Birthday Boy

It's kind of taken me a while to write about Andrew's birthday. We've been super busy with doctors around here. It seems as though everybody wanted to have us check back when he turned one. Fifteen appointments the last three weeks has just about done me in. Hopefully now things will slow down and get back to normal.

On March 25th our little Andrew turned one! It sure seems hard to believe he's been in our life for an entire year. What a year it has been. Although he had a rough start, we are sure grateful for all he's taught us and the joy he has brought into our lives. His birthday brought a bunch of mixed emotions for both Stephen and I. Honestly, that day a year ago has replayed in my mind countless times and is so vivid and real and yet feels like a dream at times...I don't know I guess it's kind of hard to explain. nuff said about that.

Andrew sure has grown this year.

Here's our little 2 lb boy!

Here he is today!

Here are his one year stats:

Weight: 18lbs 2 oz   5th percentile

Height: 28 in 7th percentile

Head: 43 cm  below 0

With his birthday on a Sunday, we pretty much celebrated the entire weekend! And why not? You only have a first birthday once! Right? We were super excited that Stephen's sister Meghan and her darling family came up to visit and spent the weekend to help us celebrate! We love hanging out with them and have loved living so close this year. On Saturday, we decided to take Andrew swimming at a near by community pool. They had a fun play area for kids...and adults with waters slides for all ages, fountains and a little lazy river. Andrew loved the water and didn't hesitate for a minute. He was splashing and kicking and just couldn't get enough. It was so fun to see how excited he got. There were lots of kids splashing everywhere and he wanted to joined in the fun. I wasn't quite expecting that reaction from him. I think we'll need to frequent the pool a lot this summer...which is okay by me!

Mommy and Andrew splashing in the water fountains.

Micah...a little kid at heart

The gang in the pool

Our little squirt...could have swam all day if we'd let him

After a long nap and his birthday dinner, we let him dive in and taste his own cake. He had a lot of fun playing in it and grabbing handfuls of frosting and cake and shoving as much into his mouth as he could.

Every time he took a bite his first reaction was something a long the line of this...

Then he would quickly give the biggest grin. He knew he was the center of attention and of course we all thought that was pretty funny.

We were able to Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Holden. I'm so glad they got to join in on the festivities through the wonders of technology!

Striping Andrew down to his diaper before diving into the birthday cake.

We had such a fun weekend celebrating! We appreciate all the phone calls, cards and presents from aunts, uncles and cousins who couldn't be with us to celebrate.

So grateful my sweet aunt took this to Ethan's grave. I really wish we lived closer. Still miss him terribly and think of my angel each and every day! Happy Birthday Ethan!!! I love you monkey boy!