Graham's 1st Birthday Party

Graham's first birthday theme was "Rookie of the Year." I felt this truly fit him perfectly because he has been a dream baby and we could not have asked for a better first year! He has definitely deserved that title with his heart warming smile, easy going personality and sweet demeanor.
So, the party was everything baseball...we did red buckets with baseballs for centerpieces, blue tablecloths, baseball plates, a one year banner with his pictures from each month, a concessions table complete with all the yummy ballpark staples (hot dogs, peanuts, chips), and had cookies and cupcakes decorated as baseballs for dessert.
We rented our favorite summer park, Pink Hill, and the shelter for the party. It ended up being a wet afternoon, sadly, but the kids still had fun and we made the most of it! It wasn't the picture perfect sunny day I had envisioned but we had lots of family and friends who love Graham present and that is all we could ask for!
Happy birthday to our rookie of the year! We love you, buddy!





































































And, a special thanks to Aunt Leanne for being the photographer and such a big help!

Graham is ONE

I cannot believe my baby boy is one! It has been such an incredible year with our little man. He has seriously been the best baby and we cannot remember our lives without him! He brings our family so much joy and we are so lucky to call him ours! The year has flown by. I wish he could stay my baby forever.
At one year...
Wears 12 month clothes and size 3 shoes (has just started to keep these on)
Wears size 3 diapers
Has two bottom middle teeth and is working on the top four! They are all coming in at once. The first one broke through at 11 months and they have all followed! He has handled it like a champ though, thankfully.
Loves...
His sister, kisses on his neck, peek-a-boo, balls, Mickey Mouse (will crawl from the other room at top speed if he hears the clubhouse song come on!) shooting baskets in his mini basketball hoop.
Dislikes...
The car wash :) he is very easygoing so we are lucky this is a short list!
Food favorites...pretty much everything! The baby who skipped over baby food has acquired a taste for about anything we eat! Some of his favorites: turkey, peaches, pears, blueberries, chicken, hot dogs, green beans, asparagus, cottage cheese, pasta. The only thing he has not been a fan of so far...sweets, go figure! With Brian and I as parents we are sure this is just a strange phase he will be growing out of!
Tricks...
Crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything and beginning to cruise while holding onto the fireplace mantle (no steps or walking yet)
Can say mama, dada, and ball
Waves hi, does "so big!" and claps
Other cute things I don't want to forget...to match his easy going personality he always kicks one or both feet up when he is in his stroller or even in his high chair at a restaurant...it is pretty adorable! He, of course, knows where/what he is not supposed to get into and his two favorite places to crawl to are the stairs and bang on the baby gate and the fridge when it is open. If we get a stern voice and say no he sticks his lip out and makes the cutest, saddest face you have ever seen and cries...my little tender hearted man! He is a mama's boy and is starting to go through separation anxiety when I leave the room (I hope he is a forever mama's boy secretly!)
He is the best and we are beyond blessed to have him as our son!

Lilian's Preschool Graduation

Although Lilian still has another year of preschool before starting Kindergarten, they "graduate" all the kids in the class so she was a graduate this spring! She attended Jaguar preschool at BS South High School and was spoiled by some pretty great high school girls all year! We have heard stories about each of her four helpers (well, really eight helpers since they switched at semester). Brian and I have only had the pleasure of meeting her first hour helper when we drop her off in the morning so graduation was fun to meet all the other teachers we have heard so much about! The ceremony was adorable. The senior helpers/teachers got to walk the preschoolers on stage and they each created a "silly" award for their preschooler which they felt represented the child. Amanda was Lilian's senior helper and she presented her with "Little Miss Sunshine" because she said she always has a smile on her face and brightens her day; talk about melt our hearts! The preschoolers sang the audience a few songs and we watched a slideshow of pictures of all the fun activities they were a part of this year. After the ceremony there was a cake and punch reception as well, and once again, Lilian's helpers spoiled her with some very thoughtful gifts! She is a lucky girl to have such sweet teachers! She will definitely miss them and Jaguar preschool!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a beautiful day! We woke up in the morning and walked the trail, did some shopping, had lunch out, and played outside. We made the new tradition that none of the moms should cook or clean on Mother's Day so our family had dinner out at 54th Street! Afterwards, we all went back to my parent's to enjoy our first dip in the pool of the season. Graham had been in once before last summer and we were excited to see what he thought this time around. He loves his bath so we thought he might like splashing around. He wasn't sure what to think at first but once he got used to the temperature he loved it! Lilian will have a new pool buddy this summer! I am so thankful I get to be a mommy and love my little family to pieces!

Brian's Graduation

Friday, May 9th Brian graduated with his Specialist's degree from the University of Central Missouri! We are so proud of him! More good news for Brian is he was offered a new job for next year as well! He will be an Administrative Intern (studying to become a principal one day) at another school in the Blue Springs School District, Thomas Ultican Elementary. So, lots of big changes going on for him (us)! So excited for him and proud of my graduate! Lilian also has her preschool graduation coming up at then end of May so I snapped a few pictures of them both in their caps and gowns!

Easter

We had an incredible (and busy!) Easter weekend! We headed to Iowa Friday afternoon and spent the weekend there. Rhoda had knee surgery a few weeks ago so she was happy to have some visitors after being cooped up for a few weeks. Saturday we enjoyed an egg hunt in the morning, playing at Leanne's house and lunch, dying eggs with the kids (thanks, Aunt Leanne!), visit g Brian's grandma and Aunt Ruth (who was in town from St. Louis), another egg hunt at the Care Center, and a yummy Mexican dinner out that night. We had a fun filled day!

Sunday we attended church with the family and then headed to Lonnie's house for our traditional Easter meal and egg hunt for the kids. A lot of Brian's family had not seen Graham so that was fun for them to see him! He had a great first Easter! After lunch we headed back to KC and celebrated with my family with one last egg hunt for Lilian and Curtis and grabbed a quick dinner together. The Easter bunny left some great baskets at Grammy's house too! Even baby Graham had a basket filled with puffs, Mum Mums, and a stuffed bunny to chew on! Such a thoughtful bunny! It was a family filled weekend!