Birthday Pics and A Few Others

I just got my camera back and wanted to include a few of these birthday pictures for my memory. 



My mother-in-law put together this thoughtful grouping of McCord photos.



I made McCord's birthday cake, and come to think of it, that might be why he wasn't too interested in eating it.  Perhaps something went wrong?!  There are two layers inside: strawberry (red) and vanilla (blue).  The candles came from Target.



McCord's cousins Emily and Kyle helped me decorate the cupcakes in our red, white, and blue theme.



And here's the birthday boy with his daddy pre-celebration, wondering what all the fuss is about!

And we've been playing with finger paint. 

My parents kept my sister's kids while she and her husband were out of town for a couple of days.  So McCord and I went to see Aiya and Doe Doe and his cousins Bayer and Calla.  The idea was for me to help my parents out, but instead, I may have caused more trouble.  We took all the kids outside, stripped them down, rolled out some brown packing paper on the sidewalk, and let them play with finger paint.  Bayer and Calla were over-the-top excited; McCord was not too sure how he felt about it, but that didn't keep him from getting messy. 

Bo and I are so thankful that my in-laws came to visit us this weekend.  Bo's dad brought the pressure washer and his mom brought lots and lots of food to stock our fridge.  She also washed the windows after the men did the pressure washing.  We are so thankful to have parents who have been so willing to help us make our new house feel like home. 

Today marks 1 month that we've been in our new house and every day that goes by, we love it more and more and look forward to making many family memories here. 

 

A Few Random Things

ONE --We celebrated McCord's birthday this past weekend with family at my in-laws house.  What a great day to be one year old!  It was a red, white and blue birthday party and everyone dressed accordingly.  McCord loved watching his cousins jump into the pool from the diving board, and he enjoyed splashing around the shallow end.  I left my camera at the party, but here are a few shots my mother-in-law sent us. 

A great snapshot of McCord and my Dad ("Doe Doe") goofing off by the pool.

A great photo of my sister and my mom (otherwise known as "Aiya")

McCord wasn't too sure what to do with the birthday cake, so he tried a little bit of icing, and then he decided I should try it too.  He stuck his finger in it and then put it in my mouth!



But he LOVED the homemade strawberry icecream that Gee Gee made!



This is a needlepoint sampler that my mom made for McCord with his name and birthday on it.  It is truly a labor of love.  I remember her working on it right after McCord was born.  She'd bring it with her whenever she came to visit, and we were able to view the progress.  Now here it is complete and ready to make a special wall hanging for McCord's new room.

Thank you Papa and Gee Gee for letting us celebrate at your house!

 The older I get, the more I realize how special it is to be able to have our family together.  In this case, it was special 2 times over, because we had both sides of our families together to celebrate Mc's 1st birthday - 4 grandparents, aunts and uncles, and 4 cousins!  It was such a gift for us to spend that time with them. 

TWO -- We closed on our new house yesterday, so we are no longer renters, but home owners!  We plan on celebrating by ripping out the carpet in the playroom on Monday.  The hardwood floors will be delivered today so they can get acclimated to our house before the installation.  Here's a before picture of the playroom.  Once this is complete, we'll be installing a new exterior door and completely gutting both of the bathrooms, insulating the attic and installing a fence.  We can't wait!

THREE -- My dad is coming up today to help us with lots of homeowner repair stuff like hanging a smoke detector, blinds, drapery rods, and McCord's swing.  Exciting stuff, right?  We're just glad to get on his calendar because he's been pretty busy lately writing articles for the local newspaper.  Here's his first article and the one published most recently about "beaver fever." And when he's not hanging drapery rods and writing articles, he makes grills out of old tires.  Here's a video my mom shot in their backyard of his contraption. 



FOUR -- Last, and certainly not least.  Thank you so much to those of you who read the last post and commented on the photoshoot.  You are all a thoughtful bunch of readers and we're humbled by all of your comments.  We are able to order an extra 5 x 7 because of the number of comments we got, and that helps tremendously when you're a sentimental mama like me who wants to order every photo taken of her child (will that make him stop growing up so fast?!!! ).  Many, many thanks!

The Photoshoot & A Favor, Please...

Saturday was a really fun day. 

We had Nicole Rogers Photography out to take a few pictures of our family in our new house.  Oh, how fun it is to be one year old!  We loved watching McCord flirt with Nicole as she captured his smirky little smile on camera.  Here's a link to the sneak peek she shared with us this a.m.

And, we need your help, fellow blog readers.  We are trying to get as many comments on Nicole's blog post featuring Mc's photo shoot as possible.  Now, don't be shy.  Even if you've never posted on this blog, we'd love, love, love it if you'd post a simple comment on Nicole's blog.  If we get a certain amount, she'll allow us to get a free print.  That would help us out tremendously!

Happy 4th of July

: : a post by McCord : :

A year ago today was my due date, but I surprised everyone and was delivered 3 days earlier.  Look how much I've grown since my first July 4th!

This year, I've done all sorts of fun things to celebrate the holiday. 

I've played with my favorite toy of all time - the Dyson.

I also had my one year photo shoot with Nicole Rogers (more on that later!).  Mama says that I flirted with her the whole time!

I mowed the lawn and never took my eyes off of Daddy the whole time - you can see him just outside of the fence doing something very-manly-and-cool-with-a-really-big-tool-that-makes-a-lot-of-noise.  Isn't he impressive?!

 And here I am helping Daddy fix the weed eater.  Just in case you ever have to fix a weed eater, it really helps if you get your booty in it like I'm demonstrating here.

 ...and this morning I got my first taste of orange cinnamon rolls.  I almost ate everything off of Daddy's plate!

And speaking of food, our neighbors knocked on our door this morning to tell us that they are leaving town and would like for us to pick their garden while they are gone.  Here's our first bag of fresh veggies. 

Hope you have a happy 4th of July!

Love, McCord

1 year old

Moving

We did it with lots of help from my parents.  And we're exhausted! 

Here are a few before photos my mother-in-law took followed by some shots of the inside after a coat of paint (but before we unloaded all the billions of boxes we brought)!

Living/Dining area



Playroom



Standing in Playroom looking at Kitchen

Master BR and sitting area

Laundry

Guest Room



McCord's Room




Sewing Room

 
After photos:



Living/Dining Room

Downstairs hall

Love this cedar closet!

Guest Room

McCord's Room



Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in my life!  I am supremely thankful for each of you.

This is a picture of my grandfather (left) and uncle in front of my great-grandfather's medical office about 70 years ago.

And here's a picture my dad and I staged last fall with McCord, my Uncle B and his dog Peppie.

The other day I walked in on a little conversation between Bo and McCord and it went a little something like this:

Bo : : McCord, I have something very important to tell you.

McCord : : {silence}

Bo : : Do you know what Sunday is?

McCord : : {silence}

Bo : : Now pay attention here, son, because this is really important.

McCord : : {silence}

Bo : : Sunday is Father's Day.

McCord : : {silence}

Bo : : ..........and the sky's the limit!