I love how pure a child's smile is. You don't have to wonder what he's really thinking or if it's real. No games. Maybe that's one of the reasons we're supposed to become as little children. Just love and be happy and don't judge and over-analyze. One day I want to grow up and become as a child.

 It is becoming quite difficult to take pictures of my little man. Any time I bust out the camera he has to touch it and ask a million questions (none of which I can actually understand). As adorable as it is, he always stops his current activity (that I was TRYING to get a picture of) to come over and investigate. Perhaps that's his way of letting me know I need to take pictures more often, so the camera isn't a strange object to him any longer.

I took this while on our walk tonight. We walked by a house with kids playing in the backyard and he was doing everything he could to try and get back there with them. He LOVES kids. He loves seeing them, hearing them, playing with them. Any time he even hears a kid's voice, he'll stop what he's doing and look. I never realized how different they sounded than an adult's, but he' got it figured out.

The Big 1

My sweet little man turned ONE on Saturday. It's amazing how much he's grown and what he has learned and how much he has changed in one year. Man do I love this kid!

I love this picture. Olivia attempted several times to give him a kiss and he just couldn't figure out what she was trying to do. Even in this picture he is still trying to keep an eye on her.

He definitely wasn't shy about digging in to his cake. He never once smiled, though. Probably the lack of a nap and the complete confusion as to why we would let him make this big of a mess with his food.
I love the look on his face...What is this? Why are mom and dad letting me stick my hand in this? Such curiosity.
Hanging out with his uncle Matt, pointing at me and giving me the cutest little smirk. He still makes my heart all gooey inside.

Environmental Concern

What is my primary environmental concern?

Waste. I'm big on recycling. I'm one of few in my neighborhood that recycles and I've found that I can't contain it all in the three little bins that they provide. So I bought a large trash can and fill that up as well. It's just as easy for me to throw something in the recycling trash can (in my pantry) than in my trash can at the end of the counter.

Might sound kind of heavy for this blog, but there's a great giveaway that I'd love to win over at Mountain Rose Herbs. Check 'em out.

Gabby's blessing

My niece was blessed on Sunday and I had a chance to snap a few pictures of her in her beautiful dress. She is a little sweetheart and I'm thankful for the joy she has brought our family, especially Greg and Jackie.

What a crazy busy weekend this has been. Amongst taking a cheese-making class and celebrating a friends birthday, I was able to meet my newest niece, Gabriella. She is such a cutie and has the perttiest hair you ever did see on a baby. Plus my grandma Martin is visiting from California, so I got to see her as well. AND Chase got his first hair cut. And my uncle Mark got engaged and my friend and my boss got engaged. And I got my first birthday present and I LOVE it (thanks Jeffy). And I was able to spend most of the day with my niece, Audrey, which was a lot of fun. I was able to get to know her so much better and we realized how much we have in common. It was fabulous. As wonderful as this weekend has been, I'm glad it's Sunday and I get a day of rest.

He started off pretty good...

But things quickly took a turn for the worst!
Welene had her work cut out for her!

I love this picture of my grandma and Gregory III and his little sister, Gabriella. I have the best family and it's so fun when we all get together.

And this is my sweet niece, Gabriella. Don't you just love babies? Knowing how perfect and innocent and sweet they are...

Love me Tender

Love hearing my husband hum Elvis to get Chase asleep. So cute. Here's to hoping that he actually sleeps through the night. Since starting him on solids two weeks ago he's decided he doesn't want to sleep through the night any longer. If we're lucky he only wakes up once. Sometimes it's three and four times. I don't know what is going on. Any pointers?

Hiccups

I don't know about you, but I've heard a million different remedies for getting rid of hiccups. Some of them work some of the time, but I've never known one that works every.single.time. So yesterday at work I got the hiccups and a new co-worker says she knows a trick that works every.single.time. So then it kind of became a challenge. But guess what? It totally worked! So I've only tried it once, but I figured y'all could try it and let me know if it was just coincidence or if it really works.

It sounds kind of weird. And you need a friend that you can trust. Get a glass of water. If you're the one with the hiccups, plug both of your ears (with your fingers). Then have your friend give you some water to drink. This is where the trust thing comes in to play. You want someone who will actually give you a drink of water and not try and make you chug the whole glass. She said you just drink as much as you can, but I barely got anything to drink and it still worked. THAT'S IT! Just take a drink of water with your ears plugged. They were gone.

Have you heard of that? I never had. But I like it. It's something easy for kids to do as well.