In case you're curious...

Some have asked to see what our house looks like for Christmas, so I thought I'd put up a couple of pics. Our camera is officially DEAD (yes, in all caps), so I didn't get any pics of Phil chopping down our tree. These pictures were taken with our video camera, so they aren't the best, but you get the idea.

Here is our tree. We agree that it's the best one we've ever had! We had so much fun going to Yellow Springs to chop it down with Grandpa and Grandma Swenson while they were here visiting. Adam is a big fan of the tree and has learned the word "Christmas Tree." He waves to his Elmo ornament before going to bed at night.

I decided it was time for some new stockings (except Pooser, hers is the same). I'm really excited about these! Phil and I still get a little weirded out that ours say "Mom" and "Dad," but it's also pretty cool.

I also put up the nativity scene and I've had a lot of fun showing it to Adam and telling him about Baby Jesus - the real reason for all this decorating. Luckily, Pooser has left the nativity alone so far. In years past, she has made it her mission to knock Baby Jesus out of the manger!

Someone turned ONE...can you guess who?

If you guessed this guy (see adorably handsome one-year-old below) then you are RIGHT!

Just to warn you, besides the awesome pictures taken by Susie, these pictures are going to be pretty craptacular, due to our dying camera.

Adam turned one on Thanksgiving, but we celebrated on Saturday the 28th with his family and a few of his neighborhood friends. Thank you, everyone, for making it a very special day for Adam!

Adam loves Elmo, so we naturally had an Elmo party for him. Most of my planning energy and excitement went into the cake, so that's what a lot of this post is going to be about. (Isn't the first birthday party really about the parents anyway? I mean, Adam won't remember it, right?)

Here is the cake just after it came out of the oven. This guy needs some color, don't you think?

Aunt Jessie didn't want the bottom of the cake that I cut off to go to waste!

I was so glad that Adam's two aunts were here to help me with the cake - what a great team! We had so much fun with this cake...maybe a little too much fun.

Jess and I wanted to get his fur just right.

I was very pleased with how it turned out! Adam loved seeing his house transformed into Elmo's World. We got an Elmo balloon and a giant poster of Elmo for the pin-the-nose on Elmo game for the older boys.

Here's another of his one-year shots from Susie. How cool is this little plane??? He was loving it.

The decorating committee hard at work...

The finished product.

Here are a couple of videos to share. They are a little long, so I'm sure Adam will understand if you fast forward a little bit :) Grace took these videos, by the way...
This one is us singing "Happy Birthday."

The second video was too long (5 minutes) to put on here, but YOU CAN CLICK HERE to see it on youtube. It's pretty awesome - Adam digging into his first birthday cake. Excellent! We pretty much fired up the car wash when he was finished, and Mama is SERIOUSLY reconsidering the future use of red frosting.

Facts about our one-year-old:
1. At his check-up, he weighed 21 lbs. 10 ozs. Hard to believe he was only 8 lbs. a year ago!
2. He has started to dance by stepping back and forth and bobbing his head back and forth. Sometimes he bends his knees, too.
3. He's really started to understand language and follows simple instructions like "get your ball." He also loves to point at things. He has learned "Christmas tree" since we put ours up a couple days ago.
4. He also loves waving at people or things he identifies. He waves to his Elmo ornament on the tree before going to bed.
5. He is loving table foods, and ate a full Thanksgiving dinner. He eats a little bit (often times a lot) of whatever Phil and I are eating every day. His favorite snack is yogurt. He still nurses once a day, though, and STILL a couple of times a night. Yep, STILL working on the sleeping! He is much improved, however.
6. He really enjoys riding facing forward in the car.
7. He has 8 teeth - 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.
8. He absolutely loves his books. He will bring them to Phil or me to read to him or just sit and flip through them himself. He is getting really good at finding the mouse in Goodnight Moon.

Dear Adam,
I can't believe you are one! What a year we have had! I have such sweet memories of your birth and the start of your life. It has been amazing for us to watch you grow and learn. It is so fun to take you to new places and watch your face light up. You are so curious about everything and you really keep us on our toes!
You are so cute and you have a lot of fans around these parts - lots of friends to play with. You are so loved, especially by your dad and me. Thank you for changing our lives and filling our days with so much fun.

We love you!
Mama and Daddy

P.S. Could you please just sleep a little bit better at night? Thank you.

Silly Unco Matty

If you know my brother, this video will come as no surprise. If you don't know him, don't worry, he's not completely mental or anything. He is, however, hilarious and will do ANYTHING to make people laugh. Especially his nephew, who he adores. Adam pretty much adores him, too.
Make sure your volume is up so you can hear Matty's antics and Adam's laughing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ok, I've been a little slow getting the T-giving and Adam's B-day posts up, but that is because our camera broke so I've been trying to collect pictures that look half-way decent. So, you'll see the quality of the photos diminish as these posts go on. Shooters, huh?

We had a great Thanksgiving, though. Adam's birthday was ON Thanksgiving this year, but we didn't celebrate it until Saturday, so I'll talk about that in another post. My parents, Matty and Jess, and Grace joined us for Thanksgiving this year. We had a wonderful time!

Here is a shot of the Turkey (or as Matty and I say, The Goose!) before it went in the oven. I learned how to do a turkey from Phil's mom, and I'm a huge fan of it with the butter and herbs stuffed underneath the skin.

Here's a look at what was going on in the living room:
Adam did lots of reading with Grandpa Rob. Adam was a little annoyed in this photo since I was interrupting the story.

He also did some good playing with Uncle Matty.

There was plenty of relaxing and football watching going on...

and even a little bit of napping.

The Wii competition got a little fierce... (this photo was staged, but that's pretty much what Grace looks like when she plays anyway)

and it even got a bit physical at times...

but it was all cool at the end.

Grace also clocked some time in the kitchen.

Here is the centerpiece I made for the table.

Phil carvin' up a storm!

Adam's first Thanksgiving dinner. (Don't worry, he had cranberry sauce and green bean casserole, too. I just hadn't put it on the plate yet.) He liked everything!

The fam, all ready to dig in!

It was pretty awesome to all be together. That doesn't happen very much anymore. We had so much fun and Adam loved spending time with his grandparents and aunts and uncle. We certainly have had a lot to be thankful for this year!