Crystal Springs

Every year we head over to Crystal Springs to see the rhody's in all their glory! It's beauty never disappoints and it happened to be really nice and warm this day as well. My parents were still in town for Luke's birthday so we met up with my sister and had a beautiful afternoon. 

One year ago we did the same thing, but I had a tiny newborn baby. I remember trying to use the stupid nursing cover and still being sore from giving birth, but being so in love with my baby. It was a little more fun this year to have a little guy crawling around and there wasn't any nursing covers involved. 

 Thankfully I have lost a little weight since last year! 

I love these Wood Ducks. I have to take a picture every year. I just think they have the most beautiful colors and interesting beak. 

Luke really wanted to get down and crawl around on the rocks and dirt, but we made him take a picture with his Poppy first. 

How do we get him to smile like this? Simple, you let Dawson run around like a crazy lunatic and Luke will laugh is head off!

I love this little shake thing he does when he gets really excited/happy! He tenses up and has a little seizure, very cute!

There is the seizure laugh again! Dawson was running down the stairs and jumping and Luke thought is was hilarious!

Jenna and Dawson were hiding behind the trees and Luke was laughing and laughing!

Here are my parents. They have been married for almost 48 years!! That is a serious accomplishment! It was so fun to have them stay at our house and to show them what our life is like and to play with Luke.

12 months!

Birthday time! My very first birthday party for my baby boy. I was so excited to plan Luke's party. I got all my ideas on Pinterest and was planning for months. I know that he could care less and we could just slap a cake in front of him and he would be in heaven. I wanted to celebrate his twelve months for our family. Luke has brought so much joy and love into my life and I couldn't let that be overlooked. He is a special little boy and he deserved a special day. I decided to go with the Very Hungry Caterpillar because it is one of our favorite books and Luke's playroom is Very Hungry Caterpillar themed so we had lots of stuff!

I had everyone in my family make a letter for Luke's birthday banner. After the party I laminated all the photos and now Luke has a nice little book of his family! 

I made a little baby cake for the baby boy! 

I know the cake is a little lopsided, but it was one of the most delicious cakes I have ever eaten! If you want the recipe go here! Oh, and don't forget about THE BEST frosting in the world! Go here for that recipe!

We ate delicious fruit just like The Very Hungry Caterpillar!

The birthday chair and hat are ready and waiting for the boy!

I can't believe that in one year Luke has changed so much. I know people say that they aren't babies for long, but I didn't realize how fast they grow up. I really miss that little baby sometimes. I love every little stage Luke goes through and I try to cherish each and every day with him. I'm so lucky to be mom to this amazing little guy. 

We had to play some party games for the kids and adults alike! Everyone got in pairs to do the Luke Quiz! I think that Jenna and Dan D. tied with getting 10 out of 12 correct. We were so lucky that my parents came to visit for Luke's special day and my cousin and his family from La Grande happened to be in town that weekend so we had a lovely group at our party. 

Luke decided he wanted to crawl up the stairs during the quiz, so since it was his birthday I let him do whatever he wanted to :)

Next we played the unwrap the present game. We passed the present around while music played and when it stopped you opened a layer of paper. Inside each layer you had to do something silly like hum a tune and everyone guesses, tell a joke or blow a bubble!

Poppy had to tell a joke. 

Present time! This is one spoiled little kid! I don't think the next baby will be quite so spoiled!

Ok, I think he is done with the hat now!

He can't wait to get at that cake...

He obviously LOVED the cake. He didn't eat as much as I thought he might! He seemed to get all done when he had eaten about 1/3 of the cake. He still napped great that afternoon and went to bed just fine. No puking or craziness. 

Luke's second family and surrogate siblings! We are so lucky to have my sisters family living close by and Luke LOVES his cousins so much. He especially loves that rascally little boy in front!

Luke with his doting Nana and Poppy! Luke loved having the full attention of 4 adults for 5 days! We were SO SO happy to have them with us for Luke's first birthday. It was so fun for them to see his little personality and celebrate with him. We love them and miss them so much. 

Tulips

What a difference a year makes! One year ago I still had this little guy in my tummy! This is one of Luke's last "firsts". We look forward to the Tulip festival all year. It is one of the most beatiful places that we get to visit. It was fun to take Lukers and he hammed it up for the camera.