Great things are happening!

We have finally started to get two more teeth. It is so sad, whenever his teeth try to break through his makes fish face like he is trying to suck the teeth out. He did this last time as well.





Also, he is walking up a storm. He started off last week just walking a few steps here and there and now he is walking all the time like a drunk pro. It is so cute! I am going to try to get it on film but every time the camera comes out he stops what he is doing and tries to pry the camera out of my hands.

Bath Time!

Jacob is getting back into a place where he loves bath time. For a while he just wanted to stand up and climb out of the tub, now he sits and plays with all his little water toys. He especially loves his octopus.

When it's time to get out one of us lifts him from the tub and into a soft, fluffy white towel.

He then likes to look in the mirror at himself and click his tongue, talk about cute.

Mmm and the smell of a baby fresh from the water is just heavenly.

A Busy, Fun Fourth of July!

Like always, we went over to the grandparents (my parents) house for the 4th!

It was such a nice day. We sat out on the front porch and played with cars for a while.


Pa Pa smoked some bologna, hot links, bratwurst, and polish sausage and grilled some chicken, while grammy made baked beans, potato salad and corn on the cob. Jake loved the baked beans and bologna, but his favorite was the corn on the cob!





Then we went out back to play and what would the 4th be without a sparkler and a rock?!



We went to the fireworks stand and bought a bunch of fireworks! (Momma was bad and didn't get a picture of them).

When we got back to Grammy's we went for a swim! Swimming is one of Jacob's favorite things to do!



Once we got out of the pool Grammy had watermelon all cut up and ready to eat. So we sat outside and snacked on it. It was so sweet and juicy!



Yay! Watermelon!





Once it got dark enough to start fireworks it started to rain. So we stood out in the rain lighting fireworks!  Needless to say our little booger was tired when he got home.

Here are some more pictures of the day!

Clapping Babies Are the Cutest

When ever you say YAY! or CLAP! Jake get's these big eyes and softly claps his hands together. It barely makes a sound but it is too cute. Talk about melting a poor momma's heart!

Father's Day Pics - Better Late Than Never

Here is the boy and Jonathan as we were headed out the door to go and eat lunch with his parents. Notice he has shoes on! They are too big though because we still can't find any in the right size that fit his fat feet.

Porch Sittin' With My Fish

Little Man has 3 small fish that squeak when you squeeze them. He has always been enamored by them but for a while they had sat by the wayside in preference of other toys. Two days ago he rediscovered his love for his little fish. We took him out on the porch during sunset to get a few pictures of him with his buddies and enjoy a little fresh air. It's been really hot during the day lately and so we can't really get out unless it's morning or evening. 

Notice the outfit he is wearing - I love it!

A Life Lesson: Sharing

I guess I lied. I found these pictures on my camera today, I promptly downloaded them. The lighting is horrible and they are a little blurry but I don't care. I have mommy goggles on and he is precious.

Little Man is really into sharing right now. It is his hearts greatest desire that you partake of and enjoy that which he is enjoying - the dog, I suppose is no exception.

Here he is sitting on the floor with his cheerio's. Notice the hungry puppy sitting beside him?

Well Little Man notices too and promptly tries to stuff his cherio's in poor Mushu's mouth.



Mushu, as you can tell, doesn't seem to mind. :)

Chores

He loves going to the store, looking up and down the aisles, and I love how he sits with his little feet crossed. He has done this since he was itty bitty and it always makes me heart melt. Notice how he doesn't have shoes on...we haven't found any that will fit his tall fat feet.

Gonna Party Like It's 1999...Or 2010...

Little man had his first birthday party yesterday afternoon.

It was a small party full of close family and my best friend and her son. As the years go on the parties will get bigger but for now this suits us just fine.

We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and opened presents and ate cake! It was everything a good birthday should be, except as soon as everyone left I realized I forgot to set out the chips! How do you forget the chips?! But in my defense I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the last week trying to get the house ready to put on the market.

He got some fabulous presents and has been having a grand time playing with them.

Here are a few pictures from the festivities!
















On an off note at the doctor last Wednesday we found out his was 23 lbs and 28 inches. Within the last week he has started clapping and standing unassisted for seconds at a time! We are still not saying any words but I am sure that will happen soon, we are working hard with him. I can't believe my little man is getting so big.

An Open Letter To My Son For His Birthday

My dear sweet baby boy,

As I laid you down in your crib tonight I cried a little. When you wake up in the morning you will be one.

I can't believe it's been a year since you surprised us with your unexpected arrival. I can still recall them placing you on my stomach immediately following your birth. As your daddy cut the cord I just stared at you, my mouth  hanging open in shock at how beautiful you were. You were so tiny and helpless and little did I know that even then you were winding me around your little fingers.

I want you to know how much joy you bring into our lives. How everything before seems gray and lifeless. Words cannot express what I am feeling right now, the love I have you, how much you mean to me.

I wish I could stop time and you could stay my tiny baby forever but at the same time I can't wait to see what life has in store for you.

Happy first birthday sweet heart. Momma loves you. 

...in human coupling, millions upon millions of cells compete to create life, for generation after generation until, finally, your mother loves a man,... [and] against unfathomable odds, it's you - only you - that emerged. To distill so specific a form, from all that chaos. It's like turning air into gold. A miracle. - The Watchmen

The Hidden Dangers of Frozen Yogurt

One day, while pouring over the latest entries of a blogger who specializes in writing about the local to-do's, I came across Peachwave. The minute I read self serve frozen yogurt I knew I had to make a trip out.

There were so many flavors to choose from and I wanted to try them all. I ended up with Tiramisu for me with brownie pieces, snickers, chocolate chips and 2 cherries,  a little bit of plain cheese cake flavored for the boy and Jonathan decided on coffee topped with brownies and snickers. 

As we got Little Man settled in his high chair (the only one in the place) he started to squeal with anticipation at the bowl full of frozen treats. The first bite was plain bliss. He loved it!




He wanted more and more until...



...that's right, a brain freeze. He made this face for at least a minute. It was so sad but also incredibly funny.

After that he wasn't too interested in the frozen yogurt so I gave him some puffs while we finished ours.



I can't wait to go back!  

Smash Cake!!

The day we went to do the cake smash photo shoot was the absolute worst day for photographs. The supposedly cloudy day was sunny, the allegedly cool day was hot, the reportedly calm day was windy and still we went.

By the time we got to the park the cake I had made that morning had melted. The frosting started to goop down the side and the already sloping cake was listing even more. It looked like something you would see in a Dr. Seuss book.

Booger didn't seem to mind too much though - he would like everyone to know that he and the frosting are running away together, and yes they plan to live happily ever after.


Here is the cake before. Peacefully sitting in the park minding it's own business.



And along comes a boy...








I didn't want to bog down the blog post too much so here are a few more.

Birthday Balloon Pictures

Yesterday I posted a couple of outtakes from the birthday balloons photo shoot we did on Tuesday. If you recall it was a total disaster! I was able to salvage 4 from the wreckage.



Notice the stick that was more interesting than the balloons...


Here he is slightly annoyed with the green balloon encroaching on his space.


This one is way blown but I think the slightly bemused look on his face is too cute.


Smash cake pictures to come soon.

2 Birthday Photo Shoot Outtakes

If you recall Tuesday I made a smash cake.

After an all too short morning nap, the family piled in the car and rode off in search of balloons. Not just any balloons though. We needed 5 helium filled balloons in different colors with vibrant ribbons coming off the ends. Momma had plans.

I could picture it now. A cute round beach ball of a boy sitting in a green park setting with a kaleidoscope of balloons all around him, laughing gleefully up at them as they floated serenely above. As he did this I would snap picture after picture getting shots better then I could even imagine.

Yeah right...if only.

This is how it really happened. As we got there the overcast sky that was promised the night before was in reality a cloudless sea of blue with the sun radiating down in mockery of me. The wind was atrocious and blowing the balloons this way and that (and eventually popping the red one). My son, who if you recall was suppose to be infatuated with the balloons, preferred to eat the dirt, leaves, sticks, and grass that surrounded him rather than even glance at the colorful orbs that hovered above. As for my snapping fabulous images...well....I am sure you can guess how that turned out.

To make matters even worse as soon as we got home from this ordeal the sky turned extremely overcast and the wind died down completely. Typical. Really, just typical.

Here are two outtakes from the day.



Oh no! They are in my hair! Get them out! Get them out! Get them out! 



HELP! They are attacking me! WHY!!!!!!

Little Man's Smash Cake or How NOT To Make A Cake

Anonymous Narrator: World meet the worlds worst cake baker.

World: (all together) Hi worlds worst cake baker.

Anonymous Narrator: Worlds worst cake baker, meet world.

Me:  ::waves sadly at world:: Hi world.

There now that we have got our introductions out of the way let's move on to my embarrassment of a cake.

I wanted to do smash cake pictures with Little Man. I am sure you have seen them, they are all the rage for one year old photo shoots. Cute little cherub faces covered with cake bits and frosting - I can't think of a better way to remember your one year old!

In order to accomplish this cake smash photo shoot I wanted to make his cake for it. You know the deal, the whole labor of love thing.

So yesterday morning I set to work. I got out the eggs, the oil, the box of cake mix (this makes it even more embarrassing because not only did I fail at making a cake, I failed at making a BOX cake), etc.

I mixed and I baked and I food colored until eventually I had my cake stacked and ready to frost.
 

Look at the pretty colors of icing! 
 
Cake before stacking and cake after stacking.

Here is the result!

Oh what a mess. I couldn't get the frosting smooth to save my life and if you look closely the cake fell on one side because Little Man kept stomping around the oven on his hands and knees shaking the whole kitchen.

Oh well he was just going to smash it and it was made with love.