Party!

Christopher's 1st birthday was a blast. The theme for the party was simple, "ONE". We had plates, napkins, table covers, and a big balloon which all matched. There were so many friends and family coming and going it was hard to keep track of everyone. All the kids and even the adults had lots of fun playing the games and winning tickets.

After a while everyone gathered around Christopher and sang "happy birthday" to him. Christopher didn't really like having SO many people singing to him all at once. We tried to get him interested in the cake, but he was getting tired. Everyone else really enjoyed it though.

When it came time for the presents, Christopher decided to watch as Charlie and I opened them. I felt like a big meany every time we opened something because we would put it off to the side and Christopher would get really mad. Christopher ended up with a lot of nice clothes and plenty of fun new toys to play with.

As people said good-bye, we made sure that they signed Christopher's guest book and took home a goodie bag.

(The table was all set for the big party.)

(Christopher's grandma Mary got him the perfect cake.)

(Lots of Christopher's family sit and enjoy the food and good company.)

(Charlie takes Christopher to the "bad boys" table.)

(We got the cake ready with a number one candle.)

(Christopher was a little more interested in his car then the cake.)

(Christopher started to get his hands a little dirty.)

(Then he got Daddy a little dirty.)

(Diane shows off her stylish new hat.)

(Elva also shows off her new hat.)

(The poor tired baby is ready to go home.)

Happy First Fourth of July!

(Okay, it wasn't technically Christopher's first Fourth of July, but since we spent his first one in the hospital, we aren't counting it.)

So, for Christopher's first Fourth of July, he got some special visitors. His cousins Alicia, Ruben, and Carmen drove from Texas to meet him for the first time.

Alicia and I started out the day by giving Carmen and Christopher a bath. It was the first time Christopher took a bath with another baby. At first he wasn't sure if he was going to like it, but soon they warmed up to each other. After their bath, they played with Christopher's grill out on the porch. They both made yummy BBQ. Perfect for the fourth!

Then we all piled in the car and headed to the aquarium. Carmen had never been to an aquarium, so we knew this would be a fun trip. Carmen really loved to see all the different sea life. She got really close to the glass to get a good look at everything. Christopher seemed to look much more closely then the first time we took him. A little later, Millie, Theta, and Bea, meet us there. With three babies we had extra fun. We then headed to the big pumpkin where Carmen and Bea had lots of fun exploring. After we looked at all the fish, we went had a bite to eat in the restaurant. The babies had lots of fun eating together. We had a really fun day.

(Christopher's keeping an eye on all his toys.)

(Carmen shows off her great big smile, and Christopher looks at the camera.)

(Christopher is all dressed up for the Forth.)

(Carmen is grilling up a yummy hot dog.)

(Wow! What great chiefs.)

(Christopher is very interested in the sting rays.)

(Carmen is also very interesting in the sting rays.)

(Carmen leans in for a closer look at the fish.)

(The big tank really captured Carmen's attention.)

(Carmen points our her favorite fish.)

(Carmen gets really excited as a fish goes by.)

(Christopher decides to get up close and personal with the sea creatures.)

(Here fishy, fishy.)

(Bea finally joins the party. All the babies were dressed for the holiday.)

(Bea looks at Christopher as he starts to get sleepy.)

(We end our journey with a quick photo of all the babies.)

At the end of the day the poor babies were exhausted.

We're Still Celebrating

Since this was Christopher's first birthday, his Uncle Billy and Aunt Vivian wanted to make sure that he had a taste of chocolate. On Thursday, we went ahead and gave it him. We added the little candle and sang to him again. He didn't really eat it this time either, but he sure made a mess!

(His first little chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.)

(He got his hands messy a little faster this time.)

(Christopher doesn't like having stuff on his hands.)

(He really started to have a good time smashing the cake.)

(After a little bit, he really went at it.)

(Oh! There's nothing left to eat.)

THE BIG O-N-E!

Sooooo sorry it's been soooooo long. We had trouble with our Internet connection and had to take our computer to a shop. However, every things up and running again, so we're ready to post.

Christopher's 1st birthday was sooo much fun. We had his party on the 5th, but as everyone knows his birthday is on the 2nd. We couldn't let such a big day go by without some sort of celebration, so I made cupcakes, added a small candle which fit the cupcake perfectly, sang "happy birthday", and then let him at it. Although he didn't really try to eat it, he still had a lot of fun!

(Christopher's very 1st cupcake made for him by his mom.)

(Christopher really wasn't sure what to do with it.)

(He got a little sleepy and rubbed his head.)

(After a while, he figured it out.)

(Then he attacked the cupcake.)

(That poor cupcake never had a chance.)

(The messy 1 year old and his proud parents.)

(The big day ended with a nice bath.)

When Words Are Not Enough

Father's Day

This was Charlie's first father's day, so we tried to make it special. Charlie got to pick where we ate breakfast. He choose a local restaurant, Weck's. I gave him a card, one of his favorite pictures of him and Christopher in a frame with #1 dad on it, and a rice krispy treat. Christopher gave him a card with his hand print on it and he signed it himself. For dinner, Charlie got to pick again, and we ate pasta and pizza. Dessert was a yellow cake with butter cream frosting, which I made for him.

(What a good looking cake.)

(Christopher was all dressed up to celebrate. His onesie said "MY DAD RULES!")

Fun at the Zoo

Life got a little crazy for a while, and I wasn't able to post anything. I've been working on the big party plans, but I've some things to share, so here it is!

Grandma Elena bought tickets to UNM's staff picnic, which meant that Christopher would get to go the zoo for the very first time. I was so excited that he was going to get to see different animals. I dressed him in a romper which had a lion, tiger, monkey, and giraffe on it. Perfect for the zoo!

We started out our adventure by hopping onto a UNM shuttle, which took us to the Albuquerque Zoo. This was the first time Christopher had ridden on a bus. He had lots of fun looking out the windows and talking to the other people on the shuttle. Once we arrived at the zoo we had a bit of a wait before the doors were opened. While waiting in line, Christopher had his first ice cream bar. He LOVED it. He also made a very sticky mess.

Once we got into the zoo, everyone ate some food, which was provided by UNM. Christopher played with the grass while we ate. He enjoyed trying to pull it out of the ground.

At last, it was time to check out all the animals. The first stop were the elephants. Christopher laughed as they cooled themselves down with dirt and flapped their giant ears. He laughed at the tall giraffes. (I wondered if he thought they were funny looking uncles.) When we got to the rhinos Christopher waved, unfortunately he waved to the wrong end. He also enjoyed the peacocks, the camels, the zebras, and the gorillas.

However, poor Christopher didn't get to see any lions, tigers, or bears, oh my. One moment he was looking at a few emus and before we had walked to the next animal, he was asleep. He missed all the big cats. Oh well, maybe next time he'll get to see them.

(Being able to stand up while the vechicle was moving was very exicting for Christopher.)

(Christopher turned around to see all the people behind him. )

(Christopher was looking at the water the Hippos were in.)

(Daddy and Christopher checking out the gorillias.)

(Here's one of the gorillias they were looking at.)

(One tired baby!)