Purses

My little sister is going into the purse making business. She makes some really cute stuff (have you seen my diaper bag...she made it!!) Here are some of my recent favorites:
She is only charging $30 each so if you are interested in either one (or the others on her blog) let me know!! Also I have seen the material for some of the other ones that she is making and they are going to be super cute so check out her blog (under Jessica in my family section) for new purses!!

Hogle Zoo

We took Paxton to the zoo on July 17th for his birthday. We had such a great time checking out all of the animals, riding the carousal and train, and raiding the gift shop. It was hard to narrow it down from the 100 pictures that we took but here are some of the highlights!

Paxton loved the carousal and rode it 3 times. He loved that it went up and down. Of course we had to measure him by the monkeys...
I was surprised how aware he was of the animals. He getting up close and personal with the giraffe...
And watching the monkeys run around in their cages!!
We had a great time at the zoo with our little monkey!!

Fiesta Days

Apparently Paxton was not too happy that his mother entered him in the fiesta days baby contest because this is the face he made everytime the camera was pointed his way!! Guess you won't be seeing us on Toddlers and Tiaras anytime soon!

1 Year Old

Wow time flies...It is hard to believe that in 12 short months our little Paxton went from this sweet newborn...To this handsome little boy!!
We love having Pax in our family and watching him grow and learn everyday. At 1 year old he is doing the following:
*Talking up a storm...since getting tubes his vocabulary has expanded and he talks nonstop. He can say Hi, Dada, and Num-Num (when he wants food) and will imitate all of the vowel sounds. He also babbles a ton and often has long drawn out conversations with us or himself in the mirror.
*Moving Around...he has finally learned to crawl on his hands and knees but still prefers the army crawl...much faster I guess. He can pull himself up to about anything and loves to walk around the couch, push his toy box around, and race in his walker.
*Eating...is still not his favorite but he is getting more willing to try new things. He loves the strangest foods...steak, pulled pork, and Wendy's french fries and chicken nuggets but will usually settle for yogurt, pancakes, Popsicles, peas, and a tiny taste of whatever we are having for dinner. He is still just a little guy weighing in at 19 pounds 6 ounces (20%) and is 28 3/4 inches tall (25%)...oh well at least he is on the chart right!!
*Entertainment...he loves monkeys, Baby Einstein, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves being tickled and chased around the house. He also loves his walker, any toy that makes noise, his swing in the backyard, long walks in the stroller, and reading books!
We love this little guy and can't wait to see what adventures the next year brings!!

Paxton's 1st Birthday Party

Sorry these posts got out of order...scroll down to the post titled Paxton's First Birthday Party and then make your way up to get the full effect!!

THE FUN

We found the cutest monkey pinata where the kids got to pull the strings and one string opened the bottom of the pinata... Unfortunately it didn't work...so Andy broke out the baseball bat...

And the craziness began...inside were red and blue frooties, monkey tatoos, monkey rings, and bouncy balls!!

We also set up an arts and crafts table...where the kids got to make their own goody bags and monkey bookmarks!

THE DECORATIONS

I had so much fun decorating our backyard for Paxton's Sock Monkey themed party!! No party is complete without balloons, streamers, and bananas!

My favorite part was a picture wall we put on our fence with pictures of Paxton from when he was born until now!

On the tables I had a bunch of bananas with balloons tied to them!

Had to have a birthday banner!

We decorated Paxton's high chair for the big cake dive!

And of couse had monkey themed water bottles...

There were little touches of The Sock Monkey everywhere!!

THE FOOD

Here is the spread!! Okay well part of it...table 1 of 2!!

My family came up the day before and we baked and baked and baked some more. I am always paranoid about not having enough food at my parties...luckily there was plenty to eat at the party and plenty for everyone to take home!

My sister makes the best sugar cookies...we cut out a P, a #1, a little boy, and a star!

We made monkey suckers to put in the goodie bags the kids got to take home!

We had chocolate covered everything...pretzels, marshmallows and vanilla wafers!

And my favorite...can't have a monkey party without monkey cupcakes!!

We also had monkey munch, monkey bread, banana bread, lots of jars and buckets of treats, and fruit!

Paxton's 1st Birthday Party

Warning 1 million pictures ahead!!

We celebrated Paxton's 1st birthday on July 10th. I had a ton of fun (and stress) planning this party! Luckily it turned out just how I wanted.

We are so lucky to have such great family and friends who helped us put this whole thing together and came show their love to Paxton on his birthday! Thanks guys!!

Enjoy!!

Here is the Birthday Boy!! He did not love his cupcake...well he could have but his mother helped him get his face into it a little too fast!

I think Andy got about as much cake on himself as Pax did!

What a mess!!

We had a great time opening presents...Paxton loves paper so I thought this would be his favorite part but I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the people there!!

4th of July

We were lucky to enjoy a long 4th of July weekend in Richfield! 4th of July is one of the best times of the year to be in Richfield!!

We started off the holiday weekend with a little fireworks show for the kids...Paxton was not super impressed with the lights or the noise. We did manage to get the kids together for a group picture before the show...this was the best picture we could get...many of them looked quite unfortunate!
Pax enjoyed the weekend playing with his dad...he really enjoyed the bouncy tractor seat on my parent's front porch. I liked how he looked like he was riding a bull in this picture!
He also spent the weekend crawling around with his cousin Mana. Mana is 2 1/2 months younger than Paxton and they are quite a pair! We can't wait to see what kind of trouble they will cause over the next couple of years! On the morning of the 4th, Andy, my sister Jerika, and brother in law Pila ran in the Liberty Fun Run 5K. Andy had only been training to run the 5k for about 2 weeks and they all did a great job...finishing the race together with a great time! We are so proud of them!!

After that we enjoyed the Richfield parade...Paxton lasted about 5 minutes into the parade and fell asleep...Andy was totally impressed (this being his first Richfield 4th) with how much candy they threw out...I was totally unimpressed with the older couple (and by older I mean late 40's early 50's) who gathered up as much candy for themselves as all our little kids did put together. Oh well...the weather was great, I relived my drill team glory days, and we had a great time!

We then ventured over the park for a burger and a snow cone! Of course Paxton loved it...

Here is the whole gang...parked in our usual spot enjoying our traditional Richfield 4th of July!!

Bad Habits

My son has a bad habit...I went to get him out of his crib the other day and was confused when I saw little black specks all over his face, onesie, and sheets... Then I looked down and saw this...The little turd had chewed the paint off of the side of his crib! Now every time I try to put him to bed (unless he is really tired) he immediately stands up and chews away...bite marks up and down the entire top of the crib.
Any suggestion for me? What can I do to get this kid to chewing?

Picnic at the Park

I'm a little behind in my blogging...Paxton's birthday party took over my life for a few weeks (pictures to come!!) We have been trying to get out of the house a little bit more and decided that we needed to go on a picnic in the park! I think Paxton was a little bit confused about why we were eating dinner outside...he just wanted to pick the grass!

One of Paxton's favorite things is to drink cold water out of a cup or a water bottle so he was pretty happy to get his own bottle!

When we were done eating we let Paxton play on the play ground for awhile! He loved the swings...

And the slide...with Dad of course!
He also got to ride the bouncy horse...of course he wanted to do it all by himself!!

It was a fun night...we can't wait to do it again soon!!