Benjamin today.

Benjamin one year ago today.

I honestly don't know where the time has gone. It has been an amazing year, one to prove every cliche you've ever heard about having a baby in the house.

I have been so emotional in the days leading up to today, but we've had a lot of fun on his birthday. When he woke up this morning, I sang "Happy Birthday" and he just grinned and grinned. We tickled, played Duck, Duck, Goose, ate a yummy breakfast (strawberry apple sauce and cheerios for him, toast with cinnamon honey for me, bananas for both of us). When daddy came home for a morning break, Benjamin got to hear Happy Birthday song again and he loved it again! And, of course, there was more tickling! We went to lunch with Katie Faye and her reunion group friends at El Fenix. Benjamin opened his first birthday present. We went to Hastings and used some of our buy-back credit to get Happy Birthday To You! by Dr. Seuss. We went to ACU where we tried (unsuccessfully) to get a picture of Benjamin chasing bubbles--too windy. But we did get the picture at the top of this post (thanks, Shanna, for helping!) We talked about taking a nap, but Benjamin decided he didn't want to miss a single minute of his very first birthday! So we just tickled and played and read instead. Now Benjamin is playing with his daddy (with the Olympics playing in the background I notice) while the stromboli cools enough to eat. After dinner, we are going to make Benjamin's new handprint moose. I made a moose out of his handprint when he was one month old...

...and decided it would be fun to make a new one on each of his birthdays. We hope to do this with all of our future children as well, choosing a different animal for each one. I think it will be fun to see his moose grow with him, don't you?

After we make the handprint moose, it will be bathtime. Then bedtime. And then (I can't believe it) his first birthday will be over!

Just kidding! Did you notice anything missing from our day? Like a picture of a baby with cake all over his face?! Of course, no 1st birthday is complete without that. But we didn't think it would be as much fun without our families present, so Saturday afternoon Benjamin will get to enjoy his devil's food cupcakes and moose shaped cookies with his grandparents, aunts, and uncles...pictures to come, of course!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY baby boy! Mommy is so proud of how you've grown and changed! Mommy and Daddy love you bunches and oodles. We always have, even when you looked like this:

And we will love you forever. I love how much you look like your Daddy. I love that What A Wonderful World is your favorite song. I love your sloppy kisses and the way you're learning to say, "I love you!" even though it comes out sounding like "I voo!" I love how excited you get when you throw a ball (or a spoon, or a cell phone, or whatever is in your hand!) and how you say, "WHOA!" every single time. My prayer for you from the first moment I knew you were alive inside of me has been that you would know and love Jesus. I love hearing your daddy read to you from The Jesus Storybook Bible. And I look forward to the day you decide to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life. I love you. I love you. Did I tell you that I love you? I do.