Sebastian is ONE!

In my mind, Sebastian has been about six months old for the past six months. So it really was quite a shock when I realized that he was actually turning ONE in just a few days. Even though there wasn't much time to prepare, we still wanted to throw a little party for Sebastian. So, in honor of Grave-Digger, the monster truck we passed four times on our trips to and from the outer banks, we chose monster trucks!

Which was, thankfully, quite easy and simple and we just threw it together the day of. Pat's mom generously got the checkered table cloths and checkered flags, which really make the whole thing.

And, in case you can't read what we had to drink:

Fare was very simple: hot-dogs, chips, and a few other little things.

(Peanuts)
 

And you can't have a monster truck party without

(even though licorice is quite possibly the most revolting candy ever invented).

And, of course, we had to have the cake, which was the easiest cake that I will probably ever make!

Sebastian did enjoy the cake (at least the frosting).

And Kateri preferred the oreos:

I didn't take many pictures, sadly. BUT we did get one of Laura and Danny!

Handsome boy with his lovely mama!

All in all, I think Sebastian had a good time.

He is such a dear little munchkin. He has quite a funny sense of humor and you never know what will tickle his funny bone. About a month ago when we started brushing his teeth, he found spitting so unbearably funny that he laughed so hard he threw up! He still finds it funny, and laughs and laughs each night as he spits after brushing.

One of my favorite things about him is his cheerfulness when we put him to bed at night. I don't know why he is, generally speaking, so happy, but whenever we put him in his crib he stands up at the edge with the biggest grin and looks as if we just brought him to Kings Dominion. He chuckles and laughs when we kiss him good night!

Kateri and Sebastian have a little 'secret'. At night, after we say our night prayers, tuck them in, and leave the room, Kateri climbs out of her crib and into Sebastian's. This is so clever and so hilarious to both of them, and Pat and I will hear GALES of laughter as they share this little joke. Sometimes, we have to referee when, after thirty minutes or so, we hear some fussing and go in to find Kateri sitting on Sebastian's head. But other times, they fall asleep in there, which is really sweet.

Sebastian always wants to be in on the action. If he sees that Kateri is engrossed in something, he will always make a b-line for her and do everything he can to get involved (which usually translates in to knocking over what she is stacking, dispersing what she is collecting, or stealing what she is holding).

He also wants to know how things work; he figured out how to open the fridge, take off the doorbell cover, remove the heating vents, all things Kateri never knew how to do until Sebastian showed her how! They will undoubtedly be little partners in crime.

Sebastian's favorite game is peek-a-boo. He loves playing in the water. He has no fear of stairs, can climb up quite well and quite quickly, but is still working on reliably coming down the stairs. He hasn't officially taken his first step, but there have been several times where it seemed like he had. He loves playing with cars, and instinctively knew how to play with them without anyone ever demonstrating. He dearly enjoys being out of doors, and loves to point things out. He always points and says, "B! B!". I think he heard us always pointing out birds with Kateri, and assumed that Bird actually means Look. He reliably knows how to say "Mama" and "Da" for Daddy, but hasn't picked up much sign language other then an occasional "more". If Kateri ever laughs at his antics, he will always try to make her laugh harder.

Sebastian truly does not have the time to have his diaper changed or to change his clothes. The wrestling matches that ensue between the two of us are epic and long. BUT I have found that if I can find a way to make him laugh and find some little joke it is inevitably easier!

So thankful that God has blessed me so generously in this precious handsome little man! Happy birthday, my dear little Sebastian. It is hard for me to believe that this was you one year ago!

Still cracks me up!

Please say a little birthday prayer for him, if you have an extra moment.
 

A little garden update

Well, this spring has been a whirlwind, and no blogging at ALL has taken place. I am hoping the summer will slow down a bit and we will have some of those lazy days of summer we always hear about. Maybe then I can sit down and jot down all the little posts I have swirling about in my mind! Time will tell!

For now, here is a very short garden update!

Yesterday, I built our cucumber arch with some PVC pipes and chicken wire. It was really satisfying to put in the garden because the cucumbers, which I planted right before our trip to the beach, have already taken off. I used Uncle Bill's twisty trick to get them started up the arch, and it seems to be working well!

Not the greatest of pictures, but I am really happy how it turned out! You can see all my gladiolas are very vertically challenged and despite all my efforts to straighten them out, persist in growing at a slant!

We have had quite a LOT of rain lately, which has been perfectly splendid for the garden.

The zucchini and squash has grown by leaps and bounds in the past week, and are threatening to overgrow the nearby path! All the wind blew the rasberries over, and they are completely content to fully block THEIR path. I am going to wait until the berries ripen to tie everything back because I don't want to risk any broken branches!

And here is the rest of the garden:

So much to be done :) It is always nice to get in some garden time while the littles are sleeping. It has been hard to get any productive work done while they are both awake, because at least one of them is inevitably getting into some kind of mischief!

While I was snapping these pics from the deck, Kateri and Sebastian were also busy:

Thankful for these wonderful summer days! And I am very much hoping to get a blog up soon about the little party we just had for Sebastian's birthday . . . and all of the fun those two had at the beach!