James and 30

For waiting so long to get a single tooth, James is sure making up for lost time. He is currently getting eight teeth. EIGHT! Four have popped through and the other four are right behind them. I feel so bad for him because I know he's hurting big time and I don't blame him for his recent crankiness. I can't ever get a shot with his top teeth showing. But he looks like a little vampire sometimes. Ignore the dirty face, please.

I love the way this kid looks when he wakes up in the morning. You can make fun of us for using one of those halo-sleep sacks. Someone in our house is still afraid of putting blankets in his crib(hint: it's not me). I'm not sure James would be able to fall asleep without it though. In the mornings he'll often walk around wearing it like a cape.

Here he is with a ball he stole from church (I put it back this morning, don't worry).

This little tri-stacker toy is the best five bucks I ever spent. It entertains James (and any other kid that comes to our house) for hours. I got it on clearance at Marshalls and I wouldn't have given it a second glance if James hadn't kept reaching for it, but I'm glad I gave in because I'm not sure what we ever did without it.

Stacking blocks obviously requires serious concentration:

Lastly, I'm not normally one to advertise my birthday, because who does that? But tomorrow I hit the big 3-0. I go back and forth between wanting to cry and wanting to celebrate. I'll let you know what actually ends up happening (actually, if it's crying I'll probably keep it to myself). Why is getting older so hard/weird/uhg/dramatic/dreaded!?! I know it's an inevitable part of life but sometimes I wish we could hit a pause button if we'd like to stay a certain age for longer than is standard if we're happy with the way it is going. My late 20s have been good to me and I don't think staying in them longer is too much to ask!

So, happy Valentine's Day to everyone and happy birthday to Andrea, my favorite person in the whole wide world. I wish you could be here with me so we could turn this weird new age together.