Catching Up!

Well, well, well look what we have here: a blog which is out of date.  I apologize for the lack of posts.  It has been quite a busy Fall season at the de Leon abode.  To recap, here's what we've been up to the last few months....in pictures!

I'm ONE! Yay! 

It was 100+ degrees outside when we had our 1 year photoshoot with Aunt Coco, but we still managed to get some amazing pictures! (Thank goodness for Aunt Coco's patience and talent!)

How is this the only picture of us 3 from James's birthday party? Ha.  Also, it has been agreed upon that Jim will not grow a mustache.  On another note, I love my sock bun! 

Birthday Cake!

Happy Birthday, Handsome! 

Come on in! 

Toys galore!

Love these ladies! 

Smash cake time! Or in James's case, 'not' smash cake time.  I could really go on and on with pictures from James's first birthday, but then this post would be ridiculously long.  We took a million pictures! 

James's favorite meal? Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets!

Haircut #2.  Tell me again why his haircuts are almost as expensive as mine? 

Somebody feels a little full after eating at Outback. He is his father's child, afterall.

James crawled FOR.EVER.  And I mean, forever.  He started taking steps here and there, but would stop to crawl.  I knew that he'd do it in his own time and sure enough, one day, he started to take more and more steps.  Gigi was in town when he decided this...we think he just wanted to show off to her. And of course, Gigi is protecting him his falls.  :)  

I'm not going to take a picture of James's closet, but let's just say that this little man has got some threads.  Whoever said it wasn't fun to dress a little boy is wrong.  Now granted, I can only imagine how much fun it would be to dress a little girl, but there are cute clothes for boys out there too.  Here's James in his green skinny jeans...this is an homage to the memories we have of our hipster neighborhood in Brooklyn.

James loves to 'use the phone.'  If he hears any phone ring, he will put his hand to his ear.  The other day at the grocery store, he saw a man with a phone on his hip (holster) and James looked at him and put his hand on his ear and said helloooo.  I was cracking up! Yet another reason why holsters should not exist.  Ha.

Look who is negotiating contracts just like his Dada.

This October, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary! James went to Poppop's house and we spent a weekend in San Antonio.  We had a great time and it was so relaxing.  I cannot believe we've been married for 5 years already! It's hard to believe all that has happened in the last five years.  I am so thankful that the Lord brought Jim and I together.  Okay, I'll stop the mushy love stuff here.  ;)  

We had our anniversary dinner at Ru.th's Chr.is...yummy!

Have I mentioned how much I love my class? They are just the greatest bunch of kiddos and I adore them to pieces.  How cute is this drawing that one of my student's made of me?! Notice the highlights, green skinny jeans, and blush.  Time to revisit my makeup habits?

Every once in a while, I'll take James to Bar.nes and No.ble so he can play and we can buy a book.  He loves books, loves turning the pages, loves the touch and feel books, and definitely has his favorites that he likes to read each night.  Nerds of the world, unite! 

Jim went out of town to his Parents' so James and I were by ourselves for a few days.  We went on a bunch of dinner dates together! Here he is at a small Mexican restaurant we like to go to every now and then.  

James feeding himself refried beans! 

Walking and playing while Dada is out of town.

So adorable...I could just kiss this face to pieces! 

Sweet boy! 

Happy little man!

These days are flying by way too fast! 

I already mentioned Jim was out of town, so where did he go? He flew to South Carolina to play in the annual Father/Son tournament with his Dad.  This was their 5th year and their 3rd time winning 1st place.  They were ecstatic to keep the championship going! Trust me, the weeks leading up to this championship are quite stressful in our household.  They put so much pressure on themselves! Competition is definitely a de Leon gene.

1st Place baybee!

The family of Golfers. 

Unfortunately, as soon as Jim got back from South Carolina, James got sick.  It started off with him not feeling well at all.  He was coughing a lot, had a high fever that wouldn't go away, and his energy level was not at his usual level.  He fell asleep on the floor on his nap mat and trust me, this is so unlike him.  James is always on the move, so we knew he just was not feeling well at all.  Sasha was a big comfort.  

We were back and forth to the pediatrician and then he finally said that James needed to go to Tex.as Chi.ldren's to get admitted.  He wasn't eating much and wasn't drinking much either.  He was starting to get dehydrated and his fever just wasn't breaking.  Poor little guy had to get an IV and a nasal cannula.   It broke my heart seeing him not feeling well.  I can't stand to even think about it.   

It turns out, James had gotten RSV.  :(  We spent 2 nights in the hospital.  Talk about stressful! Being in the hospital brought back so many memories for me and it really took all I had to keep it together.  It's amazing how something like this can be a reminder of what's truly important in life.  Faith in the Lord is truly what gets me through stressful times.  

James was finally starting to feel better after a few days in the hospital.  He started eating and drinking, his fever broke, and he was ready to get home! 

James got discharged on a Friday afternoon and we spent the rest of that day and night relaxing at home.  The next day, we decided to take him for a celebratory breakfast at one of our favorite places close to our house.  Look at that happy face! We spent that afternoon resting and cuddling together.

With a stressful few weeks behind me, I needed a girls' night out! Here we are at Ka.tsuya (love their bar area).  Apparently we thought it was a great idea to order a bottle of bubbly after dinner.  Considering this was a school night, it may not have been the wisest choice.  ;)  So many funny things happened right before and right after this picture.  Ah, the memories! 

We've been taking James to the park lately and there's a great park near our house.  The park is meant for younger kids and it's pirate themed.  Arr! This is on a random Saturday when I took James to the park while Jim was out playing golf.  James loves the swing and thinks it's hilarious! 

James is quite the multi-tasker: snack in one hand, trying to put a sock on his foot with the other.  

Sasha and James play with each other, however Sasha gets annoyed quickly.  So funny.

We have a membership to the Chi.ldren's Mu.seum, so I've been taking James there on the weekends lately.  The T.ot Sp.ot area is perfect for his age.  He runs around playing, discovering, and is as happy as can be.

We had a temperature drop a couple of months ago and I bundled James all up.  The cool temps didn't stay for long and we've been back in the 80's since then.  Oh and please don't let this sweet face fool you - I think the terrible 2's have started.  James has gotten very vocal when he doesn't get something he wants right away.  I've been doing my best at redirecting this behavior...I now know what patience means!

James at his Thanksgiving luncheon at school.  I wasn't able to go, but Jim went and they ate and ran around the gym together.  By the way, we are loving James's school! We actually just received a call yesterday that James also got into another school he was waitlisted for and after discussing it, we decided to decline that offer.  Every lead teacher at James's school has a State of Texas Teaching Certification.  I'm not saying that this is everything we're looking for in a day school, but it sure is a bonus.  I love their curriculum and I love that they go to chapel (they even pray before they eat)! James has his Christmas program this week and I'm excited to see him on stage.  It should be hilarious! We're sad that Jim won't be able to be there though.  Jim will be leaving on a business trip to Amsterdam for the week.  :(

Jim wanted to take James on a trip to Go.lfsmith and decided it was time to buy James his first set of clubs...a Snoopy set!

...and of course Jim couldn't resist buying James a 'real' big boy putter.  The putter is super cute and it is adorable watching James putt the golf ball.  He is our PGA Champion in the making! 

Here is my dapper little man leaving church on Thanksgiving morning.  Y'all know I can resist the bow tie. :)  

We spent Thanksgiving at home this year and we had a great time! My mom came into town, my Aunt C came over, and I cooked.  It was a great day spent eating, relaxing, watching football, and being thankful.  My nephew didn't make it over, but we did bring him some food that day.  Poor thing got RSV as well.  My Mom had the bright idea of going shopping at Midnight, so that was hilariously memorable and fun.  The only person missing was of course, my Sissy.

Happy Thanksgiving! (Not the greatest picture, but that's okay).  :)

We had a girls' day out to celebrate P's birthday and it was a blast! These girls are my heart and I wouldn't be where I am now without them! 

We've all been friends for so very long...20+ years! I love these girls as big as the sky!

So it's looking like James has my hair...at least that's what it seems like any way.  It grows so fast and it's starting to get wavy.  We took him for another hair cut and here he is trying to help.  It is the funniest thing to watch him do tasks like this.  When did he become a toddler and not such a baby? This is such a fun age, but boy do I already miss his baby ways.  

So freaking handsome! 

After the haircut and dinner, we decided to take James for his first ice cream cone.  I was initially going to wait until 18 months, but our pediatrician said it was fine to give him one now.  We decided on an old reliable: Bask.in Ro.bbins.  Yum! James loved the ice cream and had a complete melt down when Jim took it away from him.  He had eaten most of it and it was all over his shirt, plus it was time to go home.  Jim felt so bad, he took James to get another one two days later! Lol. 

Here is a hilarious video of how hyper James got.  He's eaten a ton of ice cream, saw a bird fly by, and just screamed pure joy.  So hilarious we've watched it a hundred times! 

We also have a membership to the zoo and decided to go before Church last Sunday.  The big crowds hadn't arrived yet, so it was nice to roam around.  After the zoo, we went to Church, had lunch, made a trip to Bas.kin Rob.bins, and headed home.  Ah, these are the days! :)

This kid cracks us up on a daily basis! Here he is before bath time, wearing his sunglasses and riding his car.  Mind you, it's 6:30p.m.! Lol. 

What is it about kids and that spurt of energy they get right before it's time to go to sleep? My 10 year old nephew kept the rocking horse my Sissy had for him when he was a baby and decided to give it to James.  Isn't that so sweet? It had my Mom and I in tears.  Jim and I were cleaning up Jame's room and when we turned around, we found him like this.  He had climbed on it himself and was rockin' away. 

This is a moment during James's bedtime routine...Dada reading Goodnight, Moon to him.  In Jim's words, "I look forward to this all day long." Love my two men so much!

Now this pretty much catches us up to now...Christmas season! 

We got our tree the day after Thanksgiving and decorated right away.  I was ready! 

Aunt Coco took our Christmas pics and  we love, love, love them! James was in such a good mood that morning! These are probably the best pics we've taken...we were all relaxed and happy! As you can see from the pic above, I've once again gone dark with my hair.  To make a long story short, I tried someone new in hopes of achieving a brunette ombre color and it turned out terrible.  So, I hightailed it back to my hair lady, embarrassed and all, and got my hair fixed.  Crisis averted.  Ha.

James makes the funniest faces! 

This picture showed me that James and I have the same laugh...we even crinkle our nose the same! Makes my heart smile! 

James had his 15 month appointment and is growing by leaps and bounds. He's not only walking, he's running! Which has us on our toes all.the.time.  James has a little accident and fell down three stairs and boy was that scary.  He moves so fast and Jim forgot to close the gate, so needless to say we are always checking to make sure that all the gates are closed.  James does know to sit and scoot down the stairs, but in this moment, he decided to be adventurous. Yikes, knock on wood.  He can say quite a few words (nana, bye bye, hi, hello, moo, ta-ta for Sasha) and lately his favorite is to point to Sasha, shake his head and say 'Noooo."  He is a picky eater, but will eat fruits and veggies from the Pl.um Org.anics pouches.  He loves cheerios, animal cookies, and graham crackers to snack on - just like his Daddy! James drinks from the straw cup during the day and early evening, and he drinks two bottles of milk a day (in the morning and at bed time, but we will be transitioning out of those soon).  He is a very good listener and can follow directions (blow kiss; throw this away please; sit in your chair please; clean up please; Etc.).  He knows some of his body parts (nose, eyes, mouth, ears, and belly button).  This actually came as a shock to me because I went to start teaching it to him and he already knew it! This is another reason why we love his school and teachers! James loves holding the ball and throwing it.  Jim was like that as a child, so we're thinking that's where he gets it from.  We're still not sure if he's right or left handed.  Sometimes it seems like his left hand is more dominant, but other times it seems like it's his right.  We shall see, I guess! James also loves watching Mic.key Mo.use Clu.bhouse.  He will dance to the songs and will stop right in his tracks to do so.  So funny! Overall, James is a sweet, happy, active little boy and we wouldn't have it any other way.  Each day seems to bring something new and I'm trying to cherish every bit of these moments with him.  People are right...they sure do grow up fast.  

That's about it for now, phew! We have a busy few weeks ahead starting with brunch with the man in that red suit (Santa!) tomorrow, so stay tuned for more posts! 

Loves,

the de Leons