FoodTV here I come

James enjoys cooking and is always eager to help. Even in his underwear, James is willing to lend a hand. Now, if we were to campaign for James to land his own show, he may need to change his wardrobe, but we'll cross that bridge if we get to it. When you ask him what he's cooking, he will tell you: chicken and honey, bunnies (that's Annie's pasta to clarify) and potatoes.
Note to the worriers out there...the stove was not on and no, the burners were not hot.

Welcome Julia Marie Imschweiler

Our new baby neice was born early in the morning, yesterday, May 31st weighing in at 7lbs 11oz. and measuring 19.5 inches. The proud and strong mommy is doing great. We are posting a few shots debuting Julia on our blog with her VERY excited older brother and aunt and uncle. James thoroughly enjoyed meeting Jooolia and getting a chance to hang out with the happy family. Congratulations to the Imschweilers!

WE'RE SEEING PINK!

It's official: James is going to be a big brother...to a baby sister! Mom is NOT surprised in the least. Our little baby girl has been giving her mommy quite a time since she started her journey. She's already showing us how spunky she is. We are very excited and feeling so blessed to know that our baby girl is doing well!

Happy Mommy's Day

Mom can think of nothing more precious than getting greeted this morning with the sweetest words spoken by my little boy. Here's a recap of the greeting...but of course, when James sees the video camera he immediately launches into his cheese routine! Sorry we can't edit the ending :-)

Happy Mother's Day to all our moms!

The first part of our weekend was spent at a Touch A Truck event with cousin William, Uncle Frank and Aunt Kelly. What fun we had seeing all the trucks! We also got a chance to visit with our friends Andrew (or The Man as James calls him), lady Christine (who is going to be a mommy a few weeks before Bridget, what fun it is to share stories!) and their dog Max. James very much enjoyed his visit and has been asking for Max ever since.

James growing up

The past 2 months have really brought out a personality explosion in James. He started by narrating his every move and those of the people around him with comments like "James is running" or "mommy drive car", etc, etc. His sentences are getting increasingly more complex as he keeps up his learning. Now, we are on to the constant question of "what's that?" Which in turn really causes the parents to have to always be quick thinkers. It's not every day that someone is asking you what everything around them is and when you have to stop to explain the voice at a drive thru window or what a drop spreader is in the yard, it becomes challenging! He likes to tell you the colors of things or shapes he sees. He loves sounds in nature and can tell you if it's a crow chirping or if it's just a birdie.
James also likes to point out cars that drive by: daddys, mommy's, Boppa's and Nanny's. And, he's always right w/ the make and model. He's an expert at deciphering the difference between backhoes, dump trucks and bulldozers. And we LOVE to holler OOOH MOTORCYCLE!! when we see one drive by.
A funny James-ism that we love most is how he will now call his dad "Jim" and mom "Bridget" to get our attention.
Mom is getting bigger by the day (what ever happened to those stomach muscles?) and is starting to feel this little baby flipping around in her belly. Each day, James is showing us just how amazing being a parent is and how exciting it is going to be to do this all over again. We can't wait to experience life as it changes in October!

Here's James playing with his good friend Gus. About once a day James will discuss Gus, his dog Pete and ask to play with him. They are good buds.

The Spring Heat wave

We have a 30 second video option on our camera...we don't always capture the best 30 seconds of an event, but at any rate, here's 60 seconds of one of James' favorite activites. Usually, this is a bath or shower routine, but with this heat, he welcomed the outdoor shower.

The Real Haircut

BEFORE...
DURING...
I'VE HAD ENOUGH ALREADY
AFTER: WHAT A BIG BOY

Spring Arrives...

We went from jackets and hats on Easter, to warm clothes a few days later...hope the warm weather is here to stay!

Happy Easter

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter from James, Brodie, mommy, daddy and also from...baby angel in mommy's belly. 12 1/2 weeks and counting. Guess that explains the quietness on the blogging front, mom's been feeling pretty punky for the past few months. Getting MuCH better now!
Hope everyone has a great day!

JAMES' TRIP TO GET HIS FIRST HAIRCUT

BEFORE HAIRCUT TRIP:

AFTER HAIRCUT TRIP:

Well, we decided this weekend was the time to bring James to the super duper kids barber shop in town where he could get his first real haircut in a cool car chair and leave with a lollipop and a certificate. Here's what really happened:

- Showed up to first-come first-served shop at 10am on a Saturday prepared to wait a bit.

- Great, there are TOYS for James to play with! And tons of trucks

- About 15 minutes go by, we're all doing fine and it's getting closer to James' turn. He keeps walking over to the car chair commenting on it's wheels.

- Mom and dad are getting excited for the first cut and the photo opps.

- 20 minutes into the wait, James discovers that one of the larger truck toys could possibly be a nice ride-on toy...whoops, nope, he falls off. Mom and dad give eachother the "that was close" look as other parents and tots look on.

- The next 10 minutes are a blur...Jim feels after the attempted ride on the truck that something bad is going to happen - - -

- James decides to push the large truck as fast as he can across the floor...resulting in a horribly failed experiment.

- After trying our best to clean up a rather bloody, screaming, crying child in the bathroom of the barber shop, we emerge as a family (all rather bloody) proceed to cross our name off the waiting list and announce to the mostly unfazed lady barbers that we will have to try our first haircut another time.

Good thing there was a large bulldozer next door to help stop the crying. And there's nothing wrong with an ice cream on a stick at 10:48am, right? Ahh, the memories. Good thing we had our camera for those priceless first haircut moments.

james and brodie

Our 2 boys enjoy eachother's company and can be found clowning around a lot. Brodie likes to lick James (oh that's right, Brodie likes to lick everyone) and even James thinks it's a little too much sometimes. One of their favorite activities is playing in the hallway and spare bedroom upstairs. Mom will hear the door slam shut followed by barking and toddler squealing...we still haven't caught exactly what happens in there but it sounds like fun.

The State of The Hartigan Blog

We hope our lack of postings these past few months haven't completely deterred our friends and family from checking every so often. We didnt even have any new great pictures to post with this "excuse" posting...how disappointing.
We promise that there is no impending demise of the Hartigan blog. Rather, we expect there to be a surge in activity in the upcoming months. (lofty goal?) Warm weather brings life to even the most tired and rusty of bloggers.
Stay tuned and thanks for sticking by us!!

A day at the office

Last week of February...

Boy are we looking forward to the warm weather! We have serious cabin fever and have resorted to:
wearing dad's shoes and trying (sometimes successfully) to walk around the house. Dad wears a size 12, James is a size 7 toddlers, i.e. big difference!
Pulling on Brodie's tail and trying not to get caught. When we do, we say "i'm sorry" now without being prompted. Atleast all of mom's teachings on this subject have not been ignored.
We stare out the window longingly at our playset and swings in the backyard wishing we could go out to play.
And when we get really bored, we blow fish faces on the window and practice our kissing techniques. Spring please come soon.