Jonathan's First Birthday Party

Because of an offer from my dear friend that I could not pass up, we had Jonathan's party in Arlene's backyard. She has a pond, plenty of chairs, lots of shade, and a nice yard to play in. We brought our water table, set up a bubble machine, blew up some beach balls, and filled up a baby pool for the kids to splash around in. I was concerned at first because it turned into a very busy weekend for many of our friends who were unable to come. But in the end it turned into perfect way to round out all the birthday celebrations of the previous week. It was very laid back and Jonathan had fun which is all that matters anyway.

The Leach ladies made Jonathan's cake. It was perfect!

Sweet Lilah

One of the families we serve with in Argentina were in town to speak at our church and were thrilled to join in the birthday celebration. Their oldest, Daniella, had fun with Brooke.

Miss Darcy

We moved the after party to the Olive Garden to celebrate Carrie's birthday. As I mentioned before, we had A LOT of birthdays in a week's time! (Side note: We didn't want Carrie to make her own, so Mark made her a cake)

Jonathan's First Birthday

Jonathan's first birthday fell on a Wednesday. Since his party was not until the weekend I still attempted to make the day special in some way. Unfortunately for him, we had to go to his 12 month well check and which also included shots. Thankfully he was a trooper and seemed fine the rest of the day. After his appointment we met Aiyah and Parker for lunch and then made it home in time for a birthday nap :) Mark and I had bought Jonathan a slide to play on when we are outside in the backyard. I had decided to wait until Mark was home before I took Jonathan outside to see it. We picked up Mark and went to dinner and it started to rain. And rain. And rain some more. Finally it let up enough to make it to our cars. The closer we got to home the more it looked like it was clearing off. So I waited it out because I really wanted Jonathan to see his birthday present. He liked it a lot but unfortunately by the time we got to go outside it was starting to get dark and their clothes got all wet even though I tried to dry off the slide. So my great plan of waiting for Mark and getting some good pics of Jonathan and his new slide backfired. Thankfully he never noticed and seemed to have a good day anyway! Hard to believe we have been a family of four for a year now!

Birthday Bonanza

Between August 31st and Labor Day we celebrated three big birthdays- Jonathan turned one, Lilah turned two, and Brooke turned 5 years old. This does not include 2 of my closest friends also having a birthday as well. We celebrated a lot and ate plenty of cake in a week's time!

Lilah had a bubble party complete with a bounce house and balloons.

It didn't take long before Parker discovered the bubble mower! He worked up another sweat pushing it all over the backyard. We had to pry his fingers off of it to go inside for cake. Thankfully balloons served as a good distraction as he spent the rest of the party walking around with a green balloon!


Lilah got a wagon as one of her gifts. They took turns pushing each other. I hope they continue to grow up to be good friends.


Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the birthday girl. She was very busy entertaining all her guests!

Brooke had her party at Build A Bear.

We picked out a dog for Jonathan to celebrate his birthday as well.

Outside of the store there was an area with tables and chairs set up so you can bring a cake.

It was by the play area where the boys, especially Jonathan, had a ball climbing on everything! Parker liked watching the train go by.

It was a fun afternoon celebrating one of our favorite cousins! The weekend was topped off by Jonathan's party but more on that to come...

First Day of School

This year we decided to enroll the boys at the mother's day out program at the church. I was a little hesitant about having both boys go but now with a month and a half under our belt I now know it was one of the best decisions I could have made. Parker goes both Tuesdays and Thursdays. Jonathan goes only on Thursdays which gives me time with him on Tuesdays (its sort of like a vacation to only have one at home) and time to myself on Thursdays ( I can actually accomplish some things!). It was a little weird being on the parent side of the first day of school. As a teacher you hope for a smooth day and well behaved children. As a parent I realized my main hope is that their teachers would come to love and appreciate all the unique things about my child as I do. I realize this is only the beginning of what is to come in regards to "school experiences" but am so thankful it has been a positive one so far.

Walking with dad. Could he be any cuter?

He had fun wearing his new backpack around the house and I had fun picking it out along with his lunch box and material for his nap mat :)

Parker walked right in without hesitation, sat down to play with a truck, and never looked back.

I had a harder time getting a good picture of Jonathan. He was going through a clingy phase, which has now passed, and I didn't want him to decide he would rather stay with me!

Summer Highlight #1- Weekend With Dad

Since summer has come and gone and there are many things I still wanted to document, I decided to post some "summer highlights" along the way in addition to trying to stay caught up on all our more recent activities. I am learning life is a daily adventure filled with lots of fun, chaos and the challenge of keeping of with two very busy boys! Bear with me as I flashback to some fun times we have had over the past few months.


One of the things I have loved about having two boys is watching them interact with Mark. Parker and Jonathan love time with their Daddy. When Father's Day weekend came along Mark wanted an evening with just our family of four.
First we went to eat. As you will see by the pictures below, eating out is quite the experience. Thank goodness we were by a window with a ledge to put things out of reach from our very curious dining companions!



After dinner, we went to the park to see one of Parker's favorite things - ducks.

Mark and Jonathan shared some dessert.

We finished out the evening relaxing and pushing them in the swing. In case you don't know, they have VERY different personalities :)

On Sunday, after church, lunch at home, and a nice long afternoon nap, we went to my sister's to spend some time with Grandad. Heather and Chad cooked out for us and the boys got to swim with their cousins.

It was a great weekend spent with Dad!