9 MONTHS OLD, VACATION, NEW CAR

How about a little life update from the James fam? As much as I love to keep family/friends that live far away updated on our James life, I have loved writing these too-long-for-Instagram updates just for myself. It'll be even more fun for me to look back at everything I've written as Charlie continues to grow to compare to future babies/remind myself what stages and phases I loved of his. I'm not a writer, I'm just sentimental. 😆 

It's been a while so grab a snack as I fill you in! 

CHARLIE
Our Charlie Bear turned 9 months old on May 4th! I can hardly believe he has spent as much time brightening our lives as we once spent just waiting for him to arrive. The last month or so may have been my favorite so far! Sure there were hard weeks of teething, and maybe a slight 8 month sleep regression making him wake up an extra time at night, but overall this age is such a blast. 

He thinks he's big sorting through his toy box himself ;)

He has done so much growing and learning over the last little bit. For one thing, at 7 months he got 5 teeth in a span of the next 5 weeks. Ouch. (Ouch for Mommy and Daddy too😭 )  He just learned how to pull up onto furniture and to sit on his bottom on his own. The image of the first time he got into a sitting position on his own is forever etched in my brain. It was in the middle of the night. He woke up crying to be fed and there we found Charlie sitting up like Winnie the Pooh sad in his bed! Like, how did I get like this?? haha It was the saddest/funniest thing. 

He is quite the Chatty Cathy and SO social. He says "Hi" and "Hey" allllll day long (and I love it). He loves to laugh at Daddy. He loves to growl. He is finally doggie crawling more and not just army crawling. And he loves to eat. Don't expect to be eating a banana without him wanting a bite for himself. Even the things he doesn't love, like peas and green beans, he still grins and bears it and makes a face at me as if to say, "I'm trying, mom!" He is a very silly and sweet boy. We are so lucky he's ours. 

9 months pregnant / 9 months old. He's a chunker (and was asleep for this photo!).

9 MONTH INFO
Weight: 22 lbs 11 oz
Teeth: 6
Diaper: Size 4
Clothes: 9 months/12 months - 18 months 
Words: Hi, Hey, Gaga (Dada)

Probably the next time I blog an update about this little guy he will be turning ONE. Unbelievable. His first year is quickly passing by, but it has been a sweet, sweet one. 

FAMILY VACATION
We went to Gatlinburg with Samuel's family last week! Cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles - it was a packed cabin, but we loved it. Gatlinburg is one of those places I could go every year and never get tired of it. We ate a lot of brunch, spent a day at Cade's Cove (and saw a Mama Black Bear with her two baby cubs!), walked the downtown strip, played a lot of Ticket to Ride, and a bunch of other things in our 4 days there. It seems like Gatlinburg trips always come in seasons on my life right before big change, so I'm thankful for the mountains which are a constant reminder of how strong and faithful my God is. 

The view from our cabin

Daddy and Charlie at Cade's Cove

He caught a fish while eating a ham sandwich. Talent, yall!

Charlie was more interested in eating the putter than putting.

WE BOUGHT A CAR
It was finally time!! We needed a family car that was safer and bigger for our baby and all of his million accessories. We're in loooveee with our Toyota RAV4! It was used with SUPER low miles and we knew it was our car as soon as we test drove it. We hope to have this car for many years to come!

Thanks for following our little update! I'll be back soon with more exciting news. xx

Emily