Landon James is ONE today!

Photo taken by Landon's girlfriend Bella's Mom...Karly Kothmann who has a photography business called Blue Sparrow Photography. Awesome job on his one year shoot, Karly, we love you guys so much!

My letter to Landon on his first birthday:

Dearest Landon James,

Today you are officially one year old. You are the sweetest, cutest, most fun, special and handsome one year old that ever lived...and I am not just saying that because I am your Mama! :o) Landon you have made the past year the best of my entire life. Every single day is a fun adventure with you. You have the best laugh and smile...you light up every day with your silly and fun personality. People stop us everywhere we go to admire how incredible you are. You already have a way of captivating people with your sweet loving personality that I know will someday show the world how much the Lord loves them. I can't wait to grow up with you in the years to come. The day you were born was trhe best day of my life. When you were first not breathing I panicked and remember just asking "Can I PLEASE just hold my baby?!?" while the doctors worked to get you to take that first breath and your Daddy looked on in disbelief and was so worried. When you finally took that first breath my heart filled with an unexplainable joy and happiness and when I was finally able to hold you in my arms it was the most perfect feeling. Now every time I hold you I thank God that He helped you live and thrive. You are so healthy and strong and we could not be more thankful for that. You are also so smart already and love music (especially playing piano and guitar with Dada) and you absolutely love your dogs and swimming in the pools or the ocean or river. You take to things so easily with such joy. You amaze me each day. I just cannot believe you are already one! I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. All I can do is make sure to do everything I can to show you how much God loves you and provide you with the best life possible. I know you will do incredible things and love people like crazy. You are the best. No matter what happens I want you to know more than anything that Jesus and Mama and Dada love you no matter what!

XOXOXO,

Mama

Dada's Letter to Landon on His First Birthday:

LJ -

Whew! One entire year with your parents is over!!!! As we've learned how to be parents (and as I've watched your mama and figured out how best to complement her to be the best dada) you've put up with quite a lot! But you've been patient, and sweet, and hilarious so that this past year has been the best year of my life. I can't imagine life without you - you're my little man, my best bud, and my goofy partner in crime.

When I think of the day you were born, chills run down my spine. From waking up next to mommy, to watching your first breath (which, by the way, you took FAR to long in taking) the thrill of your life practically overwhelmed me. I've never had such an adventure - and it continues to this day. You have a unique zest for bright colorful and noisy things along with the most attentive and studious spirit. Your favorite toy, I believe, is either a Xylophone Alligator or a singing dog. Perhaps it is McGee. Nonetheless, while playing with one of your 77 toys you almost always have a blast. Better yet, you bring everyone around the greatest joy when you flash your cute 8 and 1/2 teeth and grin from ear to ear. But your smile might just be outweighed by that giggle which could have even made Winston Churchill laugh!

Of course, none of these things would be possible without your gorgeous mama supporting you every step of the way. She takes such great care of us - we would never have made it to today without her! So much of your joy stems from her care - I am lucky to have her as my bride, but even more fortunate to watch her raise my son. As you grow up you'll have a special place in your heart for your mom (as I do for mine) and appreciate all she does for you. We, together, will try to raise you with the Lord's love, and even though we'll make a mistake here and there (ok we'll make a ton of mistakes) we know that Jesus will supplant that which we are unable to provide. In His image we strive to raise you, and through His power we know that you will grow up with that unique love that spreads across the world.

I am in awe of how cool you are, LJ. You are the greatest little boy a daddy could hope for. I love you all the way to the moon... and back!!!

With Unfailing Love,

Dada


Today Landon James Cohn is officially 1 year old! :o) We can hardly believe our little man was born a whole year ago...we can't even remember what life was like without him. Every day we fall even more in love with our beautiful little angel who is the biggest blessing the Lord has ever given to us. After our broken pasts and all that went on before He saved us and led us to each other, we could not be more in awe of His grace in the form of our handsome sweet son Landon. As we reflect on the past year, it has truly been the best of our lives. Every smile, laugh, kiss, hug, new milestone, brings such joy to our hearts that we are overflowing with God's love and love for our baby boy.

We had an awesome big blowout birthday party for Landon James on September 4th at Landa Park. We held it on Labor Day weekend so the families could all fly in etc. It was amazing! Teresa Templin with Sweet T made all of the favors which were little train bean bags that formed a long train with Happy Birthday Landon in front then the rest of the cars were monogrammed with his little friends' names. It was awesome! She also made him a personalized first birthday hat, top, bib, and more. It was such a fun package to open! Landon looked so handsome and had a blast at his party. We had a big play mat with lots of toys under the trees near the shelter #15 that we reserved for everyone to sit under the shade of the pavilion and eat lots of yummy hot dogs and burgers that the wonderful grandpas cooked...thanks Dad and Papa Cohn! :o) All of Landon's best little friends from his Kindermusik class, library story time, and his playgroups came to celebrate and had a blast. We even got to sit in the very front seat of the sweet little train and ride for his birthday! He loves the train which is why we did a whole train themed celebration. His cake was from Naegelins Bakery (the oldest and best bakery in Texas and a family favorite) and was made up of lots of blueberry (his fav) cupcakes with white cream icing and decorated like a train from his invitations and his bean bag favors. It was amazing! He even had this own little 6 inch cake for his little high chair and candle blowing. He did great when we sang to him. It was led by Carrie deLemos who is an incredible singer. He even put his little hand in the cake and got a small bite. He is so shy that we did not know how he'd react to all of the attention but he loved it! :o) It was the most memorable and special day. Even his Kindermusik teacher Ms. Kat came out to do a whole ploaytime of his favorite activities from class...his favorite book The Little Engine that Could, his favorite songs with the egg shakers to the beat that he loves, and best of all his Mamacita dance! It was awesome.

The week before his party, Gaga came out to help get ready and play with Landon. It was so much fun! Landon loved doing artsy projects with Gaga, working on crawling through her fun tunnels, playing with all of his toys, and of course she brought him all kinds of fun new things...he got SO spoiled that week and LOVED it! Then the rest of the family came in on the night before his big party and it made for the most fun weekend ever for the little man. The weekend before we had a big family reunion on my side at The Other Place on the river here in NB. It was a ball. Jetta even took Landon to get all of his first fishing gear including a little pole and tackle box. We are so excited about fishing all of the time now! Landon thought it was the most special thing in the whole world to go fishing with Jetta and Gaga. Jetta caught him his first ever perch. The Gaga caught two more and a little turtle! He thought is was amazing. He also got to hang out with his Great Grandfather Papaw which was so special and fun.

The pics below are from the party, Karly's one year shoot, the family reunion, and many that I had been meaning to post from the past couple of months. The post at the end of this one is from last month has been keeping me so busy that I have had trouble getting th done hahaha!

I am going to now make this into a big book so Landon's wife someday can see what we have been doing throughout his first year of life. I just got a charm from James Avery with a heart charm called "A Mother's Love" that I am goint to put on a charm bracelet and add a new charm every year with whatever Landon is doing that year or what reminds me of during that year of his life. I am going to do this until he gets married someday and then give the bracelet to his wife!


Thanks for the awesome wagon, Grand Nana (Aunt Sandy)! :) We have already taken it to the river,pool, Farmer's Market, shopping all over downtown, and more. It is wonderful! Now we just need a little sister/brother to sit in the seat across from him...

. Landon and Uncle Drew in Gruene after his big party in their matching little cowboy hats :)

LJ got a million awesome gifts but his favorite thing was this balloon...we named him Moonie and he took hime everywhere for the whole week after his party :)

. The fam at his party...thanks to everyone for coming all this way to celebrate little LJ!

This is the fam from the family reunion the weekend before!

After he blew out his candle...tryaing to get him pumped about the cake...it was silly for him because he'd only ever had organic fruits grains and veggies before this day :)

Kindermusik fun!!!

Thanks Gaga for the awesome sut and Teresa and Sweet T for the amazing b day hat :)

Family reunion good times by the river~

Landon's one year photo shoot by Karly! :)

Playing with Gaga before the big party...check out those beautiful big blue eyes!

The dogs Samson and Daisy May celebrating UT's first game of the season! Hook 'em!

Landon and Aunt C at his fav resturant Spud Ranch in NB!

Landon's perch...Gaga is the best fisherwoman ever next to me!

Landon's first fishin pole!

lANDON'S FIRST HAIRCUT! :O) James would NOT let me take him to the barber...he HAD to do it himself to make sure Landon was safe...best Daddy ever! He did a great job too! Before this Landon had a mullet...

Landon and his girlfriend (see post below:) are going to be rock stars someday...here they are in famous singer Kimberly Kelly's mandolin case! www.kimberlykellymusic.com/bio

Bella has the best 'kisses' and gives LJ one every chance she gets!

Future Rock Star!

Every day after afternoon naps we have an avocado party! It's MESSY and so fun!

Trying on his conductor hat for his big train party the week before!

Daddy's big birthday cake (carrot with cream cheese icing) with 28 candles!

James' birthday date to the winery in Gruene and we sampled Landon wine :o)

Coloring at Dada's birthday dinner at Red Robin! He sticks his toungue out when he concentrates :P

Landon made Dada a cake :)

Landon making nice with Bella's Daddy Tanner so he can get on his good side for when he asks Tanner to take Bella on her first date in 16 years hahaha!

Landon's adorable and sweet best buddy Chase! We love him!

Learning to share with Chase at our playgroup...so sweet.

Going through Chase's fun tunnel at playgroup!

Sweet boys and best buddies!

Landon and Bella having a ball as usual!

Boys will be boys. Here they are having a diaper party and trying to get out to see the dogs after a big river swim one evening before dinner. So sweet.

Signing about being happy and wanting to eat...he sometimes makes up his own signs :)

So proud of being able to stand up all by himself at his fun activity table

Coloring for the very first time ever at Mama Fu's! Big boy!

Fun lunch at Grand Godmother Patsky and Don's house in Austin. He LOVES their doggie Sophie!

A couple of months ago...Landon's first time to ever really pull up all by himself. He was trying to see Bella's doggies :)

"feeding himself" he loves the black beans and cheese at Chipotle and his organic Sprouts meals!

We finally got to go tubing...thanks Nana for keeping Landon happy and safe!

This is during Landon's first fever ever...102...so sad but he made it through and had fun reading books and cuddling through it all!

Eating dinner at McAdoos which has the BEST seafood in town...but LJ got to eat pureed organic veggies and brown rice...yummmm thanks Popsie!

Landon and Bella playing on a fun featherbed! Notice Bella is ALWAYS on the move so it is hard to get a clear shot :o)

Landon's proud grandparents Nana and Popsie

Landon writes all of his guests (who share his bathroom) nice messages in his bathtime letters :)

family swim pic at Karly's Mom's house in San Marcos.

Bella and Landon ready to swim at Grandma Honey's :o)

Playing with Honey

Landon loved playing piano with his fun Popsie!

Shopping downtown with Nana and Popsie and came across this cool horse...LJ lunged for it and loved riding on him...felt so proud. Can't wait to take him to ride for real when he's a little older!

We had SO much fun on Nana's visit...Landon loved hanging out with his sweet grandma!

Landon 'chillin' with Nana at his last Kindermusik class of the session

'helping' Mama cook dinner by playing us a soundtrack on his special 'drum'

Check out the mohawk! August visit with Nana and Popsie dinner in Gruene!

This is our alarm every morning at 7 am. Nothing could be better!

Landon and Daddy, Bella and Tanner at the ranch here in NB...gorgeous and definitely Bella and Landon's fav swim spot!

First time riding in car together...they held hands and laughed :o)

July at Spud Ranch Landon's favorite resutrant...he loves the napkin bibs and to eat some of Mama's potato!

Older pic from our 3 year anniversary...heading out to Gruene Hall for some two stepping :o) Thanks to cousin Sarah for staying with LJ...we had a blast and did not worry a bit!!!

Three roses for three wonderful years! Thanks to the best hubby ever!

July swim at our Y...our first family sunglasses pic 8)

June...When we first moved here it was SO hot this is how we spent all of our afternoons...so fun!

Cute jeans diaper hahaha!

Older pic from a few mos back ~ Bella and Landon on 'first date' :o)

Landon's outfit for 'first date' with Bella hahahahahaha

Playtime at our playgroup with Bella

Thanks for the adorable 4th of July suit, Gaga! Sorry this is a little late but wasn't he the cutest patriotic baby ever?!? We had a blast at the fun 4th parade here in downtown NB! :o)

Landon on Daddy's shoulders for one of the first times on 4th of July...this is his all time favorite spot to be!

How did our little angel grow up SO fast?! Every second we spend with his is like a dream. He teaches us more and more every day how much the Lord loves us if we can love our little son as much as we do. The past month has been filled with fun times with our wonderful new friends, trips to visit family and friends in Houston, lots of swimming in the river and the pool, and many playgroups, library days, and music classes. I don't want to leave anything out so here are a few new things Landon is doing at 11 months and highlights of this month for us:

~Climbed out of crib during nap on a Saturday while Mama was gone and Dada was taking care of him after saying 'Mamamamama' a million times, being quiet for 10 minutes, then jumped out and crawled to the door where Daddy found him...needless to say James was super worried but turned out Landon was totally fine...we invested in a video monitor and new crib and have been so thankful the Lord protected our sweet boy on his 3 foot fall!

~Ate ice cream for first time (so far he's only had organic fruits and veggies and breast milk) and his great grandpa Papaw gave it to him at cousin John Alan's first b day party in Houston...he LOVED it but Mama only let him have a few small bites :o)

~Finally he is pulling up more on his own and crawling around (still army crawl but gets around fast). I took him to the doctor because I was worried about him being so 'chill' and she said to appreciate it because he has a great disposition and he is just going at his own pace and is totally on target developmentally...just laid back and kind of shy. Where in the world did a child of Anna and James get the shy gene from?!?!?!? Crazy but wonderful because he is SO sweet and snugly!

~Played guitar with Dada for first time at 11 mos...actually strums like Dada and watched how he does it then copies exactly...we think he will be an amazing musician someday!

~Does the 'breaststroke' while swimming when Mama and Dada hold him...SO cute!

~Claps his hands (learned from his first girlfriend Bella who he ADORES) - more to come on Bella below

~Met his first real girlfriend named Bella Kothmann and they are the cutest pair EVER! Pics of he and Bella are above. She is the sweetest most spunky and beautiful little angel. She's got the prettiest baby blonde hair and big blue eyes. People often say Landon and Bella even look alike. James and I have everything in common with Bella's parents Karly and Tanner. We are so thankful for their friendship and that Landon has such a wonderful little playmate!

~Also met his new best buddy Chase Porter. James and I also have a tons in common with his parents Lindsey and Charles and Landon and Chase are adorable playing together. Pics above of them in their diapers crawling around after a river swim and before dinner are priceless. They both love to do 'dude' stuff like pull on the dogs ears and 'chill' with their toys and they also both really love to study things and people for a long time before really warming up to them...it's so cute! We are excited for Landon to have such a good buddy he can someday play baseball and football with etc!

~We also went over to Landon's Grand Godmother's house this month for an incredible lunch and playtime for Landon and Patsky and Don's dog Sophie. Landon LOVES small dogs and had fun pulling Sophie's whiskers and chasing her with his army crawl. Pat is a gourmet cook and the food was incredible. During lunch she was nice enough to let Landon play with her WHOLE CONTAINER of spatulas and cooking spoons, etc. He was SO pumped about it and had the most fun ever!

~Landon also went to his first magic show at our neighbor Kyla's birthday party this month. That was a blast. he especially loves balloons so it was a great time.

~For the first time he went swimming with his second cousins John Alan and Kaden at JA's third birthday party in Houston...great time and he loved splashing with them and getting in the fun float Kaden let him borrow! We are so thankful to be so close to our family so Landon can grow up with his cousins, etc.

~Nana and Popsie Cohn came all the way from Denver to visit us and it was a blast! They took care of Landon while Mom and Dad got to finally go tubing one afternoon and that was a great and much needed break for us! We also ate lots of yummy local food, went to the park, swam, and more. Karly, Tanner and Bella an their families were so welcoming to them too which we soo appreciated and they invited us out to their beautiful ranch to swim and eat dinner which was an incredible experience and we also got to go out to their pool in San Marcos which was awesome! It was an awesome visit!

I think that about sums up our last month...except that James finally finished the bar exam and began working at his amazing boutique law firm here in New Braunfels this summer! Yahoo!!! He loves his job and we love that it is only 5 min (no traffic) from home and he is able to come home for lunch every day with us and always makes it home well before dinner so he can play with Landon and spend tons of time with us. It is like a dream. He works super hard and is going to have a huge caseload...50 cases...and is very excited about that!

We also recently celebrated James' 28th birthday and that was super fun. Grand Nana (my Aunt Sandy) came over to watch Landon and James and I went out to Gruene to the dancehall and the winery there. It was a ball and we enjoyed hanging out with Lindsey and Charles too. Speaking of Aunt Sandy...we so love living 5 minutes from her and she is now teaching me to sew! I got a beautiful and very nice sewing machine as an early b day gift (thanks Mom:) and I love sewing! We are now working on wine bags and then we are going to move to a purse/diaper bag and then Christmas stockings and a Halloween costume for Landon! I think Landon, Chase and Bella may be characters from a movie together...maybe Wizard of Oz or something...it will be so sweet! I am also planning for Landon's First Birthday celebration that is coming up in two weeks at Landa Park under one of the pavilions there right on the train route and by the kiddie playground. Many of his wonderful little friends from playgroups are planning to come as well as lots of family from CO and here and some of James' co-workers! We are really excited about it!

Nap time is almost over so I am headed to make James lunch and get the house straight before it is back to a fun day of playtime with sweet Landon! This weekend Gaga and Jetta Quayle come in town for a fun family weekend at the river including the cousins aunts and uncles...it will be a blast and photos to come!