little giants

Finn and Calvin recently went to a miniature golf party. It was actually monster-glow-in-the -dark-miniature-golf to be precise. Jeepers. What will they come up with next? At the party, they got some white tee shirts so they could glow in the dark better.

Once they came home, they went straight to work, converting their white tees into baseball jerseys.

And not just any jerseys--San Fransisco Giants jerseys.

We(as in Finn, Calvin and John) are die-hard San Fransisco Giants fans. John listens to the ball games non-stop during baseball season.

And now John has some mini-fans of his own{thankgoodness. thankgoodness. thankgoodnesss John has someone to talk to, other than me, about these ball games}.

Introducing our little Giants:

I love Calvin's meager attempt at the Giant's logo. So precious.

And here is the back of their home-made jerseys.

Time for some ball!

John has been taking them to play baseball across the street all the time now.

Baseball is such serious business I tell you.

I am thrilled that the boys can play ball with their daddy. It is something they will all look back on with fondness, so I just had to document it here.

cute loot

A smidge behind on posting, but we won't dwell on that...

Twain got some fantastic loot for his first birthday. Let's focus on that!

My parents came up a week before his birthday to celebrate a little early. Here are some snaps of the boys playing on the couch with my dad. Ollie wanted to snuggle with Grandpa Billy. It was darling.

My mom made Twain a very special "Grandma Book" for his birthday. She has made one for each of her grandkids on their 1st birthday, and honestly I don't know how she survived us! That was a lot to take on! But we are so grateful for these special little treasures that teach the boys of their ancestry.

Here are just a few of the pages.

In this one, my mom's prayer for Twain is to love Jesus.

Me as a chunky monkey baby.

I still think my parent's wedding photos are some of the most enchanting photos I've ever seen.

I wanted to wear my mom's wedding dress for my wedding, but it had a unremovable rust stain.

Thanks mom, for all your hard work into these books.

Tweetle also got some darling presents at his party. They all seemed to color coordinate, much to my amusement. My friends must know me.

Miss Lorie also made Twain a very special book. Pretty much took my breath away!

The photos of Twain in this book were printed on special fabric photo paper--pretty nifty! The entire book is made of fabric.

She chronicled Twain's first months in photos, starting with his birth. Be still my heart.

Months one and two.

Here is what the first 2 pages look like side-by-side:

And here are some more of the beautiful pages for you to enjoy.

She sewed his many names on back: Twain, Tweetle, Twinkie. So cute.

Lorie, your book has already brought such joy to our family. We love to read it together. Thank you so much for sharing your special talents with us. It will be treasured forever.

And Miss Becca spoiled Twain with some of her special reversible bibs. LOVE them. They have little snaps on back--same kind you see on jeans!

Miss Alisha thought Twain needed his first klean canteen. Ha! I can't believe my baby has one of these shnazzy containers. Could it be any cuter???

And it just so happens to match the keys that Miss Angela got him. These keys she bought to specially match the striped romper above. Ha, girl after my own heart. Seriously, though, these keys just kill me with their cuteness!

And it does not escape my notice how well these two items blend together in color.

Pumpkin and Pea green. Sigh.

Twain made out like a bandit, if you ask me!

He might be ONE,

but he will always be my baby.

Little Twinkie is now ONE.

In true Davi fashion, I was too disorganized to throw Twain an official party in a timely manner. Some of my friends threatened...err...strongly encouraged me to do something in honor of this momentous occasion, lest they throw a party for him.

So the night before his shot-gun party, I was like "Oh shoot. What am I going to do?"

Thankfully, my dear friend Alisha insisted on making Twain an adorable birthday banner. If it were not for her, I would not have had a clue what direction to take. I went out to Party City and bought some matching party paraphernalia.

It was the perfect weather to have the party out on the deck.

Thanks again Alisha, for saving the day!

So, the day of the party, there I am in the kitchen, sweating bullets, trying to take care of needy children and attempting to frost a cake.

It was not going well.

After haphazardly frosting the cake, I decided to try some fondant for decorations on top.

Have you ever used fondant? At first I was really puzzled by it--unruly stuff that is difficult to roll out.

And to worsen matters, I ran out of food coloring to dye the fondant. Rats. "OH YES! This is precisely why I don't throw parties", I reminded myself.

Back to Target for some food coloring. Rolled out the fondant. Mixed together some food coloring on the fondant to achieve desired color palette(lime, orange, aqua). Cut out some fondant dots with some lids. Place colored dots on cake. And there you go. Nothing fancy, but festive enough.

And I have officially decided that once you get used to fondant, it's not so bad.

I also decided to make Twain a shirt the day of the party. Actually I think I started it the night before...but finished it the day of.

The patch above was purchased from the army-surplus store. The number 1 was originally stitched in red, and I just hand-stitched over it with orange embroidery floss.

John thinks that Twain looks like a little rugby player in his party outfit.

I concur.

Seriously this kid is crazy at times.

And it's party time!

Twain eating his cake. {photo below by Lorie}

And opening gifts(more on his cute gifts in a separate post).

photo above by Lorie

Even though I am a big party-pooper, I was so thankful to do something fun for my dear boy.

And now, for his 1-year-old pictures that I took last night.

Twain, at ONE YEAR OLD:

You babble all the time. You have the sweetest little voice and make the cutest little voice inflections, like you know exactly what you are saying. You try to repeat just about any word you hear. Your favorite demand is "More...Nana!"

None of your brothers have been big talkers, so it completely baffles your daddy and I to actually have a talking baby.

You just recently started sharing a room with big brother Ollie and so far it is going surprisingly well.

You are the most curious and persistent little thing I have ever encountered. You love to pull contents out of our garbage cans, much to the dismay of your mama.

Most of the time you are very easy-going, confidently toddling around the house with your little diaper munching up and down the halls. Daddy and I exchange smiles every time we see you walking by.

You are quite independent at times, playing happily by yourself and with your brothers. Such a big boy. And then, just like that, you flip the switch and want absolutely NOTHING to with anyone but your mama. You will just stand there forlornly with your arms stretched out, bawling your eyes out until I pick you up. Kind of melts me.

So even though you think you are big stuff at times, you can never fool me. At home in your jammies, you are the snuggliest, squishiest, rolly-polley-est little baby I have ever seen.

Twain, you bring so much joy and happiness to our home.

You have quite the mischievous twinkle in your eyes.

What can I say?

We love you to pieces.

You crazy little thing.

Thank you Lord, for the extra sweet blessing you gave us in Twain.

When I think about my boys and how each one captures a special place in my heart, it helps me understand how the Lord truly can love all of his children--we are all so special!