my Mother's Day weekend

I'm really liking my family's tradition of dragging out birthdays and holidays for as long as we possibly can! Instead of just 1 day for Mother's Day this year, it became a weekend!

It's only my 2nd Mother's Day being a Mom myself, but my hubby is a pro & made me feel VERY loved and appreciated! We started out with a date night on Friday and went to the movies (we saw "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past...NOT WORTH IT!), then we spent Saturday with his parents in Portland, shopping & eating at the Cheescake Factory! I've been wanting to get a hanging plant for my back patio and guess what beautiful flowers I got for Mother's Day...fuschia!

B. was so sweet about it & even got me a little watering pale...but he's the one who has to water it because I can't really reach! (FYI, I'm about 7 months pregnant & had no intention of posting pics of me and my belly...don't expect any more!)
I also got this awesome addition to my slowly growing collection of Willow Tree statues. It's a Mother with her 2 boys...it's called, "Quietly" which is ironic since I've never associated having 2 boys as being anything close to quiet!

In church on Sunday they gave all the Mother's Sees' Candy (now that's how you show appreciation!) and we had dinner & dessert (fresh strawberry pie from Marie Calendars) with my in-laws (Grandpa is an excellent cook!). With all our activities...little bubba got wore out!
Saturday night we watched another movie -"Bride Wars" and we were disappointed with that one too, so when we finished Mother's Day with a movie of my choice...umm I didn't want to have a 3rd failure, so a 5th viewing of "Twilight" was the only option!

It was SO NICE to have such a good weekend! I LOVE my family and am very excited to meet our new baby soon!

I love you, Mom and I'm grateful to have you -you are my best friend!

to answer your question...

My sister- who has 4 kids of her own- sees me with my 1 and often asks..."What do you do all day?" Now I know she's truly baffled by what could possibly fill my day when there's only 1 child to keep alive, and I didn't know how to answer her until I started taking notice of what I do all day...

1st, I clean up this mess...

then I clean up this one...

(I have to scavenger for all my rugs that he has moved throughout the house)

If I'm lucky, he'll play right where I need to stand in the kitchen to make lunch or dinner...

If I'm REALLY lucky, the weather will be nice enough to let him go outside

(usually not that lucky!)

I search for lost shoes....usually mine!

(B. doesn't like knowing that his son walks around in his mom's shoes all day!)

And, just when I think I've managed to keep this 1 child alive another day...
he discovers climbing.

I pray he NEVER gives up his nap time...

Because I'm about to be outnumbered and I will soon ask myself (as my sis does often)...

"what did I do all day with just 1?"

love ya sis, you're a rock star!!!

Happy Meal

We treated the little guy to a happy meal last week (thanks to his Mamas & Poppa!) and his favorite part was having his own drink! He kept sharing with Mommy & Daddy and thought it was so funny to feed daddy (he'd reach behind his head and shove a fry in dad's mouth). And, since when does McDonald's not give out toys in their happy meals?! What's with these kids cd's? Maybe if my kid was old enough to care about getting a cd...how am I supposed to keep him entertained so I can eat my own lunch? It's not like there was a cd player at the table for me to use, so he didn't get to play with anything afterwards, bummer. ;)

all the kidies

While we were visiting my fam in Utah, we took a picture of all the grandchildren (tried...). It proved rather difficult as we got them all dressed up and then took them out on the playground and said....now sit still! What did we expect?! With kids ranging in age from about 6 months to 6 years old...sitting still on a playground in sunny, warm weather is IMPOSSIBLE!

We did manage to get one with Mamas surrounded by her grandkids.This was the best we got of the kids together...the bigger our family gets, the harder it is to get the kids to take a picture (by the time you get one settled, another one has moved!)We let them play around for a while afterwards...amazing how they found their smiles so easily then! I got a few pictures of them while they were playing...
The newest edition...until July! He's adorable and so easy-going, which is a good thing, because it's my sis' #4, so there's a lot going on with #1, 2, & 3 already!

Such a diva! She KNOWS she's adorable and no need to ask "who's a princess?!"....she'll let you know she is! But, as the only girl with 3 brothers...she deserves royal treatment!

Definitely the man of trouble! He's adorable too, but don't let that fool you!

And here's the oldest grandkid! I asked him who his favorite superhero is and this is what he showed me! He's a lot of fun! (by-the-way...I asked his brother -pic above-who his fav superhero was and his answer was typical..."ME!")

These are the 2 dolls from AZ! My bro's kids and they have another on the way (due Oct.!) and excited to say, it's a boy! My brother is VERY excited to get a boy and we're happy for them too.

Mostly it was all the adults chasing all the kids....how many adults does it take for a grandkid photo shoot? (ALL OF THEM!)

new hair...again

What's a trip to Utah without a new hair style?! My sister thinks I plan my visits around my hair and when it needs to be redone...she may be right!
So, because it had been a few months, I decided it was time for another change (changing my hair is so common with me it's not even considered "change" anymore!)
My husband says he' never knows what to expect when I come home...it's like he gets a whole new woman every time!

Happy Birthday To Me

We went to Red Robin yesterday for lunch to celebrate my birthday! KEMM joined us along with my in-laws, it's been so long since we've been there to eat -we had a good time!

I got an awesome new digital camera (point-and-shoot, so I don't have to carry around my big one all the time!) and I LOVE it! Thanks!

Later, we went to a pool party for some cousins' birthdays (they did a joint party, which was really cool!) and the little guy loved swimming! We weren't sure how he would do since it's been since last summer that we've been swimming, but once he got in he didn't want to get out.

None of us have been feeling well since getting back from Utah, so it's been hard to really enjoy my birthday, but oh well!

You know what makes everything better though...chocolate covered strawberries!!! My awesome, amazing, mother-in-law made some for me for my birthday and they're already gone! Thanks so much!

FYI...I'm getting very excited to meet baby Bennett! I'm ready for him to get here (it's not like I'm sleeping all that well right now anyways!) Only about 2 1/2 months left!

Love you Mom, Happy Birthday...SURPRISE!

The little guy and I just got back from visiting my Mom and the rest of my family in Utah. It was a big surprise visit for my Mom's birthday and even my older bro & sis-in-law came up from Arizona with their 2 girls to surprise her!

I wish I had the picture of her face when she saw all of us...she was definitely surprised!

(since I was in UT visiting family this weekend...I obviously wasn't home painting like I said, just trying to keep Mom off the secret! But, Bruce stayed home and he was painting for me, thanks babe! the room isn't done yet, it's more of a watermelon now than just pink...improvement?)

It was the first time my little guy and his cousin Kylee have met (they're 1 week apart in age) and it was interesting...he's kind of a bully!

For my Mom's birthday gift, we made sure to get an updated picture of all her grandkids together (there are 7 now, with 2 on the way!)...even though it will be outdated in just a couple months! I don't have it loaded on my computer to post yet, but these were taken the last evening we were together while the kids were playing around. I wanted to get a couple of Chase with some of his cousins....but they ALL wanted in on the action (funny...why weren't they this way when we were doing the actual photo shoot?!).

I don't remember asking them to make a funny face...but all of them seem to have had the same idea at the same time!

I think they were getting the idea from all the adults standing behind me making faces to get them to smile & laugh!

When I was done taking pictures, I got up and started to walk away...but a few of the kids wanted to do what the adults were doing...trying to get the other kids to keep smiling...I thought it was funny and got a picture of them trying to make the other kids smile for the camera that wasn't around anymore!

When I was planning the trip out there, my sis suggested getting this monkey back-pack that has a leash for a tail, so I could keep tabs on my, very active, little guy while we went through the airport. He liked wearing it...if he could hold the leash himself...(kind of counter-productive, but oh well!). It worked out pretty good actually and I didn't have to struggle to keep in close! I wanted to get a picture of him in the airport with it on and as soon as I got out the camera he was smiling and ready for his picture to be taken...later a bunch of people commented on how cute they thought he was and how he loved the camera, I didn't realize he was drawing such a crowd of attention!

We had a good time and it was fun to surprise my Mom! We're looking forward to having my parents & sis come out for baby Bennett's arrival this summer!

(P.S. - congrats to my bro Billy & sis-in-law Bri on their little one expected in Oct...I'm not spilling boy/girl until they say so first on their blog!)

say goodbye to pink!

When we moved into our new house the previous owners had painted most of the rooms (pretty much ALL of the rooms!). Mostly, none of the paint choices bother me enough to do anything about it...too much work! BUT, their daughter's room was painted pink stripes...cute, I guess, but definitely NOT for me! I was even willing to let this go if we were going to have a girl (which is saying something about how little I want to repaint, because I really don't like pink!) but since we're having another boy...away it goes! We bought paint and have taped off most of the room. This is our big project this weekend! We finally get some gorgeous weather and we're going to spend the time indoors, painting.

little rocking chair

Grandma & Grandpa have this adorable little rocking chair and my hubby has been asking me for months to get a picture of our little guy in it before he gets too big. When we went to take the pictures, Little Bubba was really excited, but he wouldn't let go of his sippy cup!Daddy got in on the action too! They were dressed the same...but I don't think it was intentional.
We got a couple cute shots in...he's sporting his "Boys Rule" t-shirt and with another little boy on the way...I agree!

Finally, after we were all done he just sat on the couch like he was sooo tired from his photo shoot! hahaha, what a poser!

Easter Sunday

We had a good day on Easter (aside from the rain, which moved out Easter egg hunt indoors)! First we got ready for church and Little Bubba was in a good mood! He's a pro with the camera...always has his smile ready!

After we got home from church we ate lunch and put the little guy down for nap, but afterwards Grandma & Grandpa came over to watch him with his first ever Easter egg hunt! It's not really a "hunt" when all the eggs are sitting out in plain sight, but he's only 17 months...you make do! He got a few things in his basket, but mostly he was interested in getting the eggs!
I don't have pictures of him picking up eggs (it's on video) but he was pretty cute to watch. He REFUSED to put them in his Easter basket and would instead insist on stacking them in the corner. He go pick up an egg, then run back to his stash and add it, then run to another egg...funny guy! It was even better when he realized there was stuff inside (we used plastic eggs)...he started throwing them to watch them break open, and he thought he was quit funny.


A tradition that we started (2nd year we've done it now) is to read "In The Garden" - a children's book about the story of Easter and Christ. Mamas & Papa got it for him last Easter and we think it's a great way to focus on the real meaning and reason for Easter!

We finished the day with an awesome dinner at Grandma & Grandpa's house (Little Bubba always love going over there, and especially sitting in his very own chair they got for him!). Thanks for dinner!

successful day?

Today I got up and fed the little guy breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the downstairs, mopped the floors, created & emailed a newsletter for church, took a shower AND washed my hair! All before 10:30 am...I'd say it's been a pretty successful day!

Now...if I could just win the lottery and manage to get a long nap too...!Here's the little guy helping me take pictures at church, he was showing all the women how you pose and look at the camera when it's pointed at you!

want it...

I want this chair from Pier 1 Imports...but there's no way I'm spending $450 on it, even if it is "on sale". Oh well...Little Bubba is enjoying the empty, furniture-challenged house right now!

folding his arms

Just these last couple days, Little Bubba has started folding his arms for prayer. It's really adorable and I can't believe he actually does something we ask him to! (obeying is NOT one of his best traits right now!) He doesn't keep them folded, but hey it's a start!
He won't say the words he used to and we think he's just being stubborn about the whole talking thing...why use words when screaming and whining work too?! And this way, mommy gets to work on her patience problem at the same time!

But, when I see him fold his arms for prayer, I think we must be doing something right!

Happy Birthday Dr.!

We've officially started the birthday festivities! Birthdays have turned into a week-long event in my family due mostly to busy schedules and chaotic lives! Now that I've got a family of my own...not much has changed there!
I got up early (which I DON'T do for just anyone) and made my man some cinnamon rolls for breakfast (it took a lot of time popping open the Pillsbury can!) and also today they celebrated B.'s birthday at his office and they decorated his area with Superman stuff (you can get older, but you never really grow up!). We (of course the little guy had to help!) opened presents after he got home.Little Bubba got his daddy some new running shoes...which daddy needs in order to keep up with him now! His oh-so-loving, amazingly thoughtful, giving, extraordinary wife (his words, I assure you...!) got him a massage, he has an appointment for relaxation later this week! (hint to my hubby...I have a birthday coming up soon too!)

Because of the Superman themed party at his office today, we surprised B. right before lunch and the little guy was wearing a Superman cape. He was VERY excited to see daddy and started cheering when we pulled into the parking lot...he recognizes the building now, how funny!
After dinner B. put the cape on the little guy again and he thought that was great! He started running all around the house just watching it fly behind him. Then he'd also try to hide behind it. Life father, like son!!!

Aside from B.'s favorite cassarole and lemon cupcakes (his favorite...definitely NOT mine!) that I made today for him, we're having his birthday dinner with his parents later this week (like I said...week-long birthdays are now a tradition!). Also coming up, we're going out to the movies! Usually we go out to a restaurant of the birthday boy's choice and invite any family or friends that want to come, but this year he decided he just wanted to go to the movies with me instead (ahh how sweet), I'm good with that too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK BABE!!!

(and p.s. - we don't care that you're old!)

evening at the park

After dinner we decided to take the little guy to a park nearby (no rain today!). Mostly he was interested in just walking around, or the 2 dogs that were there with their owner, but we got him to try a few things. Its an older park in a small neighborhood so there were some old school playground toys there, like an old-fashioned single, super tall slide (okay so it probably just seemed super tall when we were kids...). And, there were these rocking horses there too -haven't seen those on a playground in ages!

I'm SO ready for the weather to warm up, give me summer (I'll skip spring if I can have summer!). It will be nice to let Little Bubba get out of the house and play! (not that he wouldn't love to go out and play in the rain and mud...every mom's dream-come-true!)