The Johnson's: The Birthday Prince

On February 11th, we celebrated our little man's official first birthday. The last year of our lives has been filled with more dirty diapers, late-night wake-up calls, kisses and love than I have ever known. I would be lying if I said it wasn't a challenge, but it has also been the most amazing year of our lives. Cody and I have really found ourselves in this adventure of parenthood, and while we've been tested both individually and together, I truly believe that it has made us and our love for each other and Hayes even stronger. We often say that no one ever tells you the many surprises that come with welcoming your first child into the world. Parenthood is like a secret society for the strong. While this may be true, we count ourselves truly blessed that God has entrusted us with the life of Hayes William, and we just pray daily that we would continue to be the best examples for him of the unconditional love, grace and mercy that God shows to us daily.

I was fortunate to be able to take the day off of work to spend with Hayes, so we kicked off the morning with a yummy French Toast breakfast, complete with powdered sugar, strawberries and bananas. I decided we'll go ahead and make this a tradition, as Hayes seemed to love his French Toast just as much as his mommy and daddy do! I must admit there was no shortage of sugar on Hayes Man's birthday, but hey, that's what birthdays are for, right? After breakfast we got dressed and took Rio for a walk around the neighborhood and played ball outside for a while. I made it my goal to spend as much of the day as possible outside, which is Hayes' most favorite place. After a good, long nap, Hayes feasted on a lunch of chicken, mac and cheese and peas, followed by birthday cake promptly at 12:48 PM, the time he was born. After lunch we met MiMi at Pendleton Park for a walk and some good conversation, followed by a trip to Brownsville with Daddy to the Children's Museum and Zoo. We wrapped up the day of celebrating with a yummy dinner at Chili's where Hayes feasted on man food-- baby back ribs, sweet potato fries and vanilla ice cream. It was a busy and exciting day for our birthday boy, and he loved every minute!

Let the celebration begin... French Toast fit for a prince!

All boy! Playing ball outside.

Now if only we could get him to keep his baseball cap on. We'll work on that.

Cake at 12:48 PM!

In the words of Hayes... "Mum!"

Walking with MiMi

Brownsville Children's Museum

Daddy's contribution to the light wall at the Children's Museum. ~~Brainwashing~~ Influencing the kids of the Rio Grande Valley, one toy at a time. :)

Getting in on the action!

There was a cloud simulator at the Museum that Hayes just loved. He also met a cute 4 year old little girl who really enjoyed his company. He was so sweet and gave her hugs the whole time we were there!

Now on to the zoo...