A Husker birthday party

I chose a Husker theme for Stephen's 1st birthday party. Megan helped me with the invitation. There is a Husker player named Will C. (No idea if he's related.) His number is 51. I had Megan change the 5 to a 0.

We ordered pizza and had veggies, chips, salsa, Goldfish (of course), cake, and cupcakes.

The food table

Close-up of the cake

Playing with Grandma Rose before the chaos ensued

Sixty-two people walked through our door for Stephen's party! A lot of people means a lot of presents! Stephen did pretty good, considering he had been up since noon. He got a little overwhelmed as the gift-opening went on, and the other kids came closer and closer to check out all the fun toys.

 Then it was time for more cake!

Yum! Sugar!

What a fun birthday party!

Birthday fun

I wanted to do something fun for Stephen's birthday, so I took him to Little Monkey Bizness. It's an indoor playground made just for little ones. Stephen loved having a place where he could crawl and climb to his little heart's content. The best part is that adults get in free! We will definitely be going back. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I have some not-so-good pictures taken with my phone - better than nothing.

After supper, we had cake and ice cream. Stephen dove right into his cake. His hands were covered with frosting. He loved both the cake and ice cream and would have eaten more if I would have let him.

My first-ever attempt at cake decorating

 

Then we opened presents. He didn't quite get the concept, but he loves the new toys he got.

1 year old!

Wow! I can't believe Stephen is 1 year old! The time has flown by. It's been so much fun watching him grow and learn about the world around him. Some things I want to remember about him at this age...

• He's starting to like listening to books more. He likes to help turn the pages. His favorite books are the "touch and feel" type.
• Stephen's sense of humor is starting to emerge. He has a scrunched-up nose face that he does when he gets hurt sometimes. He's also started doing it if Steve or I do it and giggling as he does. He also likes to wiggle his legs around when I'm trying to put on his pants. He giggles as he does this as well.
• He's starting to try to figure out how to climb on things, like the gate and chairs. Nothing is safe in this house anymore!
• Stephen is a little chatterbox sometimes. I usually have no idea what he's saying, but he'll go on and on. A couple words he does have..."sh" for shoe and "dad" for people in general (I think). He also has a word for train and one for tiger, but I'm not sure what those are.
• He LOVES to eat! 
• He is still a pretty good little boy most of the time, but he is definitely starting to throw fits. He'll arch his back, throw up his arms, and let out a good wail.
• His 1-year appointment is on Tuesday, so I'll update his stats then.

Stephen is a joy, and we are blessed to have him as our son.

Stephen Joseph - 1 year old

Happy 1st birthday, Stephen Joseph!

One year ago, I experienced my first hospital stay, my first IV, my first anesthesia, and my first surgery...and the end result was a beautiful baby boy!

Stephen Joseph - 1 day old

 How did he go from this precious little newborn...

 to this rambunctious, adorable toddler so fast?

We love you, Stephen Joseph! You are a very special little boy. Happy 1st birthday!

Captain Vegetable

Lisa and Robyn, this video is for you.

Stephen is my little Captain Vegetable. He loves eating his veggies! He downs peas, green beans, and broccoli like they're candy. I hope he always likes eating the good-for-you stuff!

Eating up his broccoli

Vegetables make me smile!

Stephen's new shirt

Yep, Stephen's going to be a big brother! We found out we were expecting on October 3. The due date is June 16. So far, I've been feeling good as long as I keep food in me. We heard the heartbeat today. It was 180 bpm. We are very excited to add to our little family! Please keep us in your prayers.

Happy Halloween!

Stephen dressed up as Cookie Monster this year. It was a pretty easy costume to put together. I turned a hooded sweatshirt inside out. The eyes are pom poms with big googly eyes on them. The cookie is made of felt. Our first stop last night was Grandma Rose's house. Then we joined some friends for trick-or-treating. Stephen didn't get any candy, but he enjoyed the stroller ride.

C is for cookie...

...That's good enough for me.