One Year Photos--Downloadable!

Here's a link to Myla's one-year photos we had taken on Saturday at Target. Enter KASEY Buckles as the Guest Name. You can download the images by clicking on the link to the left. Here are a few favorites as a preview--enjoy!

Feeling the Heat?

Then come splash around with Myla, who l-o-v-e-s her new water table!

Back from vacation . . .

. . . and we'll be posting photos and details soon. Stay tuned!

Birthday Party Slide Show

Here's a slide show of MJ's first birthday party (click on it to expand). Thanks to all who traveled to see us, it made the big occasion so much fun.

Birthday Girl

Friday was Myla's first birthday, and we made it special in lots of ways. First, Matthew made birthday pancakes, which Myla loved. You can also see that Myla got a visit from the Hair Fairy the night before (the Hair Fairy loves our house!).


Then Matthew and I gave her her presents.


We had a little fun and put the bag on her head . . .


. . . and she did not like that!

In the afternoon, we went to the park, where we met up with my family. She showed them how much she loves to swing. Soon after we got back, Matthew got home from work and Myla was so happy to see him!

We tried to take her one-year pictures, but as usual Myla wasn't too keen on sitting still with the sign. Here's the best we could do:

In the evening, Matthew's family arrived, and the festivities really began.

Tomorrow I'll post a slide show that picks up here and takes you to the big par-tay on Saturday!

Contest Results and One-Year Checkup

And the winner is . . . .

Kelly Fish! Aunt Kelly won with her great photo of Myla chowing down on her foot in her car seat. Thanks to everyone who participated!

In other news, this morning was Myla's one-year checkup with our beloved pediatrician, Dr. Sanders. Myla weighed in at 19 lb., 15 oz., and 30 inches tall. This puts her at the 75th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight, making her a little string bean like her daddy! Dr. Sanders said everything looks great and gave us some new feeding guidelines. Nothing is off limits now, and we're supposed to cut out the spoon feeding, so eating is going to be even more of an adventure going forward. And more messy. Yikes.

Check back later this week for first birthday photos!

Happy Birthday, Myla Love!

That's right, today Myla turns 1! Matthew and I are so proud of our little M.J. and the happy, healthy little girl she has been so far.

I had planned to do a sappy reflection post on our first year with Myla (and I still might, so be forewarned), but today there's too much party-prep to do! Myla's grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparents, and great-uncle are all coming into town this weekend to celebrate the big event tomorrow. So I'm pretty busy with cleaning and preparing. Which is good, because it's keeping me from thinking too much about how quickly my girl is growing up!

Check back next week for party pictures and birthday news galore. Until then, thanks to all of you who have been a part of Myla's life in the past year. She's a lucky girl to have you all (as are Matthew and I).

"Aunt" Allison

My best friend from high school and four-year college roommate Allison visited a few weeks ago. As you can see, Myla likes her as much as I do!

At the Zoo

"Look, a cheetah!"


Mom and me at the Koi pond.


The animals are fun, but I like the zoo's playground best!

Two teeth!

Photo Finalists!

After tense deliberations, the judges have agreed on six finalists for the photo contest (we couldn't cut it to five!). Here they are:

#1: Headband

#2: Foot Feast

#3: Poolside Posing

#4: Conked Out

#5: Swim Time

#6: Pool With Mom

Now it's time to cast your vote in the poll on the left. Each person can have up to three votes to cast as he or she sees fit. You're on the honor system--no ballot-box stuffing! Polls remain open until noon on June 8, when a winner will be announced.

Thanks to all who submitted, there were so many great ones to choose from! I couldn't resist posting the runners-up as well:

Freakonomics!

Today's promised Myla-related post will be the announcement of the finalists for the photo contest. But until the judges have conferred, here's something else to possibly interest you . . .

This morning there was a post about a paper I'm writing (with a couple of coauthors) on the Freakonomics blog of the New York Times. It's on the effects of blood test requirements for marriage licenses on whether people marry or not. You can check it out here. I liked the Freakonomics book a lot, so this is kind of fun for me.