Scenes from a Happy Birthday

The Family Birthday Party....
We enjoyed Homemade Pizza - YUM! See? The Birthday Boy loved the pizza:




Played with cousins:



The Birthday Boy enjoyed his very own cupcake (a little too much of it, actually...can you say 3 am tummy ache?)

hmmmm...what do I do with this?


Here, Mommy will show you what to do!




Like this?



Getting the hang of eating a WHOLE cupcake!







PRESENT TIME!
The favorite present was the bucket of pop together beads. The bucket was actually the highlight for Little Man, but I didn't get a picture of that :(

Of course, there was MORE than one gift, but silly mommy didn't get a picture of all the loot. But, he got several books, new shoes and the beads from Mom and Dad. Bubby gave his little brother a football. Our good friends gave Little Man a new pool float that has a sunshade (YAY!), a toy phone from his aunt, and two new teddy bears from Haba. Oh, and Haba is crocheting a blanket, too!

We also went out for a birthday dinner at Chili's on his ACTUAL birthday:

Lovin' Dad's Strawberry Lemonade:



Clap for me dad, it's my birthday! Yay for my birthday!


Awwww...birthday kisses from dad!


Hurray! I LOVE my birthday! It's FuN to be ONE!


(Do you see what that bib says? "Chicks Dig Me". Yep, they do!)

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We are SO happy that you came to our family. Here's some of your accomplishments in your first year of life:
1. You have grown 8 teeth with hardly a complaint. Such a sweet boy!
2. You have been sleeping through the night for many months. Thank you!
3. You have mastered crawling (which you did at 8 months), and have been cruising the furniture for quite some time now.
4. You have figured out how to stand yourself up in the middle of the room.
5. You have taken your first steps, and are getting more sturdy each day.
6. You make me laugh EVERY DAY - several times each day, in fact!
7. You have discovered that YOU ARE FUNNY! You PURPOSELY make me laugh!
8. You are such a good eater. You eat just about anything we put in front of you. BROCCOLI, CARROTS, GREEN BEANS, you get the idea!
9. You take GREAT NAPS!
10. You are SO cute with your big brother. You laugh at almost ANYTHING he does. It melts my heart!
11. You make the cutest vocalizations!
12. I love that you clap for yourself when you are practicing walking.
13. I love that you can blow bubbles in the water. Such a big boy!
14. I love that you are so brave in the pool - no clinging for you! You kick and splash and have a blast!
15. I love that you are so snuggly. Your kisses and cuddles melt my heart!
I love you, Little Man! Happy 1st birthday. I look forward to our adventures together this coming year!

And the Winner Is.....

The school Bubby attends does a drawing for students who have had perfect attendance all year. Only 2 students's names are drawn. They draw one name from the upper grades, and one name for the lower grades. Well, I got the call from the school principal last night while we were having dinner and she told me that my little Bubby's name was one of the 2 names drawn for the Perfect Attendance prize. I was SO EXCITED. And THEN she tells me me to keep it from Bubby so he can be surprised when she announced it during morning announcement the next day (which is now today). THAT WAS A HARD SECRET TO KEEP! But, I did it. Thankfully my mom was willing to tend the Little Man while I went to the school this morning to take pictures of his cute surprised face and such. His teacher didn't even know he was gonna win. She was surprised to see me walk into the classroom with my camera until a moment later when the principal announced my Bubby's name as the winner of the drawing. Here's a few pictures of the announcement moment:





The first is Bubby's expression upon hearing his name announced.
The second is his teacher's surprised look upon hearing Bubby's name called.
The third is on our way to the front office to pick up the prize.

What's that you say? WHAT IS THE PRIZE? Oh, did I seem to leave you hanging? Oh, alright. I'll let the pictures tell the story of just WHAT BUBBY WON:






First, he got a helmet, then he got A BIKE! YEAH! Bubby was one of only TWO students whose names were drawn from the WHOLE SCHOOL of students with Perfect Attendance, and the prize is a BIKE! and a racer red helmet (safety first!). It's a COOL bike! Don't believe me? Wanna see MORE pictures? Well, alright, here ya go:






Isn't he so cute the way he poses with his brand new bike? Cool kid with his cool bike. What is he most excited about? The bike has a KICK STAND! hahahaha he cracks me up! This super bike has 20# tires and pegs on the back wheel.
I'm so excited for my sweet little buddy. This is a perfect end to a roller coaster of a year. I'm glad we get to end the ride of this school year on a HIGH! Congratulations, Bubby! You TOTALLY earned it! Thanks for being so good about getting ready every morning so you could get to school ON TIME. Way to go!

Some Pictures for You

I'm being brave today. I just hope brave does not turn into "sorry", and that nobody creepy views this blog with the hopes of snagging pictures of a cute baby and doing weird things with those pics. Okay, do I sound paranoid enough? I shouldn't be, since I think there are a grand total of about 3 people who even view my blog, and I know your intentions are legit! Anyway, I thought I would post so pics of my chillins for ya to enjoy. Most of these are from Easter. The first one is Little Man at my mom's grand Easter party. He hit the motherload with all those empty Easter eggs! Heaven!
The next is Bubby at the family Easter shindig, hunting eggs.
And Bubby climbing the walls to get an egg.
Then there's Little Man with his little egg at our house that morning.
The last is my favorite. A tender moment shared by brothers. My little loves!

On-A-Roll

This is my Bubby. Isn't he the cutest little chef you have ever laid eyes on? Let me tell you a little about Bubby.
It's been kind of a tough year for my sweet little blonde angel. Moving has really turned his world upside down. And we moved 3 times in the past year. So, that being said, his educational journey over the past year has been a roller coaster. Lots of emotional upsets and disappointments. Thankfully, this school year has brought us the most amazing teacher. She loves my little boy, and has been willing to work with Bubby to help him overcome his struggles.
And since we have moved into our new home, I think we have been turning a corner. I think my sweet boy is FINALLY feeling settled and secure. As a result, he has been able to get a handle on his emotional outbursts.
And he has been working REALLY hard at home and at school. Ove the past few months, homework has not been the nightmare it previously was. I wasn't sure if the changes I have been seeing at home have been taking place at school. So, I sent Bubby's teacher an e-mail and asked. And you know what? She has chosen him for this quarter's "On-A-Roll" student for her class. Every quarter, the teachers in each grade can choose one or two students from their class who has shown improvement from previous quarters, is working hard, and is generally worthy of the honor. I am so excited for my little guy! I am thrilled that his teacher is recognizing his improved attitude and efforts. I hope it is a good boost for him. And that life just gets nicer for him.
I love my little Bubby so much. He is such a happy boy. So I am so glad that he is getting back to his happy self! WAY TO GO, BUBBY!

Birthday Sister

Happy Birthday to my Sister Kari. I love that my Bubby and I got to call you and sing Happy Birthday to you while you were getting ready for school. I love that I get to see you more often while I'm living here in AZ too. And mostly, I love YOU! Happy Birthday, KJ!

Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of my LAST day as a Harvest Hills resident. Many emotions being felt. Mostly, I am grateful to have lived among the best neighbors in existence. I love you people.

Birthday Shout Out

Happy Birthday to my dear friend Suzanne. I love Suzanne. She is one of my old roommates from my Provo days, and we have some FUN memories! Can you believe we have known each other for 14 years? What! Where does the time go! Well, wherever it went, I am glad miss Suzanne has been a part of my life for these past 14 years! Love you!

Happy Birthday to my little buddy Bjorn today. Mr. B is 4 years old today. I had the pleasure, even the honor, of tending little B for the first year of his life. My Bubby and Bjorn think they are cousins! And they miss each other (since Bjorn lives in Utah and we have lived in AZ for the past year). And we can't WAIT to make a trip to Utah to visit all our family and friends. Anyway, we LOVE Bjorn, and we hope you have a super duper 4th birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to my cousin's grandaughter Lilianna, aka Lily Bug. I haven't met this dolly in person, since she lives in Colorado and we haven't made a trip to visit all my cousins there. But, from convos with her proud and adoring Grandma Amy Jo, miss Lily Bug is VERY smart. And early talker AND walker! I guess that's what happens when a child is raised by a village of adoring grown-ups! Anyway, happy 1st birthday Lily Bug!

TAGGED!

I hope this works! And BTW - this is the FIRST photo I have placed on this here blog of mine. I hope it's SAFE! But, since it's a picture of my Hubster, I think we'll be alright.

So anyway, I got PHOTO TAGGED by my dear friend (and former neighbor) Jenny. After she posted a picture of some other dear friends taken during a surprise baby shower Jenny threw from me last April just before my family and I moved to the great Southwest. And here are the rules:
1.) Go to the first Folder in your photos
2.) Choose the first File in that folder
3.) Take the 10th picture from that file and post it on your blog
4.) Share the story of that picture
5.) Tag at least 5 other people

SO, this is a picture of D when we went camping last Labor Day. It was cold and rainy the entire time. So much for camping in AZ! But thankfully, we were able to use a camper for that trip. It was an adventure!

Okay, I tag Janie (if you can get pictures to upload!), Liz, and well, I don't think anyone else even reads this blog! So, if you read it - you're tagged too!

SEVEN!!!!

This past Saturday, my little Bubby went and turned 7. What?!!? How did that happen? Where does the time go? Well, since he was born at 8:20 on the morning of March 27, 2003, at 8:20 in the morning on March 27, 2010, D and I sang happy birthday to the boy who made us parents. We sang all the birthday songs we know. Then, we sat and told him the story of the day he was born. It was a very sacred moment for us to relive. We told him all about that first day, and who came to see him. And how we couldn't decide on a name, so we wrote all the possibilities on the white board in our room and as people came to visit, they would give us their opinion. And that night, we took him for a walk around the maternity ward and discussed the names we liked most. We went to bed that night with a prayer in our hearts, and when we awoke the following morning, we both had the same name in our minds. And that is how he got his name!

After reminiscing, we made breakfast. I made a special pancake for Bubby shaped like a 7. He loved it! After Little Man woke up from his morning nap, we loaded up and went to a city event that had blow up toys and performances, and a 16 foot albino python. We all got a Snowie, Bubby jumped in a bouncehouse, petted the python, made a penant at an art station, and then we left for a 7 year old's paradise for lunch - McDonald's. With a play land. Not my choice, but it wasn't my birthday! Then we went to Haba's house to play with the cousins that were there. After a few hours of play, we picked up pizza and a movie, went home, put Little Man to bed, and enjoyed our pizza and and a movie with our 7 year old. He loved it!

The day after his birthday, we had a family reunion (of sorts) with all the family that was in town for my niece's wedding, and I had made 2 cakes. One that was not fancy. One that I decorated to look like a cell phone (Bubby LOVES LOVES LOVES phones). With the piece that I cut off to shape the cell phone, I made a number 7, which ended up being Bubby's cake to blow out candles (since he had a cold, I gave him his own cake so his germs would not be spread all over the cake others would be digging into!). The whole family got to sing to him. Boy did he feel special!

Okay, so here are 7 things I LOVE about Bubby:
1. My little Bubby is so tenderhearted.
2. He has a great imagination. He can entertain himself for HOURS playing by himself.
3. I love my little snuggle bug.
4. Bubby is an amazing big brother. He loves to carry his baby brother around. And he helps his dad with Little Man's bedtime routine every night.
5. He loves to help. In the kitchen, in the yard, with the cleaning. Everything but making his bed :)
6. My bubby gives great hugs and says "I love you" at least a dozen times a day.
7. Bubby made me a mommy. I couldn't ask for a better child to be my firstborn.

I love you Bubby! Thanks for coming to our family!

Spring Break and a Wedding

So, we stayed home for spring break. I know, not much fun. But, I tried to do SOMETHING sorta fun/outta the ordinary with Bubby just about every day. So, here goes:
Day 1 (Monday): I babysat a darling 6 month old all day. But, during the babies' naps, Bubby and I built a fort in the family room using 2 blankets, 2 towels, 1 couch, 3 kitchen chairs, a giant teddy bear (as a weight on a chair), a diaper bag and an infant carrier. Then Bubby moved some trucks in, and he and I played trucks in the fort for about 25 minutes until one of the babies woke up. Since we don't re-arrange the furniture often in order to build forts, this was a special treat and Bubby enjoyed. Simple pleasures!
Day 2 (Tuesday): During Little Man's morning nap, I sat outside on a law chair and watched Bubby ride his bike with the neighbor girl. Then, after Little Man woke up, we ate lunch, then headed to the park to play. Got hot and sweaty and came home. But, we came home a different way than we walked to the park, thus we had a little adventure learning our neighborhood a little better!
Day 3 (Wednesday): Bubby got to take a bubble bath in the middle of the day. This was fun because 1.) He doesn't get baths anymore. He has been taking a shower every morning before school for almost 2 years now and 2.) He hasn't had a BUBBLE bath for a very long time. He thought this was lots of fun. Oh, and the Little Man stood on the outside of the tub and laughed and laughed and Bubby in his bubbles. The shoe was on the other foot, as it were, since every night Bubby is on the outside of the tub entertaining Little Man during HIS bedtime bath. It was pretty cute!
Day 4 (Thursday): This day was a dud, since Little Man woke up with goopy eyes, a running faucet in place of his nose, and a low grade fever. AND I babysat for 4 hours in the morning. Having a sick baby makes the creative juices dry up! Thankfully, Bubby was happy to watch some movies that day. AND when D got home, he saved the day by offering a swim in the FRIGID swimming pool. Bubby loved it!
Day 5 (Friday): I don't remember what we did during the day, but in the afternoon we met up with D and the grocery store and purchased foods fit for a campout, and then we went home and had a back yard campout! Since we don't have any living plants in the backyard - it is a fenced pool, and gravel everywhere else - D dug a hole in the gravel, built a fire, and we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. And, he and Bubby pitched a tent to camp in the backyard. Alas, I did not join the tent party, since Little Man was sleeping in his crib in the house (We do NOT sleep outdoors in a tent with a sick baby, no no!), and SOMEONE needed to sleep in the house in case the baby were to wake up in the night! So, while D and Bubby hung out in the tent, I had a pamper mommy time. I took a bubble bath, gave myself a pedi, and read a book. All the while listening to my little Bubby outside coughing his guts out and wondering when D would pull the plug on sleeping outside and bring that boy in! After my bath and pedi, I went to bed and watched a chick flick. As my movie was ending (about 11:30 pm), in walked D and Bubby, having not slept at all yet and deciding the coughing was not going to stop while out in the cold. It was still a fun night, though!

And that was spring break.

The next week - just the past Friday (March 26), my beautiful niece got married. It was so much fun. D worked in the kitchen most of the time (he's just at home in the kitchen). And since some of my Colorado cousins had come for the wedding, I got all sorts of visiting in. And Bubby worked at the wedding, too! He and some of his cousins took on the role of clearing tables! They had cookie sheets and the lids to some storage bins (not sure where those came from) and went around for at least an hour clearing dishes. Bubby even got tipped a dollar from one guest! So cute! At one point, he came out of the kitchen with an empty tray, and as he past me he said, "Hi mom. I'm doing a good job!" Oh my heart just melted! Later when the dancing started, his dad had to convince him the dishes were all cleared and he could dance. And dance he did. In fact, most of the adults didn't dance because all the little kids were so fun to watch as THEY danced! So fun! Thanks for getting married, Wendy! It was so fun to get together with family!

Tender Mercy at 2 O'Clock

Two o'clock this morning, that's when my Little Man and I were privy to a little miracle, or tender mercy, call it what you may. My sweet baby boy fell victim to his first long-termish cold last Thursday. AND it's still going. At least the fever hasn't returned since Saturday. Now we are on to wicked coughing fits (which Bubby has been experiencing for over a week as well). Last night was the worst coughing fit yet.

I awoke at 1:20 am (THIS morning) after being aware of Little Man coughing for quite some time. I decided it was time to intervene. Since pretty much all infant cold medicines have been pulled, I haven't dosed him up with anything for the congestion, just put a humidifier in his room. But I digress. I decided to get a baby bottle, and a little Vicks Vapo-Rub, and headed into the baby's room. My poor little man was bent over his legs coughing and moaning. Sweet thing. I rubbed the Vick's on his chest, got him out of bed and started feeding him a bottle. Once he downed 6 ounces, he coughed so hard he spit up a bit. Then, he was restless. I rocked. I stood and swayed. I grabbed a blanket and snuggled it around him and tried to soothe. He remained restless. Not fussy. Just couldn't get back to sleep. SO, after about 30-40 minutes of failed attempts to get my sweet Little Man back to sleep, I finally whispered to him, "My sweet boy, you MUST go to sleep so your body can get well. You can either fall asleep while I rock you, or I can put you back in your bed and you can fuss it out in your bed. But you really need to go to sleep." I said this to a 10 month old (I know, I know). And you know what? He turned his head, took a deep breath and relaxed! Then, the tender mercy:

As I rocked my sweet baby boy, who was trying his hardest to relax into a sleepful state, I said a silent prayer. Here's the gist of it:
I addressed my Heavenly Father, and I bore my testimony to Him that I KNEW he had the power to heal my child, and that He had the power to calm my little boy's cough and help him to rest so that he could be well. Then, I asked with all the faith that I have for Heavenly Father to exercise that power and PLEASE touch my child with His healing hand and calm his cough and help him rest so that his little body can heal and be whole. I finished my prayer, tucked my baby back into his bed, and went to my room. He coughed two quick coughs, and his cough was calmed FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT! He slept restfully until 7 am, at which time he woke up HAPPY! He still has a runny nose, and coughs a bit, but our Heavenly Father heeded this mother's desperate plea to help her baby.

God is good. He loves us. And he indeed shows His tender mercies to his children.

Still Alive, Just...in a New House!

So, I caught some flack from my good friend Sara the other day for not updating my blog since Christmas. Well, I posted some pictures on Facebook. But apparently, that's not enough. Sheesh! (Just playing, Sar! You know - handing back a little flack...grin!).

So, since Christmas...
D's parents came to visit the week before New Years. We had a wonderful time hanging out, meeting pool fence contractors at the new house (okay, that was not a wonderful time, but it's something we did!), eating at Joe's Farm Grill - YUM!, playing with my boys, and doing a little shopping. Thank you for coming to visit us! OH - and of course, no visit with Grammie and Grandpa would be complete without a few presents! Both my little guys LOVE theirs! And we grown-ups are still trying to decide how to SPEND ours!

The week after New Years, we closed on our new house. Got a pool fence installed, painted our house - thanks to my brother for donating the paint, to my dad for countless hours of cutting in the ceiling, to my nephew for helping me paint Bubby's room, and my sister for helping us paint into the wee hours of the morning, and a HUGE thanks to my husband for painting ALL DAY that Saturday - then we started moving in (this process took 3 1/2 days before we finally SLEPT at our new house a week and a half after we signed papers). Boxes are unpacked, and we even have some pictures hung. AND I've hosted a Pampered Chef Show. Go us!

Bubby got a Perfect Attendance award for the second quarter in a row. Really, that's MY award, since I am the "taskmaster" every morning and make sure he gets to school everyday ON TIME! So, go me again! Also, Bubby is a VERY GOOD big brother. He loves to make Little Man laugh, loves to help his dad give his baby brother a bath, and has taken to picking up his baby brother and carting him around the house. I just love how he plays with his brother. Warms my little heart right up!

The Little Man now has 5 teethe - the two middle toppers, the two middle bottoms, and the one just on the left of the top middle. And he's working on the bottom one on that side AND the top right. They just keep comin'! AND he started crawling about a month ago. Now he crawls all over the house and is becoming quite the little explorer! AND he's close to pulling himself up to standing. AND he thinks Bubby is the funniest person on the planet! He has a very cute giggle, and is developing a sense of humor. When I go in to get him from his nap, He'll pick up his blankets and play hide and seek with them, and just smile really big! He will do this for at least ten minutes before I get done with the game and just take him out!

As we were moving into our house, the HOA D was in charge of ended their contract with the company he works for. That HOA was only 15 minutes from our new house. He has been driving in to the office ( a 45 minute to 1 hour drive, depending on traffic). Bummer. But, the company gave him a company truck to drive, since he is not only going into the office, but also has been driving all over the valley checking out some of the other jobsites to make sure they are running as efficiently as possible. So, he goes in pretty early - leaving the house at 6. But, he is usually home between 4 and 5, so he's still getting home at a decent time. Which I LOVE!

Over President's Day/Valentine's weekend, my good friend Liz and her girls came over. I made a fun Valentine's dinner, complete with heart shaped Chicken Roll-ups with pink gravy, Strawberry Lemonade to drink, Red table cloth, heart confetti on the table, and a little valentine gift for each of the kids on their plate. For dessert? Pink Heart shaped cupcakes, of course! Liz and the girls spent the night, and the next day (President's Day) we loaded up all the kids and drove down to the Tucson area and hiked around Catalina State Park. It was lots of fun! On the way there, we cranked up some tunes and sang at the top of our lungs - and the kids sang at the top of their lungs, too! Thanks for the fun weekend, Liz!

The day after President's Day was D's birthday. We went to Texas Roadhouse for his birthday dinner. YUM! Happy Birthday, Babe! Love you!

Well, that pretty much catches us up! More pictures will be posted on FB soon. I don't have internet at my house yet, so I use my mom's whenever I'm at her house. Thus, this post! So, thanks for your patience.