TBT: We made it ONE WHOLE YEAR!

This post is lengthy (in terms of photos).  Don't complain; you know you want see them all!

Maks turned 15 months old the other day, so it's about time I shared his birthday photos! You've all seen his Happy Hour party pictures, but this is the first reveal of his actual cake smash...

Such a serious mugshot.

  

We cleaned him up quickly in the bathtub...

...Followed by some 1 year old snapshots outdoors!  (I've left out all of the black & white prints - but trust me, they're breathtaking!  I'd appear much to boring if everything I posted was lacking color.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for black & white.)

There you have it!  I love them!  Thanks to Lindsey Caroon for fitting us in before her big PCS to Montana!  We're so happy to have captured this big moment on film!  And for those wondering...yes, Mom, Dad and Kira did get in on the action.  I'll post some of those next week!

Throw back Thursday

We're throwing back 6 years today.  Yesterday, Bryon and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary!  It seems as though we've had a whirlwind of life changing events taking place, one after the other, since we first met.  Once I actually started to put it all down on paper, I realized that's because WE HAVE!  Check it out:

2006 - I graduated, packed up by bags and started my very first job.  After having just moved to a new state, I met Bryon at Cornell.

2007 - Bryon and I started dating and I took off for Hawaii for 4 months shortly thereafter.

Not great quality, but one of the first photos we can find of us together.

2008 -  Bryon spent 3 months traveling in Bolivia/Peru during Spring, followed by another separation from each other lasting 3 additional months over Summertime.  We became engaged in the Fall just prior to Bryon graduating from Cornell, and we moved from Iowa to Minnesota together just before the New Year.

No, our engagement did not happen at Jamba Juice (or a mall).

Photoboothing fun.

2009 - Another long series of separations.  In a nutshell, Bryon was accepted into the USAF and went to OTS, we got married before he left, and we were eventually reunited/moved to West Texas together.

2010 - We welcomed Kira into our lives (!!!), followed by receiving our first base assignment - landing us in Louisiana later that winter.

2011 - We were finally able to formally celebrate our marriage with a Springtime wedding celebration and honeymoon in Hawaii.  Later that Summer we found out that we'd be expecting our first child in 2012.

  

2012 - Maksim was born and we became parents!

2013 - Maks celebrated his 1st birthday!  We found out we will be expecting our 2nd child early 2014, and we also received news that we'll be moving to Florida before the year is over.

Whew!  It's been a ride and it's not over yet.  Most times we're just hanging on by threads. Luckily, we're good at taking turns with a steadfast grip.

Happy Anniversary, Bryon!...

...You can always make me smile.

Shopping with a 1 year old

Shopping with Maks is always an adventure.  You just never know exactly what he's going to do.

Every now and then we'll make a trip down to the boardwalk and visit the shops.  Maks likes stopping at the water fountain, watching the water features spray into the air and exploring the pond.  He could watch the water rush under the bridge for hours.  Luckily, he does almost as well when we take him in stores.  

Isn't this what everyone's 1 year old does in a Banana Republic dressing room?

Cleaning is one of his favorits past times...and I'm ok with that.

"It's time to tidy up this place!" 

And then there's the mall.  We usually bring his stroller along, but only for entertainment purposes.  Maks will push the stroller up and down main aisles, which helps us make sure he's not getting into any other sort of trouble.  But, there are often times when our stroller tactics fail and we're left with a shopping experience that looks something like this:

 

As of late, Maks is loving the grocery store.  We go first thing on Sunday mornings.  It's the perfect time for us because it's relatively empty.  We can get in and get what we need without long lines.  Plus, it allows us to really let Maks get on the floor and do his own thing.  He just loves pushing his own cart and grabbing produce to place in the basket!  (Although these two shopping expeditions are 2 months apart, he's obviously wearing the same fox pants.  Yeah, he's a foxy baby.)

He has always been a big fan of acorn squash!

And he can never have too much kiwi!

(Gentle release of items into the cart is still a work in progress.)

Throw back Thursday

Post-Christmas interactions with Kira (she's a bit bummed that she's no longer safe from Maks while sitting on the couch):  

Here Maks is at nearly 8 months old.

 He was so proud to be standing up and cruising!

 Looking like Daddy!...

And check this out!  When I looked back at today's TBT pictures of Maks, I just knew I'd seen the face he was making someplace before.  Is is possible that he actually does look like me (every now and then)???