Graham's Birthday Day

August 15th arrived and we had a one year old boy!

Daddy took you out to a special birthday breakfast.

Your first bites of a biscuit with honey!

I'm thinking it may be on the top of your 

favorite foods list like your dad...

Dad says you loved it and reached for 

the whole bear of honey.

Then after some rest time you 

came out to school to have lunch with Mom!

Made my whole day. 

You weren't too fond of your first taste 

of Panda Express though.

Our door was swinging open with visitors.

You and Mrs. Gardiner.

You were quite the charmer.

You with Mrs. Green.

Happy Birthday, Graham Thomas!!

We made your favorites!

Mac and Cheese, green peas, and mangos...

Oh hey there, trooper.

After dinner we helped you open your presents!

Softer baseballs, a squishy basketball, 

and your first baseball glove!

Cutest little glove I ever did see.

(See you in 4 years glove...)

We wrapped up the day with some frozen yogurt!

Grandma met us at Tutti Fruitti and got to witness some obsession with yogurt aaaaaaaand the withdrawals. You were pretty serious about getting your frozen yogurt fix. 

You groaned at us and glared at people as they walked by...

It was kind of funny because it was so unlike you. 

We laughed but then realized we had to get out of there... 

Berenstein Bear's and Too Much Birthday.

We love you, one year old.

Oh.so.much.

Happy Birthday, Graham Thomas.

1 year.

Graham you flew through the past 12 months

and filled our lives with an abundance of joy 

and indescribable love.

You bring so much joy to so many people...

We are truly so grateful for the blessings 

that the Lord has poured on us

through your little one year of life. 

You are a speedy, speedy crawler. 

You can go up and down the stairs now!

You can stand on your own for a good 20 seconds, 

but then you realize you aren't holding on

 and you squat back down.

You think it's hilarious when we try and discipline you for

 touching things that aren't for your little hands. 

You watch us the whole time while you're moving over to the 

Blue Ray player to see if we notice. 

We do. And we try to suppress our laughter.

You love books, cars, balls, bubbles, and dogs!

These things make your little face light up 

with the hugest grin and most times you give a little chuckle.

You never get tired of any of your books.

 Your head will snap and turn to any sound of motor vehicle.

You are quite the thrower. 

You love any ball and play catch with us!

You bring us the bubble pack as soon as you see it! (Bubble was your first word!!)

Anytime there is a dog bark or a dog in sight you get SO excited and reach your hand out to pet it. Even if it is no where near.

You love food and will eat just about anything. 

Some of your favorites are avocados, mangos, blueberries, green peas, and macaroni and cheese.

You like to feed your self with your fingers 

and don't really love anything pureed. 

You make it very clear that you have had enough 

of us feeding you with a spoon.

You transfered over to a sippy cup and 

get a kick out of throwing it or dropping it. 

The higher the better.

You still adore Jaffy. He's been a constant since month 3. 

You started dropping Jaff out of your crib 

to get a reaction out of us.

But then you are devastated to wake up and

 find he is not there to stuff in your mouth or use as a pillow.

Sometimes in the morning or after nap I can hear you talking 

and I'm certain it is to Jaff.

You give high fives and kisses. It is the most precious thing. 

Especially when you volunteer a sweet kiss without us asking.

You just open your little mouth and lean in...

It melts our hearts. I cannot even explain.

We are pretty sure you can say bubble, car, bird, and book.

You think you can say a lot more 

and we love hearing your grunt and babble.

You love to laugh now. The big belly laughs.

You like to change what you think is hysterical from day to day.

Today it was Dad saying "Honk-honk". 

You've been laughing at sneezing a lot lately. 

You crack up when you chase us on our hands 

and knees around the couch.

Daddy catching the ball after you try and throw it down 

gets you laughing all the time too.

You are so ticklish and we have a lot of fun "getting you".

The transformation from meek, newborn Graham, 

to independent, toddler Graham is astounding.

We just keep saying, "Oh my goodness, he's such a big guy."

And you are. You are such a sweet, sweet blessing from the Lord, 

and we are so amazed that He has in-trusted us with such a 

healthy, joyful, inquisitive, adventurous, 

humorous, sensitive, and loving son. 

Happy Birthday, Graham Thomas.

We love you to pieces.

Beat the Heat.

Welp, what do you do when:

1. It's your last weekend of the summer

2. It's 110 in your hometown

3. Your parents have the house on the coast for the week

(insert drumroll)

YOU GET THE HECK OUT!

We cheated and moved Graham to his facing forward car seat!!

It's a little early. But only 5 days until he's a big one year old!

He loooooves it. And so does Jaff. Clearly.

Hey beach boys.

Graham loved the beach.

He said bird for the first time. We think.

It was Grandpa's favorite kind of beach day.

Short. With no packed lunch.

Beach bum.

Graham laughed and laughed at the water.

There was a lot of arm waving up and down.

A lot like his Aunt Caitlynn back in the day...

This family beat the heat.

Lucky duck got to pool it up, too!

He did not want to get out of the water 

and wanted to jump in from the side

 over and over and over...

Well, let's be clear, he wanted to lean/fall 

into the water while sitting on the ledge. 

But still, he's pretty brave in my book. 

Water lover.

Grahamy and Daddy listening to the Dodger game together.

First time for head phones...

We had an amazing summer on the go go go...

We were so thankful to have a quick, cool retreat 

before heading back into the hustle and bustle 

of a school year, a toddler, and a growing family...

Back to the 100+ degree life...

Come on fall. I believe in you.

Week of Hume Beauty

Look at me jotting down these memories two days after being home. 

Instead of two months. Small victory.

What a wonderful blessing to have a cabin at Hume Lake 

where so many of my fondest family vacation memories emerge from.

I loved sharing them with Kyle and now Graham 

is beginning his lifetime of memories there too!

(Okay, so he won't remember these trips for a few years. 

But still...Sentimental.)

There was something about this trip that just 

made me SO emotional. 

Sure it could be the pregnancy hormones 

or the fact that Grahamy is ONE next week...

But when I picked up G from the Huckleberry House after an evening session, I was so overcome with adoration for my son. 

I was in awe of the absolute gift that 

the Lord had given us with this little boy.

And all the lady said to trigger it was, 

"He did great! He just played the whole time."

 She probably thought I was nutso. 

There were some really precious moments. I snapped a few.

But really the week just spilled 

with relaxation, quality conversation, 

and reminders of God's power in His beautiful creation.

Graham LOVES books. 

Every other toy gets old eventually but bring out a book and

 he gets a big-o smile on his face 

and is content to flip through the pages alone 

or have you read it over and over and over and over...

Graham had his first creek adventure! 

Loooooooved it.

Grandpa loves the creek, too, Graham.

So glad you guys could share in that together.

And for the record, fistful after fistful of pebbles 

went into that little mouth.

Some came out...most stayed in. Hilarious.

I love these parents. 

Thanks for inviting us and showering us with 

generosity, hospitality, and love.

And thanks for making family vacations a priority all my life.

It means more then you know...

(There I go getting all emotional again. Sheesh.)

Part two of Hume Vacation: Camping with the Underwoods!

Which meant more creek time right in our campsite!

And of course mud, dirt, sticks, rocks 

straight into little boy's mouth.

Hey, it's camping.

We had five days of so much relaxation...

Hammocks and naps.

Games and chit-chat around the table.

Creek time with Dad! 

By the end of the vacation Graham was pretty good at 

throwing mud instead of eating it. 

But every few handfuls he'd forget...

Happy camper. Exploring.

Look at our campsite! The beauty!

There were fish to be caught.

Teamwork brought this little guy to a new home.

Jill caught her very first fish at the Lake! 

A transfer to our pond was attempted... 

Sorry six lake fish. RIP.

(You were delicious...)

I love him. He's a weird-o. 

Proof.

Kyle made BOMB doughnuts over the fire one night!

It'll probably be a camping tradition because they were a hit!

A scrumptious hit!

We packed up the cars and the boy and hiked Buck Rock!

I hadn't been in YEARS so the journey to get there was 

a little draining but we made it!

And it was GORGEOUS! Such an beautiful day.

Victorious. And smiling about it!

Underwood men at the fire lookout.

Three cheers...

Serious and sweet.

We did get an afternoon lakeside.

It was the closest I came to clean the whole trip.

Graham LOVED swimming in the cool water.

What a boy.

Again, so overwhelmed with thankfulness for family 

and the traditions we are building and continuing.

So many times during the week I just glanced around 

and pictured our growing families 

exploring, playing, laughing, and running amuck... 

Thank you Underwoods for an incredible camping week.

Until next year...