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.

Mr. Eleven Month Old is all over the place now. He's pulling up on things which is freaking me out because he is on the verge of bonking his iron noggin constantly. I'm trying to let him learn through experience though and he's a pretty quick study. Lord, help me! He also likes climbing into cupboards and the other day climbed a couple steps on a play structure and sent himself head first down a slide (with me ready to catch of course). He probably would have repeated this until the sun set if we didn't have to go home for lunch. He crawls behind our floor length curtains and pops out when we say peek-a-boo. He also likes putting things on his head, especially books. If you ask him, "where's your book hat?" he'll do this.

Jonathan started celebrating his birthday by going for a long run with some friends over the weekend. It ended up being very complicated and memorable, and a long story. But as he starts this next year of life, he's thankful to have good friends and be healthy. We went to the Kennedy School soaking pool Saturday with some friends and after we got in they started a wait list. The pool was packed! Who would have thought an outdoor pool would be maximum capacity in February? Sunday we brought dinner to some friends that just had a baby. They shared their amazing story of God's healing their sweet little guy. Praise the Lord! 

We celebrated Jonathan's birthday on Tuesday with dinner at our favorite restaurant and homemade cake. All in all, it was a pretty busy week with social stuff and some deadlines for Jonathan's work. We're ready for a laidback weekend with both sets of grandparents stopping by.

Today was a mixture of messy, comical, sweet, and exhausting with a sprinkle of embarrassing. A little bit memorable, but also very typical. Just another day in the life, but I know life will change so much so I want to be able to look back at this and laugh.

The alarm went off at 6am. I'm trying to get in the habit of doing some stretches before I even get out of bed. After those, I dragged myself to the kitchen to start making some waffles and eggs. Jonathan and I had a lovely chat while I nursed Archer. Thirty minutes later Quinn was awake. I had my second breakfast with the kids, which included a dance party intermission. Some playing and reading, Archer tucked in for nap, get dressed, have a third breakfast (I'm really hungry the first half of the day) while finishing up my grocery list and helping Quinn sort her animal figures by what environment they live in. Oh, and get some laundry started.

Archer wakes up and we head to the grocery store by 10:30. Last week he was wanting out of the Ergo and into the cart which Quinn loves because that means she gets to walk around and be my helper. When we arrived at the grocery store, it became very clear to me that Archer had a major diaper blow out. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal because I keep spare clothes for both kids in the car. But, Archer also had a major blow out on the way to Bible study yesterday and I forgot to put new clothes in the car. So, he is now wearing his down coat with no shirt and a pair of Quinn-sized bright pink pants sitting in the cart instead of hidden inside the Ergo. I should mention that we are recognized at this grocery store. The employees in the meat department start slicing 12 slices of pepperoni when they see me walking up because I get that every week for pizza night. The cashiers ask which character Quinn is pretending to be each time we come in. I make a little joke to each clerk that recognizes us and makes a curious expression at Archer's pants. But to take the awkwardness up a notch, Quinn declares to various strangers, "Archer is ten months!" After sharing that with a few people, she adds a bonus feature. Her first target is an unsuspecting businessman who says, "Wow." in response to the Archer statement. She then asks him, "Can you do this?" and does a ballet jump. The man says he doesn't think he can and she insists that he try. After he tries, Quinn says, "No, like this!" and does it again. The poor guy tries a couple more times before I tell Quinn that it's a new move for him so he will make sure to practice. She lets him off the hook and I give him an apologetic smile. She does this same routine on two more random people before I distract her with a cupcake sample and get us to the register to pay. The drive home consists of her asking me "why" about a million things, what happened to the cashier's finger and what color was her band-aid (I didn't know I was supposed to pay attention to that), and requesting detailed information about Queen Elizabeth. Archer is saying, "Ba ba ba" and practicing clapping.

When we get home, I hold Archer on my hip and feed him spoonfuls of lunch while I put groceries away. We all sit down for some lunch and then play Boaz, Ruth, and Obed with the markers as wheat and the Go Fish cards as fish. Archer is tucked in for nap after many kisses (he's been giving out kisses like crazy the past couple weeks) and Quinn and I do some watercolor painting. I start a second load of laundry and do some dinner prep while Quinn has quiet time. Then I set her loose and then Archer wakes up and we play and wait for Jonathan to get home. I go for a run while the frittata is in the oven. We scramble to all get cleaned up and the kids to bed. Tonight I washed Archer, Shinobi (unfortunate failed potty attempt while I'm washing Archer), Quinn, and myself in a fifteen minute span. Then Jonathan and I crash. The days just zoom by.

We had a nice holiday weekend. We took the kids to the pool for Valentine's and had a special dinner and dessert. We filled the days with lots of walks and played at the park with the neighbors every day. We also did some yard work in the beautiful weather and Jonathan built me another raised bed. I'm getting excited for gardening again. I planted some spinach seeds in September and kind of forgot, but now it's ready to eat! Good old sun and rain.

Archer was dedicated at church at the start of the month. He giggled when we got up on the stage and he saw everyone looking at him. And he didn't fuss when he was handed over to the pastor, phew! Archer, we pray every day that God will make His love clear to you in your heart and mind and that you will choose to follow, serve, and love Him. That is our greatest hope for you above anything else. 

My parents were able to come up and we went to our favorite restaurant for brunch. It was a nice weekend overall.

This past weekend, we headed to Eugene for a visit. We spent some good time with Jonathan's family Saturday. We had an indoor picnic and Quinn got to live out her Robin Hood dreams with some help from her Grandpa.

We spent Sunday with my family. Activities included lots of loud piano playing and the usual making of a huge mess.

A neighbor family hosted a zebra-themed Valentine's Day party for the kids today that was a blast. Our neighbor and her daughter are quite the creative hostesses.  Quinn's been working on Valentine's cards for days. We had a date night last week and will probably do something as a family this weekend. And Jonathan has Monday off, hooray!