Check up

With all of the toys Ruark got for his birthday and Christmas, his favorite is still the XBox paddle, he loves pushing buttons and watching things move around on the TV screen. This is an older pic from his chubbier days, but still so cute.

We took Ruark to the doctor today for his 1 year old check up! He is such a big boy!!

He is:

31.5" long - 90th percentile

22.7 lbs - 45th percentile

I don't remember how big his head is but it jumped up to the 75th percentile.

He is talking up a storm and mimicking everything we do.

Yesterday I walked into the front room to find him playing with DVR and TV power source in the cabinet. I gasped and said " Ruark, no you can't play with that!"

He kept playing and he said back "I can", I was shocked so I repeated, "no Ruark, you can't play with that"...he looked up at me so cute and said, "I can, I can, I can". I just sat and laughed and watched while he played. He is getting so cute. I love this stage, I love seeing how his little mind works.

What a ONE-derful Day!!!

Our sweet amazing little boy Ruark turned one year old!!!! He's a New Years Eve baby so we partied in style. He loved trucks right now, he pushes them around all day and makes truck sounds. Too cute. So I've been working on this construction party theme, and it turned out soooo cute. Best of all, the decorations were actual tonka trucks, so now he has even more toys! Not that he needs anymore.

Chase was at the grocery store and a woman stopped and was talking to Ruark asking how old he is and he held up a "one" finger. She was amazed, saying we must have practiced for a long time with him. We just thought it was coincidence....not so sure now. He keeps holding up one finger!! Smart little tyke!

His candle, was an orange safety cone! They made him his own personal cake to match for .01 !! Can't beat that, plus it took a lot of stress off not having to make a cake which was my plan until two days before!

A little wired from all the sugar and the excitement!

We was so excited for his own cake, he smashed his face right into it!

He kept trying to feed everyone cake off his fingers...For goodness sakes, this boy was SPOILED! I've never seen a kid get so many presents!!! He was is so excited he's slowly making his way through the big pile of gifts. This is his..."are all these for me?" face.

He loved all the attention! After dinner, cake, presents and toys...we headed outside for a few fireworks.

All bundled up with Uncle Mark so he could be out with all the kids and adults to watch the fireworks.

We are so thankful for all our loved ones who were able to make it to Ruark's first birthday, and so thankful for all the love and attention they shower him with. I feel so blessed to know that he is so loved by so many people. Thank you so much for coming to our family Ruark, you the light of our lives and we can't wait to spend the rest of eternity with you. You fill every day with so much joy and laughter.

Christmas Morning

We had an amazing Christmas this year, not because of any of the presents under the tree. It's because this was Ruark's first Christmas. Everyone said "don't get too excited, he'll only like the boxes and wrapping paper". So not true with my son, he loved his toys!! He was squealing with delight when he saw them. I think the reason people were thinking that way is because most children aren't almost a year old for their first Christmas. Here are some pictures, we did mostly video this year.

This is the dog that Ruark was so excited about. We found it at Kohl's before Christmas and he LOVED it. He didn't know that I bought it for him. When he started unwrapping it he started squealing when he saw it was his dog. He was screaming and smiling while we tried to hurry and get it out of the box. It's a pretty cool toy, you plug it into the computer and program your child's name and favorite things to do and it sings him songs all about them. He was pretty excited.

The stockings were stuffed by the chimmney with care...

He had been playing with these balls through the plastic for a week or so before Christmas, he found the stash of presents. But I wouldn't open them until Christmas morning. So poor little boy pulled these pack of balls around the house inside the plastic. He was so happy when he finally got them out!

Christmas morning, in his Christmas jammies. We do new pajamas on Christmas Eve every year. Love his bed head hair!

We stayed home all day, playing with toys and enjoying being together as a family. We made dinner for my side of the family and had a really good time feeling the joy of the season.

Not a fan of Jolly St. Nick...

Ruark is the happiest baby I have ever seen and been around. He goes to everyone, loves everyone, and is content with just about everyone....until today. We went to go see Santa Claus at the mall...and he was not happy about it. He clawed at my coat and sobbed and screamed the entire time. If you look closely at the picture, you can even see his tear rolling down his cheek. He was so relieved when we were done, and he gave Santa nasty looks as we walked away.

Maybe next year he'll be a little more excited, as for this year he wants Santa to stay away!

Christmas Projects

So many of you know I have been working on Christmas projects, which have been so much fun! Ever since I sewed Ruark's Halloween costume, I've been dying to start more projects! I don't understand patterns, so I decided I'd figure these out without one. Dixie, my friend and I worked the last two months on 6 sets of the felt food and then I decided to add an apron for my niece, as of last night. I love the way it all turned out! I love sewing, especially girl things! Man, I can't wait to sew pink stuff again, it's so cute! Luckily I have so many nieces to hold me over :) We made carrots, strawberries, watermelon, sugar cookies, hamburgers...with cheese, lettece, tomoatos, meat patty, and french fries. We even added a little shopping bag to give them away in!

The apron is reversible, don't want it to clash with our outfits do we ladies :)

Merry Christmas, I hope everyone is having a wonderful week preparing for the holiday season. I know I am!

Christmas Photos

Playing in the snow :)

We've been married for 4.5 years now and we're still more in love than most newlywed's I know.

I could see so many of these photos in a magazine!

We look so good together!

Ruark is so full of personailty!

Thanks to my very talented sister, Danielle, and good weather. We were able to get our family Christmas shoot in. The pictures are amazing and we couldn't be happier!!

I love having all of these precious moments suspended in time. We are loving this season and hope everyone else steals some time to enjoy time with their family and feel of the rich spirit of Christmas.

Put your running shoes on...

Ruark is crawling up a storm these days. He's into everything, opening cupboards, getting into toilets (that happened when Chase was watching him, not me), eating dog food, and generally just causing a mess behind us as we are cleaning. But he is so much fun now that he is so mobile! I think this is a perfect explanation of what he's up to by the look on his face..."Hey, I thought you were in the other room!"

His cheesey face! I love this smile! See all eight baby whites!

His first experience with snow...

This week we got snow and he loves standing at the back door banging on the glass and laughing as the puppies trudge through the white fluffy snow. We love being parents to this sweet energetic and fun little boy and can't wait to add to our joy we have found as parents.