Well, June went by in the blink of an eye. And if I'm not careful, I'll lose July, too! So, here's a quick recap of the last month...

We went on vacation to visit my brother Brian and his family in Virginia. We got to spend an entire week with them! It was the first time since either of us can remember that Alan has had time off from everything all at the same time. And what an amazing week it was. I loved watching Edison interact with his cousins, not so much playing with them, more trying to chew on whatever gets in his path. Edison got to be a pirate with his cousins, swing on the swing set, take walks, even go on his first trip to Chick-Fil-A. Sweet Audrey (she's 2) wore Edison's shoes all week and loved being with the baby:) As much as she loved having Edison around, she wasn't about to give up being the baby herself, always wanting me to hold her just like I hold Edison. And since she only weighs 2 more pounds than Edison, it wasn't much of a challenge:) And Micah (he's 4)... oh Micah. One of the funniest Micah moments had to be when he tried to dry off the rain soaked wooden toy chest (we had A LOT of rain come in through the window) with a single baby wipe. And when that didn't work, he went to the kitchen and got the wet dish rag. Or there's the day that he decided to put on his old snow suit, winter coat, hat, mittens and boots and make snow angels on the kitchen floor. It was wonderful to spend time with Asher (he's 6). We played lots of board games with him (Life and Monopoly)... he loves his board games. As he's getting older, it is really neat to see him grow into a young man. He has such a sweet heart. Early in the trip Edison fell on the stairs and bashed up his nose pretty bad. Throughout the rest of the week, every morning we would look at Edison and say "your nose looks better". Asher would then respond, "Shhh, don't remind him about it. Then he might remember that it hurt". Such love.

I could go on and on about our trip, but that might get boring for people who weren't there:) It was absolutely the most perfect vacation! You can see our pictures from the week on our Web Gallery.

Well, with the end of June comes Edison's birthday! We celebrated the momentous occasion by visiting the doctor for his 1-year checkup (and yes he got shots), turning his car seat around to face forward and having Alan's family over for a birthday party. He got lots of new toys and books and clothes. Now he has a cell phone and a digital camera, so he has no excuse to borrow mine! There are plenty of pictures from his party in our Web Gallery. And we're not done yet! Next weekend he will be celebrating his birthday again, this time along with his Daddy (who turns 30 in a few weeks). Two parties! He better not expect this every year:)

July got started with a bang as we celebrated Independence Day. I still remember last year so clearly... holding my one week old baby while watching fireworks on TV. He weighed about 6 pounds then. Wow. This year we went to a friends house in the afternoon, then went to a 4th of July festival in the evening. But Edison was in bed before the fireworks were over. Maybe next year he'll get to watch them.

And to finish off a month of firsts, Edison went to the zoo today with Grandma and Grandpa Budd. I know he had so much fun, and I'm sure he told me all about it the rest of the day!

Phew! Just writing about the last month wore me out! But there's no rest for the weary... July and August bring lots of weddings, baby showers, a birthday party and a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Davis. What a summer!