James' Birthday Weekend Recap Part 1

We have officially made it through birthday weekend and survived to tell the tale.  Thank goodness Mother Nature blessed us with a snow day today so that we can finally sit down and take a breath.  It was THAT MUCH FUN!  :)

James' first birthday started out with a bang and when I say bang I mean a delivery from FedEx.  If you saw my photos from Toy Fair 2013, you might remember that we had our Toy Fair kids front and center to celebrate Toy Fair's birthday.

See the little boy with brown hair holding the balloons?  Well, he was named James by the Toy Fair Ops team and was sent to our house to help celebrate the big day.

After spending some time with our new buddy, it was off to school to continue the celebration.  When we arrived, this is what we found on the door:

Can I tell you how much we love Willowcreek Academy?!  They made James' big day very special and even let him wear the "I turned 1 today" birthday hat.  Sorry - no pics but use your imagination. :)  

The partying continued later that day when the family arrived.  Grandma M., Uncle Joe, Aunt Adriana and Uncle John make the trek from NY and Aunt Suzy flew in from Chicago to help celebrate James' big day.  We were even surprised by Uncle Rob and Aunt Heather who came in from NY earlier than planned! Since we were all in the same place at the same time we decided to have a family dinner at the Quartuccio casa.  

After a delicious Italian dinner (and a packet of sweet potato, corn and apples), it was time to open presents.  Let me say this.  James is a LUCKY kid.  I mean, look at this mound of gifts!!!

James got down and dirty ripping into the boxes - but as all one year olds do, he got distracted with the toys.  And the paper.  Good thing Mommy and Daddy were there to help him out.

James got some great stuff and wants to thank everyone for spoiling him rotten!  

After some play time with his new toys and the cabinets with Grandpa, it was time to sign Happy Birthday to the Birthday Boy.  We decided a Fudgie the Whale cake from Carvel was in order for this first birthday - and a cupcake for the little man since he is not quite ready for ice cream. :)

James had no problem diving right into that cupcake.  :)  It was a wonderful day and we are so happy that we got to share it with the people we love most.  James may not remember it, but we will absolutely make sure he knows how lucky he is.  But in all honesty, we are the lucky ones.  :)

James' First Year

It has been one heck of a busy weekend and we promise a full recap of the birthday festivities soon.  In the mean time, take a peek at this.  I put together a video of James' first year highlighting all the wonderful moments.  It was a very emotional project and one that I'm so glad I did.  Ed and I are truly the luckiest parents in the world!

Now, I must warn you, it is long (14:39 to be exact!).  But it is totally worth it if you want to see some cute.  Enjoy!

Birthday Week Day 5: Life Changer

The Date:  March 1, 2012

The Place:  Inova Fair Oaks Hospital Women's Center

The Time:  11:09 AM

The People:  Two very nervous and very excited Mangiaracina's

The Purpose:  Delivery of the newest member to the Mangiaracina Family

When you are expecting a baby, everyone tells you how different life will be once he arrives.  And while you know this to be true, you don't really understand it until your child is born.  From the moment I heard James' first cry after they pulled him out of my belly, my heart opened up and my brain flooded with more love and emotion than I ever knew could exist.  Ed would agree that when we both took a first look at our little boy, we were introduced to a different kind of love that was so overwhelming it brought tears to our eyes.

A year ago today, James Edward Mangiaracina entered the world and changed our lives forever.  From day one, James has been a loving, sweet, happy boy that finds joy in all that he does.  His big smile is infectious and his enthusiasm for life is inspiring.  He is a blessing in every way and we are so proud of the little man he has become.

This year has been a wild ride filled with ups and downs and many, many learning experiences.  James has grown and flourished in so many ways - more than we can list in one blog post.  Thank God we have an archive filled with his many milestones over the year!

Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Month 4 | Month 5 | Month 6

Month 7 | Month 8 | Month 9 | Month 10 | Month 11

And without further ado, here is James' official 1 Year photo - a handsome little man if I do say so myself!

Milestones to report:

• We have a walker on our hands.  James is still a little off balance - kind of like a drunken sailor - but he is taking many more steps at a time and his confidence is growing. So much so that he is now in possession of his first pair of big boy shoes from Stride Rite.

• Words, words words!  While we can't say that he has an official "first word", he has lots of things to say through his babble and chitter chatter.  There is lots of "dadadada" and "mumamuma" and "dedede".  We are working on the word ball since he seems to love to play with his EduShape Sensory balls the most, but so far we have "ba" which is close enough for us.

Now, in true Laura Mangiaracina fashion, I decided to go a little overboard for James' first birthday and put together a video to highlight his first year.  The good news is that it is awesome!!  The bad news is that I can't reveal it until Monday.  We want to show it first to our family who will be in town this weekend to help celebrate James' birthday.  Once their eyes see it, then yours can so stay tuned!

Happy 1st Birthday James!!

We love you more than you will ever know!!!

Birthday Week Day 4: Monthly Outtakes

Since the beginning, we have been documenting James' growth with a monthly photo.  It is something that many parents do and we decided to join the band wagon and we are really glad that we did.  With James turning 1 tomorrow, it has been great to look back over these monthly photos to see how much he has grown and changed.  

But the really fun part has been looking at the "outtake" photos from these monthly photo sessions.  As James started getting bigger, capturing the "it" picture got harder and harder.  Our subject doesn't like to sit still and would often crawl off set making it quite a challenge to snap the photos.  Here are some of our favorite outtakes from each month.

Month One

Month Two

Month Three

Month Four

Month Five

Month Six

Month Seven

Month Eight

Month Nine

Month Ten

(got our "it" picture on the second shot this month!)

Month Eleven

His 12 month photo will be revealed on the big day so stay tuned.  It's a good one ~ we promise! :)

Birthday Week Day 3: True Love

Before James was born, there was one little lady that was the center of our world.  We treated her like our child and loved her more than words could describe. This has not changed with the arrival of our little guy.  In fact, our love for her has grown especially when we see how much our little Lucy girl loves her brother James.  From the start, the two of them have had the bond of true love and as James grows, the bond grows stronger.

Lucy didn't really pay much attention to my growing belly before James arrived.  The only thing I can say is that she was a great at cuddling when I couldn't get off the couch because of my giant ankles.

She had no idea what was coming when Mommy and Daddy left for a few days in early March.  But I can say she was a very happy girl when we got home - even if we did come with some extra baggage (aka James).  I remember seeing her through the screen door as I slowly made my way up the stairs and into the house for the first time after being at the hospital.  She was SOOO excited to see me, but also knew that I was not in tip top shape so she was very gentle when she said hello.  And then we introduced her to James.  It went very well.  :)

That night, they got very comfy together on Mommy and Daddy's bed.

Since that first day, Lucy has had a love/hate relationship with James.  It is probably 90% love and 10% hate.  Well maybe 80/20. :)  The hate part is at night when he cries and wakes her up.  She is not a fan of that, but she LOVES playing with him during the day.  Ten months ago she was all about keeping him company on his play mat.

Now a days, Lucy loves running around with James and she makes him crack up like no one else can!

From forced photo shoots that Mommy and Daddy put them through...

... to captured moments of love...

... there is no denying that these two are best buds and will share a special love in years to come.  But that doesn't mean that there won't be moments like this.  What do you think Lucy is thinking? :)