Happy Birthday Patrick!

We celebrated Patrick's first birthday with a BBQ with both of our families. I made these fun cupcakes with a Martha Stewart cake recipe and some good old Duncan Hines frosting. I added a little bit of green food coloring to the frosting and piped it on. The cute cupcake papers and animal toppers came from Williams-Sonoma.

Patrick experienced bubbles for the first time...

...as well as hot dogs.

He had a blast opening presents, especially once he figured out that underneath all that useless paper were new toys for him to play with. The first one went rather slow, but after that, he was grabbing for the next present, one after another.

Taking his new fire engine for a test drive.

This was the first time he had ever had anything remotely sweet like this. I think he liked it.

And then came the look of, "Mom!... Why did you let me eat that???" Haha, he was definitely wired the rest of the day. Good thing birthdays only come once a year.

Hello Summer!

It may be hot enough here in the summer to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but I think the produce ALMOST makes up for it.

I sauteed these asparagus and tomato pieces in a little olive oil with some Italian seasonings, threw in some chunks of chicken, and then stirred in a creamy alfredo sauce and served it all on top of some of that flavored linguine I had (habañero this time).

Inspired by my first experience with a whole artichoke at my brother-in-law's house, I decided to try my hand at this tasty side. I served it along with some orange ruffy filet, seasoned only with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I topped it all with a yummy homemade hollandaise sauce for dipping.

Cuteness!

Patrick's First Trip to Indiana

Patrick handled his first ride on an airplane- and a very long one at that- extremely well. He, of course, made friends with everyone on the plane, and never even cried once. Nonetheless, I don't believe I will ever be flying alone with an infant again. Let's just say that TSA isn't exactly the most helpful bunch of folks and leave it at that. Thankfully, we made it safe and sound to Indiana and enjoyed a great week visiting with family. I think Patrick took quite well to his new woodsy surroundings as you can see above. He was ready to explore.


And explore he did...

Well, more like, mom posed him for pictures around the cabin, but come on, what mommy/artist could resist this great backdrop???

My grandma got out the old Fisher Price barn and animals that I used to play with when I was little. Patrick loved them. This was all it took to keep him entertained the entire week.

He got to meet some of his little cousins.

We even made a trek out to the Cincinnati Zoo. This zoo was absolutely gorgeous, and it was so much fun watching Patrick enjoy the animals. He is really starting to notice things more.

He even got his own miniature dish of ice cream. I think it was a little too cold for him...

...but he soon got over that and was practically clawing at us to get every last drop.

We also made a stop at the Hillforest mansion in Aurora, Indiana. It's an old river house, overlooking the Ohio River, that was built in the 1800's by a wealthy family. For a short period in the late 1940's to early 1950's, it was bought by the VFW to be used as a sort of clubhouse. My great grandpa happened to be the president at the time, so he and my great grandma and my grandpa (below) lived there to maintain it. They lived in the upstairs section, but the downstairs became a party hall with drinking, gambling, and all sorts of other crazy stuff that my grandpa has told us about over the years. Thankfully, they only lived there for a short time, because it was obviously not a great environment for a young boy of 12 to be growing up in. Also, as my grandpa has relayed to us many times, the home was probably spiritually oppressed, though he has always described it as "haunted." He still gets uncomfortable talking about a few experiences he had there. I have been to this house a few times, but this was the first time I was able to go inside for a tour. The poor tour guide didn't really get to give much of a tour though, as my grandpa spent the whole time telling her about his time living there and pointing out changes to the architecture and household items. Thankfully, we were the only ones on this particular tour.

I just had to include these next few pictures. They're just too stinkin' cute not to.

Overall, we had a great week visiting with family and enjoying the beautiful weather. We are already making plans to go back next year with baby number two, though I have strongly vowed that Luke will be coming this time :)