Walking and Walking...

On Friday night of this weekend, we watched 4 little girls so their mommy and daddy could go out on a date.  These girls are so sweet and it is so fun to watch them.  My favorite scene of the night.  The 3 oldest girls carrying around "King Jeremiah" and "Queen Juliet" (the 2 year old) in laundry baskets and hailing them as their king and queen, so funny.  On Sunday, we celebrated Papa Growl's birthday.  And we decided to get a few pictures with the great grandmas.  This weekend Jeremiah decided to try walking and he has been going non-stop every since.  I think he prefers to walk now though his balance still gets a little off at times.  Jeremiah has been enjoying taking things out of places and putting them back in other places.  He will take things out of my purse, the cupboard and today, I left him for 2 seconds and to my dismay the bathroom door was open and so he was throwing toilet paper rolls in the toilet.  Oh my!  What are we going to do with that boy.  We also were able to visit Daddy at work on Tuesday night at Hebrew Union's Library and we got to visit Dottie- the sweet cleaning lady who gave Jeremiah a firetruck and baseball outfit for his birthday.  She is a sweet lady. 

Snow Time

 Last Saturday we had maybe an inch of snow, a mere dusting, but since we have not had much snow this winter, Jeremiah and I were excited....  We got him all ready and bundled out to find out I needed to change his diaper.  So we got all undressed and bundled again and went out to see that fluffy stuff.  I think he liked it though we didn't get to build a snowman this time. 

Valentines Day & Sweet Gifts!

 Tuesday, we celebrated Valentine's Day by having a quiet evening at home.  Michael had class until 6pm, so I made a nice dinner for us and then Jeremiah & I made a Gluten Free Apricot Lemon Bundt Cake.  This was a favorite dessert of Michael's but he had not had it in a long while.  It took me a while to try to find a recipe for lemon pound cake to make from scrap.  Michael got me a yummy chocolate chip cookie cake.  :)  I found this heart in Jeremiah's closet.  My best friend Sara Fillmann used to pass a heart like this around with her mom.  They would stick in each other's things.  I thought that was such a cute idea so I got one for Michael when we first got married and it shows up in the funnest places though lately it had been in Jeremiah's closet.  :) 

 Also for Jeremiah's birthday, he has received many sweet gifts but we wanted to highlight a few.  All the way from South Asia, Jeremiah received a book which I know he will love from Jude Dawkins- Mr. Brown Can Moo Can You?  Definately a boy  book with all kinds of fun sounds.  He also received from Jack Samad, Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs!  These were such thoughtful gifts from cute little boy friends. 

 Jeremiah also received from Aunt Laura a very cute vest and pants that she made by hand!  She did a great job and it fits perfectly!  Aunt Beka got him a Little People's Airplane- perfect for getting him ready for our big airplane adventures this summer!  There were so many other sweet gifts, but these are a few of his favorite things! 

Grandma Renner's Birthday

A week ago, we celebrated Grandma Renner's birthday, the day after Jeremiah's party.  Grandma Renner turned 94 and she is still going strong!  I can truly say it has been a great privilege to get to know Grandma Renner better over this year being in Cincinnati.  She has a love for the Lord and a servant's heart and is so generous and giving with her money.  She truly lives as if the world was not her home!  Michael wrote an article in our church's Community Builder newsletter to celebrate her faithful life.  Go to the following link and click on "Here" to read on Thelma Renner:  http://www.eccfellowship.org/newsletters.html 

Jeremiah's Birthday Party!

 Last weekend, my parents and sister journeyed to Cincinnati and we had a party for Jeremiah.  I decided to try to make him a lion cake and used chocolate cupcakes for the mane!  It was so fun to make and I do admit I had expert helpers with my mom and sister.  We invited a few friends from church and family and decided to have a Birthday Blessing Party.  We mainly talked and had pizza and salad and cake and ice cream.  Jeremiah loved his cake, of course!  At one point, Michael showed the 11 kids there his baseball cards from his room- quite the display.  Next year, we hope to have Mike Santoro (my sister's husband) do some of his magic tricks- we were missing him to entertain the kids!  We had a time of prayer for Jeremiah's little life and I had people instead of gifts bring a prayer or verse or birthday blessing!  We had a wonderful time though it was crazy having all those people in the Lyons' house.  Better that than our apartment!  :)  Jeremiah is a blessed little boy for his birthday. 

 My dad stayed right by his side the whole evening.  He said that he smacks his lips when he is thirsty.  The other night when we were giving J a bath, he began drinking the bath water and I told dad that I guess since he was gone I was missing J's signs of when he was thirsty- he had to resort to drinking bath water- yum!

 My mom and dad got him this little suit- complete with a scarf in the pocket. :)

Jeremiah's 1st Birthday!

 Jeremiah had a great 1st birthday!  The day included extra playing and reading.  We went to Ikea for Kids Eat Free lunch and Mom Lyons, Laura Lyons & Jonathan and Emily Doughman and Rachel and Abby (from church) joined us for lunch.  We then went to the storytime at 1pm and afterward walked through the store.  Jeremiah enjoyed pushing his little stroller through the store most of the way. 

 Jeremiah and Jonathan loved attacking the big spider at storytime!  And yes, Jeremiah enjoyed eating some more of his birthday cake.  We came back and Jeremiah took a good long nap and then waited for Daddy to get home.

 When Daddy got home, we headed to Walts BBQ for dinner- I just love their BBQ sauce and it is really only a few doors down from where we live.  We ate here many a times last year as it was close, quick and something Michael could eat.  Mom Lyons would often bring us meals from here as well so it was fitting to go here for his birthday.  Jeremiah enjoyed his pig- their motto is PETA- People Eating Tasty Animals. :)

 When we got home, we opened Jeremiah's presents and played and then it was time for bed.  Overall, we had a great day and I think he did too.  Hard to believe we have a 1 year old in our house. :)

A Year of Photos of Jeremiah Michael Lyons...

Newborn photo

One month old

3 months

8 months

9 months

1 year old!