Stryker's First Birthday Party

It's a baseball party! I mean, what other kind of party would you expect from our family. Stryker's first birthday was held at our home (Green Stadium) with baseball cutouts on the door & mailbox. The menu made you feel as though you were at the ballfield: popcorn, mini bacon cheeseburgers, peanuts, nachos, Coke, & Sprite. Having so much attention as well as a few playmates (Jeremiah, Lance, Tripp, & Chaney) made Stryker extremely excited. Thank you so much to everyone who made this day very special for Stryker & our family. The cakes were compliments of Jane Ellen at Vestavia Country Club. It was delicious! Stryker had party favors for everyone - baseballs, baseball tattoos, & baseball mints. I also appreciate the help of Coco. She drove up the night before to help decorate as well as cleaning after the party. We definitely had a blast! Can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with this little guy.

Birthday Boy

Birthday madness

I'm coming off a sugar high!

this ribbon tastes good

fascinated with the ribbon

PRESENTS!!!

just like daddy

this cake is quite yummy

do you want some?

#1

not sure I like this icing on my fingers

I've never had this stuff before

let's dig in!

blowing out candles with daddy

the delicious cake

candles lit, let's sing

playing with his buddy Jeremiah

can you guess? (Stryker on left, Jeremiah on right)

Hey!

smiles all the time

baseball decor

the main birthday cake

What's up Lance?!

12 month check-up

Stryker had his 12 month check-up at the pediatrician this afternoon. With Logan at baseball practice, Stryker was stuck with his mom being the mean one. I say that because he would be getting shots. Thankfully, it was only 2.

It was a good check-up. There were many things discussed:
1. health: the pediatrician said Stryker was doing well & looked good
a) weight = 20 pounds 3 ounces (20th percentile)
b) height = 29 3/4 inches (50th percentile)
2. start drinking whole milk in bottle: this means no more formula!!!
3. start weaning off bottle (as he is ready)
4. can eat eggs, seafood, & introduce peanut butter slowly
5. next check-up at 15 months

Afterwards, Logan met us at party supply places in Birmingham to stock up on Stryker's birthday decorations. We were able to enjoy a nice family dinner at Outback (thanks for the gift card grandmomma). Stryker ate his first cheeseburger. He loved it!

My (unique) Valentine's Day

Most people would not consider this a wonderful Valentine's Day, but in our family, this was classic.

Seeing that my job requires early mornings, I rolled out of bed but not without kissing my sweet husband's shoulder & saying "Happy Valentine's Day Log, I love you." He gently reached for me to return to bed repeating "Happy Valentine's Day, I love you." Wish I could have been able to stay by my hubby's side, but work was calling my name. I left that morning whispering "Happy Valentine's Day" to my little boy since he was still sound asleep & wishing Logan good luck in his games tonight. I rushed to work, hoping & praying for an early day so we could make it to the baseball games. Wallace was playing a double header at home against Vin. beginning at 3pm. Coco & Fletch are enjoying the day with Stryker at our house until I get off work. The weather was beautiful, sunny, & relatively warm. What a nice surprise on a game day...or romantic holiday for others!

Arrival to work brought good news which quickly turned into even better news. My schedule in the afternoon consisted of a 2:30pm patient. After a few of my co-workers saw my schedule, they informed me that our office assistant would be glad to call & see if my patient would come earlier. Long story short, my patient agreed to come at 1:30pm because it fit in her schedule better. How awesome was that.

I was out the doors at work around 2:30pm & on my way to load up my family for the game. We all piled in my car with Fletch sitting in the back with Stryker (yes, by HIS request). It was the first game, top of the third inning when we arrived at the stadium. The only bad news of the day was that Wallace ended up losing both 7 inning games.

Valentine's Day is also a birthday of one of the managers at Wallace. His grandmother & parents invited everyone to the his apartment for dinner. Dinner was baked spaghetti, garlic bread, & cake. Everyone ate to their hearts desire, even Stryker. The apartment was filled with laughter, fellowship, & balloons. We had a great time!

The dreaded flu

Stryker visited a pediatric orthopedic surgeon today at Children's Hospital. His adducted thumbs were the purpose. Our OT Andrew thought it would be a good idea to have an examination of Stryker's thumb joints. X-rays were taken of both thumb joints which came back normal. What good news! The orthopedic surgeon informed us that we were on the right track working with Early Intervention.

After this long doctor's visit, Coco & I headed to the pediatrician's office. Our poor little started having a runny nose & coughing Sunday in Panama City. We were afraid of Stryker getting the flu because several of the baseball players had the flu in Florida. Our worry became reality. Stryker had the flu. Thankfully, Tamiflu is cleared for children as young as 6 months. Stryker finally recovered but not before several long nights of fussiness, coughing, fever, crying, & screaming.