Happy Birthday James!

James is ONE! We had tons of fun on his birthday and wanted to share some great pictures from the day. I decided that I was "sick" on Friday, so I obviously had to stay home from work, and Reid didn't have much to do at work (a common occurrence these days), so we got to spend most of the day as a family. It was wonderful.

He's just scoping out this present. In a moment, he tears it all up!

Good morning Birthday Boy!

Singing Happy Birthday to the Birthday Boy!

His Little Cake... pre-James

James... post-cake

Giving Mama a kiss... yummy!

Bath Time!

Playing with his birthday balloons. He tried to bite them more than once.

Sweet Little James! (Who is now ONE!)

We love you all! Thanks for celebrating with us... and we missed you if you weren't here! Come kiss the birthday boy soon. We'll try to get a video of the cake up this next week. Muah!

Seriously? One year old? Seriously?

Wow... the little man turns ONE on Friday. This is crazy. Ok, I admit it, I have in fact cried about this. Twice now I have had actual tears running down my face because my son is turning one. Everyone says it, but it's so true: it goes so fast. The last year has been awesome. I love being Mom. Reid loves being Dad. I would have to say James loves being James.



J loves climbing in and out of things... boxes, pans, his little truck. He has, on numerous occasions, just gotten into this little truck and just sat there - as proud as can be.



He loves to crawl into things... like his tunnel when it's all folded up. He actually curled his little body into his tunnel, flipped over and just laughed. We just can't get enough of this guy!





And he loves all thing "ball"... even when that ball is actually a grapefruit. More than once he has asked to play with a grapefruit or orange. We usually don't succumb... just this once. Yes, he "threw" the grapefruit, rolled it all over the floor, and then, yes, we ate it.





Bath time is a favorite! We realized James' love of baths when one evening I said, "is it bath night?" and James dropped everything and crawled as fast as possible (he was clearly on a mission and Reid and I just sat back and watched) and headed straight for the bathroom where he stood up on the side of the tub and signed "please". Now we have to ask "is it b-a-t-h night?" Hopefully he won't learn to spell any time soon.



Reid & I created a list of "Fun Things to do before July" (when life as we know it will be turned upside down) and one of those things was more hiking... and it's been a blast! On this hike, we hiked up a trail just 15 minutes from our house. It led us up to a little reservoir and had some beautiful views. James had a comfy view from the backpack... and Reid and I got a workout carrying him up and down the trail. My legs were literally shaking when we got back to the car. He's no light-weight. But he is super duper fun.

Mr. Curious

James is eleven months today! Wow. Time flies. Can you believe that in a month, James will be ONE?! It has been so much fun! Here are some great pictures of his latest adventures. He is into everything... a very curious little man. He's also close to walking, a crawling super star, he loves going up and down stairs, he's saying "da-da" and his own little version of "dog", he's signing lots of words - my favorite one is "please". Too cute.

We have a little book worm on our hands. James loves books and it's one of his favorite signs!





He's figuring out how to eat with a spoon - messy and not always graceful, but really fun to watch.



We had James dedicated in January. We were able to do it the same day a bunch of friends did dedications for their little ones as well - so it was a great thing to be a part of!



Chillin' on Elwin the Elephant.



James has this great little tunnel (thank you, IKEA) and he loves it. Here he is on a couple of his first runs through it. He just loves to crawl in and giggle. He also likes to flip over when he's in it because he's figured out that the side usually catches him - I say usually - we've head a head bonk or two.







Chewing on yarn... always tasty.



And now for a little display we like to call: What can I put on my head?

Laundry baskets...



That was just on my head!



Tupperware...



The tupperware was on my head, and then I fell over with it on my head, and now I'm crying...



Let's see - I'm sure I can get this basket on my head...



Well, at least it's on top of me...



And now I'm stuck.



Ok! Believe me, there are many more. Moving on... we were able to go for a hike just the other weekend. Yay for spring!







Muah! We'll be back soon!

Brian & Melanie's Wedding

We spent last weekend in Colorado for Brian and Melanie's wedding! It was so much fun - and now I have a sister! Here are some pics from the weekend - the fist couple are pictures that my cousin Elyse and Uncle Bill took - great pictures! Thanks for sharing them. And cheers to the happy couple! We love you guys.


Mr. & Mrs. Brian Sprehe!!!


The bride - isn't she so beautiful?


Yes... they walked through a light saber tunnel. It was so perfect.


Kevin & K at the rehearsal dinner.


Reid & I at the rehearsal dinner.


Mom and James after the party!


Kevin and Casey Schx... sorry Casey... can't spell that crazy last name. Kev and Casey have been dating since last fall. We're super big fans of these two being together.