and then there was ONE

my baby turned one yesterday.  we pretty much had the typical day since we already had the big shindig celebration for him.  but it was still special.  hugged him a little tighter. played a little harder.  don't think i could really love him anymore though :)  reminisced quite a bit. looked at pictures.  sighed.  maybe got teary-eyed.  sheesh. i'm one of those moms. i know that birthdays are supposed to be a big deal for the person having them.  but now that i am a mom, birthdays are a big deal for the parents of the person having them too.  I just think of everything that Austin and I went through this past year, the ups and downs, everything we learned, i know this all sounds so cheesy-but really, seriously.  seriously.  its not just about celebrating henry turning a year old, but i also felt like celebrating the fact that we have experienced an entire year of parenthood...and survived :)  and we were awesome at it--i think anyway :)

here's a little medley of photos of us just hanging out and playing at home these past few days...of all the gifts that henry got for his birthday....the cardboard box that his new car seat came in seems to be pretty popular, as are all the leftover balloon decorations--go figure!

even mommy can fit in the box :)

henry decided to enter a coloring contest sponsored by the local newspaper.  daddy may have gone a little overboard.....just a little.

 he's totally going to win with this.  hehehe

playing in the box, some more.  with a balloon.  he also likes to take random items from various locations throughout the house and hoard them in his box as well.  if you are missing something--just check the box.

 ride 'em cowboy!! henry loves his new pony, and mommy loves it because it doesn't buck too hard :)

 so happy to see daddy when he comes home!  henry's face always lights up for dada :).....or is it the other way around?

whenever it snows, henry goes and stands by the large patio doors and looks outside.  the other night austin opened the door and held him a little ways out so that he could feel it :)

what a sweetie.  a whole year old.

ooooooohh!  and I can't forget the time capsule-i can't believe i almost forgot about that!  it turned out awesome thanks to all of henry's friends and family that contributed to it!  Just to give you an idea of what he has in it I'll let you in on a few things:  there is a Rapid City Journal from the day that henry was born, other newspaper ads, some family heirlooms passed down that are pretty darn special, some cards and "forever" stamps so that he can write actual letters :)  someone donated a flock of baby chicks in his name through heifer international, which is pretty awesome, because its a gift that keeps on giving--the recipient of the donation makes a commitment to pass on the offspring from their flock, so by the time he is 16 he will have gifted approx. 32000 chicks to hungry families in need :)  (its a really neat charity, if you are interested you should check it out: www.heifer.org), he has letters that family members have written to him....austin and i are going to make a little book of the first year of the blog for him to read and I am going to write him a special letter... that's just a few of the things to give you an idea, in fact, a lot of the envelopes i couldn't even open because they were sealed shut....i reaaaaallly wanted to open them but austin wouldn't let me...and i will have to wait 15 years to know what is in them!  It's going to be so special for henry :)