James meet Johnny

This past weekend Andy, Beth and John came to Madison for the Badger game and to meet James. Both big guys had the same idea to make mini football jerseys for the little guys... Great minds think alike!

Luckily we chose different colors and sizes, so the boys now have home and away jerseys to get through the rest of the season and the bowl games :)

This picture cracks me up, it looks like Johnny is not so sure about Uncle Patrick.

To be fair, John was giving him the stink eye before Patrick started making faces back!

And then the boys had enough...

Stay tuned for the home jersey photo shoot in November :)

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One month old!

James is already one month old and is growing like a weed! He and I visited Grammy and Buppa this week while Patrick was out of town for work so we took advantage of the mail scale at Olympus to get his stats.

At birth, James was 9 pounds 1 ounce and measured 21 inches long.

At one month James is now 11 pounds 4 ounces and measures 23.5 inches long! He is clearly eating well and to our joy, is sleeping for at least 6 hours straight at night! Woohoo :)

Check out this pudgy belly!

When he is not swaddled, James loves to snuggle up with his hands.

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1st Badger game for 3 Ellestads!

Saturday was such a beautiful day for a Badger game... so glad we were able to enjoy the great weather and a Badger win for Landon, Elise and James' 1st Wisconsin football game!

Tara had a baby shower so we tag-teamed the 3 kids with the help of Mom and Dad and everyone had a great time. All of the kids were so good and Landon and Elise really enjoyed the game, the fans, the band and the mascots.

Our family of three after the game.

 

James in his warm clothes, courtesy of James and Callie ... Thanks again for the loan! The snow suit worked perfectly with the baby carrier.

He did so well and snuggled in with Patrick for the whole game. Doesn't he look like a starfish?!?

Patrick and James in Heritage Hall.

We were headed to the family bathroom for a diaper change and a quick snack for James and realized the W Club was closer and much more comfortable.

While I fed James, Patrick brought Jeff and Sue and Kelsey and her friend Chelsey into the club for a beer.

We all made it til the end of the game and saw the Badgers carry the coveted ax around the stadium.

Then Patrick, Landon and James swayed to "Varsity" during the 5th quarter before heading home.

It was a great day, so glad we were able to make it happen :)

We enjoyed a quiet night on the couch watching football for the rest of our Saturday, with a few naps!

 

Here's to many more Football Saturdays with our little Badger in the years to come!

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Grand poohbaaaaah!

Grammy got this hat from a baby basket at an auction a few years ago and found it before coming to visit last week. (Patrick was out of town for work so mom came to hang out with us in madison.) We did lot of projects, errands, returns, and of course a quick photo shoot!

Look at our sweet little lamb :)

When I showed the pictures to Patrick he said he looked like a grand poohbah from the Flinstones!

You be the judge....

Pretty funny and I definitely agree, but James is waaaay cuter!

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Cousin bonding

Claire and Jack came to visit last weekend and loved sitting with James in his bouncy seat!

Landon and Elise showed James how to move the animals on his activity pad.

Thanks for entertaining James :)

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Night time blessings!

James has been a great sleeper so far, really only getting up once a night most days. If he is swaddled, he is happy to sleep. But the last two nights he has slept even better, thanks to these miracle baby items.

Robert the lamb.... Named by Patrick, so we call him "bob" or "baaaaaaab". This thing hangs on the crib and plays noises like waves, whales and a heartbeat. James is a fan of the waves and will happily lay there after a feeding even if he isn't quite ready to go back to sleep. By the time the waves end, he is snoring away!

Love it!

The second item is a sleep sack. Mom and I went to a second hand sale on Friday called "just between friends" and picked up some things for all 3 boys. James got a couple of warmer sleep items including this fleece sack. He wore it last night with a swaddle over his torso to hold his arms and make him feel safe and sleep for 6 hours straight!

Awesome!

Is that a fashion statement or what?!?

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Herrmann cousin reunion

Last Saturday we headed to the Manitowoc/Valders area to visit Grandma E and Grandma H and partake in the Herrmann cousin reunion at Roy and Joy's farm. Jeff and Jen came with us so we had an awesome ratio of adults to James for a full day of traveling!

Our first stop was to introduce James to Grandma Ellestad. We also got to see Patrick's aunts Jan and Barb.

It was clear that Grandma E had not lost her touch... James happily curled up in her arms for much of the visit!

After a short stop to watch the badger game and get some wings - we traveled to Valders to see the Herrmanns.

There was a great bonfire, plenty of delicious food and lots of willing hands to hold James!

We came prepared for the chilly fall weather but spent most of the time inside the warm garage with the ladies and other babies. (There were 3 new babies all born since the beginning of August.) Here is James in his fuzzy white bear suit (borrowed from Thomas and Josiah ).

I had a little buddy for part of the night too, Robbie, big brother to one of the other new babies, Alex. He kept asking if I was holding Alex! He was a great helper and wanted a photo with James too! (I would have taken another photo since Robbie's eyes were closed, but that seems to be his camera pose!)

Cute shot of Alex, his Grandma Grace and GG Herrmann.

And here is a photo of the Ellestad portion of the Herrmann family.

James was a big fan of the baby bjorn as well. I think it will get a lot of use this fall!

Happy fall everyone!

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Cute photos!

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More visitors for James!

The Rubles came to visit this weekend and meet James. Both boys were very sweet and excited to meet him. 

After 9 months of calling him "baby E" Thomas has now taken to calling James "baby E James".

Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Here are two of my favorites!

Thomas helped me pick some of the last vegetables in our garden between football games on Saturday. He also tried some of the veggies, one bite per pepper to be exact!

Mom and Dad were here for the weekend as well and we took the first of many 3 grandson pictures, all decked out in sports gear!

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