Hot Child in the City

Well actually hot child in the suburbs but that just doesn't have the same ring now does it? Anyway it has been HOT HOT HOT my love! I mean hot love like you can bake cookies on the dashboard hot, Mommy knows this for a fact because they showed it on CNN the other day! Unfortunately we live in a time of weather extremes, it's either super hot or super cold. We will discuss Mr. Al Gore when you are a bit older love (don't you worry Mommy's library has the children's version of An Inconvenient Truth!) So we have been sequestered inside or if we venture out it better include a dip in the water! Good thing Uncle Lee sets up the baby pools when we come over! You love swimming and playing with Ryan!





The last few weeks have been very exciting for you my love because you are walking!!! Sooooo big!! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you! You are such a good little walker too my love, just a walking all over the house! And you started walking just in time for Daddy's big family reunion! So everyone in Daddy's family saw you walking! You put on quite a show for them my love, you just LOVE an audience! Here is a picture of our little family overlooking the river



Poppy is also soooo excited that you are walking because in just a few short weeks we are going on THE TRIP (that's what Mimi and Mommy call our upcoming trip to the beach because it is the first time you will fly on an airplane!!) anyway Poppy cannot wait to walk on the beach with you! Everyday you are getting more and more sure of yourself and have quickly replaced crawling with walking! Mommy will post a video of you walking as soon as I figure out this fancy new computer we got!

You also went to your first fair this past week! Daddy was so excited to take you to your very first fair that he made it a boys trip! Just you and Daddy! You had soooo much fun with your Daddy! And Mommy was very impressed that not only did Daddy feed you lunch out he made sure to change your clothes for the ride home before nap! Apparently you loved looking at the all animals and watching Ryan riding a pony! You also had lunch with Uncle Lee and Ryan at a picnic table!




Whew it's hot outside! Just look at those rosy cheeks!




Here's to summer love! And looking forward to fall!!

You at One

You are so busy baby boy now that you are one! You are definitely on the move all the time, Mommy can hardly keep up with you!! Here are some of your favorite things to do right now. You L-O-V-E to open the kitchen cabinets! I mean love this my friend, you can't get enough! You even like to open them at Mimi's house too!



This one is at Mimi's house, you also love to take all the plastic cups out and pretend you are drinking out of them! You even make a slurping sound!

You also think it is so much to take things out of the drawers and cabinets! Ziploc baggies are your absolute favorite, everytime you pull one out you just laugh and laugh!!











Now your next favorite thing is the one that makes Mommy sooooo happy! You are a reader my love!! Yes, my friend you L-O-V-E books!! Oh my heart is just soaring with happiness, because there is nothing in this world besides you of course that Mommy loves more than books! You come from a very long line of big readers, MawMaw and Pawpaw love books (in fact they gave you a whole bag full of books before you were even born!) Mimi and Poppy are always reading and KK loves to read too!

Reading at Mimi and Poppy's house


Reading your favorite book "Teddy and the Mice" with Mimi, the first thing you do when you get to Mimi's is to find this book and bring it to Mimi to read to you! You even kiss the book!!


Reading with Poppy


Reading at our house


You even like to read in the bathtub!!

Now you have rooms full of toys my friend but you would much rather take everything out of your diaper bag! Including the wipes!







Here are some more fun highlights of your daily adventures!

Browsing through Mommy's books!

Going fast!!

Playing with puzzles

Perfecting your walking!

Eating one of your new favorite foods: scrambled eggs with ketchup!

You are such fun my love!!

Look Who Is One!!!

Mommy cannot believe that you are one year old!! Where has the time gone baby boy?? This has been positively the best year of Mommy and Daddy's life! You are such a joy in every way! Now let's get to the party! Mommy and Mimi have been planning and planning this big day for months! Now several months ago Mommy spotted an outfit for you that I thought would be just perfect for a summer birthday party and poof! A theme was born! And let me tell you my friend once Mommy and Mimi have a theme we run with it!! So it was a picnic theme for your very first backyard bash!



Mommy and Mimi even made the invitations!

As you can see from the invitation it was a backyard bash so of course the weekend of your party guess what was in the forecast?? That's right rain my friend!! Mommy was a nervous wreck! What were we going to do with rented tables inside?? Thankfully though the rain stopped the night before the party and it was a clear sky for the big event! We had so much fun putting everything together for your party! The morning of your birthday Mimi and Poppy came over to help and brought you an early present, a wagon! Oh my goodness you love your wagon! Here you are with your Poppy!








KK and Grandaddy were also at our house for the big event and guess what else happened on your big birthday weekend?? Your baby cousin Jake was born! You guys will have birthdays one day apart! So much excitement! So Mommy, Mimi, Poppy, KK, Grandaddy and Daddy were all busy bees the morning of the party making sure everything was just perfect! And perfect it was my love! What a wonderful party, all your friends (Abby, Ellie and Ryan) and Mommy and Daddy's friends were all there to celebrate you baby boy! We are so fortunate to have wonderful family and friends that love you so much!







This is your one year timeline! A picture from each of the last twelve months!

The cake!!! Mommy LOVES Publix, they made this awesome custom cake for you! Themeing it up my friend!

And speaking of cake, you L-O-V-E-D yours! You had so much fun playing and sort of kinda eating the cake!


You see the cake coming!!


Your very special "smash" cake!







What a fun party my love!! Here are some more highlights, including presents! And the ever failing attempt to get all four kiddos in the same picture!












What a year it has been my love, everyday brings a new adventure and I love watching you explore new things! You continue to be the absolute light of my life! Happy Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Beach Baby!!

My oh my you are a beach baby!!! We just got back (well it's been a couple of weeks, Mommy is a bit behind. It's all the planning for your big first birthday bash, more on that later!)from our annual Clark-Grugett Beach Vacation Extravaganza! That's right all eight adults and four kiddos headed south together! Mommy was sooooo excited to take you to my favorite place, Destin! Mommy and Daddy have been going Destin together for years and even when we were little but I have been waiting and waiting to take you my love!! Let's start with the car ride first! Mommy and Daddy were very nervous about your first VERY long car ride and planned out our strategy for weeks, so we finally decided that the earlier we left the better! So we packed up the car the night before (no small feat my friend considering you require A LOT of stuff!) and we headed out bright and early in the morning! I think you just knew something exciting was happy because you were so happy in the car! You took your normal little cat nap and before we knew it we were in Alabama, that's only one state away from the beach! We had a nice little lunch break and you were out again, you woke up just as we were heading into Florida, you were the best little traveler! We had a great time at our awesome beach house we rent every year it even has a pool! So Mommy had been building up the important moment that you would see the ocean for the first time, we got up very early the next morning (when I say early I mean early my friend you decided to wake up each morning at 5:30 with the sun!)got on our beach clothes and headed out to the beach and.....you LOVED it!!!! Mommy was so happy! You loved the sand, water, sounds, smells everything about the beach just like your Mommy! We had so much fun playing in the sand until the next morning...you woke up with big huge red welts all over your face!! Of course Mommy was in full panic mode and went immediately call Mimi but it was 5:30 in the morning so Mommy settled down for a bit and instead went into full panic mode with Daddy! Good thing Miss Stephanie is a nurse and told us it was nothing to worry about just a reaction probably to the sand, you have very sensitive skin my love, in fact so sensitive you already have a dermatologist who very kindly called you in a prescription lotion! So needless to say we had to sit out from the beach for a couple days but we still had lots of fun swimming in the pool! You had so much fun in your float swimming, especially when Daddy was swimming with you! We swam and went to Mommy and Daddy's favorite beach restaurant, Pompano Joes and one night all four of the kiddos dressed up in matching outfits and we went to another one of Mommy and Daddy's favorite places, Baytowne Wharf! There was even a carousal there, and you LOVED it too! You are such a happy sweet baby my love! You also loved watching all the big kids, and they are all so sweet with you! Ellie loves to kiss your forehead and you loved playing in the sand with Ryan! All in all it was a great trip!! Mommy thinks that once again the pictures say it best!! Here we go....

Feeling the sand in your toes!



The start of the red welts on your poor face, but you still look cute!

Very hard to get all four kids in one pictures! But how stinkin cute are your outfits??
You LOVE your Daddy!









Pool time!