July 24, 2013

Rolin's actual birthday day was in the middle of the week, but we still celebrated a bit at home. 

We set up his gifts with a balloon the night before so there would be something new when he came downstairs on his birthday morning. 

He sat and looked at the set up for a few minutes before he went over to discover its mysteries. 

Then he didn't waste any time diving into the pile of gifts. He kind of had his mouth agape in wonder and awe the entire time he was with his pile of presents, with both Justin and I saying Oohh and Ahh as we marveled in his sweet face and wondered how on earth he was already a 1-year old little boy.

Look at his mouth -- he was like, whoa, all morning. 

After presents, we had pancakes and fruit for breakfast.

Later that day I staged his official birthday photo shoot...these do not get any easier. I have probably 100 pics of him in various positions, sneaking away with only one or two good pics. At least I got one :)

I'm not even sure how this scene unfolded...Rolin on the floor, Lenny falling off the chair.

Somehow he managed to grab my cellphone in the middle of the shoot. That always makes him happy for a minute or two. 

Yay, a good one! So cute!

After Justin was home from work we went on a picnic at Cannon Hill Park, our favorite park for walks and playing. It was a lovely evening, complete with Jimmy John's.

Rolin ate (spilled) peas.

 

He also ate (his dad's) keys. 

He wasn't happy with his own water, of course.

I really hope he thought it was a special day for him. His mom and dad sure thought it was! 

We love you so much, Rollybug. You make us proud every day!

Temporary Scottsdalians

We spent 30 days in a temp housing condo in Scottsdale. It was nice to be set up in something other than a hotel for this transition, especially with Rolin. It seemed like a 30 day whirlwind, with all our to dos, doctor appointments, mail chasing, no cell service, waiting for our car to arrive and house hunting, so the days flew by.

Our digs were pretty sweet; 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (one with a double sink!), fully furnished, large kitchen with nice appliances, washer/dryer, community pools, next to a park. It was no where near child proofed, so that made things interesting the first few days. We only broke three things total. Thank goodness for superglue.

Scottsdale itself is nothing to shake a stick at, either. Some areas are pretty swanky.

And the sunsets. THE SUNSETS!

The condo was in a community in the Scottsdale Ranch area, which is nestled around a man-made lake. We didn't have a lake view from our condo, but all we had to do is walk across the parking lot to enjoy the view.

There was also a fountain in the center of the community that Rolin really enjoyed watching. We made daily trips to the fountain (because he'd fall asleep on our walks, you see, so whether or not he seemed like he wanted to see the fountain, we went to see it anyway).

Fountain side re-hydrating with ice water. Sweet, sweet ice water.

We used the pool a couple times. There were two in the community, and they were almost always void of swimmers. Probably because it was too hot. Rolin loves the water, and loved sitting in his floatie near the pool's waterfall.

We would have gone more, but it was monsoon season while we were there, making for quite a few thunder storms and haboobs (sand/dust storms), not to mention excessive heat.

Nice to know this feature exists.

Visibility was down to 100 ft. in this sand/dust storm. Can you see the house in that pic?

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

The Thompsons came down the first week we were in Scottsdale to help watch Rolin while we went house hunting with a rental rep. They stayed for a few days, you know, just long enough to start to get used to the heat.

 Grandpa Lee soaking up some patio heat with Rolin.

We went to the aquarium later in the month to kill some time. Rolin seemed to enjoy it more than I expected he would. He seemed entertained the entire time and didn't cry once.

Gazing up at the fish from inside the under-tank bubble.

Jellyfish.

I couldn't help it.

No idea what this is. But it is interesting!

We got two stuffed manta ray toys at the aquarium, one for Rolin and one for a friend, as a memento. We had Rolin choose between blue and green mantas; he chose the green one twice...I thought it was so cute when he made his selection between the two. Now that we've moved into our new place I can't find the damn blue manta ray for his friend anywhere...it's making me feel crazy. I'll probably find it when we move out of this house. The dangers of moving...

Overall, Rolin did the best he could to entertain himself with the limited amount of toys we brought for our temp stay. He played peekaboo a lot and chased his red bouncy ball around the house.

He did end up playing with an empty beer box for a long time one night, so the next day we went and got him a truck he can sit on or push.

We realized too late that he doesn't quite yet understand the concept of hanging on to the truck when you go too fast when parents push you too fast. Sorry, baby!

The truck entertained him for a day or two, then he resorted to batting a stacking cup around as entertainment.

We also practiced speaking names of our loved ones, such as Aunt Brianna and Uncle Joe:

He really did enjoy going outside though, no matter how hot it was. He would get so sweaty and pink-cheeked, but he LOVED being outside. I'd have to drag him back inside kicking and screaming....at least he doesn't hate the heat, right?

Now we're busy getting settled in at our new house. We've had a crazy time since moving in too, as we were in WA for a week for Nanny's funeral, came back to AZ with house guests, and Rolin pushed through 3-4 teeth, had diarrhea and a terrible head cold. Needless to say, we're grateful for a low-key weekend.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Rolin's 1st Birthday

We changed the location of Rolin's 1st birthday party at least three times.

Plan A: Have the party at my parents' house and invite the universe.

Plan B: Have the party at our new place in Spokane (and con a comparatively smaller group of invitees to carry in and/or unpack a box during their stay). Invites went out with this plan.

Plan C: Have the party at a generous friend's house in Spokane (and con an even smaller group of people -- who still actually were ok with me changing their weekend plans around AGAIN -- to periodically remind me to take a deep breath in the midst of all the craziness).

Plan D: Have it at my parents' house after tacky-fully sending out late-night text invitations a day and a half before the party (and con people into actually coming so my kid will see pics of people at his 1st birthday celebration).

We executed plan D and had the party at my parents' house. I unpacked boxes of birthday decorations that I'd packed to move up the hill, revised the menu a bit, threw everything in the car and we drove to Grandview on Friday, also known as our fifth wedding anniversary.

Justin's parents arrived that night, too, and mom prepared a nice surf & turf anniversary dinner for everyone. We thought it was fun to celebrate our fifth anniversary in the same place where we married -- we even went out to the site of the ceremony for pictures.

This is the spot where were were married exactly five years before. (They still host weddings in the yard, hence the backdrop set up).

Rolin didn't care to listen to wedding tales of old. "I'm outta here," he said. 

The next day was a scramble to get everything together. Everyone jumped in to help hang up signs, make dishes and entertain Rolin. Thank goodness my parents had actually purchased hot dogs and buns. They also let me raid their cupboards for random condiments, decorations and other tidbits.

The party "theme" was Hot Dog Smorgasbord, similar to the S'mores Smorgasbord I did for Justin's 30th birthday. I created different themed hot dogs with matching toppings, my favorite being the Californian. I also used a lot of light/sky blue, yellow and red. A sort of picnic-esque look, you could say.

 

The "outtakes." Because of the small crowd and limited time (caramelized onions...what was I thinking?), we cut out a few choices. 

   

Some of the goodies, plus a few of Rolin's baby books for people to peruse. 

The hot dog bar.

Because we're still managing Rolin's cow's milk protein allergy, I made him a watermelon cake. It's a cake made of...wait for it...watermelon. Thank you, Pinterest! The coconut cream I chilled and whipped worked pretty well for the frosting.

Mom also made cupcakes, which we arranged in the shape of a number one. I made a last-minute mini happy birthday banner to stick in the cupcakes to add a little decor to their presentation.

Watermelon cake!

I've thought about his birthday since he was born, of course, but with all the last minute changes to the party plans (not to mention our lives) most of this was done on the fly. I think we did pretty well and it all came together nicely, thanks to everyone pitching in to help.

Yay! We survived one year as a family of three! 

As you can tell by the smirk on his face in the following pic, Rolin had no problem being the center of attention.

Birthday lovin' from Uncle Joe and Aunt Brianna.

 Time for presents!

A little croquet with Uncle Joe & Aunt Brianna.

Playing ladder golf with Grandparents Thompson.

The next day we headed back to Spokane, but not before stopping for brunch with everyone in Tri-Cities. And also not before finding a cowboy hat to complete Rolin's awesome cowboy ensemble. 

YeeHaw!

Brunch with the fam-bam.