Can it be true?!

My baby is officially 1, and almost walking!  In the last week there have been two parties, lots of ice cream and cupcakes, many cards, special times with friends and family, climbing and taking steps on his own.  It seems unreal that Lucas is actually one already.  This was definitely the fastest year of my life.  It has been a year of many challenges but also many joys and blessings.  It's hard to put into words all my thoughts and feelings when thinking about Lucas and his first year.  Life definitely would not feel complete without him and it's hard to remember what our family was like without him in it.  He is the opposite of his older brother in almost every way.  He is a great sleeper and eater.  He's a cuddle bug, very happy, and mostly pretty calm.  He's into everything and hates being told "No".  He will let you know when he's not happy but calms down quickly.  He's a momma's boy and enjoys watching his big brother.  I look forward to continuing to watch him grow and change over the next year...but it could slow down a bit!!

Here are more birthday celebration pictures...

Since Lucas was sick at her first party we decided to wait to do cake until his birthday.  He dug in but really wasn't a big fan.  I don't think he liked the sticky mess on his hands.

 He sure knew how to make a mess!

Party #2 at Grandma Liz's house with friends and family.  Uncle Jon and Aunt Rach from Colorado even go to celebrate with us! :)

 Silly big brother, Nolan

 He enjoyed the cupcake a lot more this time! 

 Special guests, Mary and Emery (my "Indiana grandparents")

Reading one of his new books with Uncle Jon.

Lucas is turning 1!

Lucas turns 1 on Tuesday (there will be a longer reflection on that later) but we had a little party for him yesterday with some friends and family here in Indy that I thought I would share about now.  We had a wonderful afternoon and are very thankful for our friends and family who were able to come and celebrate with us.  We had a total of 10 boys and 1 girl (this includes our two boys) and their parents at our house.  The theme for the party was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas and decorations for the party.  There was a short period of time at the start of the party when I thought it was going to be a bust when Lucas decided to vomit all over himself and me (luckily we were standing outside), but after cleaning up, some Tylenol and cuddling he was back to his happy, curious, little self (we still decided not to have him eat cake) and we enjoyed the rest of the party.  

 Newborn through 11 months pictures

 The yummy food

 Caterpillar cake! :)

 Nolan, Cam, and Audrey (the only girl)

More of the boys (Andrew, Isaac, Jack, Charlie, and Carson)

 Not quite sure what is going on

 Smiling while everyone sang Happy Birthday

 Isaac and Jack watching Nolan making himself dizzy

 6 of the 10 boys

 Everyone wanted to sit on the motorcycle

Lucas climbed the whole way up on his own!  He's trying to climb EVERYTHING!

Can't believe my baby is going to be ONE!  This is going to be a busy week with work and Vacation Bible School but we will celebrate with cake on Tuesday and then the celebrations will continue with family in Goshen (even with uncle Jon and aunt Rach from Colorado!)

Weekly Updates

Ok, I'm going to try and provide a weekly update...we will see how this goes.  Before I get into the last week I want to post a few pictures that I found after my last post.  These pictures are of Lucas and my cousin Carrie's youngest, Jordan.  Jordan is 18 days younger than Lucas (I think that's correct).

Just can't get them to look at the camera at the same time! :) 

Ok, now for an update on our last week.  We, as usual, had a busy week.  Last Wednesday I picked my youngest brother up from the airport.  He was coming to visit from Denver, CO. for a friend's wedding.  It was great to see him.  On Thursday morning we get ready and the boys, Jeff, and I packed-up and left for Goshen.  The boys and I enjoyed spending Thursday-Saturday afternoon with my mom, sister, Jeff, and some time with other friends and family as well.  The time always goes by so quickly and I just wish we could slow it down.  

Here are some pictures of some special moments with auntie Julia and uncle Jeff:

In other updates from this week, Lucas has really started showing interest in walking and standing on his own.  He is standing for longer periods of time by himself and when you go to set him on the floor he almost always goes to standing.  He loves holding your finger and walking and sprints up and down the hallway with his walker.  I told Kevin that once he is going there won't be much walking but running.  He is also really into trying to climb EVERYTHING!  You know when he wants to eat because he goes over to his highchair and tries climbing right in.  Things were already pretty interesting around here but I have a feeling they are going to get even more so in the coming weeks!  Wonder if he will take his first steps by himself before his 1st birthday next week!?!?