The First Year in Review

It has been almost 2 weeks since Jensen officially turned 1. Not much has changed since last month. He is crawling a lot faster now. We finally got a gate up at the top of the steps. I will never admit my mother-of -the year- moment in detail that happened on Labor Day. Let's just say, I caught him by his foot before he went tumbling down the stairs. The sad thing is that if I had been on top of things, that horrible paniced feeling I felt afterwards could have been avoided. You would think that by child #3 I would be better at this!! In some ways it is actually the opposite. I am going in so many different directions that I miss some things. Plus, when Caedmon and Liesel were babies, we were in a smaller house where we hardly went upstairs to the office area. Those are my excuses......HA! I feel better at least :)
Back to Jensen. He is crawling quickly and has climbed up the first few steps of the stairs. Now it is time to get a gate at the bottom now. Right now, and I am sure Craig would agree, it might have been easier to have purchased a house that was not 3 floors. HeHe!!! The other day I put a plastic bin and a chair at the bottom of the stairs to block Jensen. Before I knew it, he had squeezed through them and was heading up the steps. I can only imagine what he will be getting into when he is walking :) He is pulling to stand on almost everything. Soon he should be cruising between furniture. He climbed into a basket of books the other day. That was funny to see. When he is on the hardwoods in our house, he loves to sit and spin around on his bottom. He reminds me of a "sit and spin" from my day. He is going old-school!!! When you tell Jensen NO, he looks at you and shakes his head NO back. OH MY!
He is eating very well and actually has an amazing appetite. He loves banana pieces that he can pick up and pieces of cheese. My little boy is growing up too fast :( It has been a fun year with Jensen. I love watching him explore his world. He absolutely loves Liesel and Caedmon and follows them around the house as quickly as he can.
I thought it would be fun to show some of my favorite pictures of Jensen this year.
Liesel and Caedmon seeing Jensen for the first time.

Our first night with Jensen. I wish I could have taken one of the nurses home with me. You gotta love all the help they give you :)

Even in those first few days at home, you could tell Caedmon was going to be a good big brother.
Caedmon: "Let me teach you everything I know!"

Jensen's First Thanksgiving. He was really smiling good at that point :)

His First Christmas. I love that he is waving.......or at least looks like he is!

Time for family Christmas pictures with all of the kids. So sweet!

Christmas morning.......

Liesel was worried something on TV would scare Jensen so she was covering his eyes. Too Cute!

The outfit Jensen is wearing, Caedmon wore when he was a baby. I love memories like that.

Jensen: "I am not so sure about the two of you!"

Jensen's dedication at church........

This is one of the few times he was enjoying "tummy time." He did not like to be on his tummy.

Too cute for words........

Here is Jensen sitting by himself for the first time!

Easter 2011........

Caedmon and Jensen were being silly on this day.

Jensen: "I have decided.....this IS a fun family!"

Jensen's first time in the sand.........

Bath Time Fun!!!!!!!!

Time to do laundry.........

Thanks for a great and blessed year Jensen! We are all looking forward to making many more memories.

Jensen's First Birthday Party!

Well, I survived the party. I told Craig I wanted to do something simple this time. For Liesel's first birthday, I went overboard to say the least. First birthdays are interesting because the baby really has no idea what is going on. Either way, I still wanted to do something because some day he will look at the pictures and this blog. We had family from out of town and a few close friends from church to celebrate the first year of his life.
Jensen and I were ready to party! He was a little overwhelmed when everyone arrived, so he stayed close to me. Pretty typical of my MOMMA'S BOY! I love it. He even shed a few tears in the beginning.

"Craig, get in the picture too!!!!!"

Here is Aunt Alisa and Uncle Frank. Cute couple...........

The kids were enjoying themselves at the party. Yeah I do not know why Caedmon is standing that way. Just Being Caedmon!!!!!!

Aunt Alisa is silly! It was great to have Craig's family join us from Morganton. We really appreciate them driving over 3 hours for the party. Well, my mom and dad made the long trip from 5 minutes away. LOL! Mammaw Jonas is Jensen's great grandma. Super cool that she was able to come. Mom, Dad, Sandy, Mammaw, Alisa, Frank, Janice and Nolan.............thanks for coming!

After lunch it was time for cake. Jensen gave me the look: "Mommmy, do I have to wear this?" Sweet Wendy gave all the first birthday stuff to Jensen the day before. The funny thing is, she said "I am sure you already had something for him to wear." I did not think that far ahead about that detail. HA! Thanks Wendy for the great gift!

"OK Mom, let's get this over with. I am getting a little embarrassed"

I was about to light the candle and Craig suggested not to. HeHe! What's a birthday party without excitement? The whole time we were singing, Jensen made this face like "What is going on here. Why is everyone staring at me?"

I love the look on Caedmon's face. Now why can't he make cute faces when I want his picture taken on purpose? That would be too easy I guess.

Okay Jensen, here is your cake. You will not hear this often from mommy, but eat away!!!! He is not quite sure what to do. "This feels weird!"

Let the mushing begin! PRICELESS!!!!

I started to feed him and show him that the cake is not just a toy. He began to like it after all.

What a mess! Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike messy children?!?

I think we have had enough......especially after he started to smear it on the side of his face and hair.

This is the cake Jeni and I made for the adults. The kids got cupcakes. Jensen loves balls, so he had a cake with gumballs. The kids enjoyed that.

 

Jensen was helping clean up......not my idea of cleaning up though! He was spreading the crumbs back and forth.

Here is what is left of the cake Jensen had.......The Aftermath!

I kind of forgot about him for a little bit and when I looked back, he was still savoring the crumbs. LOL!

"Craig, are you really giving him more?"

Time for presents........Liesel was so helpful holding Jensen as Liesel (I mean Jensen...wink) opened the gifts.

I think the kids were more excited about what was in the bags.

"If I left this chaos, would anyone notice? It is time for my nap anyways."

"Opa, are you as excited as the kids about what is in that box?"

Jensen found something familiar....one of his balls....and was content with that!

Jensen, I hope you enjoyed your first birthday. I loved planning it for you. Love Mommy!