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!

Four Months

This is our little non-stop mover who is four months now. This is what happens when I put him on the changing table......he definitely does not stay on his back much these days!

James went for his 4 month check up and received these stats:

Weight- 12.9 lb (10%)

Height-26 3/4 in (75%)

Head- 39 cm (2%)

James loves watching Daddy throw the football to Kramer.

James also loves to touch Kramer, pull on his hair, and have Kramer lick his face.

He thinks it's hilarious!

Sitting in the bumbo. This is how he is supposed to sit. What a silly face!

This is how he prefers to sit???

Four month picture :)

Pops and Nonie in Memphis

Pops and Nonie stayed with us for a few days and got to spend some time with James. We loved having them here and can't wait until they can come visit us again!

Pops and Nonie with James

Just hanging out

James is almost ready to sit with no support!

The Payne men