and Lorrin had balloons for him, and those were a huge hit for James. My mom bought James a tricycle that is like a stroller and tricycle hybrid. James love...