It's party time!!

It is finally here! We have been prepping for this party celebration for 2 months :) Michael was just so excited to spend the day with his little and big friends! Before Michael's guests arrived, Mommy and Charlotte baked and decorated the birthday boy's cupcakes :) They turned out awesome and tasted great! Michael also Skyped Mamaw and Papaw while eating his pre party snack. Everyone arrived around 2 pm and began to play and snack on Mini Nilla's, Goldfish and Cheetos's :) Daddy cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for all the big kids and made some yummy pasta salad too!

Here are some photo's from the party :)

Michael cheesing!

Rainey Rebecca!

Ellie Skye!

Brooklynn!

Brooklynn and Michael playing with his new car from Mamaw and Papaw :)

Last but not least, Luke!!

Michael was crushing on lil Rainey :) How could you not? She is just precious!

Michael not only enjoyed spending the day with his little friends, but 3 of his teachers from Daycare also came to celebrate with our little man. He just adores his teachers, Amy, Stephanie and Jenn :) Here he is with Jenn and Luke!

Rainey and mommy Melissa had to leave early :( Brooklynn and Michael didn't want her to go but they came over to say their good byes. We really enjoyed spending some time with the Lindeman ladies!

Now we can't forgot Ms. Ellie!! Michael has always enjoyed his play dates with her. He even got to celebrate with Ellie on her first birthday a month ago :) She enjoyed helping Michael open and play with his presents. They are just too cute!

Auntie Charlotte gave Michael so many wonderful gifts. Not only did she make some beautiful safari themed pillows for our little man but also gave him some great books! Michael LOVES books!

Unfortunately, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Ben couldn't make it :( They moved to California after they got married in June but they sent Michael a wonderful alphabet drum for his birthday!

Ok, I couldn't resist! I had to post this picture! Ellie is totally "chillin."

Piano from Mommy and Daddy!

Michael got to spend the entire day with Auntie Charlotte! They hung out before the party and even after! Charlotte took some other birthday pictures for us, which we will post in his 1 year blog :) She also gave little man his bath! Thanks for coming Auntie!!!

It is cupcake time!! Everyone sang Happy Birthday too :) We got that on video!

Mommy and Daddy got to blow the candle out :) Gotta love Daddy in his party hat!

Soooo, little man is not into sweets. Never really has been. The story here is Michael has had 2 cupcakes, one at Daycare and one at Ellie's party. Both times he consumed the icing, he broke out in hives. We think he was a little traumatized from his experiences as he wanted NOTHING to do with the icing or cupcake. The doctor thinks he is allergic to blue and red dye so we made sure his cupcake was white icing/white cake :)

We attempted to put the cake and icing in his mouth but he wouldn't have it. He didn't break out in hives though!!

Luke totally loved his cupcake! He ate the entire thing!

Little Brooklynn and Luke eating away :) We love these kids!

So Ellie and Brooklynn became great little friends! Can't wait to play date with both Amy's, Ellie and Brooklynn :)

Ellie giving her man a smooch!!

We can not thank everyone enough for making Michael's birthday so incredibly wonderful!!! The celebration was a HUGE success!! Can't wait until next year :) We love you all and Michael sends you all KISSES!!

Michael turns 1!!!

Michael turned 1 on Thursday the 27th! With that came his 12 month check up with Dr. Harrell. Mike and I took the little guy for his visit and everything checked out perfect! Well, minus the ear infection but he was already being treated for that. He just adores Dr. Harrell and has always done so well with her, even when its time for shots. He weighed in at 24 lbs and 13 oz (75%) and is 29.5 inches (50%) long!
After his doctor's appointment, we decided to take Michael out for a birthday dinner! We chose a restaurant nearby of which we had never tried... Cody's :) The food was excellent and what made the experience even better was the paper and crayons that were provided at the table, which totally kept the lil guy happy and occupied!
Here is a photo of our lovely artwork! Michael didn't even try to put the crayons in his mouth!
He got to enjoy tortilla chips and bread for his appetizer and salmon with mashed potatoes for his entree :) He wasn't too big into the desert as we only got him to taste one bite of vanilla ice cream.
Daddy loves this picture of Michael because of his great facial expression!
Yummy! Bread!

On Friday night once Michael was asleep, Mike and I cleaned the house and worked on putting up decorations. Who would have ever thought that our place would be adorned in safari decor!?!? This is Michael's birthday button! We even put streamers on his high chair!
Here is the table with its decorations... includes party bags and gifts for the kids as well as presents, which were on the other side of the table :) We have been getting super pumped and prepping for our lil man's big day for months and it is soooo hard to believe that this time has finally arrived! Stay tuned for the birthday post!

Our trip Day 3: Anniversary Celebration

On Monday, Mike and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary! It is amazing how quickly time has gone by and it seems as though we have been married forever :) Last year, we stayed home due to Michael's birth being 1 month out but this year was different! We were able to travel and take our little man with us and celebrate.

We began our day with breakfast and a trip to the pool!

After a relaxing morning, we walked around downtown, grabbed some lunch at Atlanta Bread Company and came back for family nap time!

Once everyone was up, we took another trip to the pool. We all played in the pool for an extended period of time. Daddy fed the little man and I got to lay out, working on my tan!

Then it was Daddy's turn for some sun so Michael and I went inside, took a bath and began our primping for our anniversary dinner!

(Michael showing off his ability to stand with no assistance before heading out for dinner)

We found a fantastic place on Beach Drive called ParkShore Grille. The food was AMAZING!!! Michael was terrific too! We received many compliments on how well he did. We enjoyed a Portebella-Red Pepper stack along with a Mozzarella-Tomato Salad. I got Filet Mignon and Mike enjoyed some fabulous Jumbo Shrimp. After dinner, we walked around town, hit up Starbucks for dessert and made our way back to the hotel. We hung out on the patio for awhile before heading to bed.

Me and Michael on the patio

Giving KISSES!

Handsome Dada...



who is enjoying his dessert... Starbucks!

Our little man enjoying the view :)

Thanks to both our parents who made our anniversary so great! We love you!

Our trip Day 2: Rays Game!

Sunday was baseball day! Kim had planned the ballgame a couple of months ago as one of my Father's Day gifts. She did such a great job!

Michael decided to sleep in a bit so our day began a little later than normal. First on our agenda was a visit to Molly and Andy's, who live a few minutes from downtown St Pete. Molly and Kim were sorority sisters at Winthrop. Also, visiting this weekend was another sister of Kim's, Kelli, and her boyfriend Mike.

As we were getting ready, Michael felt that he was not quite clean enough so tried to join Mama in the shower :) He loves the tub and this has become somewhat of a new habit, throwing the curtain to the side and working his way to the water!

So, finally baseball time!!! Michael caught a quick 15 minute nap on the way to Tropicana Field and we arrived.




What was so great is that Kim had really planned this event well! My first pro game, in 1982, was the Twins and Royals in Kansas City...Michael's first game was also the Royals! It was Family Fun Day at "The Trop!" Not only great seats by the picnic area and Royals bullpen, but free hot dog, drink, and cracker jack, too! If the Lil Dude was walking, he could've run the bases afterwards.
















Michael absolutely LOVED being at the Park! He enjoyed watching all of the people, even playing peek-a-boo with the ladies in front of us...He liked clapping along to the music and all of the rally chants, etc. The Lil Dude did sooooo great!!! We, as usual, recieved a lot of compliments from the people around us on how well-behaved he was(especially for only having a 15 minute nap.) Of course, all of this action going on and he really couldn't have cared less that he was witnessing a no-hitter into the 8th inning!!! Shields lost it as well as the game in the 8th, however. Michael finallay did fall asleep, shortly there after, sometime during the 8th...Didn't even flinch when the diesel horn went off in the 9th for a home run...He was OUT!!!
What a terrific day!!! Enjoy some more pics...

Not digging the cotton candy

Our trip Day 1: St. Pete Pier

Our little family traveled down to St. Petersburg on Saturday for an extended weekend which included a Rays game and celebrating our 2nd anniversary. We got into town and before checking into our hotel, we made a trip over to the Pier. We decided to grab something to eat before we strolled around. We found a place called Capt Al's which had some great food and mashed potatoes for the little guy! Here are some photos :)

Michael laughing...

at me eating a sandwich! He thinks everything is funny!

After lunch, Michael got a surprise treat! We met this nice man at the Pier who made animal balloons! Michael watched intently while he worked...

Michael may not be displaying enthusiasm when he got his monkey, but we assure you, he LOVED it! He played with the darn thing all day until it came apart :)


We walked around the Pier, went to the Aquarium but only hung out in the gift shop. We were ready to leave and head to the hotel to check in and swim! However, before we left the Pier, we had to get some family pictures!

My wonderful boys!

Me and Michael blowing kisses!

Our family!

After a fantastic afternoon, we finally went to the hotel!

We checked in, unpacked and headed straight for the pool! After a nice swim, we went to dinner at Baywalk and had some sushi followed by desert at Ben and Jerry's! Couldn't have asked for a better first day of vacation! Daddy is going to complete Day 2! Enjoy and we love and miss everyone!