Courtney's Birthday...and FAREWELL!

It's a catch-22. In the winter, life is dull and slow paced. We have all the time in the world to blog...but nothing to blog about! But summer. Ah...summer. Vacations, trips and travel, lots to do, lots to see...it passes in a whirlwind and presents unlimited fun activities to blog about...but there's no time TO blog...because we're having too much fun having fun.

I am about a month behind here, but there are a few things that were just too fun to miss sharing. Our next big adventure starts Thursday, so I thought it was time to catch up.

July 3rd, our lovely little niece Courtney Grace Pitman turned one year old. It was bittersweet, because July 3rd was also Becky, Stu and Courtney's last day in Iowa, as they left that afternoon for their (at least but hopefully only) one-year move to North Carolina.

So she won't forget us all, one of her gifts that I made was a photo album of her Pitman family, complete with poems about each of us. Here are a few of them:

We celebrated her birthday one day early, as her actual birthday would be packed with a fun-filled last hurrah at Garnavillo's 4th of July celebration (more to come on that tomorrow!) and travel (more on the Thursday!) by almost all of the Pitman clan to follow. The day was full of sun, fun and joy, with a trip to the pool-every kid's favorite place! and a family BBQ at the Pitmans to wrap it up.

Here is the birthday girl, looking cute as ever!!

Cousin Iain, enjoying Courtney's toys at Courtney's pool party!

A beautiful cupcake-cake made by our resident baker-Auntie Ashlee!

FUN place-cards made by Courtney's Mommy

Iain showed his festive spirit for Courtney's birthday...!

And boy...did those kids eat cake!!!

Farewell dear ones...we will miss you EVERY day.

Pitman Family Vaction '10

In the Pitman family, it's become something of a joke that if we do something once, it's a "tradition". Well, this year marked our fourth "Pitman Family Vacation", so I think we have a bona fide, carved in stone, solid as a rock "tradition" on our hands! We headed up to the Milwaukee area last weekend, and had a great time being together as a family! We did enough fun things to make it exciting, and few enough to make it relaxing...it was a wonderful time! (They say that the past makes all things look rosy, and I'm already starting to forget that Iain was popping through an enormous molar, and was a grouchy bear about 95% of the trip...and barely slept at all! But the trip was so great that it (and lots of coffee) more than made up for the lack of sleep and grouchies!)

Here's a rundown of our weekend! Friday afternoon we left Dubuque and caravaned to our lovely Country Inn and Suites hotel in Brookfield (with a quick stop at Culver's for lunch!). We checked in, explored and relaxed, and then headed to Fuddrucker's to celebrate Stu's birthday! If you've never been to Fuddrucker's...it's an experience. You order your meat by size, and we ranged from a conservative 1/3 lb (for the girls) all the way up to 1/2, 2/3 and full lbs, eaten by Graeme, Neil and Stu, respectively! It's loud, tacky, delicious and fun!

Iain, enjoying his meal of a 1lb burger bun, compliments of Uncle Stu!

We headed back to the hotel for presents, birthday brownies and some fun in the pool, then it was bedtime for babies. Luckily our rooms were all in a row, and Mom and Dad had a nice suite, so we were able to hang out together for a while before hitting the hay ourselves.

In the morning, after we enjoyed breakfast and another pool dip, we headed to downtown Milwaukee and the WONDERFUL Milwaukee Public Market. It's fairly new, and very cool, with every fresh, handmade and delicious thing your heart could desire: cheese, meat, seafood, bread, baked goods, candies, sushi, Middle Eastern fare, wine, soup, sandwiches, coffee...you name it, they've got it! We perused the wares for a while and then enjoyed lunch in the atrium-something different for everyone!

Dad: selecting his "cheese orphans" for lunch

Then we headed east to the fabulous (and PACKED!) Bradford Beach for some fun in the sun. Lake Michigan was much too cold to do more than dip toes in, but the sand was lovely to walk in and people watching was a blast, until the rain cut us short.

Iain, enjoying his time at the beach!

Then it was back to the hotel for some more pool time and relaxing before a DELICIOUS pizza take-away dinner from "The Glass Nickel". The highlight of the weekend for the babies was without a doubt the pool (and hot tub!) They both love water and are quite fearless, so they really enjoyed learning how to kick and paddle in this "big bathtub"!

After dinner, Grandma and Grandpa watched the babies while "the kids" headed out for a rain soaked venture to "Lee's Dairy Treat". Mmm! After our yummy ice cream, it was time for some dominoes, HGTV and the Food Network, and then off to bed again.

In the morning we went to Elmbrook Church, a huge (and I mean HUGE) church that Mom had visited before. The pastor (Stuart Briscoe) was speaking about the Lord's Supper, and what I heard was excellent! But in fairness...I didn't hear much! We opted not to put the kids in the nursery, so we moms and pops were taking turns taking them out when they got noisy or squirmy. Neil was out with Iain, when suddenly he popped his head in and called me out with him. As I went into the foyer, I saw a HUGE wet spot on Neil's shirt. SOMEHOW (still not sure how!) Iain had peed out of his diaper and ALL OVER Neil and himself!!) So most of our "church time" was spent finding the exit in the huge church, finding our car in the huge parking lot, getting both gentlemen changed, and finding our way back to our family. It was a good laugh though!

After church we grabbed lunch at Noodles and Co (another Pitman tradition...to eat there whenever possible!!) and checked out some favorite stores: Penzey's Spices, Half Price Books, World Market, and then headed for home.

It was a wonderful time together, and especially special in light of Stu and Becky moving away at the end of the month. It was a time of good fun, good family, and good memories. We are so thankful for our Fantastic Pitman Family!!

One more thing...

One final detail for you. The little man opened one last present at his birthday party. As you can see...he wasn't too impressed about it initially! But we think that he'll come around in time!

That's right folks! Baby Pitman #2 will be making his or her arrival on (or around) January 2, 2011! We are super excited to welcome this new addition to our family, and for all the adventures in store! We know Iain will be a great big brother, and covet your prayers for all that is ahead!

What a Day!

Well, as promised, here are the (unabridged) details and a plethora of photos from Iain's first birthday! If you are a "main facts only" kind of person, there is a previous post that is short and sweet, that gives a good overview of the day. This one is more for us, to help us remember, and for Iain, when he's older. It is very sad to me that first birthdays are so much fun to celebrate, but the birthday celebrate-ee won't remember a single thing about it! So Iain, when you're older, let this serve as a record that we DID celebrate your first birthday...and it was a ton of fun!

Neil and I started the day by waking Iain up with a birthday balloon. Now, although he had no idea it was his birthday, I think he knew something was up, because he seemed quite confused by Mama and Daddy showing up crib-side with a balloon. This boy LOVES balloons, so he already knew it was going to be a good day. Then, as if a balloon wasn't cool enough to wake up to, he got a morning bath! I think it was his first morning bath ever, and it was only because he didn't get one the day before, and his hair was all nappy from sunscreen. BUT, in Iain's books, NOTHING is better than a bath, so any day that starts with a bath is perfect. Then we had a yummy birthday breakfast of pancakes and sausage with Grandmoo, Grampy, Aunt Becky and Courtney. Iain and Courtney also got their first tastes of juice. Iain wasn't impressed, but Courtney seemed to enjoy it!

YAY for birthday pancakes!

From there, it was off to Madison to the (free) Henry Vilas Zoo. We had decided on a "lion" theme for Iain's birthday, since his 100% prize possession is "Mr. Lion", his little stuffed animal that has slept by his side nearly every night since he was born. So when we were wracking our brains trying to think of something to do on Iain's birthday that he would REALLY enjoy, the zoo seemed like the perfect option! We spent a few hours there, looking at all the animals, looking at all the people, and generally enjoying the sights, sounds and action. It was the perfect temperature, and nice and sunny, so it made for a really nice day!

Iain and Daddy enjoying the zoo!
(One year later, and still lookin' like twins!)


Courtney and Iain both loved all the animals, but truth be told, Courtney might have liked people-watching just as well.

Iain really enjoyed seeing all the animals, although we were VERY sad that the lions were away for breeding purposes. Gah! Don't they know this was "Lion-birthday"!

Iain even bravely touched this Brahman sacred cow!

Iain and Grampy-we all had to take turns holding the various babies and pushing the two (empty) strollers, because when they kids were in the strollers, they couldn't see anything! Best-laid plans...but at least we had somewhere to put all our stuff!

Gramoo's turn!!


Iain-bear

Courtney-bear

After we had our fill of the zoo, we walked over to a nearby park to enjoy a picnic lunch. Home-made sub sandwiches, chips and dip, veggies, and pickles. Surprise, surprise, Iain's and Courtney's favorite part was the pickles! Who knew!

Enjoying a birthday lunch of bread and pickles!

In keeping with the lion theme, I'd mad some lion cupcakes for dessert, and we all enjoyed them. The babies ESPECIALLY enjoyed them, and each ate a whole cupcake, which was probably more sugar than either of them had ingested in their entire lives thus far. We did pay for this later, as both of them refused to nap for the rest of the afternoon! But, what's a birthday without a little sugar, right?

After the cupcake extravaganza, both babies were in major need of a rinse-off, so we headed to the nearby beach for a little swim. (Little being the key word, as the water was somewhat chilly, and not to the liking of our hot-blooded little babes!)

Courtney, getting a little rinse in the lake!

SAD little Iain, getting his turn!

On our way back to the car, we snapped a picture of me and Iain, just so we'd have proof that Iain's mama WAS indeed at his first birthday party!

After a FULL day of fun and adventure...there was still more in store! We headed home to meet the rest of the family (minus Auntie Breha, and Uncles Brett and Stu who couldn't come) for a Birthday Backyard BBQ. We always envisioned the party outside, and the weather cooperated nicely, so we were able to eat on the back patio under the pergola, and to use our new benches my dad made-it was perfect! I also really wanted to make a banner that could become a birthday tradition for our family. With my mom's help, we got it done in the nick of time, and with the bright paper lanterns strung up, the colorful banner, and the fun table, it turned out to be just what my vision of a first birthday would be! (Photo of banner and table in previous post!) Going along with the lion-zoo-animal theme, we used animal crackers for the place-cards. We also made Iain a birthday bib, because we couldn't find one to buy. It was so much fun!

The Birthday Boy's chair

I think the animal crackers may have been Iain's favorite part of the day!

Auntie Ashlee made Iain's cake...and it was AMAZING!! She got a picture of his lion and made an exact replica out of fondant. She decorated the sides with polka-dots and punched out "Happy Birthday Iain" in fondant letters on the top. It tasted delicious, and looked fantastic! There is a close-up of the cake in my previous post, and some fantastic pictures on her blog, as it was one of her May "cakes of the month".

"Hey look Aunt Ashlee...that's my lion on there!"

Iain then proceeded to eat ANOTHER sugary and delicious treat...which led to him subsequently barfing up most of it, and staying up about two hours past his bedtime on a complete sugar high, dancing and prancing around the living room! (More details on that to follow...)

After dinner we watched a slide-show Neil had made of Iain's first year of life. It was such a blessing to see how he's grown, developed and changed over the past 365 days. I still find it hard to remember that the little peanut in the hospital, hooked up to every machine and monitor known to man, is the same big boy who is walking, clapping, laughing, dancing and talking his way through life now. It's such an answer prayer, and I think we all got a little teary remembering how far the Lord has brought us this year.

Finally, we headed back outside for presents, which Iain (mostly) enjoyed-in particular the ripping, tearing, and searching, but sadly, my photos aren't great, due to a combination of low lighting, non-observant photographing, and a sugar-induced semi-grouchy boy.

Iain's MONSTER bookend made by Aunt Ashlee and his Popsicle holders from Uncle G and Aunt A-I think he will love them, as he already enjoys chewing on them!!

Iain's personal touch-and-feel "My Backyard" book, made by Aunt Becky...full of all the fun things we see in our yard (squirrels, birds, bunnies, deer, Mommy, Daddy, Iain) complete with fun textures!

Practicing making music on his xylophone, from Mommy and Daddy

Trying out his new tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa Pitman!

It was a fun-filled, busy, chaotic, tiring day, but a wonderful celebration of a little boy who we all love so much. As previously mentioned, we ended the evening with a one-man dance party in the living room, a crazy walker who teetered and tottered from the living room to the dining room and back, taking about nine or ten running steps a time, screeching, clapping, and laughing all the way. He finally fell exhausted into bed at 10:30, about two hours past "bedtime". He was up a few times in the night...I think his little tummy might have hurt from all the excitement and cake! It was a perfect day, from start to finish, but I must admit, it's probably good that birthdays only come around once a year!

I guess this sums it up!
We love you Iain, and were so happy to celebrate your first year of life!