William's First Birthday June 5th!

I can't believe it has been a year since we welcomed William into our family!  It seems like it was a couple of weeks ago!  It has been so fun watching him grow and change our little family and he has been such a delight! 

 Family picture time!

 We celebrated with another smash cake!

 Yum!

 He got a little bit more messy than Saturday!

And hands in the hair!

Happy First Birthday William!  We love you so much!

Will's First Birthday Party

The Queen of Decorating (aka Aunt Cyndi) did a fabulous job with the streamers, balloons and banner!

Birthday Boy! Notice his shirt matched his party theme!

I made his cake! Mickey Mouse of course! Complete with a matching birthday hat!

Dessert island

Food spread

A little bit overwhelmed with the singing of Happy Birthday!  We held his hands so he didn't grab the candle!

I thought he would go crazy with the cake because he loves sweets but he was very polite, in fact he wanted to eat it with a fork!

A did a week by week birthday wall!  Every weekly picture I have taken his first year!

Yep, that is about as messy as he got!

He got this cute ride on doggy

Lots of adorable presents and lots of helpers to play with them to check them out

A favorite is this chair from Grandma and Grandpa Fox

Conrad and Will!  These two never stopped moving long enough to get a good picture of them!

Dump truck!  Another favorite!  He got so many great new toys!  We have been having fun playing with them all!  We are so blessed that so many friends and family came to celebrate our beautiful baby boy's first birthday and showered him with love and presents!  What a lucky little guy!

Last Day of School

Schools out for the summer....

 Last day of school with William!

 Cara and her bestie on their last day of school!

Last day...

 First day of school

First day of school with William!

Rest In Peace

Since this blog is my photo journal I must include this post although it is hard to write.  Last week we said goodbye to my Grandma for the last time!  Her funeral was so lovely.  Her Great Granddaughter Maddie sand "How Great thou Art" and our good friend Joel sang "Ave Maria" which is one of Grandma's favorite songs. 

She battled a pesky knee infection and was in the hospital the last two months of her life.  She put up a good fight but her 87 year old body was tired and ready to rest. It was hard to see her in the hospital so confused and helpless.  The pain medication she got to help the knee pain made her so confused and out of sorts.  Being the healthcare professional that I am I wanted her "fixed".  I was annoyed when the doctors didn't listen to me and when the nurses weren't on their A game!  I wish I could have been her personal nurse for 2 months but with Cara and Will it was not possible. 

She hated having her picture taken but I treasure these pictures, some of the last memories we have together.  This is on our birthday February 8th!

At Will's baptism

 and meeting William for the first time

My grandma was such an amazing woman!  In about 10 years she birthed 8 babies!  Those 8 children went on to give her 26 grandchildren and 4 step grandchildren, 41 great grandchildren and 19 step great grandchildren and one step great great grandchild.  She was so loved by so many.  She was very active in her church, St Joseph's Catholic Church.  Along with a group of ladies she started the volunteer program at Witham Hospital and volunteered in their gift shop for over 50 years.  She was active in her sorority, BSP, and the Boone County Cancer Society.  She was a great example of what it means to be a pillar in the community and a pillar of the family.  She buried her husband, my grandfather 10 years ago and she was ready to be with him again.  The last days of her life she was talking about Heaven and being ready to be with her parents, husband, and those other family members who have gone before her.  She lived a fulfilled and loved life and although no one was ready to say goodbye we all knew it was her time.  May you rest in peace Grandma until we are together again!

Daisy to Brownie

Cara's daisy girl scout troop had there ceremony to become Brownies!

 The desserts served were there cute Daisy cupcakes and brownies!

 Before the ceremony

 Will wanted to wear Daddy's sunglasses

 Crossing over the bridge to become a brownie

All the girls after there ceremony!

Afternoon outside fun

This spring has been unseasonably cool and rainy so any day we can enjoy outside time is quiet a treat!

Impossible to get them both looking at the camera at the same time

Family dinner on a blanket.  Our screened in patio is getting all new screen and trim when Daddy has spare time so all of our patio furniture is in the backyard  or garage so we opted for blanket picnic instead.

11 months and counting...

Getting so big and working on this walking thing!  He will walk pushing his toys, a chair across the kitchen floor or if he is holding hands but he hasn't yet taken steps on his own.

Mother's Day 2013

Having two beautiful children to hug was more than enough for me this Mother's day!  They also blessed me with beautiful red roses.  Scott had his last performance of the musical so after a Mother's day brunch he was gone for the rest of the day. So the kids and I had a long nap, went out for dinner and went to visit my Grandma in the hospital.