Happy First Birthday

The day has arrived. My baby is ONE today! It has been the fastest year of my life. It feels like I just gave birth to this sweet boy yesterday! I'm glad it wasn't yesterday. He has brought so much LOVE & JOY into our home. It has been a fabulous year.

We have enjoyed an easy going, calm day. After we dropped Garrett off @ preschool, we went & ordered Brody his own 6 in. birthday cake from Safeway. Kind of a bummer that they don't do the free birthday cakes anymore. The lady @ the Bakery gave him a cookie (w/ my permission) & he went to town. He hasn't had very many sweets up until this point. Ummm yeah, we'll just say that he LOVED the cookie. We have hung out, read books & did the lunch thing @ home. It has been a nice morning/afternoon.

We ended the day with cupcakes & presents. Aunt Heidi & the girls called to sing Happy Birthday to Brody. It was so cute, he was singing with them & didn't want to give the phone back.

At 12 months this is what Brody is up to:

-weighing in @ 26 lbs. 3 oz..

-he is 32 in. long.

-he wears a size 4 diaper.

-his clothing size is 18 mo. - 2 T.

-he got his 1st pair of big boy shoes, gotta love Stride Rite.

-he puts everything in his mouth- keeps Mom up to speed on the cleaning the floors.

-he has learned how to get up on the sofa, kitchen chairs, & coffee table, nothing is safe!

-he loves to take baths. He will fill his cup with water & then dump it out.

-he loves to unload drawers, specifically my t shirt drawer!

-Loves to suck on the baby lotion bottle-don't ask.

-he enjoyed juice (1/2 water) in his sippy cup for the first time.

-he went to the beach for the first time. Loved the sand but hated the water.

-he still takes 2 naps-one in the morning & one in the afternoon.

-can say the word "noooooo". Wonder where her learned that????

-he loves when you sing to him, a few favorites are "Happy Birthday", "If You're Happy & You know it" & The Wheels On the Bus".

- loves his blankie. He gets so upset if the boys tease him & run around with it.

-he receives compliments all the time on what a happy baby he is. He loves to smile @ everyone.

-still has 6 teeth-four up, 2 down.

-he likes to dance. If he hears music, he will start to bop up & down.

-he is on the verge of running. Likes to walk everywhere.

-he loves fruit puffs by Gerber & Fruity Cheerios.

Happy Birthday Baby Brody! We Love You so much!

Brody's First Year 2007-2008

Mother's Day 2008

Happy Mother's Day to each of you!

I enjoyed a fabulous Mother's Day weekend. We had a busy weekend. We enjoyed baseball games, a photo shoot for Brody's first birthday pictures, date night for John & I, a trip to Santa Cruz, & Mother's Day/Brody's 1st birthday dinner with the family. Whew, we packed a ton of activities into this short weekend. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time with my family & watch all of the cousins run & play. They sure do love getting together. My boys made me some wonderful cards, treats, & even spoiled me with a gift cards to Green Tangerines. I received one from the boys & one from John. I am so grateful to have these boys in my life & for the chance I get to be their Mom. I pray every day for help. I pray that I am doing what I need to do raise these boys right. I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother who has taught me all I know. I am thankful for her wonderful example, testimony of the Gospel & Love. I am thankful for my Mother & Law. She passed away almost 12 years ago (on June 1st). I am thankful for the son she raised. John is wonderful & I am grateful to my Mother in Law for teaching him & for raising him right.

Again, Happy Mother's Day. I hope your family spoiled each of your rotten. You deserve it!

P.S. You can hit the VIEW ALL IMAGES button below to see photos frokm our weekend. I am not sure what happened to it ??? It is not popping up with the rest of the post!

I CAN'T wait!!!

Oh my goodness! I CAN'T wait. One of my favorite reads from last summer will hit the BIG screen this year. The book TWILIGHT has been made into a movie. The trailer looks awesome! I sure hope they did the book justice.

I am thinking Girls Night Out! Anyone want to join me? Mark your calendars for 12-12-2008.

On another happy note, the 4th book in this series is being released in August! Woot-Woot! Happy Days!

Three Word Answers about me

What I am doing: blogging, chores , shopping

What I’m proud of today: showered by 7

What I’m thinking about: shopping @ Gap

Who is home: 2 boys, me

Plans tonight: movie @ home

My weekend was: filled with baseball

What’s for dinner: I don't know

Feelings about love: thankful for it

Feelings about life: content, happy, grateful

What I need: lots more sleep

What I want: A happy family

My pet peeve: rudeness in general

My guilty pleasure: my alone time

What you don’t know about me: One big sap

What I can hear: boys playing chase

What I can smell: my eternity perfume

My style: simple, cute accessories

My hairdo: need a haircut

My outfit: Capri's, flip flops

My mood: tired but happy

The weather today: blue sky, sunshine

Thoughts on parenting: love, kindness, rewarding

Thoughts on marriage: grateful for hubby

Thoughts on politics: makes me crazy

Thoughts on celebrity gossip: I am interested

Thoughts on beauty: it is everywhere

Thoughts on sleep: don't get enough

Thoughts on writing: I try hard

My favorite appliance: my red vacuum

My favorite car: fits my family

My favorite splurge: pedicures, itunes, books

My favorite beauty secret: protect your skin

My favorite treat: Coldstone ice cream

My favorite everyday pleasure: diet coke, children

Ten years ago: pregnant with Tanner

Five years ago: bought first home

One year ago: waiting for Brody

One year from now: won't be pregnant

Five years from now: shy of 40- (am I that old???)

Ten years from now: Tanner on mission

I’m famous for: my Raimi doll

I’ll never be famous for: my singing voice

Who I am: concerned kind person

Who I hope to be: great Mom, wife

What I’m thankful for: my blessings galore

Tuesdays with Carter

Tuesday is the craziest day of the week for me. Garrett goes to preschool for 3 hours (drop off & pick up), then he has a speech class in the next town over for 1/2 hour(I wait in my car), I help in Carter's class & then you add all of the other activities (sports, practices, work, homework, etc...) that happen everyday & it is BUSY!

It never fails, Carter asks me every Tuesday if I will stay & eat lunch with him. Their lunch period begins as I finish up in the classroom. I figure I better enjoy the invite while I can. I am sure that in a few years he will stop asking me to join he & his friends for lunch. I love sitting with him & chatting with his friends. They are a lively bunch. I hear "Hi Mrs. K" from all corners of the cafeteria. By the way, when I hear Mrs. K, I still look for my Mother in Law :). I am too young to be called Mrs. K! This is why I love working in my boys classrooms, you get to know the children & they know you. I love my Tuesdays with Carter. He is such a great kid. He can often be found looking out for the under dogs. He is the boy that will invite the one boy to eat lunch with him when the others have said they don't want to sit by this little boy. He defends the children who are picked on. He has a big heart & it makes me so proud. My heart broke today while eating lunch with Carter. The lunch tables were not set up today, so the kids can sit on the floor, which they love doing -EEEEWWWWW! There are a few benches along the back wall & that is where we sat. As I sat there today, I saw a little girl approach another little girl who was sitting on the bench. She put her lunch down & went to sit when the little girl said, "you can't sit there, my FRIEND is going to sit there". This is where my heart broke & my eyes filled up with tears. The little girl picked up her lunch, got up & moved farther down the bench. She sat all by herself. It was awful. With 900 children attending that school, there is no reason someone should feel left out or feel like they have to eat lunch alone. We tried to invite her to sit with us but I think the group of 6 rowdy boys scared her away. I have been thinking about her all day & can still see her face when she was told that she could not sit there. So...my challenge for the day, for everyday is to take time to smile or talk to the people who may need a friend. A kind word sure does go a long way!

I love my Tuesdays with Carter. I love watching him with his friends. I love getting little glimpses of his day while he is away from home. And I love that I know that he has eaten his sandwich on Tuesdays!

Drum Roll Please...

The lucky winners are Katie & Free! WOOT-WOOT! Congrats ladies. Katie, you were right about feeling lucky. I'm sorry that I didn't post this earlier in the day. I taught the Make & Take @ Green Tangerines tonight & then had to make a stop @ Wal*Mart. Not my favorite place to be @ 10 pm @ night... the boys needed stuff for their lunches. John drew the names while half asleep (thanks John). You can thank him for drawing your names or you can tell him to do better next time :). I will put your Ki Memories kits in the mail tomorrow. It was fun to read all of your comments. Thanks for playing!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I hope somebody ate an extra burrito for me. Mexican food is my favorite & I didn't get to enjoy anything remotely close to Mexican food!

Have a Happy Tuesday!