Isaiah's Safari Adventure!

I love to plan parties!! Its so fun to plan food and decorations and think about how the guest of honor will enjoy it all!! Although a 1 year old has no idea at the time what all the fuss is about, I look forward to showing Isaiah pics of his first birthday party one day. We are so thankful for our friends who came out to show their love to Isaiah and also for those who brought a donation to support our friends in their adoption! It was a special day!

FOOD!!

Super yummy cupcakes(thanks Grams!)

Monkey snacks!!

Hungry Hippo Dip!

Stick In The Mud!

Lion's Lunch!

Bugs!

Gorilla grapes!

Can't go on a Safari Adventure without your canteen!

Fun tablescape!

We decided to turn Isaiah's party into a mini fundraiser. Our hopes are that Isaiah will grow up to have compassion on those in need. Its never too early to start instilling the love of Jesus in our children.

Animal crackers for favors

My attempt at a monkey face on the smash cake :/

BIRTHDAY BOY!!!(couldn't get more than a glace from him)

CHOCOLATE ICING!!(a more healthy version)

I think he liked it!

Seek and find African animals on the playground....

opening prizes!

This was his first day of for real walking!

Won't be still long enough for a pic!! 

Meet the Gilberts. They are adopting a little boy from Etheopia and we are so thankful for those who gave to their cause!

1st birthday!

So, I remember my mom making it a point to make us feel very special on our birthdays. We got a bag of our favorite foods, our favorite meals throughout the day, we got "shotgun" all day if we went somewhere(with 4 kids in the fam, that's a big deal!) and sweet cards with long tearjerker messages written in them. At the end of our birthdays, we definitely felt loved....That's what we want to do for our sweet boy too. So, even though he's only 1, we tried to make his birthday as special as possible.

He got birthday presents from Grammy, Mommy and Daddy!

He got a special birthday breakfast!

Birthday shirt!

Went to the park with his friend Finn 

Got lovin from Mommy!!

Went to the park for a picnic with Daddy!

Got his first taste of real pizza on the picnic!

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Got his favorite fruit for dessert...blueberries!

More swingin!!

Got some living from Grammy!!

I love my sweet family!

Happy birthday baby boy!!

Healthy Smash Cake

Ok, so call us crazy, but are Paul and I the only ones who think something's not right about placing the mother load of sugar in front of your 12 month old on their birthday and letting them have at it? After spending months monitoring what they put in there bodies and only giving them healthy foods....really? Babies calorie need is very low, so we should take every opportunity to use those calories to give them nutrients that their little bodies need to grow big and strong. Don't worry, I'm not going to be one of those crazy moms who never let their kids have ANY junk food, but I am going to be a mom who tries early on to teach my children to enjoy healthy food. Thus our decision to not give Isaiah the typical smash cake. I'm going to use a banana muffin recipe and cut out the 1 cup of sugar that the recipe calls for. The sugar in the banana and applesauce is plenty sweet to make this a yummy treat for a young one who has never had chocolate cake. I'm sure he won't feel jipped at all :) For icing? Chocolate Cool Whip. Still sweet and he still get to taste chocolate on his birthday :) but way less sugar than the traditional icing. I'm going to try to make it look like a monkey face :) Will post pics in a couple weeks after his party!
Thoughts?

Trying to blow bubbles....really just about to put it in his mouth :)

Multitasking!! The weather was so beautiful this morning! We just had to get outside and play!

Yeah, he emptied  my purse and wallet...when I found him he was trying to stuff a $20 back in my wallet. At least I know he's honest right?

"Welcome to our world! WORD WORLD! it's a beautiful world!"

    Ok, so yes I just sang a little PBS theme song, but what can I say...I'm a stay at home mom who nannies a 1 1/2 year old. Yes, I watch PBS. The word world that I'm referring to though is Isaiah's. He's picking up lots of words lately. As a matter of fact, he's become quite the little copy cat! There are words that he knows on his own when he sees something he recognizes: Dada, Mama, Bawwl, dawg, book, shhhuh(shoe), tay(train,) done, baybay(baby,) bye bye, peas(please)... thats all I can think of right now. Then there are words that he has repeated either once or multiple times: tree "tee," horse "hoosss," Kate "Tate," duck "duh," diaper "per," cup "cuh," Cheese "cheee," He even copied me today when I said pizza! "pizzzuh."
    Gotta throw a cute little story in: One Saturday morning when he was about 10 months, I was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Isaiah was playing with Paul in the living room, but decided to join me in the kitchen. He crawled over and stood up by the fridge. Turned and saw his Daddy lookin at him. I kid you not, he raised his hand in a wave and said "hi Dah." I guess you could say I'm a proud mama. Mostly I just think he's so darn cute when he says them and wanted to share :) Oh how fun it is to have an 11 month old! He is precious to me! Thank you Lord!!

Favorite snack!!! Serious business!!

Cute little cowboy onsie from Grammy and Gramps

 Being way to big for his own good.....yes, he can climb to the top of the slide!

little stinker!! Where did my little baby go??

CANNOT.BELIEVE.HE'S.ALMOST.ONE!!!!