Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, we headed to downtown McKinney to take some new family pictures. Getting shots with a one year old was MUCH harder than a three month old was last year. Lucas wanted to run and did NOT want to sit still or look at the camera. We pulled out all the stop with toys and treats, but finally the only thing that would make him happy was carrying around his snack cup full of goldfish. I think we got some great shots despite the challenges. All of the pictures were taken by my super talented friend, Becky Knight. It just so happens that we are going into business together as Two Chicks Pix Photography and Design, so stayed tuned for more information on that :)  Here are some of my favorite shots from the day:

My favorite of us all together..everyone smiling and happy!

Lucas is obsessed with windows right now.

One of Lucas's favorite activities....see the video posted below.

He had TOTALLY had enough by this point.

Please make her stop taking pictures, Daddy!

Lucas "kissing" Phil...always on the nose :)

This is going up in our house as art.

Little man!

And....this is our life right now.  Lucas on the run!

First Birthday Party

Better late than never, right? For Lucas's first birthday party, we had a bunch of little ones over for a Ball-a-palooza! It was perfect for Lucas...who thinks that balls are pretty much the coolest thing ever invented. He loves to throw them and play catch with anyone who will join him. We borrowed a ball pit from the Lincolns. Lucas's face when he came out of his room the morning of the party and saw that ball pit was PRICELESS. (Too bad I didn't have the camera out). I also bought each of the kids their own beach ball to play with (also...a party favor!), so we had a play area filled with 13 beach balls that was super fun for our little man, too. Here are some of the highlights of the day.



Table...decorated with all the balls we could find from our garage :)



Super proud of my balloon wreath. (I later repainted the 1 in white so it would show up better). The number is detachable, so I can make a new one for next year.



Another reusable one...Happy Birthday Lucas!!!




Yes, siree, I made those cute cupcakes :)




Closeup on the birthday boy's cupcake.

 Luca spent the first hour or so of the party out on the back porch with all the dads. They were chatting and grilling; he was throwing dirt.  haha!  Eventually, he made it inside for some cake, presents, and time with 10 sweet little friends.



Right before he touched the flame and burst into tears.



Happy birthday Lucas!  And thanks to all his buddies for joining us for the celebration: Cooper, Noah, Rowan, Andrew, Grayson, Elizabeth, Ally, Emily, and Gavin!!!

First Word?

So, I think we might have an official "first word". (Remember that whole "shhhhh" thing from before....still not sure if that counts or not!) Well, the first word is also dog related. Lucas calls the dogs "woof woof"s. He says it for our dogs, other dogs, dogs on TV, everywhere. So, "woof woof" it is :)  I think this is pretty funny because I believe that my first word (at least one of them) was "dog". (Correct me if I am wrong, mom!) So, thanks to Riley and Clara for inspiring Lucas to talk to the world!!!

Official One Year Stats

Lucas and I headed to the doctor yesterday morning for his one year check up. As usual, he charmed the doctor and all the nurses and passed all his "tests" with flying colors :) Ever since he was born, he has steadily moved up the height/weight percentile chart, but remained very proportional (they comment on that every time...maybe most babies aren't?). This trip was no exception. He measured  24 lbs, 3 oz (70th percentile), which means we can turn that carseat around in the back seat. Woohoo! (His little legs have been crunched up waiting for one year!) He is 30 1/4 inches tall (65th percentile). I think most of this height is legs...I can't get pjs that are long enough! His head measurement cracked me up this time...19 inches....or...92nd PERCENTILE!!! He is definitely living up to the Hlavaty name (which means "big head" in Czech, for those of you who don't know. Awfully ironic name for me, since I inherited the Bressler pinhead.) But, Lucas is apparently taking after the BigHead side of the family...we just hope that he has a big, smart brain to fill up that head! So, all is well in Lucas's world, according to the doctor. We are supposed to be working on new words with him and identifying body parts, so that will be a fun new game. It's amazing to me how far our little 7lb 6oz guy has come in just one year!

"What I Did On My Birthday" by Lucas James Hlavaty

Thursday was my birthday. My FIRST birthday. And totally the best birthday so far. (Last year was completely traumatic...I don't even want to think about it!) Here is what I did.

First, I woke up and I was ONE YEAR OLD...no more baby!  Here is what I looked like when I turned one (after mom came in and sang me the birthday song):

Mommy and I ate some breakfast and then Ally and Miss Ashlea came over and we got in the car to go to the zoo.  I didn't know what a zoo was, but mom said it would be fun, so I put up with the LONG car ride.  When we finally got to the zoo Ally and I got ready to go meet all the animals. I had to bring my lion because I was a little scared of meeting the real lions:

The first thing we did was go and visit the giraffes...they were so cool!  We got to walk right up by them and could even pet their heads.  But, then one LICKED Ally!  Right on the face!  She cried, so we had to go behind the fence where it was safe from tongues.

Every time we got to a new exhibit, I made mom get me out of the stroller so I could knock on the windows to say hi to the animals. I know they could hear me and were talking back for sure.

So, we looked at a lot of animals. My favorite were giraffes, penguins, and chimps. But, then we found the playground area and there was MULCH. In case you don't know, I love mulch. It is great for throwing.  So, I threw some. And then I walked around and threw some more. (This was really a GREAT birthday!)



By the way, here is my date for the zoo.  Isn't she cute?!? She's my best friend :)

And here are my mommy and I right before we left.

So, the zoo was AWESOME and I can't wait to go back and take Daddy next time.  But, onto the rest of the day. Daddy came home early so I could play with him, which was super cool. I had to take a LONG nap because going to the zoo is hard. But, then I woke up and had dinner and it was spaghetti and it was the BEST DINNER EVER!!!

I was a little dirty after dinner, so I had to go straight to the bathtub. But that is ok because I like to splash in the bathtub.  After bath, I got an extra special birthday treat...ice cream. Me and mommy and daddy went to the ice cream store and I got to have bites off of BOTH of their cones. I also ran around the store in my pjs and said hi to everyone. 

So, as you can see, I had pretty much the best birthday in the history of all my birthdays. Too bad I have to wait a whole 'nother year until my next one!

One Year Old!!!

Happy Birthday Lucas!!! I can't believe how fast this day arrived. I will do a big post about our birthday adventures as soon as I load the pics on to the computer, but I couldn't let the day go by without mentioning my wonderful little man!

Here is where we were this time last year:



HUGE pregnant and packing from the hospital.

    


Brand new to the world.



So Sweet!



Our first picture together.



  It's been a pretty amazing year! Look how far he has come...some of my faves from our birthday shoot.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCAS JAMES...WE LOVE YOU SOOOOO MUCH!