Learning to Stand

I tell ya, Mr. James is literally learning new things every day! I am just amazed by him. He's not letting any obstacles get in his way of being independent. Yesterday Keith set out a waist-high box and lured James to it with his new birthday toys...apparently a cell phone is just the ticket for getting him to learn new tricks! {Must be in the DNA...Maddie took her first walking steps while holding a cell phone that Keith and I were taunting her with!} James' physical therapist will be very happy with his progress when she visits next week. Now if we can just get him to bend his legs and sit down! :-)

Oh man, we're in trouble now! :-)

Speaking of standing, in the evening after his birthday party, Keith was standing James up on the changing table to put on a new outfit, James stepped on his stomach tube and ripped it out of his stomach {again}. He wailed, of course, but was smiling again within a few minutes. What would a birthday celebration day be without a trip to the ER {again}? The docs got it back in fine and you'd never know anything had happened. Our boy sure is a trooper.

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A couple weeks ago we got two new couches for the living room {on super sale at Macy's!}. Our dream couches were at Rejuvination here in Portland, but the price tag of $5000 for a couch/loveseat/chair was just too hard a pill to swallow. So I found these at Macy's instead and saved us thousands! Much better, considering they'll have to withstand the wear-and-tear of two kids and a dog for many years to come.

Nice rich brown leather with exposed stitching. Clean, simple lines and not overstuffed. Just the way we wanted it. It has the potential of making for a very classy living room set-up...until you pan back and realize that we apparently live in a daycare center...

THIS is why we're biting the bullet and have started construction on our basement this week! The first wall went up this weekend {we're starting with the laundry/kitchenette/storage room area on one far wall} and now there will be many months of banging and heavy machinery sounds in our future. When it's all done, the basement will include: laundry area, kitchenette with full freezer/full fridge/slide-in range, a storage room with floor-to-ceiling storage, a bathroom, Keith's office, a family room/media room and an open-concept office/studio for me. AND ALL THE KID TOYS WILL BE BANISHED TO THE BASEMENT OR THEIR OWN ROOMS! Hooray! That means we can finally reclaim our living room as a grown-up space that looks organized and presentable. Can't wait. :-)