My Baby Is ONE!!

Say it isn't so!  We are completely in love with our little Summer but OH boy, what a year.  From those very first moments we should have known we didn't get one of those perfect babies!

Almost EVERY picture we have of Summer in the hospital, she has her eyes open.  She didn't sleep a lot- even at just a couple days old.  There was one of our signs.

Another sign?  Crying hard enough and holding her breath long enough to turn purple.  Even the nurses weren't too fond of that!  Once we left the hospital, she continued to be awake and cry for very long periods of time.  I couldn't believe how much she didn't sleep.  I thought newborns slept!  But not this one.

Oh it wasn't all bad.  She did have plenty of sweet moments.  Awake of course.  Cause remember?  She didn't sleep very good.  But she was pretty fun to snuggle with, and most of the crying would usually not start until about six in the evening.  And then last until about ten at night.

Always right about the time we would want to start our evening plans.  Like meeting a new cousin and going out for supper.  We loved her dearly but those were some rough days.

Three months later she was STILL crying!

BUT then things started getting better slowly but surely.  The evening crying turned to three hours, then two, then eventually just when she got tired.  What a relief!  And she started doing really good just playing by herself for pretty long periods of time.

Around seven months we really started noticing that she was a clear different baby than who we brought home from the hospital.  She was getting so fun!

Oh, she still had her moments.  Especially when trying something new.  A new food, a new person, a new place to splash in the water...

But in the last couple months she has just turned into one of the most smiley,

 sweet,

and goofy babies.

We just love being her parents.  It's so fun to watch her grow and develop and learn new things.  So happy birthday dear Summer!  We can't wait to see what the next year with you brings!

Oh, and she finally sleeps.

(for the most part)

Birthday Party Round 1

This past weekend we were out in IL for Mother's Day, to see a long lost aunt and uncle from CO, and to celebrate Summer's first birthday!  Her birthday isn't actually until May 23 but I really wanted to see my aunt and uncle!  So we decided to just go this weekend and have a party a little early out there.  We'll still do a little something on her birthday here but not the big bash.

We went with a little bit of a bumblebee theme.  Cause, you know, it's her first B day.

Her throne.

The goods.  Nice and simple:)  We had pizza with just my family and then a few extras joined us later for dessert.

Her special sign made by daddy!

A little tentative at first- I didn't have very high expectations.  She eats about as dainty as she looks.  One little bite at a time.  So I figured she wouldn't dig in too much.

But she surprised me and did a pretty good job!  Once she had that first taste of frosting it was a done deal.  I was kind of excited:)

Sunday night we had a big family Mother's Day gathering with my dad's side of the family and we were able to go!  It's pretty depressing to leave when EVERYBODY is getting together just an hour later.  Danny had a few extra days he could use so he graciously said we could stay Sunday night still and not come back until Monday.  I was so happy about that!  We had a great weekend!

A Weekend In The Southland

This past weekend, Danny and I along with his sister and her hubby loaded up our babies, their gear, all our luggage, and ourselves and headed down for a spectacular weekend in Alabama!

Summer got to play in the good ole preschool once before it closes.  I'm sure it will mean nothing to her once she's older!

One of the must do's in Athens is getting some good eats that we don't normally get.  Recently, a Jamaican restaurant opened right in town and I was so excited to go!  If you know me at all, you know that I love Jamaica dearly and it was my first love as far as mission trips and such go.  Since then, my love has also spread to Mexico but that's beside the point.  For about 10 years though, my life pretty much revolved around that annual trip to Jamaica.  So when I heard this place opened, going to try it out was not an option.  It was mandatory.  And it did not disappoint!  The food was amazing and the owners were great.  And even though they've been in the states for a good 15 years, that accent that I love is holding on strong!  Danny made the comment that he's pretty sure that won't be our last visit if I have any say in the matter and he's right:)

It was also wonderful to catch up with our friends down there.  Saturday night there was a big group gathering and Sunday night just a few of us were together for the evening.

Monday morning before we left we went to the preschool for a little while to see the kids.  We got to watch graduation practice which was so fun and sure brought back lots of memories.

Then it was time to head home:(  So we loaded up our fussy babies and hit the road.  Oh wait- only one baby was really fussy.  And she was mine.  Sigh....  

Around Louisville, we realized we may have cut things a liiiiiiitle bit close when it came to filling up with gas.  But we made it!

It was a great weekend but I sure slept good in my own bed when we got home!  Thanks to everyone in Athens who made it special to be there again!