Happy 1st Birthday To Me--This Time--Kansas Style

First and foremost, I would like to welcome my newest cousin, Levi, to the Gardner family. My Uncle Todd; Aunt Rhonda and Cousins Matthew; Abigail and Jacob welcomed little brother Levi on Monday, September 28th, 2009! The family is doing well and Matthew is especially excited because he gets to share his birthday with his new little brother!

Today, Tuesday, September 29th, 2009, I finally got to have my Kansas birthday celebration! What fun we had! Great-Grandman Ruth Reynolds; Grandpa and Grandma Gardner; mommy and daddy and our neighbor lady, Thelma Raile were all in attendance!
Here I am with the cake that mommy and daddy made for my birthday party! Look at all those candles...mommy said she wanted the cake to "look like a fireball!" Mission accomplished mommy!My first birthday cake made by my mommy and daddy!

This is the birthday cake that Miss Thelma made for my birthday last week...but we were on our way to Uncle Jeremy's wedding so Grandma Gardner froze it so we could enjoy it when we returned! Boy was it yummy (and I think Miss Thelma may be a little more experienced at this cake baking and decorating thing than my mommy and daddy, but don't tell them I said that)!

"Come on everybody...DIG IN!"

Cake is more fun to play with than to eat! But it is yummy too!

Look at that sticky mess and after awhile I decided I did not like to be all messy! Weird, aren't boys supposed to like being dirty and messy?!?

This is the crew at my Kansas birthday party! They are all laughing and having a wonderful. In the midst of all this "adult" talk, I decided to go to my playroom and watch Elmo instead. I don't get all this birthday hub-bub!

This is me giving the neighbor lady some lovin' before she went home for the evening. She's such a nice lady! We love her over here at 218 East Jackson Street!

I'm still not quite understanding this whole "blowing out candles" business. I'm sure someday I will think it is FUN!

"Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday dear me, Happy Birthday to me!"

On The Road Again---Back To Kansas

On Sunday, September 27th, 2009, we made our way back home to Kansas after the fun-filled events of the past week/weekend!
My mom is loving her new vehicle...yes folks, my mom gave in and agreed to buy a mini-van! We got a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan. It is super sweet ya'll! It was a dealer owned van for business trips so my mom and dad got all the incentives that Dodge was offering on new 2009 vehicles. It has dual DVD players; Sirius Satellite Radio; power doors that you can open with the remote to the van and a whole lotta other features that I know nothing about (and I don't think mommy and daddy have figured out yet, either)! Hee-hee! They love it and it has made traveling to Missouri a lot easier and more fun...as you can see, I can watch Elmo on TWO screens instead of one now....SWEET!

On the road again....we were almost home at this point...only two more hours of the 8.5 hour drive....thank goodness. Can't believe we did it all in one day! What a long day it was!

Me playing with my new ball that lights up in the middle! Traveling is fun...especially when you get new toys on the drive home!

Me lovin' our new mini-van!

Me with Grandma and Grandpa Chinn right before we left to head back to Kansas. Darned 'ol sun was right in my face!

Me giving my Grandpa Chinn "the look!" I'm sure there will be many more of these to come! Hee-hee! I love my Grammy and Grampy Chinn! I miss them terribly since we left this morning! :( Can't wait for them to come out to Kansas to see me in October!

My daddy, mommy and I at Grandma and Grandpa Chinn's right before we left this morning! Mommy says they are lookin' rough because I got them up 3 times in the night...oops! I was hungry! :)

Me hangin' out with Grandpa Chinn on his front deck while Grandma Chinn BBQ'd pork steaks for mommy, daddy, me, Aunt Nynnie, Uncle Troy and Cousin Julianna! Troy, Nynn and Julianna came up to Grandpa and Grandma Chinn's house on Saturday after Auntie Laura and Izzy left! What a fun day of visitors! Somebody must love seeing me and my parents!

Playing With My Friend Izzy (Isabella Eidson, 7 months old)

I finally got to have another playdate with my friend Izzy (Isabella Grace Eidson, 7 months)! She is the daughter of my momma's best friend Laura Eidson! Momma and Laura are friends and sorority sisters from college and were also roommates before my momma moved to Sainty!

Izzy with her mommy! Looks like she is telling her momma how it's going to be! LOL! I never do things like that to my mom! Haha!

What's up.....playdates sure are FUN! WOW!

Izzy being super cute sitting up all by herself!

I'm getting this DVD thing figured out!

Izzy and I playing with all the toys are moms had out for us!

My mom says this is the face of my future wife! What a cutie!

Izzy and I playing with a balloon from my birthday party! Izzy and I sure love balloons and Izzy giggled a lot at the balloons

Izzy going after one of those balloons! She REALLY liked them!

Izzy, Auntie Laura and I playing together! I had so much fun with them!

Izzy playing with a balloon! Too cute!

Introducing The Newest Member of the "Chinn Clan"

My Unlce Jeremy and my (now) Aunt Sam got married in Mexico, Missouri on September 25th, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. They had a Civil War period wedding since they both enjoy going and participating in Civil War re-enactments! My daddy, mommy and I went to Missouri to celebrate the start of their new life together with them!
My mommy and I getting ready to leave Grandma and Grandpa Chinn's house to head to the wedding!

Mommy trying her best to get me to "pose" for the camera! Mommy says while in Missouri, I suddenly became camera shy instead of the usual ham that I am for the camera!

Mommy, daddy and I dressed and ready to go to the wedding. Mommy, daddy and I did not have Civil War style attire so daddy and I decided to wear out "bibs!" Mommy tried her best to match us! Mommy and daddy thought I looked super handsome and adorable in my new bibs from Stevenson's clothing store in Shelbyville, Missouri!

This is me playing in the straw! I loved playing with the pieces of straw and tearing pieces out of the bales! So much fun, but mommy couldn't get me to look up for a picture because I was too busy checking out all this new and exciting stuff!

This is a museum that was at the park where Mexico's "Step Back In Time" days was being held!

Me with Grandpa Chinn before the wedding! I did not get my afternoon nap that day so I was SUPER crabby! I mean, give a guy a break, who wants to take a nap when there's all this fun stuff going on for all to see!

The start of the wedding....Uncle Jeremy is dressed in traditional Civil War period dress and Aunt Sam is also. The dress she wore was her Sweet 16 "coming out" dress that was altered to be her wedding dress! She looked very pretty and Uncled Jeremy is a lucky guy!

Cousin Bryant was in the wedding also...he was the ring bearer!

Here's my cousin Breanna...she was a flower girl!

Breanna looking very cute being a flower girl!

Bryant was looking good being the ring bearer!

Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Sam exchanging rings and vows!

I was very cranky during the wedding (if only I would have taken that afternoon nap) so my Great-Uncle Tim and my Great-Aunt Deb were helping mommy and daddy entertain me! They did a very good job. I sure like them!

Woo-wee! This kiss.....maybe mommy should have covered my eyes for this part of the ceremony!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Chinn! Welcome to the family Sam!

My FIRST Birthday-Missouri Style

Greetings blog follwers! Yes, it is true, I celebrated my FIRST birthday! September 23rd, 2009, I turned one year old! We did not have a party on the day of my birth because me, my mommy and daddy were headed to Missouri for my Uncle Jeremy (also my godfather) and Aunt Sam's weddin'! This past week was a hectic and busy week around my house.

Monday, September 21st through Wednesday, September 23rd, I was at my Grandma and Grandpa Gardner's house because my daddy and mommy had to go to Colorado Springs, Colorado so my daddy could see the cardiologist, Dr. Curry. As most of you know, my daddy hasn't been feeling very well lately and Tyler the P.A. sent him to the cardiologist. Dr. Curry decided that my daddy has something called neurocardiogenic syncope or orthostatic hypotension (basically low blood pressure/blood pressure disorder). We are glad and relieved to finally know what daddy has but it is something that isn't not curable and he will have to live with the dizziness, fatigue and such forever. :( Hopefully the medication Dr. Curry gave him will help and if my daddy gets his 12 grams of salt per day! Daddy isn't supposed to do ladder work, strenuous work; roof work or sit in hot tubs alone (who would do that anyway) because he could get seriously hurt. Also, Dr. Curry wants to go ahead and review the report of daddy's echocardiogram just to make sure nothing else is going on, but we will have to wait a few weeks for that because it will take awhile to get that report back. So that's the scoop for now. I will keep you posted if we find anything else out.

On September 23rd, mom and dad came from Colorado Springs to Grandma and Grandpa Gardner's to pick me up and head toward Hays, KS to pick up our new vehicle. Mommy and Daddy bought a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan so our travels would be much easier. It is a sweet ride ya'll. Mommy didn't think she would ever drive a mini-van but she is in love with this vehicle. It has automatic doors that open from the remote; dual-DVD players; Sirius Satellite radio and is very roomy! There are so many options I don't know were to start. I really love the van too! It has everything a guy could possibly desire. After we picked up the van we tracked back up to highway 36 and stayed the night in Smith Center, KS. After a refreshing nights sleep we headed on to Grandma and Grandpa Chinn's house for my Missouri birthday party and Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Sam's wedding.

When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Chinn's they were very excited to see me (oh, and mommy and daddy too)! We went to dinner with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Grubb and then came back to Grandma and Grandpa Chinn's house to celebrate my first b-day with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Grubb; Grandma and Grandpa Chinn; mommy and daddy and Tim, Deb, Bridgett, Bryant and Breanna Gibbons (they are my Great Aunt and Uncle and second cousins)! We had a blast as you can see and I loved partying with them!
This is me with my mommy and you can see Bridgett (second cousin); Bryant and Breanna (twin second cousins); Grandma Chinn and Great-Grandpa Grubb. I'm getting ready to blow out my candle!

This is what my bah-bah looked like after the cake mess!

Me getting a drink in the midst of the cake mess! Hee-hee!

Me playing with my b-day balloons with Bridgett; Bryant and Breanna and Great-Aunt Deb! I LOVE balloons! And I had a lot of fun playing with my cousins! And my mommy always says she misses them very much....I say we should go to Missouri a lot more often!

Me; Bryant; Breanna and Bridgett laughing and playing with balloons at the birthday party!

Bryant and Breanna and me playing balloons!

My family singing "Happy Birthday" to me at my Missouri birthday party! What a great time we had! It was a lot of fun and I love my Missouri family more than they will ever know!

One Week Until My FIRST Birthday

Here I am with my daddy over the past weekend! This is right after my first haircut. Daddy and I sure have lots and lots of fun together and I sure love my daddy! I am always asking for "daddy" these days!

This is my mommy cuddling with me after I woke up from my nap on Sunday. I was cold and shivering (probably because I don't have my "mop of hair" to keep me warm anymore) and it was chilly here that day too! So mommy wrapped me in my blankie while daddy made me a nice warm bottle. While I had my bottle, mommy held me nice and close to her so I could get warm!

What's up? I'm a real tough guy when I'm riding my motorcyle that Grandma and Grandpa Chinn brought for me all the way from Missouri!

"Get your motor runnin'. Head out on the highway. Lookin' for adventure and whatever comes our way!" "I was born, born to be WILD!" :)

Sometimes I like to help mommy and daddy around the house. I am very fascinated with anything that sweeps the floor, such as, the dust buster; the power hokie; the vacuum cleaner; the regular broom and the dust mop! Here you can see me doing my fair share around the house by dust mopping the entryway by our front door!