What?!?

I just realized that I haven't shared pictures from Small Fry's birthday -- or even written down what we did to celebrate.  As you may have noticed, blogging has taken a bit of a hiatus.  Between a super-crazy last few weeks, a baby with an ear infection that won't end, and a mama who is trying to get some lawyer work done while battling the crud, blogging has definitely been on the back-burner.  But, here goes...before I forget!

Small Fry's birthday fell on a Friday.  We woke up to Magic Muffins and sang Happy Birthday to our little man.

Mommy and Small Fry on the anniversary of his birth.  What a difference a year makes!

Slightly blurry, but very happy boys.

Fawn gave Small Fry a backpack just like his.  So proud.

Mommy and Daddy gave Small Fry two new balls -- this "talking" puppy ball and a football.

After taking Fawn to school, Small Fry and Mommy went for a walk and then went to story time at Whole Foods.  Just a normal, fun Friday with this precious one-year old!

Love these precious one-year old cheeks.

Loving his new toy.

Excited brother is a one-year old and not a baby!

We ended the day with a fun brothers bath.

They do so well together at bath time.

This guy is the best big brother in the world.

 This guy loves to drink bath water.  Gross.

We love you buddy!  Hope you had a great birthday!

The weekend after Small Fry's birthday, we had a family birthday party for the boys -- and the pictures will soon follow!  We saved the cake and the rest of the presents for that celebration.  But, I don't want to ever forget Small Fry's actual birthday -- a normal, family-centered Friday with a happy little angel.  A little guy who had no clue the day was special even though Mommy and Daddy sure did!

Learning Letters.

Fawn is really working on his letters and some pre-reading skills.  Until recently he has had no interest in reading to himself (telling me that I will always read to him).  But, we've started reading chapter books aloud at night.  He is a huge fan of the Magic Tree House books and hates to put them down.  He gets to choose five books at night -- or can read five chapters of a chapter book.  He hates for reading time to end.  Now he can't wait for the day that he can stay up reading to himself.

So, he's all about letter activities.  I saw this one on Pinterest and had to share.

I wrote the alphabet on a piece of paper and he painted over the letters using a Q-Tip.  He loved this -- and it was easy to set up and clean up so it's a winner in my book as well.

And, while he was painting, Small Fry was being his usual destructive self.

Getting everything out of my cooking cabinet.

Pops is 60!

My sweet dad, who Fawn calls Pops (or Popsy or Poppy) turned 60 on February 2.  And a big milestone like that definitely calls for a big celebration.  Only one small problem...Pops can be a bit of a bah humbug when it comes to things in his honor and Mom and I were afraid he would nix the idea of a birthday party.  So, we decided it had to be a surprise.  (As an aside, we decided this in early January -- so we had a lot of work to do to get everything together in time for his big day.)

There was back-and-forth on the location -- Mom and Dad's home or a restaurant?  Though we knew it would be more work and more complicated, we really thought a party at home was more suited for Dad's personality and would just be more fun.  Dad's birthday fell on a Saturday, which was perfect.  And, Buck agreed to keep him occupied on the day of his birthday so Mom could get ready for the big night.

Because Mom had very little time in her house to set up for the party without Dad around, we knew we had to keep the food simple.  We went with Mexican food (one of Dad's favorites) and had the main course catered while Mom handled the rest.  And though Mom can make a mean cake, we ordered the cake as well.

Buck, Fawn and my brother took Dad to the hunting camp the night before his birthday and planned to bring him home straight to the party.  Buck and my brother even convinced Dad to bring a change of clothes to the hunting camp so they could come home straight for dinner.  Dad was under the impression we were having a family dinner at my house to celebrate his birthday (so I could put the boys to bed and stay up to celebrate).  He requested fish tacos (so I'm glad we went with Mexican food!).  While they were at the hunting camp, Buck told Dad that Small Fry was having a rough day with his ears (we've basically had an ear infection since Christmas poor thing!) and that his mom was going to watch the boys so we could change locations to Mom and Dad's house.  He totally bought it!

Family (including Dad's sister and brother-in-law from Tennessee and Mom's sisters and brother-in-law from Kentucky) and six of Mom and Dad's closest couple friends gathered and waited for the birthday boy to arrive.  True to form, Buck pulled up right on time.  (I texted my brother so many times during their drive in for a status I thought he was going to kill me!)  They pulled into the driveway and came up the stairs -- first Buck, warning the gathered crowd he was not the birthday boy, then my brother, doing the same, and finally after a restroom stop Pops!

Surprise!  He was shocked.  Do not let him tell you otherwise.  His only "clue" he said was that the pool table in his basement was all cleaned up.  Ha!

How cute is this!  When Mom and I had the brilliant idea to throw this little party, Pinterest gave us this idea.  We spent one weekend in January going through old photo albums and scanning pictures.  Then we edited, cropped and printed about 100 in black and white for use on this super-cute "60" that Mom made and for Mom's centerpieces.

All of the flower arrangements also had pictures.  (Check out the wedding picture from 2003.)

My precious sister-in-law (who manned the video camera) and one of my aunts (who made margaritas all night -- and ran around all day picking up the cake and food).

The birthday boy, his daughter-in-law, and his sister and brother-in-law (who helped my mom get ready all afternoon -- I had Small Fry so was not much help the day of!).

Dad and some of his buddies; these guys have been friends since college.

Mom bought sparkler candles for the red velvet cake (family folklore goes like this -- when the FDA threatened to outlaw food coloring, Dad stocked up on red food coloring so he could continue to make red velvet cake for his lifetime).

Mom and my sister-in-law's mom.  These two are such good friends!

I didn't want my other aunt to feel left out :).  Seriously, though, she made some amazing sangria that she transported from Kentucky for the celebration -- it was a huge hit!

Great work Mom -- you did a fabulous job!  Love this picture.

These three Auburn guys also worked together for years.

Buck and my brother were so proud they pulled off the surprise.

My sister-in-law helped out on the home front.

Thank you, Buck, for helping make Dad's birthday so special.

Dad got two sentimental gifts from the family.  One was a photo book that Mom and I put together from all the pictures we scanned.  Plus, Mom sent an email to family and friends and we gathered special birthday messages and memories that we included in the book.  I hope it's something Dad cherishes forever.  I was laughing and crying reading all the funny stories that people sent in.

The second was a video set to music that my brother created from all of the pictures.  It was awesome -- and we had it playing in the background for most of the evening.

How cute are they!?!  (Dad, you've got ten months until Mom's 60th -- we've got to start planning!)

Happy Birthday!

We got you!

We love you!

Month 12 Update.

The last month of the first year flew by as quickly as those first eleven.

We've had a bit of a rough month around here -- nothing serious, but poor Small Fry came down with croup and has been battling his second ear infection.  The medicine seemed to create more havoc than the underlying illnesses -- and his poor tummy just can't seem to handle it!  (Which really should be of no surprise considering how many tummy issues we had the first six months of his life.)  That coupled with the chipped tooth has meant for a lot of doctor/dentist visits -- and a much affected appetite.  My great eater has seemed to vanish in front of my eyes.  As long as he's full and growing, that's what matters though!  We can re-introduce foods when life calms down.

He's a walking machine -- has completely given up crawling.  He goes, goes, goes and loves his freedom.  He now wants to walk into school to pick Fawn up, always crawl up the stairs himself, and basically be put down wherever we go.  It's great -- but can make for quite an antsy baby when he has to be held and doesn't want to be.  He still loves to dance -- current favorites are Johnny Cash, Widespread Panic, and Barenaked Ladies.  We crank up the music every night while I'm fixing dinner and dance our way through the end of the day.  (Fawn also loves to dance so they both get in on the fun.)

Although we've had our fair share of winter weather this month (Small Fry's first snow!!!), we've also had some lovely days that have allowed for trips to the zoo, Botanical Gardens, and various parks.  Like his older brother, Small Fry loves to be outside.  It can instantly improve his mood, and he just seems so content.  We've also been to our favorite inside locations -- McWane (he loves!) and the library.

We are working on dropping the morning nap.  It gives us more "play" time in the morning; plus, we're hoping that it will extend the night time sleep.  We're still not sleeping well at night -- but at least there's room for improvement!

Small Fry loves music so much and almost "sings" along -- not following the words, but following the melody.  It's pretty cute!  Small Fry has been talking a little more this month.  Focusing his energy on saying "Dada", "all done" and "no."  What?!?!  I did not think a one-year old would be telling me "no" but Small Fry does with pride.  And he's very emphatic about it!  He occasionally says "Mama" and every time my heart melts.  Speaking of Mama and Dada, we're still in the separation anxiety phase, but that seems to be lessening just a bit.

Small Fry's favorite toys are still balls (though he does not discriminate when it comes to throwing objects -- if it fits in his hand, he'll throw it).  He also has started to really love Legos and musical instruments.  He and Fawn play more together each day, which is really cute.  They are especially good playmates when they are contained in the bathtub.  And, Fawn loves to "race" Small Fry up the stairs in crawling races.  They are really enjoying each other's company -- and I am so thankful they have each other to go through life with.

What a month, what a year!  What a sweet, happy, joyful baby!  What a precious smile!

One Year.

One year ago, our little nugget arrived looking like this:

And, yesterday, on the celebration of his BIRTH day, he looked like this:

What a year!  From a tiny (8 pounds, 1 ounce) cuddle bug to a pretty big (22 pounds and change at our last doctor's appointment) sitting/standing/walking/dancing/playing toddler.  We love you from here to eternity and back Small Fry!  We love getting to know you more every single day.  We celebrate your milestones with pride, and look back on the precious memories we have created over the past year with a joyful heart.  It has been a full year.  We are blessed by your little life.  Happy Birthday baby!

Month Twelve in Pictures.

Week 48.

Week 49.

Week 50.

Week 51.

Week 52.

Fawn on Prayer.

Fawn's preschool just finished their unit on prayer.  And, based on our prayer encounters the last week, it seems to have made an impression on him.  Case in point:

On Monday, we were at Overton Park with a sweet friend who lives in our neighborhood.  Our young children were racing in the grassy area and "invaded" some turf of a group of older boys.  One of the boys turned to Fawn and his friend and said something along the lines of "Watch out little kids."  Fawn and his buddy headed back to the mommies with heads hung.  Then, I kid you not, Fawn dropped to his knees, closed his eyes, clasped his hands and prayed.  "Dear God, Please take the mean out of that boy.  Please replace the mean with good.  Amen."  I was speechless while at the same time biting my lip to keep from cracking up.

On Wednesday, we had some pretty strong thunderstorms which seemed to have confused the robins who in flocks were flying into our front windows.  I was afraid we were going to have broken glass and dead birds. Fawn and I looked through our front door to see a poor bird laying on our front steps, motionless.  I called Buck in tears who was patient but not sympathetic to the poor bird or my distress at watching his demise.  Fawn decided that we would go back to playing but check on the bird every few minutes.  The next time we checked it was obvious the bird wasn't dead.  He was crying -- and it broke my heart.  More tears -- and perhaps a text or two to Buck.  The next time he was sitting up.  And, the next time he was gone.  Fawn's reaction, "Mommy, God put His healing hand on the bird and made him all better!"  That or he got dragged off by another animal, but I'm trying to be optimistic and hoping for the former!

On Thursday, Fawn and I were playing Transformers.  I was Optimus Prime (a "good guy") and he was Soundwave (a Decepticon -- or "bad guy").  Fawn with his Soundwave came up to me to "help" me and I asked him what he was doing -- weren't we on opposite sides?  "Oh no, Mommy.  Soundwave prayed to God to be made good.  So God changed him, God changed his heart."

He's funny even when he's trying to be serious.  And, his heart is so sweet.  I love this kid!

(Totally unrelated, but still loves to play dress-up with Daddy's boots.)