Forget the Target dog; my son LOVES the mannequin dogs at Old Navy. There are two and he likes to traipse back and forth through the store hugging and kissing each in turn. It’s too bad I don’t have videos because his squeals are precious. And a marketing note: I didn’t plan it this way but he is wearing Old Navy from top to toe.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Everything made him giggle. Good times.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Ask my son if he’s hungry and if he is, he replies, “Num-a-num-a num.” His version on “yummy,” I suppose. As he’s eating more table foods, he’s discovered ice cream and – SPOILER ALERT – he loves it. (Having struggled with his feeding issues, it’s a GREAT thrill to see him love something non-baby food – even if it is all sugar and fat.)

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Suzy, our wonderful nanny, took some pics of our munchkin in the bath and these are the CUTEST PICTURES EVER! Eeek! I love, love, love these shots. Wish I’d been there to see the joy – but he shares these cute smiles with us often. The pics are so cute I just had to enter him in the Parenting magazine Baby of the Month contest. Vote for him here, if you’re so inclined!

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Technically, it’s a cold-air vaporizer. No babies were burned or injured during this photo shoot!

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

There’s a person in our neighborhood that really, really likes to decorate with inflatables for the holidays.

Either that, or this is where magic inflatable decorations hang out and have a beer.

This Santa had to ski down the roof slope to find a spot.

At last count, the owner said he had about 100 inflatables on the lawn. Needless to say, my son loved them.

Thank you, Mr. Inflatable Man, for our new Christmas tradition. I mean, how can you stay away when your son’s face lights up like this?

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

We tried to get a shot of our son in a Santa hat and winter-y pj’s for our holiday card. This was as good as it got. It’s a bit dark and the hat is cut off but you get the gist. He’s such a busy baby that we have a hard time getting him to sit still for pictures. Imagine that! Anyhow, I put some of the “outtakes” in here, too.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

I wanted to subtitle this post: How to Outsource an Entire Birthday Party because in essence, that’s what I did. I fretted about it for about a minute; after all, I can use scissors and glue and could probably have made pinwheels and decorations myself, but given that we just moved, have a new nanny, have had too many illnesses to count, have a stove with a finicky oven (meaning no way was I going to attempt a cake), etc., etc., it seemed wise to just buy everything. But — and here’s the catch — I didn’t want it to look like some pre-packed party from the party store. I wanted it to look creative and unique and just like I did it all myself, which many of the party  goers thought. Haha! Fooled them!

The Occasion: My son’s first birthday

The Location: Our temporary rental (while our house is being built). 2BR, teeny tiny, so we limited the guest list to 20.

The Theme: My son loves anything that spins so I came up with the idea to do pinwheels. I also wanted a “color story” and focused on orange and yellow with pops of red.

The Planning: I did nearly all my research online (surprise, surprise) and used Evernote to keep track. You can see my notebook here. There are all sorts of random pinwheel things I found, including pinwheel jewelry (I contemplated wearing some) and shirts for Hunter to wear. I’m a HUGE fan of Evernote and will tell you more about it next week for Tech Tuesday.

The Vendors:

• Email invitations: I contacted Ariana at Becoming-Mom, because she just opened an Etsy store and she designed some darling pinwheel invitations for me. (If you haven’t read her blog, yet, you should check it out. It’s one of my favorites.)
• Pinwheels, pendant banner (with pinwheels), pinwheel favor boxes: Twirlie Whirlies Etsy shop. She could not have been more pleasant and fun to work with. I picked four papers from her selections and she made pinwheel after pinwheel for me. They were “real” pinwheels, too (meaning they spin) and the pendant banner she made is SO cute that we’re putting it in Hunter’s room. The stuff was perfectly packaged and really, really cute.
• Photo banner (also with pinwheels!): This custom banner was made by MaryHadALittleParty’s Etsy shop. When it arrived and my husband saw all the photos of Hunter, he got very choked up and quietly asked me if there was a way we could preserve this for him some day. I emailed her pictures from each month of the last year and she picked the ones that worked best in her format. She stuck with yellow, orange and red circles and added some pinwheels to the end. Really sweet.
• Pinwheel repositionable wall decals: These were a stroke of luck: bright, colorful pinwheel wall decals from Flair4All. I also bought some alphabet decals from them to spell out things like “Happy Birthday.” These are all going in his room as decorations. (I figure even though we’re only here for six months, I can totally use a lot of this stuff to decorate his room!)
• Food/Cake: The cake was made by a local woman who works with a friend of mine, so I don’t have a link to share with you. I gave her very little direction beyond “pinwheels” and love what she came up with. The food came from SouperJenny’s, which if you’re here in Atlanta, you probably already know about. The only catch with the food is that the party was on Sunday and they aren’t open on Sunday so we had to pick it all up Saturday. Our fridge is WAY TOO SMALL so we had to drop it all off at a friend’s house. The same friend who knows the Cake Lady. Good friends.
• Lollipops, candy: I found all the candy at a local candy store and got the jars at the Container Store. If you don’t have a candy shop locally, Google “whirly” or “swirly” lollipops. Lots of folks sell them online. I also got the favor boxes at the Container Store.

The Result: My dad, sister-in-law and niece came in for the party which was soooo nice. My best friend, who is insanely busy with her own kids, was able to make it (we held the party on Sunday to work around her kids’ schedule), as were several other close friends. Hunter was a bit overwhelmed by all the people. He did NOT smash his cake. Just kind of looked at it like, “Huh? What am I supposed to do with this?” All in all, a fun time.

OK, enough talk. Time for some pictures!

Today’s post is a two-fer, meaning I’m including it in both the Works for Me Wednesday series AND the Wordless/Wordful Wednesday series. For more great Works-for-me-Wednesday tips, check out WeAreThatFamily. And for more great pictures, go to SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

OK, I’m thankful beyond words for the loves of my life: my husband, son, dad, sister, other family members and dear friends. I’m also thankful for goofy stuff like our favorite TV shows and the wonderful DVR that records them so we can watch after the munchkin is bed. I’m thankful I can get most of my holiday shopping done online, and that there are some wicked sales going on right now. (For a list, keep checking yesterday’s post, as I’m adding deals as I find them.)

I entered Hunter in the Parenting.com baby of the month contest. You may vote for him here if you like! I’d be oh so — what’s the word? — thankful!

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

Don’t forget to sign up for our free parenting webinar tonight with Amy McCready. Amy was recently featured in the New York Times. What’s she doing slumming on my blog, you ask? Why, she’s a friend of mine! I think you’ll find her advice spot on. Hope to “see” you tonight!

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

This day in history: the nation elected Barack Obama and my son was born. We like to joke that it was historic for two reasons!

I want to write how much I love my baby boy and how much he’s changed and improved our lives, but when I think about it, my eyes well up with tears and stupid cliches tumble forth. You know the ones. My heart burst open. A joy I never knew. More love than I could ever imagine. That sort of thing. Also, my son completes me. Not in a scary Tom Cruise kind of way (and Ladies, hasn’t Tommy seriously climbed aboard the Whacko Train?), but in a period-at-the-end-of-a-sentence completion kind of way.

At one year, he’s mostly smiles. He doesn’t tell us what he wants so much as he tells us what he doesn’t want. He’s cutting his molars so he’s shoving fingers in his mouth constantly (his fingers, not mine). We ask him to show us his happy face and he looks up (often at the camera I’m pointing in his face) and smiles. He still loves his Jumperoo but he’s getting too tall for it. His favorite books are the Karen Katz pop-up books and the finger puppet panda book. (He does try to eat my finger then.) He’s crazy about baths.

I’m trying to teach him the sign for “more” but he’s worked out his own sign: He opens his mouth as if to say, “Duh, I want more. Can’t you see?”. He knows what I mean when I ask if he wants “more” and he gives me this little half-smile when I show him how to do it. I know, Mom. I’ve got this. But I’m not going to do it just yet.

It’s the same smile he gives when I ask him for a kiss and he doesn’t want to give me one. Fortunately for me, he often does give me a kiss when I ask. His version of a kiss? Open mouth, tongue out, touching mommy’s lips with his tongue. Not a lick exactly – more of a tongue tap.

Occasionally, he gives me a kiss unprompted. He grabs my ears, pulls my face to his and kisses me. And beware: Cliche ahead! My heart melts. Every single time.

He has a great giggle. Don’t all babies have great giggles? And a great head of hair (taking after me on that one). He has his dad’s cleft chin and a hint of his dimples. Steel blue-gray eyes. Lots of teeth. Easy disposition.

HE’S ONE YEAR OLD TODAY! I look at him and I can’t stop smiling. Also, crying. How is it that love does that to you? We’re so happy for the love we have but so scared something will happen to it at the same time.

My friend, Bernadette, told me that at this age the days are long but the years are short. How true!

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy. As your dad says to you every night, “grow big dreams, Dude.” Speaking of your dad, he is a great guy, a wonderful father who ADORES you, and a terrific husband. We’re very happy together and we love you!

This post is part of the Wordless Wednesday series. (Only clearly today, I had a lot of words to go with my pics!) Check out more great pics at SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

I am trying to get back to my blog but “life” has been getting in the way. Funny thing since blogs are supposed to be about our lives. My little guy has a cold, which isn’t that big a deal but he’s also cutting molars and apparently, that adds up to a CHILD WHO WAS HYPER UNTIL MIDNIGHT AND THEN WOKE EVERY 45 MINUTES AFTER THAT SCREAMING AND POUNDING HIS FISTS.

I understand that slitting my wrists is not an appropriate response and might, in fact, be considered an over-reaction. I have no alcohol in the house and Advil is just plain boring.

I want — no, I need — chocolate chip cookies but the oven in our rental house DOESN’T WORK right and the cookies I tried to bake the other night were flat and mushy.

So I’m having a cookie crisis and I have a sick baby. Oh and we still don’t have heat in the master bathroom. But we’re supposed to break ground today or tomorrow so it’s all good. Right? Right?

Right.

I’ll be back soon, I promise. In the meantime, here’s my munchkin, posing for the camera. Isn’t he going to make the cutest Ewok for Halloween? The snot-dripping, sneezing, but still smiling Ewok.

I like to participate in the Wordless Wednesday posts, where bloggers post fun pics and share with other bloggers. I’m going to count this as a WW post, OK? Check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.

We moved last weekend. I’ve never moved with a baby before, which definitely made it more challenging! But also lots of fun. See?

Sorry the 2nd shot is so washed out; I took it with my cell phone. I just love the expression on his face so much, I’m overlooking the photography flaws!

And this last shot is from our hotel room (We’ve been in a hotel because the gas company can’t hook us up till today; no heat or hot water in 36 degree weather? No way!). He loved looking down at the cars.

Looking for more great photos? Grab a cup of tea or coffee and check out these sites that host more Wordless Wednesday entries: SevenClownCircus, 5MinutesforMom, and WordlessWednesday.