Pipesicle turns one!

Our little Pipe-sicle turned one in June.

How fast a year has flown. 

 She rather enjoyed her cake.

and what do you ask was her themed cake this year? 

I would love to show you a picture of the darling orange Popsicle cake complete with actual stick and cute bite taken from the top left corner...however, in a tragic turn of events the pictures from the camera were deleted...yes. deleted. Totally my fault, I hit the wrong button. I cried. We have moved on.

remarkably Justin had the stroke of brilliance at both piper and ali's birthday parties to take pictures on his phone...yet another reason I love that man!

 Piper is hilarious.

She is never more than 30 seconds away from a smile.

she makes us laugh constantly.

I can't even describe her giggle, its like from her chest and classic. 

she has 8 teeth (2 of which are molars)

she has been walking along furniture and standing on her own in the middle of a room since she was 9 mo. but finally took her first steps without holding anything about 3 weeks ago (she was 14mo.)

and now she cannot be stopped!

she has incredible balance.

She talks a ton as of last week she says mom, mama, dada, baba, nana, baby, ali (aeeee), Cole (co!), num num, nigh nigh, hi!, hello, no, yeah, uh -oh, owie, I love you, and I am sure I am missing some.

my personal favorite is when she says "pound it"  (owe it) as she holds out her fist for you to pound it.

she is VERY clever.

she is strong willed.

she is always happy...unless its nap time.

at nap time she throws things and swats indicating its time for bed!

She sleeps through the night.

and also takes two, 2 hour naps a day...my only child to ever nap well.

She loves baby dolls.

she loves to be outside but hates grass.

she thinks she is as old as cole and ali.

she has her dad wrapped around her finger.

she gives the best kisses, but is VERY selective about who gets them and when.

she figured out how to tease us but pretending to give kisses, then turning our heads away with her hand and laughing. 

she hides by burrowing into someone and covering her ear with her hand.

she yells "MOM!" when she wakes up from a nap.

she plays peek a boo but often covers her mouth instead of eyes.

she loves bubble bee bumble bee out of the barn and puts her liitle index finger up to do it back to you saying "bababababababa" with inflection.

she tucks her arms under her tummy when you hold her and nuzzles up...or puts one hand around your neck as she cuddles you.

She is curious, and waits for her moment to do things.

she never forgets.

I am sure I am forgetting things.

Piper is pure joy and we are obsessed!

she's got a handle on things.

piper discovered something more exciting than the mirror in the bathroom...the water in the sink!

don't worry cole was holding the hot water handle so it would stay off, she only had access to the cold.

which she loved!

  

and it totally entertained the rest of us.

she felt like such a big kid turning it off and on herself.

...then we added bubbles.

and that topped it all off!

summer nights.

our summer nights have been looking like this.

filled with hot dog wishes and marshmallow dreams.

and the best scary stories EVER, as told by ali...raspy voice and all.

everything's coming up roses.

so our land lady is a gardener extraordinaire!

this was ONE of the planters in the backyard last month...

this is that same planter from above this month. 

she has it all timed so when one thing is done blooming the next starts.

so when the tulips were history, the bleeding hearts and a whole bunch of others stuff I don't know the names of started popping up. It's hard to tell from the picture, but its gorgeous.

the front yard flower beds have 8 rose bushes, and are full of beautiful flowers like the one below.

there is a HUGE variety. and she has been awesome at teaching me what to do. 

it's all on a drip system so really all we have to do is weed and cut things down/back when its time to. 

I kill every plant I ever have, so its been fun to have such beautiful things surrounding our home.

the fruits of our labors.

for the first time in my life, I have a garden.

the garden patch was already done for us, all we had to do was plant.

...and try to keep it from dying.

we planted corn, broccoli, lettuce, green beans, cilantro, green onions, cucumbers, and pumpkin.

we plan to add carrots and tomato plants too.

there are tons of strawberries growing in one of the flower patches. 

the strawberry above was the first one we picked. 

I have to admit, it pretty fun!

Cole waters it all for us daily and the kids are loving it!

play half game, get a whole snow cone...

His life of sports has begun.

 cole started playing tee ball this year. 

Justin bought him a ball, tee, and such, and took him outside to pitch him a few balls.

uh...both of our jaws dropped when he started slamming it left and right.

guess baseball's in the blood.

he is having a great time learning the game, playing with friends, and of course eating the end of game snacks.

it's been a good intro to the world of sports. 

I knew when I married Justin I was signing myself up for a lifetime of sporting events.

guess I should get used to life on a bleacher!

Cowabunga dudes, Cole has turned numero 7!

canisters of ooze showed up on some doorsteps.

to invite a few boys to mutate on over to our place.

for a turtle-y awesome party!

I think they were a little excited to be together...it started out with a group hug...tubular!

then they got turtled out...awesome!

it was a little exciting for these party people.

then it was on to games...totally radical games!

ninja turtles have to be masters of disguise...

so they played pin the mask on the turtle.

then it was outside for a game of "Splinter Says".

ninja moves were a must, they were awesomely bodacious!

here they are as regular turtles mutating into ninjas!

after a quick game of "turtle phone" 

(because ninja turtles need to communicate well with each other)

it was time for some grub.

ah the cake.

Justin makes an awesome sewer cap doesn't he?

along with cake we had: hero's in a half shell pizza, sewer covers, cowabunga bites, donatello bow staffs, turtle shells, and ooze to wash it all down!

(excuse the stool that needs to be recovered, a tiny rip turned to a large one rather quickly)

after singing to the bodacious birthday boy,

we opened gifts

(which were totally awesome and super thoughtful)

and handed out pipin' hot party favors!

Ninja turtles are obsessed with pizza, so it was only fitting that the favors be special deliveries!

(the pizza boxes were filled with all kinds of awesome turtle stuff, bubbles, stickers, and projectiles)

I think these party dudes had an awesome time,

just look at those faces.

Our little man is huge, and 7. 

He is kind, thoughtful, and the most helpful kiddo ever. 

He worries like his mother and is a perfectionist like his father.

He is the most responsible rule following kid I have ever known.

He has a laugh that will make you chuckle.

and a plumbers crack that is always visible...no matter how many belts we purchase.

He is creative and CRAZY smart. 

His memory is incredible and his love for reading is awesome. 

He loves being outside on his bike, or playing football or tee ball with his dad.

He is amazing to us.

Happy birthday Cole, we could not be more proud of you!