Birthday Party Boy!

This morning we had Matthew's first birthday party! He doesn't turn one for 12 more days, but with the holidays coming, and Mom Mom & Pop Pop visiting, we figured today was the best day for his party.

We were thankful to have lots of friends join us for our special celebration, as you can see in this picture. We are so lucky to have met so many wonderful people here in South Carolina in the past year! The kids had so much fun playing together!

"But wait!", you say. "Those look like a couple of Marines in the picture! How did you wind up with Marines at Matthew's party?"

Well, our boys are already so blessed. They have so much. We decided this year that rather than having people bring birthday gifts for Matthew, we would ask them to bring gifts to be donated to Toys for Tots.

I emailed the local contact for Toys for Tots to ask what I should do, and it turns out that they sent two Marines to the party! Here is a picture of Matthew with the Marines, along with the donated toys. We were so honored to have them join us! And we are very thankful to our friends who contributed gifts to be given to needy children at Christmas this year.

Matthew really seemed to enjoy his birthday cake. We got him a separate "baby smoosh cake" so he could just go to town on it. Like his mommy and his big brother, he seemed to especially like the icing. This picture shows how excited he was!

And finally, during his party, Matthew finally started taking a few more steps. He still seems to prefer to crawl, but he is walking more and more. You can find a cute video clip of him walking by clicking here.

Happy Early Birthday big guy!