my little squirt...

i CANNOT believe that my son is 1 year and 5 days old!  i was pregnant for what seemed like f--o-r-e-v-e-r and now the past year has flown by in what seems like a blink of an eye.  i've loved every single minute of it and i'm looking forward to all the fun years ahead. 

of course james will have several birthday celebrations but his whale party was the big one.  the one that i spent months planning.  the one that included family and his 30 closest friends.  it was THE big day!!  even the 112+ degree heat index didn't stop us from having a good time. 

above is the invitation that i had designed just for james on etsy.  i love how it turned out and think it had a good representation to the bright colored fun that lay ahead.  i will have more posts on his birthday as i upload pictures and when i get them from andrea, who was kind enough to come and sweat to death capture this special day for the hale family.

i love planning parties and i loved planning this one.  i'm already thinking up my "theme" for next years big bash.  james' bash, of course.....even though i'll be the big 3-0. 

vroom vroom...

james is ready to go drag boston place in his royal blue ride.  it is tricked out with 4 inch wheels and has two horses feet under the hood.

at first this speed racer was a bit intimidating.  james didn't know what to think.  it moves - and it moves fast.  it is also missing a seat belt so it is quite easy to topple off to the side.  he can handle the spills unless he bonks his head.  then game over.  but he'll just sit next to it and admire his new ride with a few proud slaps of endearment. 

we live in oklahoma so we've obviously taken in off road.  no, dad doesn't think it's near as cool but i think james likes it.  the speed racer moves at a much slower pace on the grass.  regardless i cannot believe that my baby boy is big enough for a big boy toy.  he'll be able to race around the house, run over the dogs and eventually walk behind it. 

what happened to this little guy?

this was right before his very first car ride.

before i know it he will be driving a real car.  tear.

captain james p. sunshine...

this past weekend was the kick off to lake season, memorial day weekend. this would also mark the first time james would ride on a boat or play in the lake. last summer james was just too small. my theory was that if he was too small to take tylenol, he was too small to play in keystone lake. if you've been to keystone, you understand.

as you can tell the water is not blue or crystal clear BUT the lake is still fun none the less. plus, you can't beat a 20 minute car ride for a trip to the lake.

before when i've gone to the lake i've had to remember the essential items but i knew if i forgot something everything would be okay. someone would have it or i wouldn't need it that bad. well, this year was different. taking a baby anywhere doubles (or maybe even triples) the load and i didn't want to forget anything. thank heavens for the carts to help you carry all your items down to the boat.

i did not take a picture of all the items we brought but overall i don't think i over packed nor under packed.  score!  first time out and i nailed it.  phew!  thank goodness i have a big, strong husband to help carry everything.  BUT there was one certain item that was absolutely necessary but james did not like it nor want anything to do with it....his life jacket!  the royal blue, top rated, i had to pay $20 extra in shipping to get it here in time life jacket.

this is one of the few pictures taken bc james would cry and need some special attention to calm him down.  the kind of attention only momma can give - otherwise known as a bottle and some snuggle time.  now if he even sees the adorable little, blue, duckie jacket he starts to throw a fit.  hopefully he'll get used to it so he can go on the boat more in the summer days to come.

as soon as we started to talk about going to the lake, mr. hale would tell buster that he could drive the boat.  oh boy did james ever love driving. standing in daddy's lap and holding onto the steering wheel gave captain jp sunshine a big smile but honestly i don't know who enjoyed it more.  i know mr. hale loved having his best friend helping him.  it really was so sweet.  melt your heart sweet - not melt bc it's oklahoma and it's going to be a hot, hot summer but that will melt your heart too.

after many hours of fun in the sun james finally took a nap.  this kid was not going to miss a beat.  he loved all the attention from the ladies and the water.  this one and only nap did not last long - not near as long as i thought it would but he didn't even wake up a grumpy mess.  he was ready to swim and splash again.  regardless it was time to head home for our normal, nightly routine.  my baby doesn't skip and meal and he definitely wasn't going to skip a bath - no matter what.  i am positive sand in the diaper can't be comfortable.

all aboard!!  take us in captain sunshine....

(cutest farmer's tan i've ever seen!)

i hope everyone had a safe and wonderful memorial day weekend too. thank you to our military friends and family who protect and serve our country.  we are forever grateful.

house divided.

osu 2 : ou 1



we win!!!

happy first mother's day.

yesterday was my first mother's day and it was perfect. (last year i was 36 weeks pregnant and claimed mother's day but this year it was official.) my husband and son spoiled me rotten. i liked it. i won't lie. i love being a mother. i'm honored to be james' mother.

the follow conversation was held with mr. hale yesterday:

me: i'm so lucky james made me his mommy.

mr. h: i made you a mommy.

me: no, you got me pregnant. james made me a mommy.

we both giggled and talked about how lucky we are to have such a special baby boy.



thank you james for being my sunshine. my soulshine. my everything-shine.

okc memorial marathon.

"you better lose yourself in the music, the moment
you own it, you better never let it go go
you only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
this opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo"

6:30 am - the gun goes off. the crowd starts to move and we wait in anticipation for our turn. then scrambling, a woman is frantically searching the ground for something. her earring? her earbud? something important?? we look at the ground not knowing whether to run or help until we realize it is our turn and we carefully make our way around her. luckily, she found it. it meaning her tooth! no, i'm not lying. i couldn't make that up. so now we will forever wonder if she ran toothless and smiled or simply decided this wasn't her year to run the memorial marathon.

"You better take it from me, that boy is like a disease.
You're running, you're trying, your trying to hide and you're wondering why you can't get free"

someone told me that the OKC run was relatively flat. they were flat out wrong! this made the run much more challenging but worth seeing the the 2 story gorilla and cruising down the back side of the slopes. i love declines.

bum bum bum ba ba bum
bum bum bum ba ba bum
"pressure pressing down on me - under pressure
that burns a building down splits a family in two puts people on streets"

good call on whoever put vanilla ice - skinner
no vanilla ice. this is david bowie. vanilla ice got sued for ripping off the cords from this song. - me

i made a playlist for me and my gang to listen to while we ran 13.1 miles. i asked them to pick 13 of their favorite running tunes and then i would mix them together in one playlist to get us through our bricktown stroll. i thought it would be neat to all have the same music playing at the same time. to have the same beat and tempo while cruising along. i love this idea. i am glad that we could experience the same songs together and enjoy some new music on our ipods. lord knows i needed some new tunes.

"i see a red door and i want it painted black
no colors anymore i want them to turn black
and i see the girls walk by dressed in thier summer clothes
and i have to turn my head until my darkness goes"

my goal time was 2:15. "paint it black" was supposed to be my ending song. the fast beat was supposed to carry me across the finish line under my goal where i could breath and then enjoy "i gotta a feeling" and "i got you (i feel good)". i would be doing my victory dance and thinking about lunch. unfortunately, "paint it black" came and went. i was still running. i was in the home stretch but still running. my official finish time was 2:19:23. so, i blew my goal by 4 minutes. 4 minutes is a long time while running. 4 minutes is almost half a mile. 4 stupid minutes.

BUT here's the deal. i could be depressed, down on myself or not feel success but that just wouldn't be right. i completed my main goal: to finish this half marathon 9 months after james was born. and i did it! i'm going to go ahead and toot my own horn. i had a goal. i trained and i did it. a little bruised ego and three big blisters later - i'm happy. i'm not going to let anything get me down. oh no! i've got to keep a movin'.

crossing the finish line to baby james was awesome.

the time spent training away from james was hard but obviously he thinks the medal was worth it too.

this is not my last run. i will reach my 2:15 goal. i will blog about it.

remember the 10.

this past saturday OSU held their 4th annual rt10 run. on january 27, 2001 ten members of the OSU family perished in a plane crash on that snowy night colorado. this run was to honor them and celebrate their lives. they will live on forever in the hearts of the oklahoma state community.

on the schedule for the okc memorial half marathon, demoss and i noticed that the weekend before the run we were scheduled to run 6 easy (ha!) miles and that the rt10 was perfect. we could go run around our alma mater, support osu counseling services and get in our six miles. without hesitation demoss, haley and i signed up drove to stillwater.

man! it felt good to be home. it felt good to be back in stillwater. you can smell orange. you can feel a buzz. it is completely different from tulsa. it was cowboy. literally.

friday before the run had been spitting rain off and on. i couldn't decide if it were raining if we should actually run for fear of getting blisters the weekend before our half marathon. fortunately, it wasn't raining saturday morning UNTIL we pulled in the parking lot. then it just sprinkled on us throughout the 6 mile run but it was fun and i'm glad we got to participate in such a special event.


we're almost half way done here. demoss's wonderful father was our own paparazzi and followed us along the course. see those smiles? they are for pictures only. we don't look that happy 3 miles into a run. ever. i promise.


here we are after the finish line with our friends who chose to wake up, wear orange and get rained on. i would like to thank jennifer and lynsey for the encouragement in the final stretch of the run. it was such a wonderful surprise.

we met some friends, the oldies but goodies, for dinner friday night. we talked and laughed and had so much fun. unfortunately, james was not having near as much fun at grammie's while i was gone so haley and i ate and went home only to find an exhausted, passed out little man. poor kid made himself congested. i felt so bad for my mom. it is truly heartbreaking to see james' crying face and whimpering cries. luckily my the end of the weekend he was in good spirits, trusted her and was one happy little cowboy.



Proud and immortal, Bright shines your name;
Oklahoma State, We herald your fame.
Ever you'll find us-loyal and true.
To our Alma Mater, O...S...U.

on the charts.

it is surreal that james is 9 months old. while pregnant 9 months seemed like forever. no sleep, sober, aching body, whale like, recording breaking heat wave 9 months. now that james is here it just doesn't seem like he could possibly be that old. okay, i'm aware that the first several, sleep deprived weeks were gone before i knew anything but the past months have been moving just as quick, if not faster. james is now completely aware of his surroundings, is sprouting 4 teeth and is getting his own unique little personality. hook, line and sinker. he's got me wrapped around his little finger.

on thursday, april 15th, we took james to his 9 month check up. 9 months exactly.
26.6 pounds. he made the charts!!! finally. he is in the 97th percentile. skinny boy. they said he was the average weight for a 16 month old baby but we're buying 18 month clothes so obviously there is some room for error. :) james is also getting taller! he is measuring a whopping 29.5 inches long, which is in the 85th percentile. his head circumference is 18 inches but we thought he had a big noggin. overall the doctor's visit was smooth sailing. no shots, no tears and no bad news.



although, i did win the bet i didn't get a sweet prize. mr. hale thought james weighed 30+ pounds and i guessed 27. i wish we would have made the wager and placed a firm hand shake on the deal. i could be having a dinner at my favorite restaurant or a girl's night or something for being right. i was right. i love being right.



happy 9 month birthday, baby james. you are 3/4 of a year old. it is true that time flies when you're having fun. we are obviously having a blast with you.

thirteen.

saturday was our last long run. saturday was 13 miles. saturday was early. saturday was the home stretch. in december i set out on a journey that has meant more to me than dreamed it would. i found amazing friendships, inner strength and comfort in the sounds of my ipod, tennis shoes and pavement.

before i discovered i was pregnant with james i had just completed my first half marathon and had convinced myself to continue to train for the 2009 okc memorial marathon. the full marathon. the entire 26.2 miles. lucky for me, i had something bigger on my agenda for 2009. after giving birth to james i knew i would run again. i knew i would once again train for a full marathon. i had a baby. a beautiful baby. though this would make training more difficult, running is something that is important to me. i miss the time spent away from james but i love the time spent with myself.

they say what happens in vegas stays in vegas but if you're a runner you know what happens while running stays on the trail. running is personal. running is hard. you spend many hours along side your running group. you get to know personal things about people. it is an amazing test of character. fortunately, i have the ultimate group. we are a complete team. demoss, skinner, haley and myself run with big ambitions and through tired feet. we are strong pilots.

we have run in below zero temperatures.

6 miles.

we have run in the rain.

8 miles. 8 long miles.

we run for fun.


we just run. twice during the week and cursed saturdays. one thing is always consistent - we feel good after we run.

it has been an honor for me to train with these ladies. i have enjoyed the time even when i couldn't stop complaining. i have enjoyed the sore feet and aching knees. thank you for spending many, many hours strolling down riverside or cursing the hills through midtown with me. i am confident that we will dominate the "168".

monkey toes.

ha-ha!  i bet i fooled you.  BUT james really does have monkey toes.

monkey toes was one of james' first nicknames.  boy how things have changed.  we've nicknamed his nicknames.  they are constantly evolving.  we are those embarrassing parents.  (we just know better than to tell all his little boy nicknames to his high school girlfriends.)
here is an example:  monkey toes quickly turned into monkey man.  hints why he was a little monkey for halloween.  his feet are also known as dogs (like when you take off his socks.  who let the dogs out?  who?  who who??)

buster brown.  lots of names stemmed from this one.  it's an obvious name if you're a parent.  if you're not and you don't know from personal experience - always bring an extra pair of clothes.  okay so then we have buster britches, buster yellow (shortly.  another parent inside joke.  no need to be jealous.) and finally buster!  buster! is my favorite.  mr. hale likes it as well and we're certain that james likes "buster!" too.  you can really say it with some enthusiasm and get a real big smile.  you can also get a reaction by saying "james" kind of loud and a little high pitched. 

anyway, back to the subject of monkey toes.  james loves it when you play with his feet.  his feet are so interesting to him.  he loves to play with them.  (yay!  cheap toy.)  so if you every babysit and he's acting a little fussy, take off his socks and you'll have one happy little man.  (buster!)