With each pregnancy, I did a bump photo every four weeks and made a collage for their baby book. For Quinn's first year, we did a monthly photo shoot with her lovey and made a collage of all the photos for the baby book as well. It was such a nice record of her changes, we just had to do the same thing for Archer. And here it is:

And here's his one year photo:

Archer is such an affectionate, silly guy! He generously gives out grab-both-cheeks-and-mmmmuah kisses. When he's playing near Jonathan or I, he'll take a break to climb up on our lap and press his little head on us for a cuddle or kiss and then go back to playing. His outbursts, babbles, and facial expressions keep us laughing. And he seems quite pleased with himself when he makes us laugh or does a new skill because he'll bust out his clever face - squink eyes and toothy grin. He's content the vast majority of the time and likes to look around curiously or smile at people. He claps enthusiastically for songs, dances, and happy moments. He puts everything on his head and loves climbing over things while making sound effects. He still loves climbing up slides and going down head first. His army crawl has developed into a floor swim that is very fast and smooth. He's still drawn to any water sound and will sprint to it. He has been waving and saying, "Hi!" in a sweet cheery voice for a couple weeks. He especially waves to dogs. He frequently chants, "Bababa Bah!" so I'm thinking it sounds like a song or phrase we say a lot. He eats as much as Quinn and loves smoothies. No matter what I cook for breakfast, he pretty much only wants bananas in plain yogurt in the morning. He just had his check-up and is at the 98% for height and 60% for weight and head circumference.

My baby boy is one year old! All day I was remembering different pieces from Archer's birth as I saw certain times on the clock. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that it was all a year ago. He's such an important presence in our family and a daily source of joy.

We celebrated this weekend with a shared party with my nephew Abraham at my parents' house. The theme was camo/outdoors and the weather turned out just right so that we could be outside. There were 40+ family and friends and lots of them were kids. We served chili and cornbread, macaroni and cheese, a trail mix bar, and Quinn helped me make a bunch of cupcakes with green and brown sprinkles. It was a pretty special day and I'm so grateful I could share the celebration with my sister.

Today we had Archer's favorite foods at each meal, went to the library, played, and Quinn and I made raspberry muffins for a special "dessert". We also went to froyo as a family. We got Archer a Jonathan apple tree and Quinn used some of her piggy bank money to get Archer some new pajamas. 

We love you so much sweet Archer man! You bring sunshine to our days and keep us smiling and laughing and can always be counted on for a snuggle or smooch. We can't wait to learn more about who God made you to be this year and just spend time with you.

Quinn requested her first drastic hair cut last week. She woke up Tuesday morning and said, "Mama, I want a cute little bob." After verifying fifty times throughout the day, I cut her hair that night and she's loving it! It totally suits her chatterbox, peppy personality. It makes her look a little older than Jonathan and I were ready for though, (sniffle). Here's the before and after:

Quinn just had her final dance class for the quarter last night. She loved it! She definitely wants to take more ballet soon. She requested many ballet books from the library leading up to the class and practiced all her poses. Each class she would get excited about choosing a different leotard and tutu combination and ask me to take photos of her different poses. During class she was totally in her element and very focused. Watching a bunch of goofy tiny dancers each week was heart-melting. 

Last weekend, Jonathan and I went on a date to a concert at church that was very uplifting. We went on a family hike with another family from church and had the Johnsons over for dessert and board games. Jonathan was in Wisconsin this week for work which always makes for an adventure around the house. Luckily, my mom and Jonathan's mom came to give me a hand.

Quinn and I got our first round of seeds into the garden today. Our current crops include five blueberry bushes, one golden raspberry bush, ten strawberry plants, a cherry tree, a rhubarb plant, a Jonathan apple tree we just bought as Archer's birthday gift, and hopefully some carrots, spinach, and kale. Archer tries to help in the garden too, but he mostly likes eating dirt and army crawling all over the grass.