A Great First Year

Well, folks. It's been a whole year since our little [er, big] man was born! I blogged about our birth story a month after we came home. While reading through that post this week and taking time to reflect over the past year I feel overwhelmingly blessed. Last night I was writing a "one year letter" to Luke and, as I wrote in my letter to him last night, I feel like from the moment Luke was born the heavens have been declaring the greatness of God. The story of Luke's recovery is a testimony of His greatness and the story of God changing and pruning Billy and I this past year is a continued story of Grace. I am so thankful for all that He has been teaching us, even though some lessons are harder to swallow than others.

Last night we celebrated Luke's birthday with some dear family and friends. Luke wasn't too fond of the cake and icing - in fact, he shivered with almost every bite. Too funny :)

Today we finished up the year with his 1 year well visit and the results are in:

Height: 32 in (97%)

Weight: 23 lbs 14.5 oz (60%)

Head Circumference: 18 3/4in (90%)

We have a very tall string bean that is now able to reach the countertops, hang on door knobs & pull things off the kitchen table. Life looks very interesting/cautious these days! He took his first solid steps on Monday and is getting the hang of walking very quickly. His vocabulary is increasing and he's now trying to mimic two syllable words. He's still sleeping relatively well, though in the past few weeks he's been waking up in the night which is very unusual for him. Hoping we'll snap out of that soon enough :) He's officially done with bottles and only drinks milk with his 3 meals a day. My not-so-picky eater has been testy lately and will sometimes sit at the table with us for half an hour before he decides to start eating. He's still obsessed with blueberries. Luke is a perfect blend of his mom and dad in all areas. Mostly in his independence/stubbornness and determination ;) He is a bundle of fun and we love having him as part of our family!! What a truly great first year of Luke's life this has been, and a great first year as parents for us! We did it!

Now, here a few pics from the last 12 months - Happy Birthday to our little man, Luke :)

Day 2

1 Month Milk Belly

2 Months, Easter

First Smiles :)

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

"I'm One"

The 1 Year Old Birthday Boy

Everyday Chinese...

just so happens to be my new favorite cookbook.

For the past two years of my marriage I have learned two things. 1. my husbands love language: food. 2. His sub-love language: chinese food.

Every now and then I like a good Asian dish but it's not typically my go-to food. I try and keep our monthly menu pretty versatile but let's be honest, I've never come close to choosing to add Chinese food to the list :) One afternoon while diddling around in World Market with Billy we came across this little (literally...it's about the size of a post card) Chinese cookbook...hence the title of this post, "Everyday Chinese." At first I was a little skeptical and expecting a not-so-great attempt at this Chinese dish. But boy was I wrong! Our first dish we tried was chicken stir fry with rice & veggies. It was DE-LISH. Again, thinking maybe it was a fluke we tried another dish this weekend and I was blown away at the yumminess and authenticity found in our giant wok of food! This time we tried beef & broccoli with soba noodles...mm so good.

So if you like Chinese cuisine and have a chance to go pick up a good book, I highly recommend this $4.99 find at World Market.

Chicken stir fry with rice & veggies