One Year

One year ago today, at 12:27 am, this precious face changed our lives forever.

And then we blinked and an entire year passed.

This sweet angel of ours has made every day of this past year better just by being in it.

We feel so lucky that we were chosen to be his parents and cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for his future.

Today, we are celebrating all day long. Matt took off for the day so that we could take Ryan to the zoo- which seemed like the perfect place to go for our animal-loving buddy.

My mom is coming in later this evening to keep the celebration going on into tomorrow, when the two of us will take him to the aquarium for more animal fun.

I love this boy so, so much and cannot wait to celebrate his sweet life today!

Here's a look at what he's been up to in the past month:

lunch and shopping date with mommy

peek-a-boo through the grocery store :)

He loved visiting his Papa at work!

And play-dating with two of his best girls :)

He's my little kitchen helper

And sometimes gets into the ingredients before I can stop him :)

and still loves to eat

He had his first kid's meal and first taste of a Chick-Fil-A icedream!

He loves walking with his walker that his Mimi gave him- he is so proud of how fast he moves with it. :)

He loved cheering on the runners at the Peachtree Road Race and spending time with his cousins and Mimi and Papa later that day.

Tally is still his best buddy- rarely are they not in the same place when we're home.

He loooved the zoo and got his feelings hurt each time we left a viewing area... until he caught on that every time we left we were heading to see more animals :)

Morning smoothie making with his daddy might be the highlight of his day right now. He squeals and flaps his arms when he sees Matt getting out the blender and loves "helping" him make the smoothies. Sweet, sweet buddy. :)

We enjoyed two afternoon walks and picnics with Mrs. Lynn and Ginna!

He got really into Wimbledon and would clap when he heard the fans clapping and hilariously grunt at the appropriate times whenever a player hit a bad shot

He got to have a pool play date at the Y with his buddy Cade...

...but spent most of his time pushing this chair around the water, haha

He loves helping out with tools and liked helping put our patio furniture together. :)

One of my favorite things he does right now is find pictures of Matt during they day while he's at work and point at his face and say, "Dada... dada... DADA!"

The visit to the pet store was a definite highlight this month. He loved seeing and petting the animals!

He is a busy little boy and loves creating little challenges for himself :)

His new play kitchen from his Aunt Karen is one of his favorite toys. He loves when it's on the music mode and will dance on his little bottom (boot scooting we call it) to the tune.

Another favorite new thing we've started is putting a few books in his crib for when he wakes up. It is the sweetest thing to watch him flip through the pages and hear the sounds he makes as he looks at the pictures!

This month, he decided to drop his morning nap, so falling asleep in the car on our way home for afternoon nap is a common occurrence these days. Sweet buddy.

He loves pulling up on my knees and playing peek-a-boo!

He took his first trip to the splash pad this month and loved playing in the water... but as you can see, the biggest excitement came when it was time for lunch. :)

I hope he always loves books- those moments of sitting and reading with him are the only snuggles we can steal these days!

Hearing daddy's car pull up the driveway is a major highlight everyday- for both boys ;)

This is usually what the kitchen floor looks like around dinner-prep time. :)

First boat ride!

Play date fun!