A "Bug" Birthday Cake

A little while ago I found this really cute cake pan at Williams Sonoma that I just had to have. I knew it would get use (since I have 2 boys) but at the time not knowing that I would use it for Luke's 1st birthday cake. As many of you know, pictures always look so easy to duplicate, but I can tell you from experience it is always a lot more complicated! These cakes were extremely time consuming,not so much to bake but to decorate. In the end it was all worth it because they turned out great and were a huge hit! Here are the 4 designs...Luke opted for the dragonfly!

Dragonfly, Lady Bug, Bee, Butterfly

"Enough of the singing...lets get to the cake!"

Getting ready to dig in

"This is good!"

"Yummy!"

1st Birthday Party

So hard to believe that our baby is 1! We celebrated on Friday and into Saturday with a "bug themed" party. Luke got his first taste of ice cream (vanilla) which he loved and couldn't get fast enough, some fun playtime at the park, an outdoor picnic, and received many great gifts. Luke will be spending his time playing with new trucks, bouncing on his new bounce and spin zebra, and even riding his new bike just to name a few. Here are some pictures from Friday and Saturday.

Luke and PopPop

Opening presents with a little help from Logan

Sitting in his "rocky rock" chair

"Wow, look at that!"

"Watch me bounce"

"Wow, my very own bike...hands off Logan!!!!"

"See it really is mine..."

Happy 1st Birthday Luke!

Happy 1st Birthday sweet baby boy! Here are pictures from when Luke was 1 week old, 1 month old and 1 year old. More birthday pictures to follow...

1 week old

1 month old

1 year old

To top it all off...

We had a great Memorial Day weekend spending family time at Dutch Wonderland, Completing Yard Work, Attending a Picnic and watching the boys riding their bikes. What would a weekend be without topping it off with a few scrapes on the knees, cuts on the face and a fat lip? On Monday Logan & Luke were riding their bikes on the Esbenshade Expressway (a.k.a our driveway) when Logan hit a pebble and took a tumble on his motorcycle (foot powered not motorized) . He is fine but ended up with a few scrapes and a fat lip. After a few kisses on his boo-boo's and some quality time spent with his blankie he made a complete recovery!

Below are pictures taken this morning during outdoor playtime - notice that Logan is avoiding his motorcycle for the time being and sticking to his scooter!

Dutch Wonderland

As a great start to a beautiful Memorial Day weekend, Chris and I decided to take the boys to Dutch Wonderland for the day. Everyone had a great time enjoying the warm weather, the breeze in our faces and the laughs along the way. Here are just a few pictures to share with you.




Where else can you be at an amusement park look over and see the Amish farming their land?







It didn't take long (about 5 mintues) before Logan fell asleep in the car ...as you can see Luke tuckered out long before that!

Peek-A-Boo....I see YOU!!!

Just like any other day, I put the boys down for their nap at 1pm. They are usually ready to go down after a busy 1/2 day of play. Today was just like any other with no noise coming from the monitors. It's now 2:30pm and I decide to take a walk to the mailbox to get the mail. I've retrieved the mail and turn around and look up...and who do I see???? There is Logan in the window sucking his thumb, holding his blankie and pushing one of his vintage "for looks only" cars on the window sill. I promptly came back in and went upstairs and let Logan in on the secret... IT'S NAP TIME!

One of his many other new tricks is CLIMBING the dresser in his room to get to his "for looks only" vintage car. Logan has a taller dresser in his room and when the furniture was delivered a year ago I had my dad bolt the dresser to the studs in the wall, so if he would ever decide to climb this in the future it wouldn't fall on top of him. I sure am glad that I did that and would HIGHLY recommend that everyone does this!

Having Fun...

The boys found a way to keep busy today while I was preparing lunch. Luke was sitting on the push toy while Logan was pushing him making circles all around the house (sometimes at top speeds) with some serious belly laughs along the way!

Sweet Tooth

We all know how much I love my sweets, so I am exited to post this blog! Logan has never had a sweet tooth, which works to his benefit since he has a peanut allergy (believe it or not peanuts/ tree nuts affects ALMOST all chocolate) so when Luke came along and showed signs of a serious sweet tooth...I must say that I was so excited! Here he is after savoring a delicious cookie!

Chris' idea of "watching" the boys...

Chris had just gotten home from work when I asked him if he could watch the boys while I ran in to finish up dinner. When I went back outside to let them know that dinner was ready this is how I found them...sitting on the lawn tractor!

Hitching a ride

Logan was helping Chris mulch and was "hitching a ride" back. One can only image how dirty the seat of his pants were by the end of that evening. Let me just say that I am still trying to get the stains out!

Fun with Mulch!

Who knew that a pile of mulch could keep the boys entertained for so long! We are thinking about keeping it here permanently...



Just kidding! We hope this is a sign of the fun that they will have at the beach this year!

Walking with Assistance

Luke is walking really well, with assistance that is. Here he is with the shopping cart that we keep in the garage. He crawls up to this, pulls up and starts walking like an old pro!

Photo Shoot

When Logan turned 1yr. old I took him to a professional photographer for a photo shoot. Well, the pictures turned out great...and Heather is still using one of his photos in advertising campaigns and below at the Children and Babies Expo. Logan's photo is the big one on the right hand side. She was able to capture Logan's true personality with not only just smiles but one of the many many different faces that he makes. He is making his signature "I am gonna get you face!" He continues to make that face to this day! I have taken a photo of some of the pictures that we ordered (the quality of my photo isn't very good and there is a glare...but atleast you can see the rest of the photos).