bug birthday.

we had a pretty great time celebrating jack turning 1 and micah turning 3... with bugs and lots of family...
(p.s. i know the decorations are all for me. and i'm okay with that.)

happy, happy birthday boy

matching outfits. and expressions. baby models or not that excited about photos? the world may never 

know.

photos of their year.

cake pop party favors (with thank you notes attached that have spiders made from micah's thumbprints... so our family can steal his identity, obviously.)

so. many. cake. pops.

ants everywhere. not shown: the millions of ant trails on the walls all over our house!

spider webs on the windows (and the bushes out front). 

plus my dad being my dad.

the food... ants on a log, of course.

bug poop on leaves. because matt and i were throwing a party.

not shown: micah's favorite things snack mix (goldfish, ABC pretzels, raisins, and m&m's. his heaven in a bowl)... and wayyyy too much pizza from our favorite pizza place!

cakes and cupcakes.

smash cake, on his birthday plate that i made!

micah's cake, also on his birthday plate (not that you can see it...)

decorative leaves and real bugs that matt found in mason jars. plus a photo bomb by a pop.

bug books.

paper lanterns became spiders and bees.

banner and letters with bugs.

and balloons in green, light green, brown, and black.

you've never seen a brown balloon? neither have most stores or internets.

luckily, amazon.

bug scavenger hunt with the prize of a magnifying glass.

just love.

he almost caught on fire. i have it on video.

most important piece of the moment: i didn't have a heart attack! i was calm!

the cake.

that crawling boy loves his cousins!

the smash cake...

there it is.

real life.

the closest thing to a good pic. and neither kid is quite with it.

so anyway... for the one person who looks at this (thanks, future-steph-in-one-year), enjoy!

the joys in our summer!

so much has happened since april!
here are some notes about our life right now...
micah:
-current obsession? all things bugs. and animals. and scaring people with bugs and animals. and watching planet earth about animals. and generally knowing too much information about all things animal.
-current phrases? "Actually,... (then corrects us on something)" "Where is ____(name of any animal) at the zoo?" "What rhymes with ____ (any word. sometimes, cicada. He's weirdly good at rhyming.)"
-favorite thing to do? always, always, always singing. according to micah, the meerkats like hearing, "jesus loves the little children." 
-other favorite? never, ever not reading. or talking about letter sounds. or numbers. or doing workbooks. or spelling something. and none of that is initiated by me. really. or going to the library bus (yeah, we have a library bus. it's as amazing as it sounds!)
-other favorite? kicking balls. and climbing and jumping. and splashing in water. and dance parties to "cars music" or "shake it off" (thanks, t swift.)
-favorite foods? pea pods and water chestnuts. you can't make this stuff up.
-favorite places? parks. basement. library. barnes and noble. chuck e cheese. pools. meijer. (we can't go there without smelling candles, looking at the fish, and looking at the lobsters. meijer trips take a long time.)

jack:
-a different kid than a few months ago--starting to crawl, LOUD sound-maker, and getting into everything!  things that haven't changed... he still isn't a good sleeper and still has no teeth :)
-loves shakers, anything that belongs to micah, and eating!
-laughs and smiles all day long, unless you take away a piece of cardboard that he's trying to eat or something small that he's trying to choke on. 

-we've been soaking up summer... check it out!

4th of July, built to terrify parents.

give me a BREAK. that's cute.

petting zoo!

out to eat has changed since this one eats. LOUDLY. with lots of growls.

sprinklers... it's a wonder our front yard isn't generally marsh-like.

jack's swim shirt was retired after this day. because that gut.

micah's first cotton candy at the ann arbor summer festival. (i guess he endured it.)

one of many summer barbecues!

cousin loving.

matt became a senior resident. and sweet friends got us a cookie cake to celebrate!

micah's getting old enough to actually care about friends. love it.

so, so many zoo trips. 

grandpa bright's surprise 70th birthday on the 4th of july--all the cousins!

jack: our nonstop eating machine.

papa-lovin.

what micah does when we say, "smile!"

that face.

and that face!

a sweet visit with uncle godfrey and aunt lorraine ebright--our first time seeing them since our wedding!

friends who are like family who made my birthday a part-ay!

jack at 9 months!

micah's real smile... rarely captured on camera!

and then us, looking older. i blame it on all the not sleeping and poopy diapers.