sleepy James

I just had to show you this picture of James this afternoon. This is the fastest I've posted anything on my blog to date! I just thought he looked so adorable, and when I checked on him playing I had to laugh at what I found!

moving...

Just across town.

But we are excited about the whole thing. We have loved our little house in the country, but it is time to leave it. Even more thrilling than the prospect of living in a duplex with central air and heat, we are excited about our new management there. A nice woman who also likes to keep things legal. I think we'll get along :) It will be like a breath of fresh air in that respect.

There are perks. The central heat and air, I already mentioned, but it should be mentioned again. In Texas, central air is... amazing. lovely. desirable. Also, we will be in a stroller-friendly neighborhood, which means we can take our after dinner walks again when the weather cools down. That's right. A lot of you that might be reading my blog thinks summer ends about the time August winds down. haha. We're gearing up for more 100+ degree weather here through September. I actually said the other day "wow, it's so much nicer than it has been!!" It was probably... 97 out. plus heat index. however that works.

Other perks, we will be closer to shopping, closer to some friends, a park nearby, a stone's throw from a post office. Yes, I consider that a perk. Also, we get a real garbage can now and we can recycle again! And actual deadbolts, and a fireplace. It's all the little things :) We will be in the same neighborhood as one of Ron's work buddies, too, so they will be able to carpool sometimes.

I will post pictures later. Probably later than you would like, because i am slow like that :( I just finished organizing all the photos from Wisconsin, and will be posting some more of them sometime, too!

Right now my days are consumed with packing, caring for James, designing something that needs to go out this week, and thinking about getting back to my treadmill. I will, I will! In fact, I already committed to run a half marathon this January, so I better get in gear. I will make myself. I must.

Ron has changed work schedules which is actually very advantageous for us. He works longer days Mon-Thur, then has a three day weekend. I don't even notice much of a difference, since he was such a good worker before, anyway :) He just leaves a little earlier and gets home about the same time, plus we get a whole other day off! fine by me! Then his schedule will switch to having Mon-Wed off, and I know it will be hard for Ron to miss church :( when the switch occurs we get either 6 days off or he works 8 straight days. His 6 days off is when we move, which is insanely wonderful, and as they keep coming around will feel like a mini vacation! We actually just had his first three day weekend last weekend, which already felt like a mini vacation! Just imagine how much fun we could have when we're done moving!

I have to go, poor James is bored under his jungle for the time being :)

the wedding we've all been waiting for!

Our good friends from college got married this year on Ron's birthday! Jason and Dana have been together as long as Ron and I have, so after 10 years, everyone was waiting to celebrate! They had a wonderful day, and Ron and I would not have missed it for anything. They are special people to us :) This was also our first Catholic wedding we've ever witnessed, which was really interesting. James did a stellar job, sleeping through most of it, and not even squeaking a lot! He was the only baby at the wedding, and one of two children at the whole thing... that's us in the background and to the right :)

Inside the mansion where the reception took place. We all gathered in the foyer there where they served champagne with raspberries in it for the toasts... very classy. Did I mention we were the only one with a baby there? Everyone else either didn't have babies, were keeping them with the nanny, or they were off at boarding school. Yeah, we'd never been to that type of wedding before :)

Our other good friend from college, Beejay, was one of the groomsmen. James is wearing his "monkey suit" here. har har. Really, he looked quite dapper before the jammies :)

the band. people stayed and danced the night away. Then they attending an after party, which we were invited to. Again, har har :) We went back to the hotel after a dreary eyed James (and his harried parents) finally had enough party. He was really good through most of it :) It would have been nice to hang around more, but we are parents now, it really does change your life! We got up early the next morning, about 4:30 or 5, in order to head home to see my brother and his family as soon as we could :)

chicago

upon finally finding our way out of the parking garage, we find ourselves listening to the Saturday morning exercise group. People would randomly stop and join in, sometimes following the easy going directions, other times just dancing or swaying to the beat. As I sat on a nearby bench and nursed James it made me miss the small town city life of Milwaukee, and wish that someday I might be able to experience big town Chicago city life for a time. People from all walks of life converging on sunny pathways in the heart of the city just for the enjoyment of it. The lawn filled with happy dancing people. No one gawking at me nursing or even taking notice when I had to change my shirt (no worries, I had an undershirt on!)... It was a perfect sunny day, we were enjoying northern weather and Ron's birthday. I could have stayed for hours and hours, but we only had a little over one hour or so because we had to go get ready for a wedding. Someday I would like to vacation to Chicago and just be able to visit and sit and see the sights.

the nearby stage, pretty neat.

Part of the exhibit that was being displayed on the grounds. I liked the "made in China" touch.

people watching, very fun!

this little girl was adorable!

clearly we were not the only tourists. These people are hardcore. Fanny pack, visor, the whole package! the image of the guy on that wall you see in the background kept changing and every so often he would smile and then purse his lips together to squirt water at the crowd, which streamed out of the side of the wall... It was fun to watch!

my boys.

a bit to the right, there were some people up there taking engagement photos! fun!

that's my engineer :) 26 years old that very day!

haha! tried to take a family photo here :)

James love a good read!

James always loves a good book. Here, Danny and James enjoy Mary Grace reading them a story this summer. Yesterday I was reading a chipmunk book (as in Alvin, Simon, and Theodore!) to James, and he got so excited! He was even laughing at it!

at the zoo!

Ruth knows how to keep James happy as we head in to zoo!

Every kid got their picture next to one of the cool painted animals that were throughout the zoo. James and I picked the Rhino. It was our first full day in Wisconsin when James I went to the zoo with Mom and the kids. We relished spending 5 hours outside! In Texas, I have been keeping James in most of the time because of the excessive heat. We are looking forward to the fall, when we will go the park a lot and take many many walks!!

I took this picture because there were kids there with their dad, armed with sketch books. I knew I was in Madison, in the "big city", which embraced higher culture, when I saw that! Yes, I think of sketching in the park or the zoo as "high culture" :)

I know at the zoo people usually take pictures of animals. I thought I'd take more of my favorite kids :)

what a young lady you're becoming MG! sweet smile here :)

Love you, Dave!!

Looking at the water lilies...

Looking suspiciously at the water lilies...

Sweet Ellie!

Ellie and James

James is sleepy after a big day at the zoo!

sleepy eyes after just waking up...

getting ready for the picture...

can we go yet?

One more good shot!

The Goodman Grand

Meeting Grandpa Goodman

Meeting Grandma Goodman

Meeting Great-Grandma Grace

Everyone is meeting James for the first time! It was a precious and fun moment! We wish, of course, that Ronnie could have been there, but he was there in heart, anyway :) Of course they all think James is just darling and perfect :)