Fraser had a birthday. And cake. It was fun.

 

So, our dear boy is one! Lowell and my Mom were both gone on Fraser's actual birthday, but we were still well taken care of. For starters, Auntie Chelsea had us over for a very impressive Sesame Street lunch spread. Check out these adorable fruit and veggie platters. Fraser has the most creative pretend Aunt ever!

Can YOU identify the characters?!

Growing up, Chelsea's parent's implemented the 'you have as many friends as you are old' system for birthdays, so Nico was Fraser's one friend for his first birthday. Good thing they're BFFs (not forced at all)...

 

After the grilled cheese, she even pulled out a little cake...

Thanks Auntie Chels!

But that's not all. For supper, Papa took us to IHOP, and it was the first time that Fraser got his very own order! Happy faces was apparently a bit of a theme that day as he had a happy face pancake...

Showing Papa he's "soooooo big"! Show off...

He probably got an equal amount on the floor as in his mouth- but don't worry all your restauranteers out there... I did my best to clean it up. Thanks Papa!

Mom, Shareen, and Lowell arrived home on Saturday, and Sunday was party time! Lowell's parents as well as Julie Anne and Ryan were able to join the posse of Fraser's buds...

It was a waffle lunch party. Yup- this is the face of a kid that looooooves waffles (and that is indeed waffle in his mouth)...

We got a picture of Fraser and his buds (missing Aleks boo hoo), and I love all the personality in this picture...

Let's go left to right. Desmond has a devious little smirk on his face as he crawls away from the wagon. Liam looks just thrilled to be sharing a wagon with Nico, and so happy that he's at a birthday party getting his picture taken. Fraser's being a goof (surprise surprise). Curious Nico is attempting to steal Hope's hat, and Hope is a little irritated that there are no other girls at this party, and the boys are bugging her! Haha.... classic!

Next it was time to bring out the cake in an attempt to achieve Fraser's first sugar high!

 

The idea for this cake was given to us by Lowell's Auntie Lois, who recently passed away from cancer. When we said our good-byes to her at the hospital, she suggested we make a dump truck cake for Fraser's first birthday. Done. I don't know that she was thinking of a dump truck that was nearly as big as Fraser, but we took the idea and ran.

The dump truck is filled with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, oreo crumbs, and worms... all the making of delicious "mud".  Fraser was more interested in the steering wheel and the fun noises at first, but once he got a feel of the goods inside, his curiousity was piqued.... a bit.

 

The worms were definitely his favourite part...

 
Sharesies!...

Next up... PRESENTS! We requested no gifts, but he got spoiled anyway. Lucky kid. He has been enjoying his gifts, but he sort of preferred the wrapping...

He was pretty impressed with his haul!

Here are some of my fave gal pals (there are a bunch missing from this very spontaneously taken photo, but this gives you a teeny tiny idea of the beautiful women (inside and out) in my life). Liam apparently didn't QUITE make the cut for this picture.... :)

 Oh- back to the cake for a sec. This time with a fancy new sunhat from Grandma and Grandpa...

 Fraser is always very willing to share with Kumeu, and Kums is a very grateful recipient...

After most people left, Daddy gave Fraser a bath to clean off the cake, and the Fraselgoop had some giggle time with Auntie Julie...

Lastly, Papa performed a lovely rendition of 'Happy Birthday' then it was time for our partied out one-year old to have a nap!

Thanks ya'll for a lovely celebration!

Birth to One: watch Fraser grow!

Our little boy is one… ONE! In some ways, the big birth day seems like yesterday, and in other ways it feels like FOREVER ago. Over the past year, an incredible amount of emotions have ripped through my body. Elation, disbelief, exhaustion, excitement, frustration, excitement, fear, joy, anxiety, hope etc etc … and above all else, LOVE and thankfulness.

Little Fraser is an easy going little charmer. He’s quick to giggle and loves to flash his 7-toothed grin. He willingly shows off his tricks, and he can’t get enough of pulling himself up on anything and everything and going for assisted walks. He’s a speedy crawler, he babbles like crazy, and HE’S BEEN SLEEPING 11-12 HOURS EVERY NIGHT!! He loves food, and signs “more” and “all done”. He stands unassisted, and enjoys scaring the wits out of his mother by free-standing in the bathtub. He loves to take it all in, read books, and listen to music. He especially loves when Papa sings and plays the guitar for him. He loves to explore and he’ll eat (or at least chew/suck) anything in his path. He loooooves splashing around in the bathtub and playing little games with Mommy & Daddy. Kumeu is a patient buddy of his, and Fraser takes pleasure in sharing his food with him (and Mommy takes MUCH pleasure in Kumeu cleaning up Fraser’s share of the floor after meal time). He weighs about 22 pounds, and is mostly height- a fact that is regularly proven by previously well-fitting pants that end up around his ankles. So to sum up... he's just a giant ball of awesome cuteness and fun!

Since his birth, we have been taking weekly pictures of our little Fraselnut. Well, I'VE been the one actually taking the pictures (as I'm home with him more), and I put Lowell in charge of creating Fraser's little one year aging video (so you can blame ME for the really poor, wonky lighting that's different in each picture.... not my artistic genius of a husband!) Enjoy...

We have  been so blessed by our little boy, and are regularly thankful that he’s ours. Happy first birthday Mr. Fraser man!

PS- the newborn picture is courtesy of the fabulous Jen at La Di Da Lane Photography, and the one year picture is courtesy of US! Fraser's cuteness makes photography easy... :)

Breast milk lattes all around!

Lowell is a pretty darn easy going guy, and he sort of needs to be being married to me... I like to think I keep him on his toes!

In the past, I have sort of taken advantage of his visual impairment by playing little tricks on him. Usually your classic, run-of-the-mill naked bum fart in face type of tricks. But this time, I had a whole new scheme up my sleeve (er, down my shirt shall I say). Poor unsuspecting Lowell received his little surprise on Father's Day. We were in Chilliwack at Marc & Kylie's for Zeke's baptism. We had coffee every morning, and on this special morning as Lowell reached for the coffee, I eagerly interjected, "Want a latte instead?" He graciously declined and said, "No thanks, I'm fine with just the coffee."

"But Lowell, it's FATHER'S DAY! Let me make you a latte!" I insisted. His lips turned up in a cute little grin as he replied, "Okay! You can make me a latte!" I promptly made my way to the fridge where there was a bottle of freshly squeezed breastmilk (my breastmilk... not Kylie's... I think). I connivingly poured it in a mug, heated it, frothed it (MAN that stuff froths well), added the coffee and anticipatorily passed it to poor unassuming Lowell. Meanwhile, my family was in on the secret and Kylie was ready to record his reaction...


Side note: sadly I was NOT camera-ready. Barely out of the shower, no make-up... we're just lucky I was dressed (albeit in Lowell's clothes)!

In summary: HE DIDN'T REACT! He thought it tasted NORMAL. So then, naturally, I had to give it a try... and it DID taste fine. Bit of a weird after taste, but nothing that couldn't be marketed at Starbucks! He was hesitant to finish it when everyone started laughing and he didn't know why, but once I told him he was drinking a breastmilk latte, he chugged it back... no questions asked.

I'm pretty much the best wife ever.

August Long at long last...

I am so ridiculously behind with this blogging thing that it's, well, ridiculous. With summer fun brings busy busy busyness! So where to begin where to begin... let's talk about the August long weekend!

We started the weekend off on Saturday with a blissful float down the river with Glen & Natalie while Fraser & Hope napped for the sitters (first time either child had an actual real paid non-family sitter, by the way!). I DID have my camera, but it did NOT have a functioning battery in it. Apparently. Boo. Especially unfortunate as Glen & Natalie's floatation device was a shared tube and their discomfort was fairly amusing to watch... and would have made for some great photos. Oh well, I have images blazed into my memory!

We have been so blessed to have such wonderful friends in our lives. We've also been fortunate to get to know some of their families. We've gotten to know both of Nicholas and Chelsea's families, and we just think they're the bees knees. On Sunday, we went to the Crowsnest Pass to spend the day with Nicholas' family.

Chels and I are ready and rarin....

 Hiking Window Mountain Lake...

 

 

Nicholas' parents Papa Nick & Nana Steph...
 

 

Lunch time!

 And also freezing-cold-dip-in-the-lake time!

 

We've been told that Nicholas, Chelsea, Nico & doggy Maggie are our twin family. You know: parents of similar age with lots in common, baby boys the same age, and golden retrievers. Here we are...

 And here's the whole crew!

On the holiday Monday, we met more of Nick's family at Stafford Lake. It was HOT HOT HOT and a perfect lake day!

Nicholas & Chelsea showed off their pro skiing abilities...

 

Then Lowell tried water skiing for the first time... and got up on his FIRST TRY!

 

How very impressive.

Nana Steph looked after Fraser while we were busy playing in the water...

 

Then of course Fraser went for a glorious dip...

 

And Lowell showed off some Kumeu tricks for the kidlets...

While we're on the topic of gallivanting with Nick & Chels (which has been a large- and thoroughly enjoyable- part of our summer), I may as well toss in a few more shots! While they were camping at Lake Newell, Fraser, Kumeu and I drove out to join them for a day.

Nico particluarily enjoyed the visit and could not get enough of Fraser. He would look at him and burst into giggles... so cute. It's so fun watching them now that they're finally noticing each other and play dates are kind of actually PLAY dates and not just mommy dates!

 

All together now: OOoooooooo...

This is Chelsea's "don't you dare take my picture" face. But I did anyway, AND I'm posting it. I'm such a good friend!

Oh gosh... what fun!