The Party

Where to start?? Well – Will had quite a lovely party on Saturday. The theme – Lil Slugger’s First Birthday! It turned out great! Fun to do a baseball theme since the Rangers are doing so well right now. And red and blue is just cute for a little boy. And – we love sports in this house!

The table set-upThe cake – I was so pleased! The room decorated The party favors The family before everyone arrived Will with his uncles. He sort of stole their birthday thunder. Their birthday is coming up on Wed. So we celebrated their birthday Sat evening after Will’s party. We had a piñata for some entertainment. It was a hit! Kevin had to help out a little and broke through it for us. Candy!! Time for presents! Will got a lot. Everyone was so generous. We have trucks and books and wagons and movies! We had a hard time keeping Will’s attention. He did spot Mickey! And the main event – the cake eating! Hmmm. What is this? Not sure about that. Mom gives me a little taste… Oh yes – sweets and chocolate no less! I got this! No need to be shy – a bigger bite… Might as well grab a fist full What? It is a cake – all to myself. Can you blame me?!? Why is everyone looking at me? A precious memory That was awesome!!! Time for clean up. To the bath! This isn’t nearly as fun. :(

Dustin, Tricia, and Dylan got Will this neat wagon! So after the party was over we all decided to try it out. We took Dylan and Will for a ride around the neighborhood. Uncle Dustin pulling us alongUncle J’s turn! I really love this picture. I love this memory of my family taking the boys around the block. :) So much fun! Sweet, sweet Lindsey painted this awesome chair for Will! It is so adorably cute. It has the verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13” on it. She has memories of having her own chair as a child and reading all her books in it. I love that Will has one, too. And the talent that went into painting this is amazing. Thanks Lindsey!

It is days like Saturday that just make me feel so incredibly blessed. Not only do I have a wonderful child, I have so many family and friends that would take the time to come celebrate his birth. It was such a fun, special time of doing just that. Thanks to everyone who came. It means more to us than you will ever know!

The birthday

Friday was Will’s actual birthday. Kevin and I both took the day off to spend with our special little guy. We took him to a great park to let him have a little fun. He was so funny because he was really more interested in watching all the kids run around rather than playing. I am sure once he can run around it will be a different story.

I’m 1!

Sliding with daddy – not sure what to think!

Monkey bars! I’ll just see what it tastes like.

Look how cute these two guys are! I am one lucky lady!

They had a sand box. He wasn’t totally sure how he felt about it, but he did warm up to it.

I’m sure we’ll cut his hair fairly soon, so I had to make sure I got some pictures of how long it has gotten. Makes me a little emotional looking at this sweet one year old. We reminisced about a year ago – wow. What a year! What a wonderful, happy, sweet natured little boy we have been blessed with. I can’t possibly imagine life without him. What did we do with ourselves before he came along?

We are both just so thankful to be parents to Will Ryan.

Will – please know mommy and daddy love you so much. We may not always makes the right parenting decisions and we may not always be perfect, but we can assure you our hearts explode with joy for you. We prayed for a child to come into our lives and had no idea how blessed we would be. Thank you for being you. Your sweet smile warms my soul. We look forward to seeing your personality more and more. Happy Birthday Will! Love, Mommy and Daddy

Can you believe it?

This little boy is going to be 1 on Friday! What?!? How is that possible? We are cherishing the last few days of him being a baby. He’ll always be my baby, though. :)

Looking so big sitting on the step! He can’t get down it, but man can he get up it quick!

So I haven’t gotten a pic better than this, but Will started standing finally this past weekend! He did it because he wanted our food! Ha! Here daddy is feeding him bananas – which he absolutely loves.

Mimi worked with him on showing us that he is 1! Smart kiddo!

Yes, I know his hair is out of control. And, I promise I’ll cut it soon – but not yet. Not until he’s officially one. And not until after I’ve taken his one year pics. I can’t do it yet. I just can’t.

Just a happy, happy boy with the sweetest cheeks in the world! Makes me one very proud mommy!

Looking forward to his fun party on Saturday!! We will celebrate big sweet baby boy!