Walkin' and Talkin'

I've been meaning to post about Forrest's walking for about a week now. When we were at the beach in April, he began taking more steps together than he had been up to that point. It's taken him a couple of weeks to decide he really thought it was worth it to walk. :) After all, crawling was still a much faster way to keep up with big brother! But, in the past week or so, he's been walking a lot more! And in the past couple of days, walking has become his main mode of movement! He's a big boy!!

This is a picture of Forrest walking at the beach. He looks like he's working hard!



Forrest is quite the talker, too. He imitates so many words and seems to be so much more verbal than Andrew was at this age. For my own records, I wanted a list of all of his words...

asi (paci), ba-ba (bottle), owside (outside), Ola (Magnoila), Daiz (Daisy), Mama, Dada, Bubba (Bubby), cookie, cracker, ball, iss (this), cup, oose (juice), mas (Thomas the Train), car, bye-bye, ook (book), aura (Laura) :), diaper, choo-choo, quack-quack (duck), uh-oh

These he says on his own, but many times he'll imitate the words we say... like wagon, tractor, and thirsty. So cute! He loves making noises with his mouth, too. I have joked that maybe he's been so busy trying to talk and that's what has kept him from walking any sooner! He's walkin' and talkin' now though!

Forrest is still a big boy! At his 1 year check-up he was in the 80% for height and above 100% in weight. As I've said before... he loves to eat!

Blessed

How thankful I am for these BLESSINGS in my life!  I love them so much, and they truly make every day a special day.

Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him.  

Psalm 127:3

Little fish

Andrew took his first swimming lessons this spring at Maley's.  He LOVED it!!  We were so pleased with the lessons and of course very proud of our little fish!  Wilson snuck in and took some pictures at one of the last lessons...

Andrew loved the big slide!

Andrew's swimming buddies - Will, Andrew, Taylor, and Banks  

What a fun group!

Better late then never, right?

Here are a few Easter pictures. We had a great Easter weekend. It was especially busy with Forrest's birthday party, but the boys enjoyed dyeing eggs, hunting eggs, opening Easter goodies, and spending time with family. And most importantly, we celebrated our Risen Savior!

The first pictures were taken after church on Easter morning. The very last picture is of the boys waiting to see what the Easter bunny left them in their baskets.

the Flip

So Wilson loves technology and he is always looking for the latest and greatest way to record, share, and store family memories ... so we bought a Flip and we love it.  It is a hand-held camcorder that is as simple to use as an iPod.  Our version, the Flip minoHD, shoots in high definition and is lots of fun to use.  Here are a few of our first videos of the boys.  

Easter Egg Dyeing

I'm slowly, but surely playing catch-up on all of our photos.  

I must say that Easter egg dyeing with Andrew went much better this year. :)  I'm sure it was mostly due to his age, but I was also smart enough this year to set it all up outside on the patio.  This made everything much more relaxed and fun. Oh, and did I mention that Wilson was home and kept Forrest occupied?  That was big help, too!

He had a great time dropping the eggs in the dye and retrieving them later to see their colors.  I think he would have dyed dozens if I had let him. :)

Before...

Dyeing...

All done!

Showing off his eggs!

The boys had a fun time playing on the slide, too.  Forrest loves climbing up the steps and then sliding down.  He and Andrew took turns sliding while I got dinner ready.  Our sweet neighbor, Caroline, came over to play.  She even hid eggs for Andrew to hunt which he loved!

Forrest's Party

Forrest's birthday party was wonderful.  It was a beautiful day, our family was here with us, and we just relaxed and enjoyed the time together celebrating our big boy.  The birthday boy had a little bit of a cold and wasn't at his best, but we kept most of the party outside which he loved.

The party was the Saturday before Easter so we had an Easter theme.  His invitation was a blue-gingham bunny and began with "Some bunny special is turning one..." We had an Easter egg hunt before we ate and Andrew had lots of fun!  I took so many pictures and have posted a lot, I know!  I just wanted to go thru the party with the pictures.

The Birthday Boy

Pictures with both sets of grandparents.  Andrew and Forrest LOVE  Ganny & Papaw and May-May & Bubby so, so much!

Family Love

Andrew hunting eggs with Izzy

The desserts - Forrest's cake in the center & bunny cupcake for everyone else!

A little bunny garland that I made with pictures of Forrest.  It started with the day he was born, there was a picture from each month, and it ended with a picture from his real birthday.  I loved seeing how he grew and changed.  This is still hanging - I just hate to take it down!

The birthday boy's lunch. We ate finger sandwiches cut out from springtime cookie cutters, Cheeto carrots, fresh fruit, chicken salad, and pimento cheese with crackers.

Andrew swinging with Papaw

Forrest sliding with Bubby

Andrew helping Forrest blow out his birthday candle.

Check out the birthday boy's face.  Once again, he did not like his cake!  He asked me instead for a cracker!

A sweet brother moment

Ganny and Papaw gave Forrest a new big boy chair!

Forrest loves his new play kitchen, too!  Thanks May-May and Bubby!

It was a wonderful day with precious memories with our family!

My Birthday Boy... Forrest's Big Day!

A look at the big day...

Wilson, Andrew, and I went into Forrest's room when he woke up that morning and sang to him.  Andrew LOVES birthdays and had been so excited about Forrest's, and he loves singing "Happy Birthday" too, so this was a lot of fun for us.  Forrest wasn't quite sure what to think, though. :)

Birthday Highchair!

Forrest's 1st doughnut for his 1st birthday breakfast.  He and his daddy went to pick them up together. (We also did this for Andrew's 1st & 2nd birthday breakfast, so I guess we've started a tradition.)

Then Forrest opened his presents... with a lot of help from his big brother!

Andrew is sharing the Elmo birthday card that he picked out for Forrest.  Andrew loves picking out birthday cards but he has to buy one that makes some kind of noise or plays music.  In this card,  Elmo talks and says "Happy Birthday".  Andrew also picked out a present for Forrest - a Bertie the Bus (one of Thomas' friends).

Trying his new ride and dig toy!

After opening presents, we headed outside to enjoy the beautiful day!

Getting dirty, tasting rocks, being boys!

Andrew and Wilson planting flowers and getting the backyard ready for the party!

Forrest had to be cleaned up, took a nap, and then it was lunch time!   May-May and Bubby joined us for a hot dog lunch.  Have I ever mentioned that the boys love hot dogs?  Forrest can put away 2 bun-length hot dogs in no time!

Getting ready for cake... not so sure about the hat! 

Forrest's cake that we ate on his real birthday

Yes, this is a gag.  This look pretty much says it all about what Forrest thought of the cake.  He did not like it! 

He does love his milk though!  But, we've moved on to all sippy cups now... what a big boy!

After we woke up from naps, we headed to Wednesday night dinner and church where Forrest got lots of birthday wishes!   What a fun day with our boy!

Baby Owen

Congratulations to David and Kim!  We are so excited about our new nephew, Owen Hayes Shirley!  He was born April 1st and is doing great.  We enjoyed a visit with them in the hospital, and you can see a few pictures from our visit below.  Andrew was really excited about meeting Baby Owen.  I was so surprised when he asked to hold him... maybe that's a good sign since he'll have a new baby in his house in a few months. :) 

Owen's a cutie, isn't it?!  I'm sure he's changed bunches from these newborn pics.  Check out David and Kim's blog for more!

David and Wilson with their boys!

 sweet baby... Owen Hayes

 I love this one of Wilson, Andrew, and Owen

Wilson and I are excited that Andrew and Forrest will have a little boy cousin to play with!  I'm sure that Kim and I need to be bracing ourselves for the "adventures" that our boys (daddies, included) will be getting into together!