Congratulations Newlyweds!

My brother-in-law got married on Friday in the DC Temple!
Him and his wife were very kind to give me a fun opportunity to play with my new camera.
Aren't they a cute couple?






Someone we didn't know was there with his Mustang convertible and offered to let them get in for pictures. I'm glad he did because I think these are super cute :)


Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Baby in DC

I've always enjoyed DC and I gotta say, Tuesday was no exception. I had such a wonderful time! I didn't get into the exhibits as much as I do sometimes, but it was really fun to be there with my family. Love you Hot Cup & Baby!

Here he is on his first metro ride.


First stop was the Washington Monument where Hot Cup flew his kite and our baby had his lunch and enjoyed watching his daddy. I kept him in the shade most of the time, he's not a big fan of grass anyway.


Then we went with Hot Cup's brother and his fiancee to see some sights. My baby was tired and eventually fell asleep in the Museum of Natural History. Hot Cup and I made a bet about how long the nap would last. So that evening I got a foot rub :)


When he woke up he wanted to run around and thankfully we were at a spot where he could do so. Then we finished up the museum and walked down the mall ... towards dinner of course.



I love my family!


My brother-in-law and his beautiful bride will tie the knot tomorrow!


Bonus Picture:

Haha, they're giving me the same look.

ONE YEAR

Our baby is a year!

19.13 lbs
31.75 inches (that's what the nurse said, we think he's a bit shorter)

It's become increasingly difficult to get him to lie on his back for these monthly sticker pictures.


But Hot Cup made it happen one last time.


I love love love him! He's so sweet and cute and smart. I love that he comes to me and rests his head on me and hugs me and talks and laughs and smiles with me. He's such a great little boy!

Here are a few more pictures from his 12th month.

He's sat on our laps and on the bench to play the piano a bunch. But the first time he decided to just reach up and play it on his own was while I was playing the piano in Relief Society. It took me by surprise. Haha.


My big sis came one day and my little guy had so much fun with her :) And he wanted to help with our project.


He loves his tunnels. Hot Cup set up the first one after we got his new car seat. The second one he discovered on his own.


He still loves looking out the back window; but knows that if he looks out the front he'll see cars and people and pets. Plus, that's where we watch daddy drive off every morning.


Hot Cup tried his kites in the field behind our house and our little guy enjoyed watching daddy play. We're hoping for more evenings with kite-flying wind. In the middle pic our baby is reaching for the kite :)


He loves going outside!



I shared a picture of him standing up at the couch last month. But this is too cute to keep to myself :)


When he started standing up and getting back down and walking along furniture he was very careful and cautious. He's much more comfortable with it now though!


And here's a few pictures from the day before his birthday -- Easter Sunday!

The Car Cake

We kinda made a project out of the birthday cake for our little guy. We really wanted him to like it :)

PART 1: The Recipe

Chocolate Butter Cake by Warren Brown. You betcha.

We were shocked at how difficult it was to find superfine sugar. We'd never had that issue before.

PART 2: The Mechanics

I don't know if I've mentioned this (haha) but our baby loves cars. His favorite parts of his toy vehicles are the moving wheels. So Hot Cup decided that he could bring that to the cake. Brilliant! He also added headlights and tail lights.



PART 3: The Decorating

I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to make a car cake for his birthday and she offered to let me borrow her car cake pan! And then also all her cake decorating supplies. Plus an icing recipe and some tips from a Wilton class she'd taken. I don't think I'd realized how difficult it would have been without all those things; I'm so glad I had them!

Due to ... circumstances, I ended up frosting the cake in the middle of the night. So my hope that I could do better lies there. But I'm pleased enough with it. I rolled out Spice Drops to cover the lights. And the wheels are made of cookies decorated with icing and silver sprinkles.



PART 4: The Video
See the moving wheels, and the headlights and tail lights.
Of course I record the video the one time one of the wheels went slower. If I'd realized I would've recorded again. There was a lot going on. Oy.


PART 5: The Birthday Boy Has His Cake
He loved it -- success! Especially the lights and the turning wheels his dad did. (See the pile of icing under the rear wheels from him wearing out the tread with his fingers :)