Teddy is 13 Months Old!

When I started Teddy's monthly pictures with his "hug me" bear, I said I wanted to do it every month for at least the first year. Well... I am just not ready to stop taking them! So, I figured with the new year we could use Teddy's new chair. Here are a few of the shots I got before he grabbed the sign and started standing on the chair:

Teddy loves his bear:

Teddy continues to be a very happy little boy. He still takes about 3-4 steps at a time but isn't really walking yet. He is babbling a lot though and seems to be telling us some very important things (if we could just understand him). He has started to put the toy and real phone to his ear and pretend to talk on them, and he points at whatever he wants us to give to him. He is growing and changing so quickly it is so much fun! We are so thankful to have a healthy and happy little man.

Teddy Cheers on the Bears!

Over the past two weekends, Teddy and Shae have bonded together watching lots of football. They cheered on the bears and you can tell from this first picture that Teddy REALLY got in to it:

The whole family cheering on the Bears:

Even though the Bears didn't win, Shae had fun watching the game last weekend. He turned our kitchen into what smelled like a fast food restaurant as he fried onion rings, french fries, and fish that he caught from our lake:

Grandpa Steve would be so proud... Teddy ate some fried fish:

Teddy helped his dad cheer on The Bears:

All of that cheering (and all of the fried food).... of course wears you out:

The Snow Finally Melted!

After over a week of snow and ice..... (I know that does not sound like a long time for some, but remember we are in "Hotlanta") it finally started to melt! It's a good thing because I was about to go crazy staying inside for so long.

So, as it warmed up, what did we do? Well... Shae decided to take his canoe out early one morning:

Yes- that IS ice on the lake... lots of it:

His canoe ride was cut short!

Luckily though, a week after it snowed we were able to get out of the house. Since Teddy was still on antibiotics, I had no hesitation to take him to the germ-infested play section of the mall. Apparently we were not the only ones who were ready to get out of the house. It was packed full of wild children!

Teddy is not shy at all! He made lots of new friends:

Teddy had a great time playing with his Daddy!

It wore them both out:

So how else could we celebrate the snow melting? Teddy played in his purple sweatshirt...

matching his mommy! (Really WHO does that...what crazy mom dresses like her one year old son???)

Oh yeah- I do! I told you.... being in the house for a week straight.... I started to lose my mind.

What else did we do while we were cooped up inside? How about take more pictures in the new chair with all of Teddy's buddies:

We also borrowed a neighbors back pack to try it out:

And we made bear shaped pancakes (or at least tried):

And of course, there was LOTS of napping involved:

.... in our very cold house! We hope you all are staying warm!

Let it snow!

Teddy is going to think that it is "normal" for it to snow in Atlanta. He is just barely one and this is the fourth time it has snowed in Atlanta since he has been alive! We got somewhere between 3-5 inches of snow on Sunday night and as I type this on Wednesday night, we STILL have snow!! That is very unusual around here! We have been stuck at home for several days, but we have ventured out to walk around and of course take some pictures. Here is our house, covered in snow:

the backyard:

the bridge at the lake:

and the entrance to our neighborhood:

our neighborhood pool:

Shae worked from home on Monday and Tuesday because the roads were pretty bad. It is nice that he has a job that allows him to work from home if necessary. It is not so nice that he works in our downstairs... because in the winter it is really cold down there. Look at what Shae wore to "work" on Monday:

When Shae took a work break, we bundled Teddy up to take him outside for some fresh air:

and to play in the snow:

Although we were "snowed in" Teddy and I were still able to make it to playgroup on Monday thanks to Shae (who escorted us down the street). Shae pushed Teddy in the stroller for me since it was pretty icy (and I am not known for my gracefulness). On Tuesday we again decided to venture out into the snow.... but we couldn't find Teddy's mittens (just like the poor little kittens... ) So we had to improvise:

Yes, he does have socks on his hands... but it worked! Here's a shot of Teddy tasting the snow:

I am definitely a southerner for a reason. After three days of snow, I am very ready for it to melt! I am tired of our living room and am just thankful that we have friends with in walking distance that I have been able to visit with over the past few days! Here are a few other random pictures from the past week that I thought I would post. Teddy loves to play with his farm animals:

But he does NOT seem to love the sit-and-spin:

We still have the decorations up from Teddy's birthday party. I was actually going to take them down yesterday but Shae said I should keep them up until after Aunt Sam visits us this weekend... so they are still up! I wanted to get a picture of the three of us by Teddy's birthday sign, but every time someone was over who could take it, I forgot to ask. Finally Shae decided he could set up the camera with the timer to take it himself. Here are some of the pictures he took:

Since our house is split level and the sign was hanging from the upstairs, taking a picture with the self timer was just the sort of challenge that Shae enjoys. Although it took a few adjustments, we were able to get the pictures above. How did we get them? Check out what the camera was on top of:

I love my engineer husband!

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Lastly I forgot to post this video earlier. I love it because it captures Teddy's awesome laughing (and his awesomely silly daddy):

Teddy's Beary Cheesy Party

I will just be honest and admit that for Teddy's first birthday party I went overboard. The day before the party, as I sat in the kitchen surrounded by blue streamers, balloons, and bear shaped confetti, while preparing bear shaped foods, I realized that I could no longer deny it.... I had turned into my mom. Her motto is: "Moderation in nothing!" My family has teased her about this for years. Myself included. But one thing I can say about her is that she ALWAYS threw us fabulous birthday parties! So anyway, I will share on the blog the pictures from the party. We'll start with the invitations I made:

the inside (I warned you in the title of the post... it gets pretty cheesy):

Decorating was a fun part of preparing for the party:

We had balloons on the mailbox and I used sidewalk chalk to write a special message and to draw bear paw prints leading to the front door:

Obviously the party had a teddy bear theme. Inside I decorated with streamers, balloons, and of course... teddy bears:

I made this poster with Teddy's monthly pictures with his hug me bear:

Getting the food ready:

If you look closely, you will notice bear shaped food. LOTS of it. We had all different kinds of sandwiches- all shaped like teddy bears. And "cheesy bears" as well as "bear mix." There was also an abundance of teddy grahams, gummy bears (6 lbs of them... because 3 lbs wasn't enough!) and some very special cinnamon bears that were sent all of the way from Yuma, AZ!

The desserts included carrot cupcakes and chocolate cake:

If you're wondering what those are all around the cake, they are teddy bears driving cars...

of course:

A lot of bear stuff, I know. It gets worse...

I made bear ears for all of the guests to wear. They were by the front door:

Since there were several babies invited to the party, I made some special bear ears for them:

Poor Teddy! Thankfully our friends and family were all good sports and wore the ears. Here are our neighbors the Ballots:

Maggie and Jack posed with me for a picture:

We had a beary good time at the party!

Grandma Judy looked so cute with her ears:

Teddy brought his favorite bear to the party too:

Teddy with all of the bears from his party:

Teddy seemed to have a great time. Here he is with our friends Angie and Kimberly:

After we all enjoyed food, it was time for cake:

On his actual birthday I made the same cupcakes and bear cake to practice making them. That day Teddy refused to eat any of the cupcake we gave him. (My sister blames it on the fact that they were "healthy" carrot cupcakes and were lacking in the lard department). Anyway, after his actual birthday, we offered Teddy some carrot cupcake at almost every meal. I guess you could say we were "practicing" for his party. He slowly came around to the cupcake though I figured out he didn't care for the cream cheese frosting (maybe Aunt Miriam was on to something). So for his party I used the butter cream frosting on his carrot cupcake and look how well Teddy did:

After cake it was time for presents.

Teddy is a very lucky boy. He got lots of great gifts!

Uncle Hal even enjoyed playing with Teddy's new drum set:

Cousin Maggie was all smiles, as usual:

Teddy did a great job at the party. He played, ate cake, opened presents, and seemed to have fun. But being the center of a party wears even the best baby out:

Between Thanksgiving, Chanukah, our trip to Florida, Christmas, our anniversary, and then Teddy's birthday we have literally had one celebration after another. We know we are very blessed to have such great family and friends around us. Most of all we are thankful for our thriving little man. With Teddy's party over, it seems the official end of this holiday season. I have been a bit reluctant to take down the decorations though. Maybe I'll wait until there are no more cupcakes left. Until then, we'll keep enjoying them: