Grandma & Grandpa Darby are here!

Grandma and Grandpa Darby are here to visit this weekend! Here is Lucas enjoying his new John Deere Buck.  He loves it and he doesn't even know how to use it yet!

The most exciting part of their visit (so far) is that Grandpa Carl has a new zoo companion!  The GR zoo has lots of interactive parts where kids can get up close to animals.  Not sure if you can tell on the picture with the goat, but Lucas is beside himself with excitement!  

Above: this is what Sam spent the day doing with his uncle Paul.  Thanks for your hard work Sam:)  

Below: Eliza teaches Lucas the art of parade candy acquisition at the Hollyhock Lane 4th of July Parade. 

morning coffee

Happy 1st Birthday!

Yesterday was Lucas' first birthday! We celebrated with a potluck bbq with some of Lucas' Grand Rapids family.  He loves watching older kids play and he loved being in the middle of all the action.

Lucas sporting his birthday shirt (from Pat and Chuck's travels to Indonesia) and birthday hat (from Auntie Em).  He is working on his retiree, shuffle-board look. 

Lucas enjoys his strawberry shortcake!  Finger-licking good.

What a year this has been.  Starting in Portland in a tiny attic apartment, up all night figuring out how to take care of a little newborn.  First we learned about diapers, feedings, and maintaining basic sanity.  In time we progressed to the better joys of parenting, like smiles, playing, eating food, crawling, and kisses. Now we are (or rather Sam is) hard at work on our first house in Grand Rapids and we have a one-year-old!  Thanks everyone for supporting us on the way.  

The morning after...Lucas is taking his new chicken balloon for a stroll.  

1415 Milton

Our new home!

Last month was all about finding and signing for our new home in Eastown.  We both feel so lucky to have found this little (or rather large) gem in our favorite neighborhood, and possibly our favorite street in Grand Rapids.  Wilcox park is a block away.  Tessa & family is a block away.  The Fulton Street Farmers Market is 5 blocks away.

We're doing some repairs and updating before we move in, starting with the kitchen.  Sam and Todd tore out the kitchen cabinets and uncovered the chimney.

 

Portland

Our little family took a vacation to Portland last week.  Lucas was a little traveling champion, and Sam and I learned how hard parents have to work to keep a baby happy on an airplane. 

Being back in Portland felt so natural; it felt like home.  Walking into our friends' houses and being together again felt so natural, like we had never left.  Departing that last morning was sad, saying goodbye to our friends and to the city.   

We had lots of highlights on our trip, and sadly we didn't capture very many photographs.  Here are a few:

   

11 months - belated

We celebrated Lucas' 11-month birthday this week!

The little ham is on the go now.  He crawls, pulls himself up, and stands against things.  Lately he has a renewed interest in reading books and he helps cook by playing with kitchen utensils on the floor.  His favorite activities still include eating and going outside on walks.  He is also communicating words like "book" and "fishy."  (edit: Sam says I should note how he says those words.  Book is "hkh" and fishy is "shee-shee")

In other news, we will soon be first-time homeowners!  We started the whole house-buying process this month and we'll be signing next week when we get back from our vacation to Portland.  We celebrated with a picnic at Wilcox Park, our new neighborhood park down the street...Lucas seems to like it.  Thanks for reading!

black eye

Today Lucas got his first black eye.  And it was sad.  Casualty of crawling.