a day with my dad

by james riley hocker


today my dad and i had several adventures. i really like to play with him. he makes me laugh and smile all the time. here we are...


first, we played on the swing,


then we sat on the porch for a bit.


oops! i fell over!


we jumped on the trampoline. it was a lot of fun! and dad says you should always wear sunglasses outside...


i beat dad at a game of horseshoe. he didn't even have a chance.


we then roasted some marshmallows. do you see the branch dad made me hold? there wasn't a marshmallow on it, i was pretty dissapointed.


our adventure is almost done! i had a trip down the slide,


and made a basket!


that's it! thanks for listening to my story! stop by next time and we'll see what other adventures i have!


the end.

a tale of unfortunate events...for my baby's eye

okay so that last post ended pretty abruptly and there is a reason for that...a thunderstorm! it was a sweet one too- part of a tree fell down at my in laws house! but i ended so early in my post because i had to shut down my computer right away... and that left with the quick ending -

"b. our computer got stolen."

with no explanation. i was going to say that about three weeks ago our computer got stolen from our apartment. it was actually a bit of a scary situation to come home with james only to find our computer gone and the sliding glass door open. that said i really don't mind that our computer was actually stolen, just everything that was on it was. including baby james pictures. rats. but the reason that i do bring it up is to inform my faithful readers (all three of you) that though i am posting ago don't stop checking back if it takes me a couple of days to put something up! we are back to using our in laws computer, so i only update when i come here. but i will try to be more faithful and put a thought up here once in a while. or as often as i can.

dave and i and james went on a run today! he did so well (james that is) and didn't make a peep the whole way (a good two miles too!) we are all training to run the lindsay race on the forth and hopefully, eventually a half marathon come october. but again, we'll take it one step at a time. literally.

it was a really nice run...except for when we came home. we dropped james off with auntie suse so dave and i could go jump in the lake real quick to cool off. it was really fun to because we took the moped down and for a couple brief fleeting moments i felt like i was a young teenager in love on a sunny aternoon day. but anyways back to the main story. when we came back from the lake and to our son his whole right eye was covered in some sort of rash. apparently it's possible that when baby sweat and baby sunblock mix, a rash can develop. my heart sank to find my son in such a state and in near tears i took him in my arms only to look into his splotchy red eye. i felt like such a bad mom. luckily, with a nurse, bath and time later, his eye seems to be back to normal. but i felt so bad walking in a seeing him like that! it was weird though his eye was completely fine, just the skin around it was affected and only on his left side. weird. so now that i have gone on and on about what happened and how bad i felt to see my son in such a state, i hope that the baby Gods have forgiven me.

also, dave and i are planning on going on a date tonight! weee! who knows what we will do, but mimi is on duty. maybe we can go shopping and buy me a swimsuit and that orchid halter top from old navy i've been wanting? not the most fun date for dave, but i'd enjoy myself! :)

well this has turned into a much longer post than planned and unfortunately i have one more thing to say. i just wanted to add that lately james has been talking. like "oooo's and ahhhhh's." it's pretty cute and started about a week ago. it mostly happens at random times but sometimes when he's looking intently at a toy he will have a serious face and a big "oooo" will come out of his cute little mouth. it's a pretty great trick to see!

well that's all for now. j.r. is taking a nap with dad and there is a slight breeze coming through the window. all is right with the world...

weight loss

two things

a. i am below my prepregnacy weight! de de dee! now just to get back to tha actual weight i want to be at, because let's face it, before i was pregnant i was not in the shape i want to be.

b. our computer got stolen.

obnoxious mom

okay...so here are more pictures. i just can't help myself.

what a cool dude...


but he still needs his dad and thumb to sleep...


bathing dude


with his girlfriend eva


go wyoming! (and notice the drool)


so basically he is great! and i apologize for just putting up pictures of him. i just can't help it. so i am just one of those obnoxious mom's who shows pictures of her baby over and over again. my apologies. well, then again, it's my site...soo.....

also, it's raining today- bring it on!

she's back!

hello to all. it's been far too long, hasn't it?

well, here's all the news going on around here.

well, it's june! and that means i have officially lived in michigan in all the months possible. it's sorta fun. i've planted a little garden outside our patio and it is growing quite nicely. our lake is a beautiful place to be and i love seeing the sunsets over it each night. it's full on summer weather and i am enjoying wearing flip flops and shorts each day. ANNND i started running again which has been so nice. but let's face it- not running for over a year and a half has it's challenges when you are trying to get back in shape. but dave and i have a goal of running a half maranthon come october, so i better get my butt in gear.

my garden



and by now, james is about 4 months old! he's becoming such a big little guy. on friday he started talking (like coos and such) and it's pretty fun. today he was so loud in church that we had to take him to the nursery for the first time! he's growing up so fast. i think he's about 15 to 16 pounds by now... and he's starting to roll from his tummy to back and vice versa. we're so proud of the little lamb. he's a chub though, that's for sure.



he's been sleeping in his crib more at night but still prefers to take naps during the day with me, which is mighty all right. i love to snuggle with him! and he's fully got the 'put something in my hand and i'll bring it to my mouth' reflex down. he's just all around a great little guy!

in other news, dave and i got our computer stolen from our apartment a couple of weeks ago. it was really sad first to be broken into, but secondly and most importantly it was sad because they took our computer with all our files on it- especially all of baby james pictures. i think that was the saddest part! it was a old computer so we didn't really mind that it was gone. it was just what was on the computer that was the saddest.

lastly, for memorial day we had our friends over for a little bit of b-b-q ing and baseball playing. all the girls are each pregnant or have a little one, so it was lots of fun! we have been so blessed by all there friendships...here's a couple of pictures...
this is jes with james playing with baby jacob

lauren, me, baby eva, and jes

vicky and baby jacob, me and baby james, jes and baby eva, abbie and baby austin and lauren (with baby david inside) and dayle (with donovan inside!)



it was a fun time...sorry there are no pictures of the men.

oh! and i had my first mother's day, which was really nice. i was fully blessed by my husband and my son! here's a picture from that day...


and to end...here's just some cute james pictures that y'all should see
at dad's track meet

wearing mom's glasses

with spikey hair

supporting the cubs



well, that's about all for now! i promise to update more! and i hope you are all doing great. much love!