Summer is Here Again!

The Cake!

Gavin was slow to enjoy his birthday cake - his first taste of sweet food.
Hmm...this tastes different!
I think I might want some more of this...
Now I've got it down, this calls for applause!

One Year Old!

TODAY Gavin is one year old. We celebrated with family and Godparents yesterday. His birthday party was a puppy dog theme...
He posed nicely for a picture just like the ones of Paula and I - when we were little Mom would take our picture atop the table right next to our birthday cakes.
Wake up, Gavin, you haven't even eaten your cake yet!
He opened up many nice birthday presents from everybody!

Favorite Things

Nathan's favorite things... Playing basketball
and BLOWING BUBBLES!
Gavin claps and cheers from the sidelines

Gavin's ONE-year Photos

At the Park

Question?

John and I have a running joke now - so often Gavin has this cute little look on his face like he is asking a question.

Time for Fun!

Gavin and his friend on a "play date."

New Studio Shots!

Happy Spring!

Splash Happy!

Gavin gets a bath in a storage bin now! He's too young for the bathtub but he's too big for any of the infant bath tubs. He really likes the storage bin and he LOVES the water!

Let it Snow!

Nathan and John made a snowman in the front yard on New Year's Eve while it was snowing out.
Nathan enjoyed making Frosty ...
and making tracks in the snow ...
but he did NOT like the snow falling on his face ... and he's wearing two different mittens because one mitten from each set went missing on two separate cold days.
So Nathan has since gotten two new pairs of mittens and another new hat. Now I see how the strings connecting mittens to jackets originated. It's hard to keep track of all the little winter wear.
Of course, all this snow quickly melted throughout the next week. Each day Nate would look out the window at his creation and admire the snowman. But one day, as Frosty was melting back into the ground, he fell over backwards and his head came off and his stick arms were on the ground and his little rock eyes had fallen off his head. Nater had a hard time accepting Frosty's demise and he looked at what was left his snowman and yelled, "Up! Up!" Poor decapitated Frosty didn't respond and then Nathan noticed his eyes too were missing and he yelled, "Eyes! Eyes! Where are the eyes?" How does a mom explain the melting process to a toddler? I just keep telling him that we can make a new snowman next time it snows. He also was sad to see Baby Jesus go away - a manger scene in our neighbor's yard, which we drove past every day during Christmas to say happy birthday to Jesus. Now Jesus is put away but Nathan keeps asking to see Him and I say we'll see him again next year but He's still watching us. I meant to get pictures of Baby Jesus and of the finished snowman but, because we've been out of sorts around here (and sick) the picture-taking has slowed down a bit. Hopefully everyone is better soon. Happy New Year!

A Great Daddy

Merry 12th Day of Christmas!