Birthday Finale!

Robert's BIG birthday party was this past Saturday. He celebrated with two of the four other one year-olds here at Nashotah House. Though the weather changed the outdoor picnic to a gym party, it was a wonderful celebration. And most importantly, Robert tasted his first cake! Thanks to my very talented friend Melissa, Robert has his own "smash cake" as well as a really awesome soccer ball cake to share with everyone. Not only did the cakes look amazing, they tasted like heaven! So the parties are over, and we are settling in to the fact that our baby Robert is now a toddler. He's walking all over the place--even more than crawling now. Soon he'll be talking, and before we know it, he'll be off to school. I don't even want to think about that!

Thank you all for your birthday greetings, cards, presents, emails, and phone calls. Thank you all especially for your prayers this past year. We love you!

P.S. I'm putting up more pictures under the First Birthday link to the left. I'm also putting up some cake eating videos.

Robert's Birthday Week

Robert's reaction when I wheeled out his Cozy Coup filled with presents!

Our little one year-old Baby Robert has had quite a week so far. He had a "presents" birthday party on Tues., and he's having his "cake" birthday party on Sat. He's been quite spoiled with lots of presents, including a huge balloon bouquet sent by Aunt Julie and a Cozy Coup Car from MaBop and PaBop. It's been such a fun week so far. Oh, and he's such a walker, now. I finally got it on video (with Rob's help), so check it out under Our Videos to the left. All he wants to do now is to go outside and walk up and down the sidewalk. He looks like a little Frankenstein! I know that's probably mean to say, but it's true. He puts his arms either out in front or out to the side for balance and takes big steps. It's so cute! Enjoy the video!

Less Than 24 Hours!

Mommy and I had fun at Nashotah Lake this weekend. I ate rocks.

I crawled straight into the chilly water all by myself and kept crawling until I didn't reach anymore and Mommy pulled me up because she didn't want me to drown! I wasn't the least big scared--I did it again and again!

Mommy finally made me get out and get bundled up because I was shivering and my lips were blue. Man, these Wisconsin lakes are chilly!

I can't believe I'll have a one year-old in less than 24 hours! Not a minute goes by today that I don't think about what I was doing this time last year. I hope I never forget that glorious moment when I held Robert for the first time. I was just telling a friend that I can still see that little infant in Robert's toddler face and that even when he's a teenager I hope I'll still be able to see it. The Lord surely gives us more that we could ask or imagine! I am infinitely blessed!

Let the Countdown Begin!

I crawled up here by myself (and then I fell).

I snuck out onto the back porch.

I went berry picking!

My first pizza! Mommy made Grandpa Tom's crust and put lots of yummy veggies and Italian sausage on it. YUMMMMMY!

I'll wear the hat how I want, thank you very much!

Cousin Ty and Baby Wobert

I love balls!

Climb in, climb out, climb in, climb out...

Gotta have on a "do-rag" if you're gonna ride a "hog"!

4 generations!

Happy 4th of July! Great parade!

Cousin Jordan and Baby Wobit (an even shorter version of Wobert)


Wow! What a summer we're having. Sorry for not posting for such a long time. Robert and I had a great two week visit in Atlanta. Now we're back at Nashotah counting down for the big day--July 28--when Robert turns 1! We're having a party on Aug. 1 with 2 of the 4 other Nashotah babies all turning one (2 are gone for the summer). It's gonna be a blast!

In other Robert news, he's started to take a few steps here and there. I've tried to get it on video, but no such luck, yet. I'll post it when I can get him to cooperate.

Lately I've been working frantically to finish a photo book of Robert's first year on Shutterfly.com. I'll post a link to it when it's finished. It's turning out great, and I can't wait to show it off!

Hope everyone is well. We send our love!

Summer Fun

Robert and his buddy Aidan enjoying the dogs, who are glad to be behind glass.



Robert posing for the camera on his "corn popper" car.

Robert in his rummage sale, fixed up by Daddy swing. He loves it!

Robert eating his favorite food: pasta and sauce (and whatever else I snuck onto the tray)

We've been having a great summer so far. It's finally gotten warm, well actually downright hot, here. We've been playing with friends, swimming, and just hanging out. Robert is getting more and more fun by the minute. He's cruising around like a pro. He especially loves his car and chasing the dogs. They hate it. Well, every now and again Hazel will feel like playing, but most of the time Robert gets a bark or a snarl warning to leave them alone. No, it doesn't scare him. He thinks it's all part of the game!
He's definitely communicating these days. He tries all the signs that I introduce to him: eat, all done, dog, bird, ball, water. He doesn't have the coordination to get them all right, but he clearly tries them most of the time. He's really good at bird and does it whenever he even hears a bird outside. He also does eat really well. He tries to talk all the time, but all that ever comes out is variations of "uh duh." Sometimes it's loud, sometimes soft, sometimes separated by a long pause, like "uh...........(then really loudly) DUH!!!!" It's really funny, and Rob and I can't help but laugh, which of course makes him do it even more.
We are heading to Atlanta to visit with my family in a few days.

Lots of love to all!

First Pool Party

Robert had his first pool party the other day. I posted a video, so check it out over to the left under Our Videos. In the video he's showing off for his friend Adeline. She's laughing her head off so much that she's falling over. It really is the laughing because she's got lots of control normally and can even walk already! It was absolutely hilarious, and Robert knew it, too. What a ham!!!

10 Months Already?!

I can't believe my tiny (okay, he was never tiny) baby is 10 months old! He is changing so fast these days. It seems like every day he can do something new. Here are a few things that come to mind:
*He crawls very fast now, mostly using one foot and one knee.
*He pushes himself up to his feet but doesn't stand up, yet (makes kind of like a bridge).
*We figured out the other day that he can climb stairs (he was up four stairs when we realized where he was and what he was doing---we accidentally left the gate open).
*He can pull himself up to anything.
*He can now sign "eat" and "milk," though I think he thinks the sign for "milk" means "mommy"--great. It's interesting how he just all of a sudden started this, which is exactly what they said would happen.
*He eats by himself and WILL NOT take ANYTHING from a spoon (okay, so we haven't tried ice cream, yet).
*He can drink out of his sippy cup by himself.
*He can say "da" which means either "dog" or "daddy". You have to figure it out.
* He LOVES dogs and notices them everywhere.
I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but I had to get all of this down before I forgot it.
We just got back from a trip to Charleston, so check out the new video under our albums to the left.