This boy of mine…he just keeps getting better!
He makes me feel whole, like I have a purpose in this life.

He’s talking up a storm and we’re starting to really communicate. That also means plenty of tantrums and frustration when he can’t quite tell us what he’s feeling, but I suppose that’s all part of the drill. I wish I had the complete list of words to share (for your sake and mine) but I’m just not that good. We have plenty of ‘bye-bye’, ‘hi’, ‘please’ and ‘thanks’ (working on ‘thank you’) and he mimics just about everything that comes out of our mouths.

He has a sensitive side really coming out. When one of us walks away from a table, or lays him down for a nap…we get the saddest ‘ba-byeeeeeee’ you’ve ever heard. It literally brings tears to my eyes every time. He just doesn’t want us to go! He’s selective with his cuddles and hugs, which means when you get one…it’s heart-melting.

He love love loves dogs (‘Hi Dog!’), cars, wheels and abuaaaa (water).

His bed-head is to die for. And don’t get me started on that scrunchy smile.

He loves to be outside.

He spent most of the winter battling colds, so many that when he finally got healthy it seemed like a brand new baby toddler in our house. He’s such a happy, funny, joyful, goofy kid.

He’s my favorite. Even snotty-faced, messy-haired and in his breakfast-covered Christmas pj’s. Only by the grace of God was I given this gift.

Love you, PA.

Cake Smash: A Photo Journey

(Again, photos courtesy of Ms. Taylor. I’m SO proud of what she captured!)

We had a small little party for Paden a couple of weeks ago to celebrate the numero uno. The big ‘one’. The we-can’t-believe-we-made-it-a-year! party. Nothing crazy, just some snacks and most of the people who love Mr. Paden Anthony as much as we do!

We don’t have a plethora of friends with babies just yet (but that’s changing quickly!), so we’re even more grateful that our friends without babies are willing to give up a Sunday afternoon for our little one. We were surrounded by friends and family and it was a lovely afternoon.

Here are a (not so) few shots of the people who were around that day. Oddly enough, there was not one picture of me or Ashley with Paden! He was too busy working the room. I took that opportunity to love on some of the other babies that are a part of our life!

(a note: I can’t take credit for any of these images! My lovely niece Taylor hijacked my camera early in the party and became the official photographer for the day. She did a fantastic job and I’m so happy I was able to step out from behind the camera and just soak it all in. Thanks, Miss Taylor!)

(The a.ma.zing cake made by Linda Trevino with Sugar and Spice Cakery. I’m not lying when I say it was perfection, both in look and taste.)

Another special red-head in P’s life…one of Taylor’s closest friends, Emma. She lives across the street and just LOVES our little guy. Watching these teenagers love on him is so amazing and restores hope in my heart for these younger generations

This is Olivia, and she’s the sweetest little Ginger baby ever! Her mama (that gorgeous gal in the back there) tells me Liv looks more like she belongs to me with the red hair! She has the most amazing eyes and the sweetest personality.

Uncle Van! Sweet enough to share his actual birthday with Paden’s birthday party.

Gosh I love him.

Karsyn! She belongs to a dear friend of mine who I’ve known for what seems like forever. We’ve gone through so many life changes together and I’m lucky to call her my friend!

Paden and his Grumpy

I wish I could have a caption contest for those two photos. There’s something about them that cracks me up.

Up next….the cake smash

Well, the day came and went without an emotional breakdown on my part. It was probably a good thing that Paden’s birthday weekend was such a whirlwind because it prevented me from dwelling.

Dwelling on the fact that my little man is growing up, each and every day.

Dwelling on the fact that in what will seem like the blink of an eye, he will be going off to college, getting married, living his own life.

But we can’t talk about that yet, or I will break down. Quickly.

Instead! Let’s talk about how fun this little guy is and how much I’m looking forward to another day (week.month.year) with him.

These days, P’s favorite things include water bottles, remotes, hangers, lights, and tampons. He may or may not have found my drawer of rations and he LOVES to pull fistfuls of tampons out of the drawer and frolic.
Hey, I don’t ask questions when he’s entertaining himself.

He’s constantly pushing things around. Furniture, toys, trucks, cars, anything that slides on the floor is fair game.

Oh! And chasing puppies! He can’t get enough of the dogs around here, and we can hope that someday that feeling will be reciprocated.

And the bed jumping. When he wakes up, you typically don’t hear anything except for the squeaking of his bed. He LOVES to bounce in his bed holding on to the side. I realize that’ll be a fun habit to break later but I can’t steal that joy yet.

Some of MY favorite things about Paden at 1 year:

The way he squints his eyes and smiles SO big when the light is turned on after a good sleep.

The way he shovels food into that belly. The kid eats like there won’t be another meal.

The way he’ll gobble everything from a spoon, but as soon as you introduce a fork he has to inspect what’s on the fork before eating. He’s like that with most new things now that I think about it…quite the inspector.

The way he squashes peas, one by one, with his pointer finger. Ever so intently. (Ok, that one makes me crazy sometimes too….)

The way he wants to share all his food with the dogs. A good sign for sharing in the future? Wishful thinking.

Paden -

I’m not sure where the past year has gone, but I can say with 100% certainty it was better because you were here! You make me want to be a better person to give you the best life possible.

You have brought so much joy and laughter into our lives and there is never a moment when I wish for our ‘old lives’ that didn’t include you.
Your Daddy and I are truly blessed call you ours.

Paden on 10.21.11 and 10.21.12