Visits with Santa

James has been lucky enough to see Santa a few times already this year! I'm not sure how Santa has the time to be traveling, since Christmas is only a few weeks away?! Those elves must be working over time.

I thought James would be scared but he loved seeing him every time! The first time was at the infamous Foley Family Christmas Singalong. We had such a great time, and already looking forward to it next year! We spent time with the Connelly's, Staniak's, Knutson's, and Foley's. James even received a kiss on the lips from Reese! Could it be a love connection?! Also, he received his very FIRST Christmas gift of 2008 from Bryan and Kay! Thank you so much! He loves it!!!

The second was James' trip to Mommy's work. Santa was there, handing out presents to all the children. Above are pictures from both visits.

Mean parents???

So we had an issue with James continuously turning off the TV. He found it to be hysterical, because he would receive a reaction out of us...and run away laughing. Nothing seemed to work. We tried scolding. Didn't work. Time out....surely didn't work. He laughed the entire time. But this seemed to work...

Buddies

Here is the other side of the relationship between James and Lenny. I will say that this occurs about 10% of the time. The other 90%, Lenny is hit with baseballs, stomped on, chased with an airplane, teased/taunted, or verbally abused by James. But it's nice to see this once in awhile!

Making my list for Santa...

James is very serious about Christmas this year. Whenever we see a Christmas tree, he yells out "Christmas!!!"...but sounds more like "Mist-mas".

Here's James studying the Target catalog in order to send his list to Santa. He's thinking very hard about he wants...

James and his Best Friend..

James may consider Lenny his best friend, but I'm not sure the feeling is mutual. Here is an example of the "love" that James shows to Lenny.

Trick or Treat...monkey feet...

This was James' first year trick or treating! He was a rolly polly monkey...even though some people thought he was a bear?! Learn your animals, people! Anyways, we thought the costume was fitting since he's obsessed with nanananana's. (banana's).

Luckily, James has his cousins show him how it's done! He got the hand of it after a few houses...but then had his fill and decided to hitch a ride in the wagon. Rather than saying "Trick or Treat", he was more polite and said "Pleeeaaz". We had so much fun watching him, and I can only imagine it will get more adventurous as the years go on.

Here we go Irish.....

Last weekend, Mark and I traveled to South Bend for the ND/Pitt game. (My cousin, Chris, is a walk on for ND's football team! We are so proud of him!!! ) Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Darlene were kind enough to invite us out for the game. We had such a wonderful time and it was so nice to see everyone. Even though we lost after QUADRUPLE overtime, it was such an amazing night. Losing the game AND losing our car after the game. Ha...don't ask! And yes, we were completely sober! :)

Here are some pictures of the Bathon clan...Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Darlene, Aunt Mag, Joe , Chris, Katie, Maggie, Patrick, James, Mark, and myself.

We hope to see everyone again soon!

2008 Chicago Marathon

Iknow this is way late in the game, but better late than never right? Here are pictures from the 2008 Chicago Marathon which was held on Oct 12th. It was such an amazing and wonderful day. It sounds crazy to say, but every 26.2 miles was worth every second! It is truly an addicting experience. Through out my training since last May, I'd hear things like "You actually pay to run?", "Are you nuts?", "You need your head examined", "You are running how far?"....but honestly, if I can do it, any one can! Plus, it was worth every little ache and pain...

Every mile of my training and the actual race day was dedicated to those that are near and dear to my heart that have been affected by some form of cancer...or the loved ones of my friends and family. I was able to raise over $1500 towards the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It has been said, that if they find a cure of Leukemia/blood related cancers, that they will make huge strides towards a cure for all cancers.

So to everyone...Pop- Pop, Mark Zeidman, Sharon Bathon, Sarah Cadle, Mary Parello, Nora Ligurotis, Raymond Ruge, Steve Roberts, David Hancock, Sam Lupinacci, Mr Nelson, Janet Quirk...this one was for you......

Fall is in the air..

Saturday we went to Sonny Acres Farm with Uncle John, Auntie Carol, and the "Bucholz Boys". We had a great time!! James went on a big slide, terrorized some animals in the petting zoo, and even rode a pony! He wasn't too sure at first, but then acted as though he's done it a million times! Especially when the chicks were watching him.

Chilling

Here's how we caught James watching TV. Tough life. All he needs is some milk in his sippy cup and some animal crackers and he's set.

Half Way to 2!

I turned 1.5 last Thursday so Mama and Dada bought me a cup cake! I didn't even have to share it with anyone. It was gooood. I even started rubbing the frosting all over my legs and feet! Luckily, it was bath night.

So....only 6 more months till I turn 2! I'm already excited for my birthday party!! Where should it be???

Attention Bears Fans..

If you want to be cool, this is how you must wear your jersey! It's the new trend.

** Note, we did not do this to him. We kept fixing it, but he insisted on wearing it this way. He was even laying in his crib like this when he woke up from his nap! He must like showing off his abs.

Me!!!!

So lately, whatever question you ask that begins with "Who wants...", James will respond by saying "Meee! ". So Mark and I were having a little too much fun with it. Here's an example-

A Walk in the Park...

Today we had a great time, walking around downtown Geneva. To our suprise, they had a car show! Daddy loved looking at all of the old cars, and James loved seeing all of the doggies! Or "daw-dee's" as he says it. Speaking of, he now says yellow "nellow", cheeze, choo choo (for train), nose, banana (nanananana), eye, ball, baseball (baaaa ball -think of Warren from Something about Mary. Sounds just like that), hello "nenow"....and the list goes on. He's a genius! :)

Anyways, after walking around the car show, we decided to visit the park as well as feed the ducks! Although if you gave James a piece of bread, he decided to eat it himself!

Cantigny

Last Sunday, we went to Cantigny with Grandma and Grandpa Bucholz for French Connection Day! It was alot of fun! Even the Disney Channel was there!! (Sabrina, I know you're jealous! :)). Ratatouille was supposed to make an appearance, but he must have been busy, as we didn't see him! Instead, we walked around, saw a creepy mime, ate some yummy quesadillas, smelled some flowers, and had a great time! Hopefully they have it again next year, because we will most definitely be back!