On a lighter note

This little froggy cracked his first joke. Please pause the eye-rolling and just hear me out.

Christian woke up (early) from his nap signing 'hungry'. I got him up, fed him and started to dress him. As I was snapping his onesie he began to sign 'hungry' again, then with a mischevious grin grabbed his shoe and started gnawing on it. Once I made eye contact he started giggling and giggling.

What can I say, he's very 'advanced" :)

Changes

The major reason for going to Utah for our extended vacation was to send my parents and Tommy Boy off on their missions.

The WHOLE family.

My parent's were set apart by Elder Nelson and he generously invited the entire family (kiddos included) to the setting apart. Although it was a little stressful to try and get three (recently puking) kiddos ready and reverent it was an awesome experience.

Our little family.

Crazy that when my parents return they'll be 10, 7 and 4. As I was packing Matts bag to leave their house for the last time I had a moment of nostalgia as I packed his football cleats next to his 'special' blanket. Sometimes "I never have to do this again" isn't all rosy.

The last father's/grandfather's blessings with President and Sister Newell :)

Thomas' first trip to the temple. It was a wonderful experience to have all my siblings together in the celestial room. We hope to replicate it in August 2013 when Thomas returns from his mission to Paris France and we have our reunion in the Stockholm temple.

It has been a bittersweet whirlwind. I'm incredibly close to my family and to have a mass exodus occur has definitely been unsettling. I am so very proud of Thomas and his decision to leave this summer on his mission to Paris. But, can you honestly call a missionary "baby brother"? I am also so proud of my parents for accepting the call serve in Sweden. It hasn't been easy but they are teaching me, once again through their example, that you do whatever the Lord asks.

Lions and Tigers and Bears

We got lucky and on one of the 5 days that Reed was in Utah with us the Petersons had a cousin day at the zoo.

Yes, Grandma Diane takes us on all the rides.

I'm just happy to see my Daddy

Gma Diane's "Sweet Boy"

Pretty excited about the rides

Grandma is awesome

The clan

A Huge thank you to Grandma Diane for coordinating and sponsoring this outing. Our boys will have a rude awakening when we return to Atlanta and they remember that the zoo does not always include cotton candy and rides :)

Baby Birds

For the past 6 weeks we've been carefully watching our newest additions:

The first days after hatching they opened their mouths for any sound or movement.

(please excuse the reverse timeline)

They've survived thurderstorms, tornado watches and an entire neighborhood of interested children.

The mama bird (a mockingbird) was VERY protective and would start dive bombing us if we hung out too long or got too close.

Once the babies got their feathers I went to get a picture. The little birdies were startled and hopped out of the nest. I spent the next 1 1/2 hours chasing around those little buggers with our frog catching nets, placing them back in the nest, having them jump out and then replacing them in the nest. All while being dive bombed by the mama. I finally had to go pick up Matts from school and when we got back they were all gone. I was convinced I was a bird killer, but so very happily, we've seen three little mockingbird flying around :)

My Boy

Reed is quite pleased with Christian's two current favorites:

Daddy

Balls (especially basketballs)

Festivities

Christian wasn't quite sure of what to think about this whole birthday thing. Throughout his 'kid party' (babysitting swap night w/cupcakes :), presents and cake he had quite the stoic demeanor. He took everything very seriously and wasn't sure of any of it. Not at all what we expected from our busy, crazy boy.

Checking things out

Still checking things out

Yep, you got it...checking things out

Some birthday loves.

Meet Gwynnie; Christian's biggest fan.

As his mobility has increased so has his regard for her (apparently, absence really does make the heart grow fonder)

The little maniacs at work

Ok, we finally got a smile

Checking out the cake, part 1.

Let them it cake!

Much like the rest of his 1st birthday, Christian approached his 1st cake with a large does of stoicism. Finally, the sugar won out and we got some smiles at the end.

cake - slide show