11 Months Old and a birthday

My baby, who's not much of a baby anymore, is 11 months old today! We had some record breaking temps this month so we were able to get out to the park quite a bit. Caleb LOVES to swing.

And he LOVES to eat -- especially his little baby food squeezies. He literally inhales them! He loves to crawl around and explore. And he has much more fun doing it now that...

...he can walk! He took his first steps on March 4th and hasn't slowed down since. We've counted up to 30 steps in a row. He likes to step forward with his right foot and then catch up with his left -- a cute little shuffle.

And he still loves to get into everything and make messes. His new favorite is opening the toilet lid! Yuk!

Love our little man!

Oh yeah, and today is my birthday too. We enjoyed cake with friends on Saturday evening.

And then my awesome hubby totally spoiled me today. Aaron took the day off of work! He made the syrup for my blueberry french toast and changed the first diaper of the day! And then he took me on a shopping date for some much needed new clothes! We went to the outlets and the poor guy acted as my camel carrying around all my bags of stuff -- yes, I do have the best husband in the world!

We worked up quite the appetite so we stopped for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. The best part was the country music! I suddenly felt like I was in Idaho!

Aaron got the messy ribs- yum!

And he made sure to tell them it was my birthday, at which point they brought out a saddle for me to sit on while our server hooted and hollered and "Yee-haw"ed.

It was a great birthday!

St. Patty's 2012!

We had quite the St. Patrick's Day this year. The night before, I made our annual green eggs and ham:

There's always lots of festivities in the city, but we've never participated before. With record breaking temperatures in the 80s, we decided this was the year to do it. I found out our awesome friends the Soelbergs had the same idea, so we made sure to meet up with them. I went to the temple early in the morning and left Aaron to round up the crew and drive into the city. I met up with everyone at the parking garage and we started our walk through the city to the parade. There were LOTS of people at the parade. It's so fun to see that many people in GREEN! We found a place on the grass and ate a little lunch while we waited for the parade to start.

With all the people, it was hard to see anything, so we took turns putting the boys on our shoulders.

The best part of the day was the company -- awesome friends! These two are so cute together...

And so are these two! Wesley calls Sara his buddy! He's even named a toy after her!

After the parade we wanted to get a good view of the green river. We decided our best bet was to take the water taxi.

The kids loved the boat ride.

And we saw plenty of green!

This is my favorite spot of the city -- where Michigan Ave and the river meet.

Caleb enjoyed the ride. What a trooper on a very long day!

Cute Wesley boy!

We had a wonderful day in the city...

...but the fun wasn't over. We went straight to a BBQ -- another chance to enjoy the PERFECT WEATHER! I had to take this picture of Caleb...

He NEVER stays in one place for more than about 2 seconds. But he loved this chair and just kept climbing into it and laying back and relaxing. It was so cute.

Yesterday I cooked our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner with Irish Soda Bread. Our dear friends (Froerers) brought a most delicious green cake. So we've just done it all this year. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

First Grade Sentences

Time to clean off the door again. Here are the latest quotes from Dillon's school work:

• My favorite food is bananas. I like them because they are easy to eat. They are the shape of the moon. They are soft.
• This is Perfect Patrick. Patrick has brown running shoes. The shoes are good running shoes. Patrick wears them all the time except when he sleeps. Patrick has blue clothes. Patrick picked them because his fauorite color is blue. Patrick wears the same blue clothes every day. Patrick has laces on his shoes. The laces are gray. The laces help the shoes stay on. This is Perfect Patrick. Patrick has a brother named Chris.
• When I relax I ladawn and do sumthing I like. Sumtims my mom ascks me sumthing then I do it. Then I relax agen and then my baby bruther cums. Then I tack kare of him. When he leevs I relax agen. Then my bruther talks to me. I say plees go uway. Then he finishs talking. Then he goes uway.
• I saw the move Dolphin Tale. I have the book in my desk. The move was two hours long. My dad missed the move but we toled him abawt it.
• Did you know that I saw a gray horned owl? It was day time. I saw it fly. I saw it with my friend. It was white. It was cool.
• What do you love? First, I love my baby brother, Caleb. I hold him all the time. I feed him when my mom lets me. Second, I love All Aboard Diner. I eat there on my birthday sometimes. There is a train that runs there that brings a family their food. Last, I love my big stuffed animal shark. I got it for Christmas last year. I keep it on the bunkbed on the top and that is where I sleep. What do you love? I love my baby brother, Caleb, books and my art. Love is happiness!
• Once upon a time deep in the forest... it was spring. There were blosums. The babies were born. The animals were eating. It was still cold.
• It would be awesome to visit an ocean habitat. Oceans are big. Oceans have lots of amazing animals. There are sharks, whales, squid, and dolphins. There are many sharks in the ocean. My favorite shark is the blue shark. My favorite whale is the sperm whale. Mako sharks can jump into boats. Mako sharks are the fastest sharks. The Mako shark can speed up to 60 miles per hour. It would be awesome to visit an ocean habitat. Whach out for man-eating sharks! They could attack!
• There is snow in the winter and there isn't in the fall. It is colder in the winter and wormer in the fall.
• The bear was lost. A boy found him. They looked and looked and looked for the bear's home. They took a bus to the pork. Then they went to the library. They looked at the globe. They saw a plase like the bear's home. They went there. Then the boy was lost. They bear helped the boy find his home.
• My baby bruther is worth more than gold! My mom maxs me wach him. I call him Saumy Wimy sometimes. He is cute.
• The pond is hot. The fish are only gold fish. There are 100 fish. They pond is at Twin Lake Center. That is my bruther's pre-school.
• When I lost my Grat white shark eraser I was sad. I wanted to play with it yesterday. I tried to find it but I couldn't. I did a sad face. Then tears fell down my face. I still wanted to find it. I am going to try today.

Dillon is getting pretty smart. He loves to read. He's pretty sweet most of the time. He LOVES sea animals. He continues to be a great eater too. And a great bike rider. Love our Dill!