Melanie's Visit

My twin sister, Melanie, and her son, Anthony, came in town two weeks ago for a visit, while Mario (Mel's hubby) went to an out of town wedding. We had so much fun just hanging out and relaxing. I miss her so much and wish she was a little closer to home, but maybe she will be one day!

We went to the the zoo for Anthony and James' first visit! They loved seeing the animals even though we went too close to dinner time, and many animals were already inside dining when we got to their lairs.

James wore his "Born to be Wild" outfit. I thought it worked well being at the zoo.

I thought this pic is funny. It looks like James is scared of something on the other side of the glass. Maybe the lizard? Or maybe he is just staring with his mouth open like he normally does:)

Meme loves the penguins and Anthony loved them too! This picture looks like mom is feeding miniature penguins (bc of the angle)... haha.

I think Anthony REALLY liked the penguins!

Ok.. this video is hilarious (funnier if you were there, though). The huge apes were swinging and slamming their bodies into the glass! I don't think they liked us looking at them!

Meme with both her boys!

Such a sweet picture. These cousins are going to love each other and their meme so much!

This is my twin sis, Melanie, and my neighbor and good friend, Amber. Both are due with their second child in January! I love the height difference!

Mel is 5'2 and Amber is 5'10

I had to get the stair step picture. I fall right in between them at 5'6!

We had a little play date with James, Anthony, and Taylor. Why didn't we get a picture of them???

Mandy's 5k

A couple weekends ago, Mandy had the opportunity to run in the Race for the Cure 5K! There were TONS of people there, but we all had a lot of fun.

Justin took care of James the whole time we were there. He is such a great daddy! It was a little bit chilly, so we had James all bundled up.

James before the race

James during the race and afterward!

What a good boy!

Justin got a picture of me when I was finishing the race.

I finished with a time of 27.23 @ an 8.50 min pace.

I was hoping for under a nine min. pace!

I got 284th place overall and 107th place in the female category. Not something to brag about, but fun to know anyways! I think there were about 11oo timed participants, so not bad!

James is 5 Months!

James just turned 5 months old!

He weighs 13.3 lbs and is now in 6-9 mo pjs.

He is just the sweetest baby and loves people.

James' 5 month pose

Going for a walk in the cold!

Practicing sitting in his high chair

Our neighbor, Amber, let James borrow her daughter's exersaucer.

James LOVES the mirror.

Going for a jog with Mommy!

James likes to "fake cough".... so funny!

James ate his first bowl of rice cereal a few nights ago!

He seemed to love it and has been doing great ever since.

Carving Pumpkins

Last week we spent one evening carving pumpkins with our friends, Brad and Tara Thornton. We had a lot of fun, and our pumpkins turned out great!

Justin and Mandy pausing for a moment to take a picture

(Kramer decided he wanted in the picture too!)

Brad and Tara

(they teach and coach at ECS with Justin)

Justin's pumpkin

(new ECS logo... can you see the eagle head and the E?)

Mandy's pumpkin

(scary pumpkin face peering through the blinds)

Tara's pumpkin

(haunted house)

Brad's pumpkin

(Go Cubs!)

The finished product!

Clean Attic!

Justin and I decided it was time to clean out our attic. (It was driving Justin crazy because you couldn't even walk in there without falling over something!) So here are some before and after pictures. I helped go through and get rid of junk, but Justin did most of the hard work and organization! Great job, Justin!

This, sadly, is my collection of boxes that we drug out of the attic. I don't know why I think we need so many. They are just empty boxes hoping that one day they will be wrapped up with a gift inside! (I think I get this box saving thing from my mom as she has always had a whole closet where she kept neat and organized shelves of stacked boxes of all different sizes) :)

The saved boxes definitely come in handy, we just don't need this many! Haha!

This is the "before" picture of part of our attic. What a mess.

Justin working on some shelves he built to get us more organized.

He's off to a great start!

One side of an organized attic!!!

Voila!! All our stuff is stacked up nice and neat on these shelves, and we have PLENTY of walking room! Yay!

So WHO does he look like?

Ok, here we go again! No one can decide who James gets his looks from! Of course we can tell he is a pretty good combination of both Justin and me, but does he take after one of us more than the other? I pulled some pictures for you to look at and make a decision for yourself!

Let us know what you think.

Justin

Mandy

Mandy

Bill Bellican

(Mandy's dad)

Josh and Michelle's Reception Weekend

My younger sis, Michelle, and her husband Josh got married on the beach in Florida. So we threw them a Memphis reception to include friends and family who wanted to share in their happiness!

The happy couple with James at the reception

The three sisters (Me, Michelle, Melanie)

(I love that Melanie and I are supposed to be the twins, but Michelle and Mel look more alike, and Michelle and I are both the tall ones!)

Justin and Me with James (can you tell he is getting sleepy?)

Melanie, Mario, and Anthony

Family picture with Mario's parents, Ben and Rose Mammina

(they are on the top left)

Thanks for the pictures, Mrs. Rose!

Big Family picture!

Finally James falls asleep in Justin's arms amidst all the noise.

Back at the Bellican house to watch Josh and Michelle open gifts.

(Can you see James trying to put his paci back in his mouth? It always ends up backwards :)

Making James laugh is one of our favorite new things!

Dad always steps in and helps me out with James.

Thanks Dad!

Me and my sweet baby

OK, one of my favorite pictures!!

My mom got James and my sister's son, Anthony, a set of Halloween Pjs!

They are glow in the dark skeletons!

I can't tell you how many pictures we took of these two kiddos before we got them both looking forward and smiling!