Phil's 30th Birthday

Phil turned 30th on March 21st. He was off for his birthday, the lucky dog, and got to spend the day at home with his boys. I had to head out to work that morning so the boys and I gave him his birthday present (a Little Giant ladder he had been coveting for a long time) and cards before I left. Philip was so excited for him to rip into that big box but a little confused and uninterested when he saw what the gift was. LOL. That is, until Phil took it out later to play with it and Philip discovered he could climb on it. Then it was cool again!

The day started off rainy and cloudy but by the time I got home we spent the afternoon it was beautiful out so we spent some time playing outside before heading out to dinner in town at Chili's. Phil and I each got chicken fajitas and the boys shared a chicken crispers kids meal. I love that they can share one meal and have it be plenty! I'll miss that when they're ordering everything off the menu when they're teenagers!

I spared Phil the torture of having strangers sing to him in exchange for going home and having Philip and I sing to him. We had homemade German chocolate cake and ice cream which the boys especially enjoyed.

It was a nice, quiet day at home with our family. I can't believe one of us is now in our 30s (and that my own birthday on 4/21 is less than a month away as a result). We met when we were both 5 years old. Hard to believe that was a quarter of a century ago! :-p

Happy Birthday to darling husband. I'm so looking forward to discovering what our 30s have in store for us together. <3

Andrew is One!

Our baby boy celebrated his first birthday yesterday! Where oh where has this year gone?

We spent the day at home just the four of us. Phil came home early from work and was here before Andrew got up from his first nap. We made a spaghetti dinner and had cake for dessert. Andrew loved the cake! He held it in his hand the whole time and kept taking big bites off of it, I think in an effort not to lose any of it!

Philip sang Happy Birthday to Andrew many times during the course of the day. It was a nice, happy day spent at home as a family.

This Saturday is Andrew's big birthday blow out. We're having it outdoors at a nearby park, the same one where we had Philip's first birthday, and many of our family and friends will be there.  It should be a great day!

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet little "Dee-doo!" We love you so!

Reflections On a Year Gone By Too Soon

Today was our baby's last day of being an 11 month old. Tomorrow we officially begin counting his age in years. I can't begin to express my amazement at how much Philip has changed and grown over these past twelve months. To think that one year ago today we didn't even know the sweet little boy sleeping serenely in his crib upstairs. I can hardly remember what our lives were like without him in them, and that doesn't bother me one bit, because our lives are infinitely improved, just by knowing him. I can't think of a single part of my life that hasn't been enriched by Philip's presence in it, and every day just gets better.

This past year has been such an amazing ride. Full of ups and downs, and highs and lows as we felt our way, often blindly, along our journey into and through parenthood. We survived the sleepless nights and the colic (although there were nights and days when I was quite convinced a person actually could die from sleep deprivation). The three months of breast milk jaundice and the agonizing, multiple doctor's visits that accompanied it. Purchasing and moving into our first home with a two-month-old in tow. A first cold this past winter. Vaccinations. Teething. First falls and other boo-boos as Philip learned how to crawl, stand, and eventually walk. But amongst the days that have tried our patience, and sometimes our sanity, there have been countless more days full of awe and wonder. I could never find words eloquent enough to express the joy and pride that wells up from the depths of your soul from witnessing your child discovering the world and learning his own place in it. The love for your child is truly like no other love in the world.

And so tomorrow and on Saturday at his first birthday party we will celebrate Philip's first year on this planet, and we, the people who love him, will give him gifts to show him how special he is to us. But no gift in the world that I will ever give my son could hold a candle to the gift he gave me one crazy, wonderful, joyful year ago: the gift of becoming his mother. A gift for which I am forever grateful.

I love you so much, sweet boy!

Here are some pictures from Philip's last day of being eleven months old.

A little light reading in the morning.

Off to the store in the afternoon. He still fits in his infant car seat, although not for much longer! What a contrast to the tiny little bundle we brought home from the hospital. He was so small I thought the seat wouldn't safely hold him! Click here!

Carrying Monkey around the living room. The same monkey who visited him in his infant bed in the hospital when he was born, and was considerably larger than newborn Philip! Click here!

More reading in the evening! Philip received this book as a gift from his Aunt Diane for his first Christmas when he was only 3 months old. It has been a favorite since then! Click here!

My beautiful little boy.

Looking more like his daddy every day!

He loves his stacking rings from his Great Grandma G! A favorite activity is crawling with one in each hand and banging them together in the air while walking.

Our little cutie pie.

Loving his big boy bath! No more baby tub!

Deep in conversation with Officer Quack Quack.