in which our tree is covered in snowballs and its beginning to look kinda like christmas

last weekend, after an hour of debating/arguing/rearranging furniture, tyler and i finally decided where to put our tree. since last christmas i had acquired this sofa and a whole new person (ahem, james) and thus....not a whole lot of room left for things like christmas trees or the like. we figured it out though! minus one coffee table and lamp and the teepee fort is officially upstairs. (boo)

and then our tree was up and well shoot. what good is a tree without a few snowballs? or a snowball pompom garland? or snowy covered little creatures? no good, thats what.

also, high fives for my kid, who gingerly touches the ornaments hanging from the branches and pretends to put his soft ornaments on the tree *very carefully*. i mean seriously! the bottom half of our tree is decorated, thank you very much and we've only had one casualty. which was my fault, no surprise there. 

my house is so festive right now, i just want to hug it. 

thanksgiving ya'll

Alright alright, I know its already the sixth of december. But just for the sake of my blog and all, here's a few snapshots from our Thanksgiving this year. It was quiet and spent with both of our families. Tyler's grandfather passed away two days before, so that was on our minds as well.
But there's always plenty of food regardless! And my mom put special candies at each of our place settings because she knows us all so well. ((and those fiesta plates, i mean. swoon!)) And a smores cake I whipped together at seven that night at my parents, right before running out to Target for a few Christmas presents. And James, well he's always a hit especially when he's got his walker. That kid.

Blessings on our families this year, it was good to spend the day with them. Even if my brother cheats at Sorry. ;)

a party in which there was a striped teepee full of presents.

One snowy Saturday afternoon in November, my little James had the best first birthday party ever. Ever ever. We spent all day, Tyler and I, decorating the local community center with first birthday party decorations. In blues and turquoises and our favorite striped teepee which guests filled with gifts as they came in.

At the end of the night, while Tyler and I were talking about the party we both couldnt stop saying how lucky James is to know so many people. He doesn't know it yet, but man! He is very blessed. I was touched how many of our friends and family made time on their Saturday afternoon to come and celebrate with us, not to mention bring a gift or two or more! It was the best. 

James was all seriousness when opening his gifts and after two or three, really just wanted to crawl back into the teepee. I don't blame him! I hate being the center of attention, especially when gift opening is involved, but we made it through. And man, if I just don't melt every time I see a photo of him with his little legs crossed or stopping to look through a book he just opened. So sweet. 

I cannot thank enough the wonderful Kelli Murray who designed our first birthday invitations! I knew as soon as I saw that teepee, that they were the ones for us. She did a beautiful job and once again, inspired our cake as well. ((You can see my baby shower cake here, from last year)). I also have to say, I had the most fun and was the least stressed out of any party Ive ever thrown EVER thanks to my kind friend Andrea who came and prepared pretty much all of the food as well as the super yummy "1" shaped cookies. Everyone raved about the food, fancy grilled cheeses and tomato soup pasta!, which was perfect on such a snowy evening. 

Even though James won't remember this day, my family will. And so will Tyler and I. It was as much a celebration for all of us as it was for him! We made it! One whole year as parents. 

bring on the photos. ;)

a very first birthday

a very first birthday indeed, we spent the day doing all of james' most favorite things!  tyler and i filled the teepee fort with balloons the night before and wrapped presents with giddy smiles on our faces the entire time. if this is what its like getting ready for a birthday, i can't even imagine how much fun christmas is going to be this year!! when james woke up, we brought him downstairs to see....he was mesmerized! and spent a good portion of the morning in his jammies playing with the balloons. we had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and took a good solid morning nap until tyler came home at lunch time. he took a special half day at work to celebrate with us, which made the whole day so much more special!!

we waited for tyler to get home to open gifts and oh boy! i didn't wrap james' little drum set so that was immediately a hit and opening presents? pfsh. not interested. eventually we enticed him with wrapping paper and he opened the rest of the gifts. not before playing us some music, of course. tyler picked james out his first toolbox which stole the show and james and that hammer have been inseparable ever since. its really the cutest thing. we didn't want to overwhelm james with gifts, especially with his big party also this year, so we each picked him out two things and felt that was plenty. he's enjoyed both immensely the last few days, which makes me super happy.

after lunch we took a quick trip to the zoo, bundled up in coats and with extra blankets! james loves walks and animals so we figured this was the best of the two! apparently a november afternoon is the best time to see the animals, those lions. and tigers. and even the bears! so active and playful...it was amazing. we shared looks of wonder in front of the lions with other families standing there, no one could believe how close they were! james enjoyed every second, as he is a big fan of the lions (notice the hat).

after an hour of walking and a ride on the carousel (!!!!) we headed back home so I could make dinner and frost a birthday cake before our families came over. the rest of the evening was so special, both grandparents AND my brother and sister showed up because they just love this kid so much. we had homemade mac and cheese and yummy birthday cake that james thoroughly enjoyed and we sang and opened presents and it was just the best. james is so loved by so many, i can't wait until he understands this for himself and knows how lucky he is to have such loving family members. i got so many text messages and facebook messages wishing him a happy birthday, it made my heart full. we did good, tyler and i, with this kid this year. he is happy and healthy and a whole one year old. and he, i think, had the happiest birthday ever. ever ever. ;)