Lucy's First Birthday

We celebrated Lucy's first birthday at the end of July with a picnic, pie, and close friends.
It was a beautiful Chicago summer day, which also means windy. That didn't quite factor into my balloon and tablecloth plans, but it made it interesting! We packed Italian pressed sandwiches, dried vegetable chips, and fruit into individual brown boxes and served cucumber salad and deviled eggs on the side. Eden requested (and helped make!) blueberry lemonade to drink.

 We placed a few blankets out in our backyard and hung out with the birthday girl.

Lucy was about as impressed with her Strawberry Rhubarb birthday pie as Eden was with her first birthday cupcakes. Meh. I'll be honest, I was kind of disappointed by the lack of an enthusiastic pie face.

Guests were sent home with gummies in bug jars.

Lucy like her dinner on her head (yes, the box was full of food).

It was a great day!

Anyone out there?

Hello whoever is still listening! I keep trying to blog and then get overwhelmed. Where do I begin?? I have so many things I want to share from the last year (yes, a YEAR, that's about how long it's been). So I've decided just to start with the most current.


Our summer has been going very well. Thomas is studying theological German and participating in our church's College of Preachers. He has the chance to preach three times this summer (once in June, this weekend, and once again in August). Each week he meets to help discern his message, get feedback, and provide feedback for the other participants. It is an opportunity we passed down last summer after much deliberation (new baby yada yada :) ) and have been glad he's finally able to commit.
Eden is going to Summer camp for the fist time at her nursery school. She is going Monday-Thursday and stays for lunch. They do "swim days" two days a week (wading pools), had a 4th of July Parade ending with police officers eating red, white, and blue popsicles with them in their classroom. They also have weekly cookouts in their playground. She still LOVES playing with My Little Ponies, loves to play pretend (even invented her first imaginary friend!), and listening to us read chapter books.
Lucy is super smiley and happy. We have been working with a babysitter on her separation anxiety and she is getting much better (so am I ;) ). She says mama and dada and every once in a while surprises us by saying something random, though she usually doesn't repeat it again. She is still cruising like crazy and climbs a lot. She'll walk upright if she's holding onto something (one finger is all it takes!) but shows no interest in standing or walking on her own. Her belly laugh is currently my favor thing.
I am trying to keep up with everyone else's schedules and make sure we are getting together with friends for playdates and dinner.  Occasionally hiring a babysitter during the day to give Lucy practice being without parents has allowed me some time to get back into Microsoft Illustrator and practice with the Wacom tablet (that I got for my 30th birthday and just now opened). I'm also trying to compile some photo books through blurb.com.

So now that you're all caught up, I'll share some photos!