Leah's 1st birthday party.

Birthday Girl.

Happy birthday to my beautiful baby (now a toddler) Leah Gabrielle.

It’s so hard to believe it has been one year. We are so blessed to have a smart, beautiful and healthy girl. I’m looking forward to celebrating this huge milestone with my wife and our family.

We love our little LeaGabs!

Helping Mama.

Leah helping mom make stuff for her 1st birthday party.

Lay down, good puppy.

Leah teaching the dog proper ‘laying-down’ techniques. I love watching her play.

I’ve discovered arugula greens!

Thanks to Door to Door Organics, a Michigan based organic food delivery service, we get a mixed box of organic, locally grown, fruits and vegetables delivered right to our door every week.

This week, we got a bunch of arugula greens in our box. Haley and I have never had arugula so I had to look up a quick salad recipe. I used it as a side to tasty grilled chicken. In one word, the dinner wasamazing and Haley dared to say it was one of the best meals she has ever had! The salad recipe is below:

Arugula Salad

1/2 bunch Arugula
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Wash arugula. Place all ingredients into large bowl with tight lid. Shake until dressing has evenly coated all leaves.

For a little variety, I added a handful of baby spinach and romaine leaves. I’m also a sucker for croutons.

Enjoy the recipe!

Just a thought...

...why do babies think the world is their Kleenex?

Wrestling with mama.

Just wrestling with mom. Leah has this wicked sumo-like maneuver that she pulls on us every now and then- she squats on our faces with her soggy, stinky diapers.

Rayla.

Whether it’s against the couch, along the bridge, on the stairs or on the office rug, Rayla will find (and lay in) any bit of sun that shines through our windows.

Michigan in the summer.

Originally taken on June 16th, 2008 with a Nikon D50 and a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 lens. Additional color and tone enhancements performed with Photomatrix Pro.

Window licking.

Why, oh why do kids like to lick windows? Thank god we never clean them or I would be afraid of her ingesting nasty chemicals!

My love.

Taken with a Nikon F100 and a Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens.

Leah playing with the cap to my lens.

Taken with a Nikon F100 and Nikon 50mm f/1.8G lens.