Happy Birthday to ME!

27 years young!

Really, these late-20's birthdays all feel the same. Now, if I was in my 30th year then I would be feeling OLD, worn-out, overwhelmed by my years...
*Just kidding, that was a jab at Tyler whose 30th birthday we'll be celebrating 6 months from today. No offense to any of you who are 30 and beyond!*

A fabulous day and a half of celebrations, if I do say so myself! We started Monday evening. Tyler came home from work and sent me upstairs...when he allowed me to come down, the house was all decorated and there were a bunch of wrapped presents on top of the TV. We had my birthday dinner and then our friends, the Kellys, came over for strawberry shortcake (I'm not a cake woman). I opened one present - a really cool, high-tech label maker. I love organization! Thoughtful present from my fabulous husband.

On my actual day of birth, Max and I hung out in the morning and I decided to pull weeds out front. It was nice and relaxing. I really like pulling weeds. My friend Jennifer had organized a nice lunch at her house with about 6 of our friends, so Max and I headed over there at 1:00. Very yummy food and even better company! I forgot to take pictures, though.

I received some GREAT presents from the men in my life. Earrings, a frame for our new family picture (with the receipt attached because Tyler didn't think I would like it, but couldn't find anything else and so he knew I would want to take it back :) ), a gift card to do some shopping, some really cute cards - 'Thank You' and blank...and the present I am super excited about - a kayaking class and tour around Liberty Bay! We have been talking about going kayaking and Ty figured that this would be a great way for us to learn some basics and get a feel for it. So he and I will be doing that on July 7th! I am VERY excited!!!

Thanks to my ever-thoughtful, sweet, amazing husband and adorable son! I love you guys.

That evening I was going to go to a Young Womens activity, but I was told many times to take the night off and finally decided that's what I would do. So instead we went to Waterfront Park as a family. It was a beautiful evening - no jackets necessary! *Oh, and Max's little birthday trick for me was standing up from a sitting position - way to go, bud! He's walking like a champ, but if he falls or sits down then he usually crawls over to something to pull himself up. Not last night. He was on his bottom, then he positioned his feet beneath him and stood up. We all cheered, including Max. Fun moment!* Then while Tyler was getting Max ready for bed I went and did a little shopping. Perfect day. I love birthdays!

i love corn!

Last night during dinner I held my corn-on-the-cob up for Max to see what he would do with it. The kid is a corn-on-the-cob natural! He immediately took real bites and chewed and swallowed...then he took over the operation and went it on his own. He downed pretty much the whole thing by himself. Only a few kernels escaped his eight-tooth bite!

(By the way, he's getting his first molar - bottom left)

Loved the Luau!

Good times were had by all at Maxwell's first birthday bash! The luau we held would be mocked by most Hawaiians, but it was as good as this haole could get on the mainland. Or as good as what the good ol' dollar store had in stock for "luau" decorations! :) We had a few families - some of our friends and their kiddos - over for the festivities. Everyone received a lei and an aloha kiss when they arrived. We had lots of food, good music...Max did some cake eating and received some cool presents...a great day!

Happy Day, Maxwell! We sure love you!

The Spread... Plenty Ono Kine Grinds!

I am SO proud of this cake! It turned out great!
I felt like a good mom since my mom always did cool cakes. :)

Luke & Cindy Redd, Sarah & Loren Smitley, my handsome husband :)

Villa and Chris from across the street

Connie Seader and Jared, Adam and Ian Kelly

Max's "thank you" smile

The cake to be destroyed!

"Happy Birthday to You!"

Not diggin' it...

our dude doesn't mind dirty, but really dislikes sticky...

so we gave him a spoon...

and the real destruction began!

Whew! That was a lot of work!

The naked baby and his mom post-blue frosting all over the clothes :)

Not party pictures...this is the cute outift Max received from Papa Dan and Grammy. Thanks again!!

(if you're wondering who he's smiling at...it's himself. He's looking in a mirror and admiring his new duds.)

All ready for Church on Mother's Day in his new get-up!

Oh, somebody had a birthday...

Our Maxster is a whopping 1 year old! Hard to believe??? Trust me, I know. I spent a happy, weepy day with my little man yesterday. I just couldn't stop the tears from forming as the memories came flooding in. I guess that means I'm a mom. :)

It was a great day! The night before, I had a mini-breakdown because we didn't have crepe paper and balloons to decorate for a birthday our little dude isn't even going to remember. You don't have to tell me that I was being a little nutty - I absolutely know it! But my husband heard and heeded my cries. We came downstairs in the morning to find that Dad had woken up mighty early (4:30 was the word I was given later! I really don't deserve this wonderful man), ran to the store and bought crepe paper, balloons, a "1" candle and even a beautiful vase full of tulips for the nutty mom! All I could get from Max for the first ten minutes was the noise he makes that sounds like a breathy "Wow!" as he pointed to every balloon and string of crepe paper. It was awe-inspiring, really! You had to be here to appreciate the awe of the crepe paper. :)

Max got a special pancake breakfast while Mom sang every birthday song she could think of (and, thanks to primary, that's quite a lot!). Then we decided to open the present from Beth and her Men. It was quite a long, fun process. You know, pulling the tissue paper out, trying to get to the bottom of the bag...it's a lot of work! He received a really cute outfit (featured in the pictures below) and some great books. We LOVE books!

Next came Maxwell's first encounter with cow's milk. He liked the taste just fine, but is used to a warm bottle. We tried cold and in a sippy cup first which went okay, but then he wanted to do the kind of chugging that only a bottle can accomodate. So we dumped it into the bottle. Not warm, not drinking it. I heated it up and finally he went to town.

A nap refreshed the little dude (and allowed Mom time to wrap some presents) and then we had a good lunch and went out front for some good bubble blowing and play time. It's always sad when outside time comes to an end. :(

Dad got off of work early to go to the park (such a great man!), but Max was already down for nap #2, so I took around the rest of his party invitations and bought the present Grammy and Papa Dan sent the gift card for me to buy. When I got home we got all of the presents together and it was gift-giving time! He loved it all...well, all of the things that Dad picked out since that was the fun stuff. Mom picked out the shoes and clothes and socks. Although, he really liked the hanger his sunday outfit came on. :) Not nearly as exciting as a huge killer whale, a Safari Party, wooden blocks or the ride-on toy that makes tons of noise (thanks, Grammy and Papa! Thanks a lot! :) ). The one thing we forgot to pick up is a basketball hoop, but we think that will be a gift for the part-ay.

After a call to Grammy and Uncle Mak on the videophone, we put the new forward-facing car seat in the car and headed out for a night on the town. Actually, we picked up some Taco Bell and went to a cool park with a "Tot Lot" not far from our house. Max was in heaven! We played for a while and then decided it was time to head back home. We got home and did a web cam call with Maggie, Grandpa Mick, Aunt Meg and Uncle Adam. Lots of birthday songs for Max! Next came a bath and then a call to Papa Dan on the videophone. Bedtime soon followed because we had a very tuckered-out little man.

I closed the door after I put him down and was filled with emotion. I thought of how fast times passes and that before I know it, I will be saying goodnight to my teenage son. I won't have just rocked him to sleep, but I hope he will still let me kiss his head and tell him how VERY much I love him. I hope he always knows that I love him almost more than my heart can hold. (If you're wondering if typing that brought the tears again, the answer would be yes.) I am so grateful to be a mom. To be Maxwell's mom. What a good little dude! I love him more than I ever knew I would...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAXWELL TYLER!

Here's to many, many more years of happiness!