Matthew's 1st Birthday

November 11, 2011 (11/11/11) was Matthew's FIRST birthday! What an exciting day!

Following our annual birthday balloon tradition, Matt and I filled Matthew's room with balloons the night before his birthday. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him when we walked in his room on the morning of his birthday then piled the balloons into Matthew's crib. He loved it!!

 I was terrible at taking pictures the rest of the day. We went to Building Blocks at our church, chick-fil-a with our friends Cori, Grace & Sam, then came home and Matt played with the kids while I ran lots of last minute errands getting ready for Matthew's party the next day.

Friday night, we had a small family party. We ate pizza (one of Matthew's favorite foods!) and cupcakes and Matthew opened his presents from us and Mimi & PopPop.

Waiting for his first bite of cake:

 So excited!

 Caroline loved the party hats. She is still playing with them almost every day. She puts them on her dolls and pretends to have birthday parties :-)

 First taste...not really a fan:

 Time for presents! We got Matthew a radio flyer wagon since our old one broke earlier this Fall. Matthew also got a few fun gifts from his Mimi and PopPop. Good thing Caroline was there to open ALL of Matthew's presents. She is going to be disappointed when he wants to open his own gifts one day.

 Playin' Matthew's new drum:

 After presents, we kissed this sweet face goodnight and wished our ONE YEAR OLD a Happy Birthday one last time:

Then it was off to bed...we had more celebrating to do the next day!

'Twas the night before

...Matthew turns the big O-N-E!
Last sleep before his 1st birthday (idea courtesy of Meggan :-)

And a couple pics from Matthew's first sleep on his birth day:

 

These precious pictures bring tears to my eyes. I don't know what it is about my kids' FIRST birthdays that make me super nostalgic. I just can't believe that a year ago on this same night we were celebrating the eve of Matthew's big debut. It's very surreal. I could never have imagined how much love I would have for this sweet sweet boy or how much joy he would bring us on a daily basis. It's hard to believe that on this night, one year ago, I had never seen that adorable dimple, those big blue eyes or that mischievous grin. I can't believe I had not heard his (super) contagious laugh and funny sounds. Tomorrow, we get to celebrate one of God's biggest blessings in our lives. We love you, Matthew!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trick or Treat: Halloween 2011

 This year was Matthew's 1st Halloween! And it was a fun one! Caroline is at a good age to REALLY get excited about trick-or-treating and dressing up. Here is how our Halloween 2011 went down in pictures (and commentary of course):

Pumpkin breakfast...doesn't get any easier than pancakes and fruity cheerios ;-) 

 This little guy is serious about his food!

We played for awhile after breakfast then headed to our very favorite bakery to buy some Halloween treats before meeting Matt at home for lunch:

Just look at all the sugary goodness: 

 I love pics of my kiddos standing side-by-side! They had fun checking out the treats. Matthew wasn't sure what everything was and Caroline was overwhelmed with the options.

 Matthew kept pointing out a big cake...I think he wanted to eat it:

We bought a cookie for Matt and me to split along with a smaller one for Caroline and some candy corn cookies to bring to our community group Halloween dinner. 

 

 Being silly with their cookies:

 I broke the "no sugar before the 1st birthday rule" and gave Matthew some of my cookie. He was crying for it and it just didn't seem fair for all of us to eat cookies in front of him without giving him any. Plus, he is turning one soon so I caved in. Look how happy he was:

Matt went back to work after lunch so Caroline got busy decorating a pumpkin: 

 Matthew opted to play and torture Mimi and PopPop's dog, Abby:

 Finished product:

After afternoon naps, it was time to get all dressed up and head over to our friends, the Matthews' house, for dinner with our community group from church.

Caroline, Kate the Ballerina, Matthew & Riley the Bumblebee 

 

 Ally, the precious Pig

 Brendan, the Ranger player (and Matthew's future best buddy :-)

All the kiddos in our community group (L to R):

Parker, Brendan, Ally, Kate, Matthew, Caroline, Cole & Riley

8 kiddos between five families. Oh how I love all of these sweet kiddos!

Okay, back to Halloween...

Snow White & Daddy

Matt, Matthew, Brendan & Wendy

 Off we go...

 "TRICK or TREAT"

Caroline was beyond thrilled to run into one of her best friends, Eleanor, while trick-or-treating. They ran to each other screaming and couldn't quit hugging. So cute!

They love each other!

We ran into Eleanor one more time and got a picture with another one of Eleanor's best friends, Lainey. Caroline has loved getting to know Lainey through Eleanor and swim lessons last summer. Sweet girls!

The Matthews Fam

Our fam...don't ask me what Caroline and Matthew are doing:

When we got back to the Matthews' house, Parker's Mimi and Pops (aka, Laura's parents) were handing out candy on the porch. The kids loved getting candy from them, and we loved getting to trick-or-treat with and see some of our closest friends.

After trick-or-treating, we went to my mom's house...she had some fun treats for the kiddos. I was done taking pictures at that point, ha! Then we all headed home and CRASHED! Halloween 2011 was a hit, but I'm still tired from all the festivities and glad I have a year to recover before doing it all again next year :-)