Friday, May 25, 2012

Joshua's First Birthday!

Joshua turned 1 on Wednesday, May 2, 2012!  He, Noah, and Evan went to Grandma Mary's house for the first half of the day.  We picked them up and took them to Chipotle for lunch, which Joshua loves.  He likes their beans and rice, so that's one of our favorite places to eat out.  After lunch, we went to the hospital to see Dominic, their new cousin who was born to Mark and Sarah on May 1st.  Dominic is perfect and we are already in love with him!  That afternoon, Joshua got his present from us - a green and black "motorcycle" for him to ride on (the new swing set was also part of his birthday present).  That evening, we made dinner at home and then went to get Joshua his first cupcake at Smallcakes.  He didn't eat it as much as he smashed it between his fingers and threw it on the floor :) I'd say his first birthday was a fun one!

Joshua on his birthday with his new motorcycle from Daddy, Mommy, Noah and Evan

Joshua's first cupcake!

Yummy!

Noah with his newest cousin, Dominic Edward!

Evan and his newest cousin Dominic

Mom (Laura) with Baby Dominic.  He's so sweet!

Brian and Dominic


Joshua's birthday party was held at our house on Saturday, May 5th from 5-7pm (after Noah, Evan, and Michael's soccer game).  So many people came to celebrate, and it was a ton of fun.  Joshua loved it!  The kids got to play outside in our backyard in the sprinkler and with Joshua's new beach ball that squirts water (that he got from his godparents, Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah, and baby Dominic), they played on the swing set, played with the water table, and just ran around.  We had sandwiches, pasta, fruit, and veggies for dinner, followed by cake and cupcakes for dessert.  Joshua loved opening his presents!  He was very involved in it, which was great.  He got tons of new clothes and toys, including a bubble blower lawn mower, toy tractors, a toy bat cave, a magna doodle, shape sorter, and a dinosaur walker.  He was very spoiled :)

Joshua playing outside during his party

Water table!  Uncle John had just dumped some water on Noah's head :)

Opening presents!

His new hat - which is also his favorite word right now!

Bubble Guppies!

More cake...yum!


The following weekend, we took the boys to the Downtown Lee's Summit Farmer's Market, where they all got balloon animals, and Noah and Evan were even able to plant their own flowers that are still blooming.  The next day was Mothers' Day.  Noah, Evan, Joshua, and Brian all bought me a new mixer for the kitchen.  I haven't used it yet, but can't wait to!  We went to church at 8:30 that morning, came home and had a brunch for their Grandma Cathy, and then went to Uncle John and Aunt Theresa's house for pizza at 4pm.  It was an awesome day!

Mothers Day


Joshua had his first birthday photos taken Friday, May 18th, but the photographer hasn't emailed them to me yet.  I'm hoping she does it soon, because I can't wait to see them and mail some out.  On Saturday, May 19th, we went to Mt. Calvary cemetery to decorate the boys Great Grandma and Great Poppy's graves.  After that, we headed to Overland Park, KS to check out the Bat mobile, which is currently touring across the country.  We all loved it!  Noah and Evan were a hit too; people were commenting on how cute they were.

Noah, Brian, and Evan checking out the Bat mobile

Perfect!

Mom and Joshua checking it out


That afternoon, they had soccer, and then we went to John and Theresa's friends Adam and Jen's new house that John actually helped Adam build!  It was awesome to see the work they did.  It's a great house!

Sunday, May 20th, we had a neighborhood picnic by our pool.  The boys all got to play with their friends, and we got to talk to a lot of ours.  It was a great day!

Our neighbor Abby giving Noah a lift 

...giving Evan a lift

Joshua and our new neighbor Paige

Joshua playing catch with Abby


On developmental notes, all three boys went to the doctor on May 7th.  Noah and Evan are doing great!  Evan weighs 30.5 lbs, and Noah weighs 30 lbs.  They're 39 (Noah) and 39.5 (Evan) inches tall.  The doctor quizzed them on their colors, and was happy that she couldn't stump them...I told her that they've known their colors for about a year and a half.  They're still learning to recognize their letters and numbers, and can both now say their "k" sounds pretty well.  Overall, their vocabulary is great.  They never cease to amaze us with the things they come up with.  Just a couple of days ago, Evan said to Brian, "Noah is always up to something!"  It was pretty funny.
Joshua now weighs 20lbs, 12oz, and is 29.5 inches tall (20th percentile for weight and 80th for height).  He is officially WALKING!!!  He took his first steps on April 20th.  He just now started to walk more than crawl.  He loves to play outside with the rest of us.  He is also talking more.  He can say Dad, Mom, Noah, Evan, hat, ball, nice, night, and has repeated a few random words.  Needless to say, we are having a ton of fun raising these awesome boys :)