first birthday...part I

breakfast with a birthday hat

enough pictures mom!

helping mom blow up float for the pool

just look how much I've grown!

Ethan's birthday dinner

eating homemade lasagna...

He wasn't so sure about ice cream for the first time

we saved the cake for his birthday party

Ethan's First Birthday came within 72 hours after our move into our new home. We had a nice little day at home enjoying our toddler with family. Ethan's birthday started off with a special treat...blueberry muffins. He loved them, but I didn't expect anything less from a kiddo who can eat his weight in blueberries! David came home early and we had a late afternoon at the pool for the first time this summer. Ethan still loves the water. His cousins Madeline and Caroline and good friend Zane meet us there to play. We came home to have homemade lasagna and watch Ethan eat ice cream for the first time. He wasn't so sure about it, but did finally have a few bites!

Since we have been so busy moving and getting settled, my posts have been few and far in between. I have failed to mention that Ethan started taking steps 5 days before his first birthday! A few steps is all it took for him to gain confidence and give walking a try. He took his first steps in the closet of our rental home going from David to me and then back to David. I knew when the time came I wouldn't have a video camera in sight and didn't. He gets so excited when he walks! Its pretty darn cute to see your kiddo walking around! Like I have said before....it just gets better and better!

Ethan hitting Golf Balls

we're home!

Hello friends and family! We have officially moved and are getting settled! Lots is happening with the Anderson Family, especially with our toddler, so look forward to posts soon. I just need to unbox a few hundred more boxes, hang a two dozen photos, run to target for the twentieth time, order some balloons for a special birthday, forward the mail, find my shoes, work a few shifts, .....you get the picture! Anyhow, we are IN and HAPPY!

just around the corner....

I can't believe I am saying this..."Ethan's first birthday is just around the corner." I caught myself calling him a toddler to David the other night and wanted to cry. How is it the best year of your life is always the fastest? I think, honestly, I just thought the "baby" part of having a child would seem longer. I never understood why moms seemed sad when they spoke about their children growing older. Now I know it isn't as much a "sad" feeling, but more melancholy. I have just enjoyed every stage, age, phase with Ethan, I hate to leave them even if that means we are onto the next amazing one.

Last summer Ethan attended his first birthday party...a friend's little boy, Noah, was turning one. Ethan was only a couple months old at the time. I found my self tearing up as his mom and dad blew out his candle and he ate his first piece of cake. It was at that moment I realized how precious and fast that first year is....... Even more than that how much growth and learning takes place that first year of life. It is truly amazing.

As we gear up to move this Sunday, I know my mind will be floating back to this time last year. The excitement of knowing you are about to meet your son for the first time, placing Ethan down in his bassinet for the first time, waking up to a family of 3, the list just goes on and on. We can't wait to celebrate his birthday with a few family and friends! What an adventure his first year has been, I can not even imagine what the future holds.

after and before..

Right after bath....

and before his second bath...someone dumped a bag of Gerber dried fruit on himself!