Andrew's First Birthday Party

We got to celebrate Andrew's first birthday when we were in Florida over the holidays.  His birthday is right during the week of Christmas, so it was a little hectic.  But I really wanted to make it a special day for him, and for our friends and family!  It actually worked out very well, because so many people were off work for the holidays, and in town to come to the little birthday party we had!

Huge thanks to my parents for hosting and for all the food and party prep!  We had the best time!  

Andrew loved seeing all the people, playing with his friends, and enjoying his birthday cupcake....though he was very cautious at first!  ;)  

Enjoy the pics!

(and a short little video at the end!)

I had never made cookies like this before, but we gave it a try, and they turned out soooo cute!  Definitely time consuming, but I was so proud of the finished product!

I was playing around with iMovie, and created this little video of the past year...it's very short, but sweet :)

Happy 12 Months: A Year in Review

Dear Baby Boy,

Has this day really come?  Have 12 months of your precious life already come and gone? 

It truly feels like just yesterday when we were announcing our pregnancy to our friends and family, 

taking our "Babymoon" to Cabo San Lucas, decorating your nursery, and awaiting your anticipated arrival.  We had no idea how our lives were to change.  How our hearts would grow.  

And just how much we could love this wonderful gift God blessed us with.

There is no way to even explain the joy you have brought into our lives. 

Every day is better than the last, and it is such a delight watching you grow, learn, and explore the world around you.   

You are curious, but cautious.  

Silly and sweet, but a little shy too.

You love to snuggle and cuddle (which I simply can't get enough of).

You are so happy, smiling constantly, and giggling at just about everything that Daddy says or does.

You love to sleep, and splash in the bathtub, but you hate to get water in your eyes.

You love car rides, and turning pages of books.  

You are on the move, not walking quite yet, but you can crawl faster than lightning.

You are quite the little babbler, and your favorites words are "oh" and "oooh".

What a whirlwind this past year has been.  There were sleepless nights that I thought would never end.  There were tears of frustration, and cries of concern.  There were phone calls to doctors, and to every friend that had gone through "Motherhood" already.  

There were times of regret and guilt, disbelief, and confusion.

But then there were those bright blue eyes that looked up at me, promising me that we were going to be OK.  That those late nights and early mornings would all be worth it.  That sleep would come, and I would shower again someday.   

And you would smile.  And laugh.  And lift your arms up to be held.  And rest your head on our shoulders, and we just knew that we could make it.  We would make it.

And here we are...

One year later.  My how you've grown and changed little man.

 

And now...12 months old!!  

Happy Birthday, sweet Andrew!!

Things you love:

Daddy's hair

Being tickled

Reading books

Playing music, listening to music, dancing to music, anything music-related

Smiling 

Brushing your hair

Food: sweet potatoes, yogurt, pancakes, and bananas

Things you don't love:

Getting dressed

Getting out of the bath

Peas and carrots 

Teething

Weight: 16lbs 6oz

Height: 27.5 inches

Sleeping: 1 morning nap, 1 afternoon nap.  7:30pm-7:30/8am at night.

Eating: Still nursing 4 times a day, snacks and 3 meals a day.

Teeth: You finally got 2 teeth this month!  The two bottom middle ones.

And look at those curls!  You hair just grew out of nowhere this month.  

It's the best thing in the world.

Happy Birthday darling boy.

We love you so much more than words can even express.  

You are the light of our lives, and the joy of each day.

We are so proud and honored to call your our son, and we can't wait to see what this next year will bring.

Family Pics, and Andrew is One!

While we were Memphis over Thanksgiving, we managed to scrape ourselves up from the couch and dinner table for a little family photo shoot.  Remind me again why I thought pictures on Black Friday were a good idea?  I thought it would be a great time to be outdoors and enjoy the fresh air rather than beating the crowds at Target or Best Buy...but I forgot about the fact that we would be so stuffed with turkey and pumpkin pie that we I wouldn't be able to zip up my pants.  Thus the oversized sweater and mostly-sitting pictures.  True story.

Overall, I was so happy with how the pics turned out.   The lighting was perfect, and we LOVED our very patient and kind photographer.  Andrew was a little fussy, and it was quite chilly, so it was a relatively quick shoot.  But we managed to get a few shots of just Andrew for his 1st birthday.  It was a month early, but it was such a great opportunity to get them done.  I don't know how we got him sitting in that chair without toppling over, but we did.  Happy early birthday, sweet boy!

Our little fam!

Thanks for being patient with me while I took a blogging hiatus over the holidays!  We are back after 2 wonderful weeks of traveling, so I'll be back to blogging all about our time at the beach, Andrew's airplane birthday party, and more!  

Happy Monday, loves!!