birthday meal and first cake!

We ordered Papa Murphy's for Mason's birthday dinner and he LOVED it!

Playing Mason throws the cup and Uncle Jim Jim catches it...

Opening his first birthday present, sent from his Aunt and Uncle in Virginia...

His first happy birthday song and cupcake!

He was SO over cupcakes and pictures at this point...

Happy birthday little man, I love you more than anything in this world!! I hope you had a great 1st birthday!

12 months...ONE YEAR!

Seriously...how did my little baby boy turn into this handsome little man?!?! Here are some photos from our 12 month photo session...

Stayed tuned...more to come from the birthday weekend extravaganza!!

happy birthday shiloh!

Dear Shiloh,

Happy 5th Birthday Puppy Dog! It's hard to believe you are 5 already...where has the time gone?

I know the past year has probably been the hardest for you. You went from being the center of our world to a just bystander most days...you had no warning and had no way to understand why our lives changed. You don't get the attention you grew accustomed to and still deserve. And you undeservedly get the brunt of mom and dad's frustration and sleep deprivation. I'm sorry for taking it out on you, it's not fair we get mad at you when you didn't do anything. I know our world was turned upside down and inside out with Mason's arrival, I can only imagine what it did to yours.

And through the sleepless nights, tail pulling and the additional busyness and stress we have in our household now, you have been the best dog in the world. You let Mason pinch, pull, tug and poke as he pleases. He love to crawl all over you and it doesn't even phase you. If it gets to be too much, you just get up and leave. You are so patient and loving with him, you are such a wonderful, wonderful dog.

I hope you know how much you are loved Shiloh. I have been making a conscious effort to make time each day to give you attention and love...some days I'm successful and other days I just run out of time. I hope you know I really do try, even though it will never be enough or what you deserve. You will always be my "first born"...and I'm so thankful you are a part of our lives and family. I can't imagine our family or lives without you!!!!

I love you Shi!

walk this way, talk this way...

We have a little boy who is getting braver and braver each day...he can stand for a good 20-30 seconds now and has taken 4 steps before falling down.

Also, in the past few weeks, Mason has expanded his vocabulary beyond mama and dada...the words he currently repeats and uses on his own are:

yes
no
uh oh
all done
touchdown
wow
nanas (bananas)

Last week, when he was put into his crib for a nap at daycare, he took his pacifier from his mouth and threw it out of his crib, then said "all done." He also goes after Shiloh's water dish but says "no" as he reaches for it. Or when you tell him to stop doing whatever he's doing, he says "no" back at you.

It's so crazy to think he understands us more then we realize. Even though he can't verbalize everything yet, he definitely is catching on very quickly to what we are saying. He knows his name and what "stop" means. He knows what "come here" means too. He gives high fives and has a pretty good idea what "I love you" means because I get a big smile whenever I tell him so. And he's learned to put his arms up whenever we say touchdown! It's pretty adorable.

This little boy is growing up and changing way too fast...we are already transitioning baby food out and going to straight table food now. And we will be introducing whole milk in just a few weeks. Please life, slow the heck down!!!