It's a Party!

We decided to have an outdoor picnic with a few friends and family for Poppy's official birthday party. And I'm so glad we did. It was a lot of fun. There were cute babies everywhere, the weather was perfect, and we made sure to have lots of girly, picnic-y decorations. We even snuck in a little one-year photo shoot (hence the abundance of pictures).

Thank you to everyone for coming. It meant a lot to us. And thank you too for all the smiles, amazing gifts, and most of all for your love and friendship!

Sporting her tutu from Aunt Jenny last Christmas

Uncle Nick and Poppy in the grass...one of my favorite pictures

The boys decorating their cupcakes

Nana, Papa, Poppy, Willem, and Uncle Nick

I learned how to make sparkly pinwheels for the occasion

The decadent raspberry butterfly cake made by Bry's mom (with decorating assistance from Ann's boys)

Having fun opening her gifts while modeling her beautiful new fall hat from Kyra

Aunt Kait, Greyson, and Uncle Nick

blowing out the candle on Poppy's very own mini cake (lemon poppyseed flavored, of course)

She doesn't do anything halfway

Graciously feeding cake to the onlookers

After covering herself in icing, Poppy lost her balance and on the way down grabbed Adrian. He was a good sport.

I'm not sure if Poppy was applauding the party or her newly acquired walking skills, but either way, she definitely had a good time at her picnic.

One Year!

Poppy Louisa is one year old already. What in the world? It has been an incredibly fun and busy year and we are so in love with this little girl. Every new stage is an adventure that teaches us more and more about who Poppy is and what parenting is all about. Thank you God for giving us this crazy, social, smiley, opinionated baby girl and for making us a family.

The Birthday Girl's first cupcake...

Recent Accomplishments:

+ Repeating after us and saying real words such as "hi," "yeah," "wow, " and "dog" (along with her version of a barking sound) at seemingly appropriate times

+ Giving big hugs that nearly pull smaller babies' heads off

+ Blowing on her food when I say "hot"

+ Noticing and loving animals

+ Becoming quite the stinker when we take something away or don't do what she wants

+ Devouring surprisingly healthy foods like leeks, asparagus, tofu, hummus, and edamame, much to my delight

+ Adoring water and learning how to swim, which at this point basically consists of dunking her head under without crying

+ Officially becoming our favorite little person in the world

+ And the big one, just in time for her birthday: WALKING! (or rather, waddling around like a drunken duck...so cute!)

Snapshots of Italia

I was lucky enough to spend almost all of July in the most incredible country in the world. Italy! I went to Rome and Tuscany for school and after that finished up, Bry and his family joined me for a couple more weeks of lugging our suitcases around pretty much everywhere.

We may have overdone it a little, but it was without a doubt the trip of a lifetime. I miss it and I want to go back...tomorrow.

I brought my bulky camera and took over a thousand pictures (literally), so I wasn't sure how to tackle this post. I decided to pick out twenty of my most favorite photos. That didn't work. So here are twenty-six, in no particular order...

-Evening music on San Marco Square in Venice-

-The obligatory gondola picture-

-Pizza, pizza, and more mouthwatering pizza (this one has squash blossoms)-

-The famous Trevi Fountain. They say if you toss a coin over you're shoulder, you'll come back to Rome. I made sure to throw in a coin-

-Hiking around Procida Island-

-Corricella Harbor on Procida, one of the most beautiful evenings of my life-

-Poppy saying "ooh," her new favorite sound, while waiting for our ferry-

-The La Casa Sul Mare hotel on Procida...our room had a fairly decent view-

-City streets in Siena-

-Procida Island. I was in love-

-A sleepy little girl in Tuscany-

-Families take trips together for moments like these-

-Dear Tuscany, how I miss you-

-Piazzale Michelangelo, overlooking beautiful Florence-

-I love carousels. Especially in Florence-

-Bagno Vignoni: an incredible hot spring mineral pool in Tuscany where I caught this delightfully vintage expression from Poppy-

-The canals of Venice...magical after dark-

-Journaling for class in my favorite little place in the woods-

-The massive oak tree and the well outside our house, Il Leccio, on the farm in Tuscany-

-A tribute to the best espresso I've ever had-

-The Vatican-

-Cooking class in Tuscany at Spannocchia, the farm where I stayed for school-

-The Campo in Siena (very darling town) where the famous Palio horse race took place a few days before-

-Pasta and wine: two things that Italy does very, very well-

-In a cathedral in Rome-

-The Coliseum in the morning...not much needs to be said about this-

And just to prove that I actually did schoolwork while I was there...a picture of one of our classrooms: