Feeling the Love

We celebrated Miles' 1st birthday (and unofficial housewarming) this weekend. We felt all warm and fuzzy inside that so many of our friends and family came out to party. I was not on top of my picture taking duties so there aren't a lot of during shots...I was having way to much fun chatting with everyone since it feels like we haven't left this house in a month! We've been busy getting it all ready and i got some pictures of it during the 10 minutes that it stayed clean. More on that in another post. This one's about my little man's big day.

We kept it simple with bbq foods since it's still kind of Summer-ish. Plus Miles' LOVES red meat, but serving steak to 30 people would be a bit much. Here's the spread.

 Jodi made Miles' cake this year just like she has done for Nolan's birthdays. Its so awesome to be able to just tell her the theme and let her run with it. She's far more creative than I could ever be when it comes to baking and it doesn't hurt that they are as delicious as they are beautiful. Miles' giraffe cake is in the front and the most amazing chocolate chip cookie dough frosted chocolate cupcakes are in the back...she know me so well! :)

A little photo montage of the nugget with his birthday banner. I made this on Friday night after I realized that the house was looking a little too housewarming and not enough birthday.

I also whipped up this "year in review" wall, I loved seeing how he really started to chunk up around 6 months. 

 Close up of the cake, because i loved it so much!

 Food table getting some action. Nolan was obsessed with those pita chips. I'm not sure that he ate anything else.

 The playroom was the perfect hang out spot for the babies.

  Miles getting some real food before we did the cake.

 He was so funny about the cake, he wasn't sure it if was something to play with or eat so he grabbed a handful of icing and smooshed it around a little, took a nibble and then dove into the cake with both hands.

Towards the end he fell into a bit of a sugar coma, so it was off to the bath.

I really should have taken the bath toys out before I put him in...oops! The highchair was pushed outside to be pressure washed with the hose.

Post bath, I love how he still has a tiny bit of cake up his nose. I also found some in the creases of his neck this morning. mmmm!

Handing off the camera, I had to get a pic of me and the big 1 year old!

And the "we're finally moved in!" pic. It's been a long year, looking tirelessly for a home, finding the house, fixing it up and FINALLY having everyone we love over to enjoy it with us.

Thank you to everyone who helped us reach this goal. Whether it was listening to me whine about the endless house search, watching the kids so we could pack/move/sleep, helping us tackle house projects and the many other incredibly generous things people stepped up to do to make this possible. We could not do this without you and will be forever grateful for your support.

Nolan demonstrating how I think we all felt on Sunday (after the Seahawks game of course). This from the boy who no longer naps and has fallen asleep on Pat or I maybe 4 times in his life! We're all excited to take a slower pace now as we get the rest of the house done (I laugh as I know it will never be done) and settle in.

Miles turns 1

When we were on the beach in Port Townsend, Miles was nice enough to let me take hundreds of pictures of him frolicking in the sand. There was this big pile of stacked driftwood that he especially loved. I have been meaning to do a 1 year old portrait session, and still might. But until then, these pics will fill in.

 Miles sat still for a few pics and then he was off climbing around on the pile. He would get his leg stuck and just sit there, playing with the sand before moving on. He was very content to just explore. A nice alternative to him eating the sand.

Once he broke free of the pile he headed straight to water. How did I luck out with 2 beach loving babies?!

The sunlight was so beautiful and the kids were so content but they were up way past their bedtime and were wet and getting cold so we headed back for the cabin.

It was fun while it lasted! It wouldn't be a 1 year update without a Miles' fact sheet!

First Day of School

It's that time of year again, back to school for Nolan. We lucked out and got the last spot at a school near our house, so no wait list this year! woohoo! Nolan was so excited to start, when we went to visit they let him play in the play yard and they had a huge sandbox with construction equipment in it. He hasn't stopped talking about that sandbox. When the first day of school finally came around he woke up, bright and early to get started. Unfortunately this school starts in the afternoon, which confused Nolan quite a bit. He kept trying to rush me even though we were running about an hour a head of schedule. 

We got dressed, complete with his new sneakers that he picked out (despite the temperature outside being 90+ degrees that day) ate a good breakfast and took pictures. 

Here are the outtakes.

 And here is his school. It's on an amazing property out in the middle of farmlands.

At the end of the day the students walk out one at a time to greet their parents, Nolan looked so proud.

I asked him how his day went and all I could get out of him was "I played in the sandbox!" I'm glad he is loving it.

Getting Out of Town

We managed to squeeze in a little vacation before school started this week. Luckily, we booked it months ago not knowing that we would be right in the middle of moving...otherwise it would've never happened! Yaya, the kids and myself jumped in the car for Port Townsend, a trip I looked forward to every Summer as a kid.
Before we got to our destination I stopped off to pick up a craigslist find. Hopefully we will have more on that purchase soon...after its installed. But I'll give you a hint, it required some heavy lifting. At the farmhouse where we bought it there was this real life tractor that Nolan got to sit on for a few pictures. The owner was so nice and showed him around his wood shop complete with custom train set. Nolan was in heaven!

Once we got to town we settled into our cabin complete with fenced yard, heated pool and a very private beach.

 The dog, Scout, belonged to the property owners and was the best dog ever. I seriously wanted to take him home with us, as did Nolan. Scout and Nolan played on the beach all night, their energy levels were perfectly matched.

 Miles working on walking. I love that you can see Nolan in the water in the background.

The next day it was off to Fort Warden, where we always stayed when I was a kid.

Nolan wasn't impressed with the Fort, he only wanted to get back on the beach, which we were happy to do as well.

Monster booties and sand...why not I say!?

Miles' version of sand trails.

Every beach vacation needs a sand castle!

The next day it was pouring outside so we loaded the car and headed home. It was such a fun trip, but we were tired, sandy and chilly!

Happy Birthday Miles!

We are alive, and all moved in! House projects, unpacking and kids have kept me away from the blog for far too long. But the computer was finally plugged back in last week and here we are! I don't have any house pics yet but am hoping to get on that this week sometime, so stay tuned. Instead I'm here to catch you up on non house related life stuff. First up is Miles' first birthday, which happened just 24 hours before we moved!
Poor kid, he got pretty minimal excitement this year and I'm feeling pretty guilty about it. On his actual birthday, august 23 we did the normal stuff but also introduced Miles to his very first sugar (sorry Jodi, the mommy guilt made me do it!) in the form or a confetti cake cupcake.

 yup, he loved it! So much so that I couldn't' get a good pic before he shoveled it into his face.

 Later that night, we went to the beach where I got this pic, just 1 week before little miles was born.

I wanted to recreate this shot, just with Miles actually visible. But there was no sunset that night, which made it pretty difficult. Thanks to my friends Mike and Jodi we were able to salvage the night and get this one.

Thank goodness for pretty clouds and very patient friends! My goal is to go back to this park every year around his birthday for an updated shot, hopefully the sunset will be back next year.

 And this one just because I'm obsessed with this guys hair, there is so much of it now. I flip flop on giving him a haircut as he gets called a girl every single day! I'm not quite ready though so the hair stays.

Next week we will have his delayed birthday party/housewarming so hopefully that will cure my mommy guilt...probably not.