12 Months - a whole year of Kyler blessings!

"I asked the LORD to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. 

Now I am giving him to the LORD, and he will belong to the LORD his whole life."

1 Samuel 1:27, 28

This verse is the epitome of how I feel about Kyler....so blessed to have been entrusted with him and a huge desire for him to be a warrior for our Lord!  I hope the foundations of this future are already being set in him.  I pray that the praise times we have, the Bible story times we have, our nightly prayers, and service to others will continue and grow in him a zeal to share Christ.  That is my prayer for this next year of his life and for his whole life.  

1 year old

3 days old

He is such a joy!  I'll add his stats and elephant photo later (need to edit and go to dr. first), but wanted to share 12 of my favorite things about him for his 12 months here.  

1. His wonderful, contagious smile!  You can't help but grin back when this kid smiles at you -- this includes me and his family and random people at the grocery store.  

    2. he has one, adorable freckle on his shoulder....love it!  

3. a great eater -- week by week different foods, but loves him some food.  

4. enjoys reading...we have enough books for sure, but he has his favorites - alot with animal pictures, clifford, and touch and feel books

5.  music fan - he listens so intently and sings along during worship at church and

 along with the radio; a few of his favorite toys are all music related (plays a song or is a guitar/drum) 

6.adventurous - loves to try new things, anything slightly dangerous (stairs, things high up) and scare his mama half to death  :) 

7. strong willed - do I like this when it has exhibted itself in carseat screaming, nope, but I know it can suit him well in the future and has already in developing new skills

8.  loves his mommy -- how could this not be something I love about him...that I am right now the center of his world.  :)  Makes me gooey inside

9. his talking and jabbering -

 i wish i knew what he is saying, but its stinkin cute to listen to

10. his love for anything stuffed (minus turkeys - ha ha).

  he goes and squeezes and and kisses all his animals.  

11.  his sharing -- we worked on this for a while, but if you say share (or at least if I say share) he will give you whatever he is holding.  Hoping this continues! 

12.  how just thinking of him can make me weepy or giddy or joyful!  He fills my heart!  

this is 3 mo old and still a favorite photo of mine!

LOVE LOVE LOVE MY BOO-BEAR!

52 Weeks Old

(written yesterday and forgot to post...oops!) So my lil guy is 52 weeks old today! &. 2 days short of a year -- what!?!
How amazing is our God that He makes us in such a way that we can love, love, love another person similar only to the way He loves us. Lent started this year and I am awe all over again with Kyler, like I was with Nicoda, that God could willingly let His Son die. I would do anything for Kyler and anything to hold my Mr. Nicoda again.... I am so thankful for the 52 weeks I have had with my lil man -- watching him grow, seeing his personality develop, observing him discover his world.

Ingredients to a Perfect Party

Incase you weren't aware, first birthdays are kinda a big deal....

well for this mama it was at least.  :)  I had only been planning it, envisioning it, saving pins for it since oh, February 28th, 2012.  Ha!  And it went great!  

First ingredient: decor...mostly done after lil man went to sleep, so he was in awe each morning to find the changes downstairs.  He didn't disappoint either -- he would make "oohhh" noises at them.  

Then the ever so important ingredient: cake...plus a the extra smash cake needed for a 1st birthday and if you are a worrier, the cupcakes done in a different flavor because maybe not everyone wants white cake. 

 (side note : i am that mommy who still doesn't want her baby to 1st be grown and 2nd to have much sugar even if he is the ripe age of 1.  So I used a super yummy, sugar free and egg free recipe for a cake, plus sugar free cool whip.  They advised making sugar free sprinkles too, but I had to draw the line somewhere.  Here's the link to the cake: http://www.ourhavenhill.com/2012/06/05/recipe-healthy-smash-cake-for-babys-1st-birthday/)

Then the most important ingredient: a smiling, happy birthday boy!  He played his part well -- he bounced around from person to toy to mommy and back again until he finally dropped 20 minutes before the party was over. 

 

Extra ingredients not needed, but enjoyed : presents -- they were enjoyed by all the kids during the party.  :)

The icing on the cake: we raised over $100 for World Vision with our donation stat present party (my family wasn't able to go completely toy free - oh, well)!!! 

 Love that we could celebrate AND give back to my charity.  

 

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HELPING US CELEBRATE IF YOU CAME AND FOR ALL THE PRAYERS THAT HAVE GOTTEN LIL MAN AND ME THIS FAR!  WE ARE GRATEFUL AND BLESSED!!!

Additional thank you to my family for taking the pictures --

 I put my phone down and didn't find it til hours after the party!  Oops!  

Weekend Fun

This weekend we didn't have alot on the schedule, so I filled it for us.  :)  

We went to the zoo, to visit Nicoda's grave, got a tire changed, and to Papa's

 -- and that was just Saturday. 

Sunday we had church, lots of playtime, thrifting, and swimming at the Y.  Then I had to go to work...bummer.  

 lights on, lights off!

11 Months Young....

Proverbs 25:2 (NKJV) It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. 

 

(taking pictures with elephant becoming increasingly harder!) 

How is my BABY eleven months!?!  If you know the answer, please tell me!  I am so super excited for his birthday party, but so not excited for him to growing up so fast.  I am loving this stage of his life though.  CURIOUS! INTO EVERYTHING! SNUGGLY!  Okay, so not really snuggly as a personality trait and more because he has been sick twice this month, but a moms gotta take it when she can.  :)  

Stats:  19 lbs  

Development: 

• walking!  You took several steps for a few days and then you got an ear infection (double) and haven't tried again. 
• crawling champion -- you are so fast kid!  It is kinda incredible!
• going backwards off ledge/couch - mommy was shocked to see you turn yourself around and scoot backwards of the bottom step!  Way to Go!  
• says bye-bye and hi -- not always and not always clearly, but becoming consistent
• waves hi and bye as well, in fact he'll wave long after the person is gone.  :) 
• still loving the singing and music
• has sat through two church services -- played semiquiet during sermon.  He loves the singing, so I glad when he is able to stay in service.  
• become uber-clingly.  You scream whenever I leave the house or babysitters.  It is heartbreaking!  I know it is because you haven't been feeling good, but hate hearing that cry. 
• Sharing -- he loves to share his toys and food.  
• Rolling ball back and forth
• Took an hour and half car ride without sleeping or crying -- this is HUGE for us, folks!  

He is adorable with this toy.
 It plays music if you walk, so when the music starts,
 he stops to dance and then keeps going. 

Kylerisms:

One day you shared your food by putting your goldfish in my mouth which I ate.  You then opened my mouth and cried to find it missing!  (ha ha!  sorry - what goes in, does not usually come out!)

Had allergy testing done and found out that you are technically as allergic to peanuts as you are too milk -- yet you have peanut butter and jelly alot with no side effects and milk makes you sick.  Weird!  

You were being quiet one afternoon and when I went to find you, you were in the bathroom chewing on the toilet brush.  I took it away while trying not to gag!  Grossness kid!  

Watched you from the living room one day as you pushed and pushed and pushed a box over to your ball pit.  Then I was blown away to realize you were planning to use this box in order to scale the side of your ball pit.  No fear of heights for this one!  

Firsts: 

• News Years! 
• First year to celebrate Daddy, Nicoda's, and Mommy's birthday.  You were so good on Nicoda's birthday -- extra long nap and snuggles for Mommy.  And you were pretty snuggly on Mommy's birthday too, but that is cause you were sick....  :)  
• blood work - maybe we'll never have to do it again! 
• Winter Jam -- yea! for music! 
•  He actually fell asleep during the heavy metal band. 

"You didn't need those chips on this cart, did you Mom?"

Rolling the ball back and forth

He spends a fair amount of time in this ball pit

Reading the Sunday paper -- okay tearing up the Sunday paper

Kyler-ee Jaan, my little boo bear!  I love you so much!  Somedays I feel like I can't possibly love you more, but then you keep getting cuter and cuter!  Watching your personality develop, watching you interact with others, seeing you worship at church, following you around the house from one adventure to the next....you have made me love life in a whole new way.  I have been praying Ephesians 1 over you this month -- for you to have His Spirit, for you to know God and develop wisdom, so that you can be a light in our world!  No matter what happens though I will be here cheering you on -- just like I cheer for you as you empty every ball from the ball pit or when you do something/anything!  LOVE YOU HANDSOME BOY!!!