Sam's party

We want to thank everyone who came over to help us celebrate Sam's 1st birthday. We all had a really great time and Sam loved all of his presents. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Pre-party fun with Grandma and Grandpa:





Thank you Miss Kelly for all of your help!

One of Sam's favorite "gifts" was a musical card from our friend Loraine

Sam is 1...

Happy Birthday my baby boy!
Today was a busy but good day. Sam is standing on his own for the first time today. It is just like Sam to do that on his birthday. As I watch him I am filled with such a mix of emotions I think are unique to motherhood. I am filled with a mixture of happiness and sadness... tears welling in my eyes as we all clap. I think every mother who reads this will relate. What a great year we have had. How unprepared I was for the love I feel for him and how natural being a mother would feel. How it feels like yesterday he lay on my chest as a newborn unable to hold his head up. He is now so capable, so full of life and generous with his love. I look forward to all the years we have ahead of us.
I will post pictures and video from his party tomorrow. We wish our cousin Jake could be here to celebrate with us:)
Love,
Erin

Our new patio

We just had a new patio put on the back of our house. We were motivated to have it done by Sam's birthday party which is this Saturday. Boy did we cut it close! Here are some photos of the patio and of Sam hanging out in his beach chair from Grandma and Grandpa...

Our dancing boy...

From the moment Sam learned to sit up unassisted in February he has been dancing. He is constantly moving to any music he hears and has just perfected a new move waving his hand around in the air while bopping up and down. We just put a new tiled patio on the back of our house and the worker's brought a radio and Sam would stand at the door and dance along to their music! I wanted you guys to see a little video of our dancing machine...

Our baby boy is almost 1...

Inspired by my good friend Amy's blog about her adorable 3 year old twins Stella and Thomas, I have decided to finally start my own. I have no idea when I will find the time to post but she promises it is easy. We are fast approaching Sam's 1st birthday which I find hard to believe. How great the past year has been for us and how fast it went. I feel like I just gave birth to him! We are so lucky to have such a healthy and happy boy. This stage is so much fun... although friends tell me I have said that about every stage. I love his curiosity and constant exploration of everything he encounters new. We have planned an Elmo party for Sam because he loves him more than I can describe. Sea World has an Elmo show we are planning on taking him to very soon. Below is a video of Sam taking inventory of his Elmo party decorations we received in the mail.