Blaise's Happy FIRST Birthday!

Yea!!! It's my happy first birthday! Enjoy some picture from my fun day!

After sleeping in until 7:30, we all enjoyed a delicious pancake breakfast made by daddy, who was able to take the day off! Blaise got his own personal "one" pancake.

Still a little sleepy...

OK, I think I like this...

Ohh a candle!!

And I like balloons!

Mmmm...tasty! Oh yes, I love whole grains! :) (We're trying hard to expand his palate!)

After breakfast, we raced out the door and headed for the Zoo! We went straight for the Sting Ray Exhibit, which is here for a short time and free until 9:00 a.m.!

Daddy LOVED the sting rays, he was a little more excited that the bday boy:)

Blaise went to the herpeterium for the first time and saw snakes! I purposely waited to let David take him for the first time since he loves snakes so much. Not exactly mommy's favorite place. :)

Daddy being himself:)

After the Zoo, B went home and napped while mommy and daddy got ready for an evening celebration. We had plans to go play in the fountain at the garden, but the weather was overcast and called for rain.

Later that day, Uncle Paul, Mimi, Boppa, and Gma and Gpa came over to celebrate! (We missed you Aunt Sharon! And of course Matt & Becky we always miss you!)

We had a big chicken salad and fruit.

After dinner, we opened some gifts. One of Gma Susan's gift for B (but really for daddy;) Be sure to read her label on the treat:) hehehe She knows what I want for B.

Opening gifts

Playing on the car from my second cousins-thanks Colleen, Nick, Sam, Jen, Aunt Laurie & Uncle John!

Climbing in the b-day bag!

Cup Cake time!!! Yea! So I've managed to hold off on giving B sugar and white flour, and pretty much all the other additives and junk that's in so much food (except what he gets through my milk!) so I figured why start just bc he's one? ;) (Yes, I'm being a bit anal, but it's easy when he's not a big solid food eater anyway!) I used the recipe Becky make for Bella's first d-day, a delicious carrot cake, with whole wheat flour, sweetened with pineapple and honey with a cream cheese and honey icing! (Sprinkled with wheat germ!) And it was good! Seriously, it was actually quite tasty! More like a muffin, but delicious!

Awww, so excited!

Mmmm that icing is tasty!

We did allow Boppa to give him his first bite of ICE CREAM!!! He like it, at first. But when he bit into the cold he wasn't too thrilled.

The spoon is fun anyway! Yea!

The unhealthy cake that the adults ate-thanks Aunt Laurie! I ran out of icing so I had to settle with blue polka dots.

Bath time for Blaise. He did not want to go to sleep with all his favorite people still over, and boy did he cry when they said "Bye Bye." It was such an exciting and fun day! We can't believe that an entire year has passed since our sweet little Blaise was born! How incredibly fast that went!! Everyone told us it would too. What fun we have had watching him grow leaps and bounds this year! We are full of joy and gratitude, so thankful for our little boy. What a blessing from the Lord he is!

Blaise's Baptism

Little Blaise was baptized on his 11 month bday. Here is what we believe about baptism:

"In baptism we acknowledge the entrance of our children into a covenant community under a banner which declares that whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. As parents and as a covenant community we then take up the task of teaching these covenant children about the gracious offer of salvation given to us in the gospel, laboring and praying for the day when the child of the covenant will personally put his/her trust in Jesus Christ and realize in Him the fulfillment of the promise of forgiveness and eternal life through Christ's shed blood."

*To read more about our church's view & the history & tradition of baptism, click here.

These are the vows David and I took during the service:

Parents' Vows

Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?

Do you claim God's covenant promises in his behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation, as you do for your own?

Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before her a godly example, that you will pray with and for him, that you will teach him the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive by all the means of God's appointment, to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Congregation's Vow

Do you as a congregation undertake the responsibility of assisting the parents in the Christian nurture of this child?

No pictures during the service-but this one was taken afterwards with our pastor. Unfortunately, we didn't organize an all family photo! We had our parents, Aunt Sharon, Uncle Paul, and "Aunt" Lyndsay stand up front with us during the vows & baptism.

Philemon 4-7

"I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints." David read this verse during the service as a prayer for Blaise & his life.

Only Hope

The band sang this song before B's baptism. It's a favorite that I listened to a lot during my pregnancy. When we play it and sing it now, he tunes in and even will stop crying if he's upset! (He did this as a newborn too!)

Written by: Charles Wesley (lyrics), Randall Goodgame (lyrics & music)

Depth of mercy can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God, your wrath forbear
Me the chief of sinners, spare?

It’s my only hope
You’re my only hope
It’s my only hope of heaven
At the cross forgiven

I have long withstood your grace
Long provoked you to your face
Would not hearken to your calls
Grieved you by a thousand falls

There for me the Savior stands
Shows his wounds and spreads his hands
Face to face before the Son
And like Isaiah I’m undone

Depth of mercy, vast and free
So much deeper than the sea
God of love, you heard my cry
Now into your open arms I fly

Before the Throne of God Above

We also sang "Before the Throne of God Above." It's our sleep time hymn that we've chosen for Blaise. In Noel Piper's Treasuring God in Your Traditions she talked about how she and John chose a bed time hymn for each of their children. We loved the idea and this is the one that's evolved into Blaise's! It was sung during the prelude of our wedding.

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea,

A great High Priest whose name is Love

who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on his hands,

my name is written on his heart;

I know that while in heav’n he stands

no tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,

and tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see him there,

who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died,

my sinful soul is counted free.

For God the just is satisfied

to look on him and pardon me.

Behold him there! The risen Lamb;

my perfect spotless righteousness;

The great unchangeable, I AM,

the King of glory and of grace!

One with himself I cannot die —

my soul is purchased with his blood,

My life is hid with Christ on high,

with Christ my Savior and my God.
Words: Charitie Bancroft (1841-1892)/Music: Vicki Cook © 1993

Happy baby boy! Susan made his sweet baptism outfit.

Blaise freshly awakened from his nap! (He slept in the car on the way home-and stayed sleeping out back with the windows down while Gpa Harold watched him:)

Blaise with the grandmas at the open house! And yes, I'm lamenting that we did not take more pictures of everyone! We should have appointed a photographer!

Blaise & Lily

Great Uncle Donny-Wonny and Aunt Tracy ;)

Uncle Paul

Auntie Sharon & her bubsy!

It was a beautiful day spent with our very large family and friends! What a blessing to have them share in this special day with us. It's hard to believe that almost five years have passed since we took our marriage vows-and now we're said our son's baptism vows! We are so thankful for Blaise and pray that he comes to know the Lord at an early age. (And we pray that the Lord will daily give us the grace and love to point him to Himself!)

Water Play!

Kiddy pool fun in the back yard-so refreshing on a hot summer's day! And Blaise LOVES it!

He's jumping for the water that daddy's spraying with the hose!

I thought he'd be too little for the fountains at Tower Grove Park-boy was I mistaken! He LOVED them! And now that he walks, he can easily maneuver from fountain to fountain. So much fun! The Botanical Garden's has a wonderful water play area in the children's garden that we like to visit too.