The Birthday Boy!

Our little guy turned one today. Where has the time gone? Brandon took these awesome pictures of him. I think he got more pictures of him smiling today than we have gotten all year. He's always smiling around us, but just never quite got used to the camera. Finally we have the pictures to show what a cute and happy boy he is.

While visiting Chicago we threw a party for him so my family could all be a part of it. It was a Jungle theme. We ate pizza but ate a few other things as well: Snake Eggs (candied covered almonds), Live Worms (gummy worms), Dried Ants (Craisens), Beetle Wings (chips), Croc Teeth (triangle shaped apple bites), and Jungle Juice.

My sister-in-law and brother were kind enough to let us use their house. Little did they know I was actually going to turn their house into a jungle. Brandon and I made vines by twisting butcher paper and attached leaves and hung them all over and we had jungle animals variously placed.

We turned their basement into a jungle safari treasure hunt for the kids.

They all gathered around while Brandon explained their mission.

This was the treasure map. First they had to hop through the Piranha Pond...

...and then make it through the Python Pit.

Next they had to jump over the Quivering Quicksand and walk across Alligator Alley. They rode the tiger through the Tiger Trail making it to the final obstacle, dodging the Venomous Vines to make it to the Gorilla's Gold.

The catch was that they had to do this while wearing their safari hat, carrying a flashlight, a pillow, a backpack, and a sleeping bag. The theme song to Indiana Jones was playing the whole time. It was a great game that reached the ages of 3-12 and all of them had a blast participating. We made it easy for the little ones (they didn't have to carry as much) and then when the older ones were up they had to carry everything without dropping it trying to get the fastest time. Nobody could get to the gold until the last explorer made it through. The other game we played was a Reptile Hunt. We scattered frogs, lizards, and snakes all over a dark room. They each had a flashlight and hunted for their own collection of reptiles.

I spent a good amount of time the night before making this cake. But I really enjoyed it.

I also made these jungle cupcakes for the kids...even though they really wanted to get their hands on that cake. As long as they got a piece of that then they wanted their cupcake next. Go figure.

And all this fun was in behalf of the Birthday Boy!

I gave him a cupcake to dig into and he wasn't too sure about this green stuff. I thought for sure once he tasted it he would change his mind.

Once he tasted the frosting he still wasn't a fan.

It wasn't until he tasted the chocolate cake that it was a done deal.

He was pretty neat about it. He wasn't interested in playing in it or making a mess...just eating the good stuff.

Brayden, on the other hand, had no problem digging in. She was waiting as patiently as she could throughout the whole party for the opportunity to finally eat that cake!

Afterwards the girls got together to make these fun jungle puppets.

They also had fun with these animal masks.

And lastly Kaleb opened his presents.

It was a great time. All of the cousins really had a fun time together. A big thank you to everybody who came and celebrated with us.

Since this party was while we were in Chicago it was a week before his actual birthday which is today. So yesterday we finished off the Jungle theme and headed out to the zoo.

Kaleb enjoyed most of it from his stroller.

Brayden really enjoyed the day, but what she enjoyed most was this little ladybug that she HAD to carry with her. She would drop it every two seconds and holding her hand while she had to hold the ladybug wasn't easy. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of the ladybug. She eventually dropped it and couldn't find it. She lifted up her shoe and said, "Mom, get it! It's right there under my shoe!" While gesturing to the sole of her sandle. It wasn't there, but it was funny that she thought it was.

My little baby is growing too fast but he is becoming quite the little riot these days. He is so playful and fun. He loves to play and when he's not doing that he is always getting into Brayden's business. There is no such thing as distracting him with his own toy. He wants to do whatever she is doing. There are lots of girly screams sounding in our house these days. He now weighs 24 lbs 15 oz and is 31 inches long. His middle name should be "bulldozer" because that's what he thinks he is. He bulldozes his way through everything...for fun...and he climbs up everything. His favorite thing he likes to climb on is my lap...whenever he pleases. It doesn't matter what I'm doing or who else is sitting there. It's not necessarily because he wants me to hold him either. As long as he's tackled his quest he's satisfied. He loves the vacuum, the blender doesn't phase him, and shots don't even make him flinch (he's got the thighs for it). He's definately all boy and it makes me laugh. His favorite song is the ABC's. He loves rice cereal and he hates peas... Apparently he doesn't like anything too sweet either. Since his birthday is "pi" (pie) day (3.14) we gave him a piece of Chocolate Cream Pie tonight. He wasn't a fan of that either. I didn't include that on my video but maybe I'll put it on there when I have some more time. Here's to my sweet baby Kaleb...

We Love You!