Yay for Summer!

It's Memorial Day which means we can finally go swimming!! It wasn't really warm enough for a trip to Seven Peaks so we went to Julie's new place and made a yummy lunch and went swimming in her pool. We made a delicious shrimp and mango salad. Oh my! It was heavenly.

Julie made homemade artisan bread to go with it. It was so yummy with parmesan and olive oil to dip it in.

Then Sarah did our hair so we would all be cute.

Then we walked over to the pool.

Lucas took a while to warm up to the idea of the water.

But in the end he liked it and we had lots of fun. Hopefully when it gets warmer we'll have plenty more opportunities to play at the pool.

It's been one of those weeks...

Last week was very busy and very rough for us. It started out with Lucas's birthday and I had plans to go for walks and spend lots of time outside because that's what Lucas loves best. And then it snowed. I should have known that it was time to give up and hibernate for the week, but I didn't.

Then Lucas decided he wanted to get another tooth. He's been teething all week, including on his birthday. Then Ryan decided he wanted to actually graduate some day so he took a class this semester and that on top of his research and his TA job made this week just awful and busy for him.

Then on Friday we went in for Lucas's doctor's appointment. He was already teething, and then he had to get shots. He is not a happy camper. And now he has a fever.

But did we give up...No! We thought, let's try and make this week even crappier. So we decided to do some spring cleaning, but things kept coming up and now instead of a clean apartment, we have stuff everywhere. At least before it was in a large but somewhat contained pile. And during the course of the cleaning attempt, I dropped a huge metal lock on my foot. I have a ginormous bruise and I'm limping.

Then to end the week perfectly, we took Lucas to get his hair cut only to arrive 10 minutes after the place closed. But on the bright side, I get to look at his ridiculous hair for a few more days. And you guys get to look forward to seeing the after picture to this before picture.

We love our new car seat

Happy Birthday Lucas

Today was Lucas's official birthday. He was born a year ago - May 24, 2009. In the last year he has:

Learned to smile
Learned to laugh
Learned to babble
Learned to roll over
Learned to sit up by himself
Learned to crawl
Learned to stand
Learned to climb
Taken his first steps
Gained 13 pounds
Grown 11 inches
Learned to say Mama, Dada, Hello, and his favorite - No!
Learned 2 signs in sign language
Consumed approximately 10,000 ounces (almost 80 gallons) of milk
Learned to sleep through the night (wahoo!)
Gotten 6 teeth
Become an amazing eater - fish, rice, veggies, ice cream, etc...
Developed amazing hand eye coordination
Developed a LOVE of books
Become an expert terrorizer
Been on an airplane 6 times
Been in 4 different states
Been to 2 weddings
Met 63 family and extended family members
Put up with us giving him way too many hugs and kisses for the past 365 days
Made us smile way more times than we can count

Happy first birthday Lucas. We had so much fun this last year and can't wait to see what the next one will bring.

Make A Wish...

Lucas had two birthday parties last week. His official birthday isn't until Monday. The first party was with my family at my Grandma and Grandpa's house. There were so many kids coming to the party that we decided to bring cookies to decorate. Lucas helped me make them.

We used a daisy shaped cookie cutter to make lion heads. Here's the cookie I decorated. I was practicing for his cake that I made later.

Here's some of the other kids decorating.

Dallin was especially good.

Then we opened presents...



and had cupcakes.

We had such a fun time with my family, and Lucas got so many fun presents, but he wasn't satisfied. He decided he needed another party. So a few days later we had another party with Ryan's family. This time I made Lucas a bigger cake since he thought the one cupcake wasn't enough. I used the cookie cutter from before to make him a lion shaped cake. With three tiers!

And instead of making cupcakes, I made a big cake and decorated it with a matching lion.

The cake and cupcakes I made were almond cake with whipped cream frosting. Find the recipes and instructions here.

Here's all the kids that came to the party.

Lucas was very excited about his presents.

Then it was time to blow out the candle. And guess what... he actually did it. Here's the video to prove it.

He liked playing in the cake and getting messy.

But then he decided he was done partying and it was time for bed.

Okay, one more toy, and then time for bed.

Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful presents and for helping make Lucas's first birthday so memorable. We had such a fun time.

Spa Day

AMAZING!! That about sums up my trip to the spa today. I loved it! I got to walk around in a plush robe, eat cookies while soaking my feet in a scented bath, get an hour long very much needed massage and a facial. I think this is going to have to become a tradition. Maybe I can convince Ryan to come with me next time.

Lazy Sunday

Sitting with daddy


Eating a yummy baked potato

Taking a walk

Playing

Lucas has really gotten to be a lot of fun. He seems so grown up sometimes. He seems to understands games and loves to be chased and tickled. He plays by himself a lot more too. But every once in a while he'll still crawl up to me to give me hugs. Yesterday when Ryan got home from school, Lucas saw him come in the door and he made this cute little surprised, happy noise. Then he crawled over to his daddy and put his hands up to be held. It was so adorable. Lucas still loves to go outside, he's getting to be very mobile so I can't just sit in the grass anymore.

He likes to pick the flowers.

We've been pretty lazy this week so far. I've been playing video games. I love video games... it's sort of a weakness of mine. Lucas likes to watch me play and hold his own controller.

2 weeks away from being a year old. How did this year go by so fast?

The Zoo

This is the last set of pictures from St. Louis. On the last day I was there we went to the zoo. The St. Louis zoo is seriously the best ever, and it's free! This is the entrance to the newer River's Edge exhibit. It was definitely one of the prettiest parts of the zoo.

We got to see the elephants.

We tried to get a picture with the elephant, but it didn't work out so well. You can still see him, but it's not a great shot.

Being in St. Louis was great because there was always someone else to push Lucas's stroller...

And to play with him...


And to carry him on their shoulders.

The hippo tank was definitely everyone's favorite.

But Lucas was more interested in the fish than anything else.

This is definitely another place we're going to have to bring Lucas back to every time we're in St. Louis.