Sanders is ONE!

Sanders turned one Tuesday, March 2!

He was his happy, stubborn self....you wouldn't think those two qualities would be able to exist together, but somehow he makes it work.

In the morning I had my photographer take some one year pictures. We definitely captured his stubborn side. That kid will not do anything unless it is his idea....including smile.

(What color do YOU think his eyes are? We still don't know)

Good thing his face is cute no matter what expression it has.

Thankfully, he chose to cooperate on a few frames


I finished sewing the last of his present and then while he took the best. nap. ever. I cleaned the house, with the much appreciated help of my mom.

Most of the family was able to come. We were missing Grandpa Great Frank, Amy and Landon, Grandma Emma, Jaymes, Robbie, Jenny, The Johnsons, The WY Dalys, and the Lawsons.

We kept it simple with Pizza, salad, and Pop. Sorry that we almost ran out of pizza! Luckily, there was plenty of cake and ice cream to go around.

Sanders was the poster child of 1st birthday cakes.

He lasted about a second before his whole hand and face were COVERED in chocolate frosting!

(Starting out small)


(Using his serious cake devouring skills)

(Finding the silver lining that the cake is sitting on---he talked about it for a few minutes before eating more cake!)

It was so funny! He did not want to miss one little bit of frosting and would nearly lick his hand clean before diving in again.


He managed to get frosting up his nose and then he tried to breath through his nose! Let's just say that despite my best efforts he still has chocolate boogers.

He also enjoyed ripping open the first few presents. I don't think I've ever had a child who knew what to do with a present on their first birthday. After the first few, he was done with being the center of attention and just wanted to cruse around. Thank you to everyone for their generosity! We are LOVING all the new stuff to play with around here.

Speaking of new stuff this is what I made and we gave him for his birthday.

(Those blobs at the bottom are peanut butter and jelly)

At one, Sanders CAN sign More, Please, and All Done. But only on rare occasions will he actually chose to communicate with you in that manner. What usually happens is I will ask him for one of those signs and he will throw his head back and whine like I just asked him to clean the toilet. Then of course I can't let THAT be the behavior that gets me to give him more or let him down so I "help" him with the sign I asked for. He loves that too.

Sanders can also say, Bye Bye by waving and saying, "Ba ba". He can say Beckham (Buh) and Woof (wf, wf). Very few words indeed. But he "talks" to us all the time and is constantly asking what things are. Parents of one year old will know exactly what I mean by that.

The day after his birthday we were talking about eyes and he pointed right to his! I was able to ask him where his eyes were a few more times and he got it right! Of course, in true Sanders fashion, I can rarely get him to perform that trick again. Occasionally, if he is feeling super generous, he will do it for me, but very begrudgingly.

That's just who he is. He can do A LOT of things, but he will do them when he wants to do them. In the same breath, he is a happy kid. Yes, he's stubborn, but in a happy way. Makes no sense, I know, but that's the reality of it.

He loves to wrestle with Dad and the big kids.

He loves to splash in the bath.

He loves asking about the quilt hanging in his room.

He loves to dance to music.

He loves learning about new things he sees.

He LOVES to eat.

He loves to open cupboards and drawers and empty the contents.

He loves to color.

He loves to eat with a fork and is getting pretty good at it.

His eyes light up when he sees his sister or brothers. We are so blessed he is ours!

Happy Birthday Sanders!!!