Last day of preschool

The end to a wonderful year
of school was celebrated with
a picnic with Owen's very
good buddies!!
I was just as sad as Owen
to say goodbye to
his little preschool
family that he looks forward
to seeing every Tuesday and Thursday!!
But we know that we will see them
all in September!!!

Party Time

Dear Gavin,
On the day of your first birthday party
you woke up feeling really yucky.
Your face was all puffy...
Your eyes were goopy...
You had a fever...
No doubt about...
You had an ear infection.
Even though you woke up with
all of that you also woke up
with a great big smile!
An ear infection wasn't going
to stop you from having a great
day celebrating with your friends!!
My sweet boy on this day...
we celebrated you...
wonderful little you!

We celebrated because of
the way you love your Mama!

We celebrated because of how
much you have grown!

We celebrated because of the 365 wonderful
days you have been in our lives!

We celebrated because of the way
you love your brother and
he loves you!

We celebrated your messiness!!!

The smash cake never stood a chance!

 

We celebrated your sweet disposition!

The way you are just content

and happy!

 

We celebrated because 

of how much

love surrounds you!

We celebrated the joy

that you have brought 

to our family!

We celebrated because
we are so lucky to have
great friends and family
to help us wish you a very
happy 1st birthday!

 

We celebrated because of

all your milestones...

Your first tooth...

Learning to crawl...

Sleeping through the night...

All of them!

We celebrated because you
are making new friends!

We celebrated because
you are an amazing little
boy who shows us how
to  slow down
and enjoy the little
everyday moments!

We celebrated because you are you!
We celebrated because you have
made our family complete!
We celebrated because you
are growing up...
learning new things...
and reaching new milestones!
We love you very much!
Happy First Birthday Gavin!

One Little birthday to celebrate!

One little candle...
One little cake...
One little birthday
to celebrate!!!
And what a fun birthday
party it was!!!
To celebrate Gavin's 1st
birthday Owen helped me pick
a cute little theme!!
Dr. Seuss...PERFECT!!!!

On party day...

 The table was set with yummy cupcakes
with the cutest little cupcake toppers!
The Goodie bags were filled with Dr. Suess books,
chocolate red fish and blue fish, and
a Green Eggs and Ham inspired sugar cookie.
And let's not forget the cutest little smash cake!!

The cupcake toppers...

Oh the cupcake toppers...

They turned out fantastic!!!

I'm not sure which one was my favorite!

Thing 1 and Thing 2...

Sam I Am...

Hop on Pop...

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

or Fox in Socks!!!

They were all adorable!!!

A Happy Birthday banner was hung over the mantle
along with Thing 1 and Thing 2!

Outside there were more of the cutest
red and blue banners and
of course the Cat and the Hat

 It was so cute how could
we not pose for pictures with
the birthday boy.

There were so many great details
that went into making this a fantastic
birthday party for Gavin.
We had red and blue pompoms throughout the house....
A Happy Birthday To You book for guests to sign and
wish Gavin a very happy first birthday.
So many fun little details!!!

I just LOVE how all
the details came together!!!
It was a super cute birthday party
for a SUPER CUTE 1 year old!!

(If you can't tell from the pics...our birthday boy had a double ear infection.)

Birthday Boy!

Gavin,
Today is your very first birthday!!!
You are 1 today!!!
It's so hard to believe that
you can be so big!

n

I remember on the day

that you were born

that I was hoping that

time would slow down!

But I knew that it wouldn't...

I knew that you would only stay

little for a little while.

So this time...

since I knew how fast time goes by

I held you a little longer...

rocked you just a few minutes more...

and kissed you goodnight one more time

each night.

To celebrate you on your special day

we had a picnic at Duke Gardens!

It was a beautiful day

to celebrate your very first birthday!

 

We ate lunch in our
special picnic spot!
The same spot we go to

celebrate special days!

It was the perfect spot to
wish you a happy birthday!

 

Daddy took the day off
just to spend with you
on your special day!
We spent a wonderful
day together on your
very first birthday!

 

You are such a little man
these days.
You want to do everything
your big brother does.
You are turning out to be
quite the handful!!!
You have a mischievous side
to you.
We call you Gavin the Destroyer!
You are into everything!!!
Nothing is safe from
Gavin the Destroyer!!!

You were so cute and smiley
all day!
So cute in your special Birthday Boy Shirt!
That's one of my favorite things about you!
Your smile!!
I look forward to seeing it everyday.
I love the way your big brown eyes
light up when you smile!!

I know you have to grow up...
I know it's what you are
supposed to do...
but I wish that you
would slow down.
Since I know that it's
not possible I guess I will
have to...

 hold you a little longer...

rock you just a few minutes more...

and kiss you goodnight one more time

each night.

Happy Birthday Gavin!!!!

When No One is looking

Owen,
When no one is looking
Your imagination really takes off!
You play with your toys and go
to far away places on adventures!

When no one is looking
you and Buzz Lightyear
fly to infinity and beyond!

When no one is looking

You, the Toy Story Gang,

and Marty the Zebra

hide from scary monsters,

save the day, and come home

again before lunch : )

Sometimes you line your toys
up and just wait for the next
adventure to begin....

When no one is looking
you are a really
awesome kid!!!

Butterfly

One of my favorite parts
of picking Owen up from school
is checking his folder for goodies!!!

Goodies like this....

 A beautiful butterfly

that he painted all by

himself!

I love how proud he was
of his butterfly!
I was so impressed by
all the things he knew about
butterflies.
He is a sponge these days
that just soaks up all kinds
of information!!!

But mostly he kind of
reminds me of a butterfly...
he's spreading his wings
and slowly flying away.
Sigh!

Two boys one Outfit

Oh how I love pulling out
Owen's old clothes and putting
them on Gavin!!
I love that they are both
11 months old in these pictures.
You can really see the similarities
and differences between them.
I love that you can see that they
both only have 2 tiny
little teeth on the bottom.
Oh boy- this makes me smile!!!!

Owen Nicholas - 11 months old

Gavin Wesley- 11 months old