Oliver's First Birthday

While the party is yet to come (this weekend is the first chance we'll have to celebrate with friends), Oliver's first birthday was a huge success. We started the day (with a little sleep still in the eyes) with a little retro gift from mom and dad:

I'd been looking for one of these classic towers for a while now and was thrilled to find it at a little shop just a week before his birthday. He got the hang of it right away:

And even played with it for a while BEFORE breakfast (he normally does NOTHING before breakfast, as this boy prioritizes meals...):

Later that day, he geared up in our "1" onesie (courtesy of Casey and Gabby!):

And continued to enjoy the new toy:

Just after lunch, we headed out to La Defense to visit dad for afternoon coffee:

But the metro took longer than expected and the little guy started to get a little sleepy:

No problem, once out of the stroller, he was good to go again. I tried to get some pictures with dad, but he wasn't too interested:

He wanted the coffee:

But decided he was content running around:

Then we tried for some pics with mom... Pretty much the same result:

Until a hug got his attention:

And finally one where he at least looked at the camera. Take what you can get, right?

Later that evening, it was time to sing Happy Birthday (in the kitchen with weird lighting, hence the black-and-white photos... my apologies):

We are waiting until the party to give him cake, so he got his candle in a piece of cheese. Hey, it worked, and he seemed to enjoy it:

He didn't quite get the idea of blowing out the candle:

But he was fascinated by the process:

And, most importantly, he enjoyed his birthday cheese:

We are SO thankful for our little one-year-old boy!!!

More Baby Showers!!

I just love baby showers. I confess that I love them more now that I have my own child.... Sometimes attending shower after shower before I had children was tough. I'm just sayin'. But now, so so so so fun. And, in proper "when-it-rains-it-pours" fashion, just two weeks after Katy's shower, we had the privilege of celebrating Joe and Isa's coming baby boy.

Mila did a great job hosting and decorating; she used a rubber-duckie theme:

And made the room very cute:

Most impressive was her rubber-duckie cake... which she made herself:

And, of course, there were TONS of sweets to enjoy:

Katy and Isa showed off their bellies again:

In true Trinity (our church) fashion, we had a very international gathering... And we all had a blast celebrating this little boy! Mila, the Brazilian hostess, and Isa, the Belgian guest of honor:

Adina (Romanian), Isa, and Marie (French):

Katy, Stacy, and Jasmine... all American:

Stacy's little boy, Alexander (1/2 American, 1/2 German), who cracks me up!!! And he was so good at the shower, truly:

Katy and Connie (German), along with precious little Noee, who is only 5 weeks old!

Katy, Jasmine, and Jessica (Zimbabwean):

Isa and Jasmine (Jaz snuck her way into a lot of photos, didn't she?!?! No, really, it's just because she's so photogenic and all the pics with her turned out well. :)

Isa got some fabulous gifts, including adorable little socks:

Some very cute clothes:

And a babycook (which I totally recommend, by the way)... But hers came with this super cool little purse/bag thing. Very nifty:

We also wrote encouraging notes to Isa, Joe, and the little one to come:

And managed to visit and eat some more, of course!

Just before most people left (sorry we missed you, Stacy!), I managed to get a couple of group shots:

So so fun to celebrate this precious little life... Can't wait to meet him in July!!

SEVEN...

Seven years of marriage... I can't believe it. But to my dear husband (of seven years! just trying to make it sink in...), I just wanted to say:

-I love you: if there were enough hours each day to say it a million times, I would.

-You are a wonderful husband: loving, providing, protecting, and serving.

-You are a good man: God-fearing, giving, hard-working, and kind.

-You are an excellent father: patient, fun, and prayerful.

-And, most importantly, I thank God for each day I have with you and look forward to all the ones in the future...

Here's to many, many more anniversaries!

Oli and His Buddies

Oliver is quite the social butterfly. He's been hanging out lately with Oscar (the two little "O's: - how cute is that?!?!), whose mom is from NY and who lives just around the corner from us! We were at Champs de Mars a few weeks ago and I tried to catch a picture of these two guys.

Are Oscar's eyes (and long eyelashes!) fabulous or what? But let's just say that it was easier to photograph these little ones before they got mobile. First Oliver crawled toward me:

And I was about to give up until Oliver convinced me to take one more:

But Oscar wasn't interested:

Then a few days later we introduced Oscar to our playgroup. Most importantly, Gavin was back from NY (where he'd been since Christmas)!! He's grown up so much and is SO cute:

Since Frank and Oli were both chowing down on some bread, we had to catch a pic:

Then we put Oscar in the middle with his bread, too:

We were determined to get a pic of all the boys. But things then got difficult...

Gavin's not so interested in bread, so he got a remote control:

But Oli decided to leave:

We got him back (and Oscar apparently thought his ear was very interesting):

Only to lose Oscar and Gavin:

At least they all stayed put for one more photo... Best I could do!

Truly, mobility makes all the difference! We are so thankful for these little friends, though, and can't wait to see them all play together over the next few months. And, it doesn't hurt that I enjoy their moms thoroughly!