A birthday on the square

I'm terrible at planning birthday parties or fun activities. For anyone: my husband, my friends, my parents, myself, and most importantly my kids :( I'm kind of a procrastinating, scatter-brained, social-a-phobe and the thought of arranging a get together with more than one or two people stresses me out... Just laying it out there! So Anders' birthday was approaching and we still had no plans... Then "Aunt" Jen and I decided it had been too long since we had seen each other and decided to get together for a small little birthday at Marietta Square. Thankfully, Daddy was free and "Uncle" Kevin tagged along and we all had a pleasant time enjoying our gelato and watching the boys play at the "choo choo park" (which just happens to be Casen's "favoritest favorite park" EVAR!) A good time was had by all. Love you guys!

One Year Down!

August 2 was Anders' birthday. Somehow a year has managed to pass us by. I truly don't know how this happened. Anders was that little baby that rocked my world. Obviously we expected that life change with Casen who changed my life by giving my the forever title of "Mom", but the change that occurred in me when Anders was born was quite unexpected. I just assumed that we were adding another number to our family. Rounding it out. Making our family more "legit", so I was surprised when he drastically changed my life by his entrance to this world. My pregnancy was "easy", my labor and birth experience just as much so, but man he turned my life upside down on August 2, 2012. I remember looking at him late one night in the hospital and thinking, "Oh my gosh, this is real life. I am now a mother of TWO." I kept repeating it to myself, as if I hadn't had 9 months to get it to sink in. Of course it didn't, as big things in my life rarely do. (Darn you, Depersonalization.) Even then I still wasn't aware of how much weight that carried. 

Since bringing Anders home from the hospital, I have been humbled in so many ways. Casen was a very easy baby in regards to how much attention he needed, but Anders was another story. He was completely dependent on me for comfort, since I was (and still am?!?!) strictly nursing and we co-slept, so he grew to be very mommy-centric. It was like being a new mom all over again. We had to use all new tactics and strategies with this one. (So funny how that works.)

All this to say, Anders has made me realize what is most important to me, and that is my children and my family. His arrival has caused me to look deeper behind what I truly want deep down for me and my family. He helped push me to learn how to follow through and make changes that I know need to be made. He kinda put the stamp on my future in the sense that he helped me realize, "Hey, this IS real life." My life. My babies, my boys, my responsibility, my passion, my joy, my everything. So with the birth of Anders not only did we welcome his new life, but mine as well. For that I will forever have a special place in my heart for him and these lessons I have learned since he joined our family.

Happy belated birthday baby boy. <3 

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always.

As long as I'm living, 

my baby you'll be.

Three Years... What??

So yesterday was Casen's THIRD birthday! I know... How, right? I have no idea how three years have sped by so quickly. We were originally planning on spending the day just relaxing outside and flying the new kite that he got for his birthday. When we saw that it was going to be a yucky, rainy day here in Huntsvegas, we decided to head up to Nashville for the day and spend the night. It was still pretty yucky in Nashville but we at least got to indulge in a ton of good food here and here and ice cream and cupcakes. So good. 

The only pictures we got on his actual birthday were these I took of the road. I know... Exciting right? It was just so dreary all day that we kept forgetting to take pictures of anything. Plus we had a minor fender bender, but that's another story for another day...

We stopped by the park Saturday morning on the way out of town, though. Everything was still wet, but at least it wasn't raining!

And then we had to stop by REI for Fico, of course. That is his playground. ;P

Happy birthday, baby boy. I love you so much.

//\\//mommy//\\//

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

For those of you that don't know my father, you are truly missing out. He is unlike anyone else on this planet. To start, he is the nicest giant you'll ever meet. At 6'6" and 'X' amount of pounds, he is the best hugger I know, but beware, he could very well pop your head off if he squeezes too hard, which is highly likely. He is full of more knowledge -- both useful and pointless -- than Wikipedia and his beliefs and opinions are no one else's but his own. I love that he plays by his own rules and doesn't let anyone drag him down, for too long at least. I am very proud of him for who he is and that he is constantly striving to be better. A better father, grandfather, brother, son, husband, workerman, person.  

There are so many things about my Daddy for which I am grateful. For providing a childhood full of laughter, meals, memories, experiences, etc. For providing for us. For taking us on countless trips to places that were full of history and culture and reality. For opening our eyes to the world. For not killing me as a teenager. I am grateful that he tried his hardest to be the best dad he knew to be and he truly was. Looking back I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

I am learning who I am more and more every day and I wouldn't be able to say that if it weren't for you, Dad. I am lucky to be your daughter, and happy to be able to call you my best friend. 

I love you so much. Thank you for being you.

Happy 50th birthday?!?!? (It's official, you're old.) ;P

//\\//ash\\//\\

My baby is 2 today!

So today is my not-so-little-anymore boy's second birthday!! I can't believe how fast time has flown and that my little munchkin is already walking [more like running everywhere] and talking in full sentences. He can count to 10 and almost has 1-20 down! He knows his ABCs. He sings songs back to you even if he's only heard it one time. He knows exactly what he wants and will tell us exactly how to get it for him. He loves to build robots with blocks and drive his little gummi cars [vitamins] around the dirty loft floor. He is hilarious and knows just how to make us laugh. He talks to EVERYONE [which can annoy mommy sometimes] and isn't shy until they talk back, but that's still adorable. He gives kisses willingly and will ask for more if that's what he wants. He gets excited about french fries when we go through the drive through at the bank. He is such a delight to have in my life and I feel that I don't show him enough how much he means to me. It's hard for me to think that soon, he won't be my only baby anymore and sometimes I feel guilty. Like I haven't given him enough of me yet to be already bringing another little one into our family. He is going to be such a good big brother to this new little addition, but until then I am going to smother him with as much love and affection as possible because he deserves it, and because he is my only little crazy guy for now. This will be his last birthday as an only child and we're gonna make it count, so we're going to CHUCK E CHEESE tonight! Hoo-hoo as Casen would say! I love him so much it hurts sometimes. 

Now if only he would wake up from his nap because now I want to go squeeze his guts out.

Happy Birthday Big Boy. I love you muy muy mucho.

A B-day Haircut

 This little nut has been needing a haircut for quite some time now. He got his first haircut when he was about 17 months and since then I have cut it just about once a month! He got his daddy's good-n-fast hair growing gene apparently cuz he sure didn't get it from me! So today I took about an inch off of his curly cues. He was a good, still boy for me, too, thank goodness! Although I did end up having to put on some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the ever useful iPad.

Birthday Picnic on Monte Sano Mt

To be honest I'm not a big birthday person. And I hate that for my children, so I will eventually need to work on that, or they will hate me. But for now, Casen is only two and doesn't even know it's his birthday. Since he's already had one family birthday party with Daddy's side of the family and will have another probably this weekend with my family, we decided to keep today chill and just go up to Monte Sano State Park. It was a gorgeous day so we packed ourselves some lunch and headed up the mountain :) Casen played and played until it was time to go home and take a much needed nap! It was a good time. And we got a couple good shots of his new clean clothes before he plopped in the creek! Haha. Oh well, what more can you expect from a 2 year old boy?

P.S. Shouldn't mothers be celebrated on our children's birthdays too? After all, we are the ones that actually gave birth  to them. Just saying ;)

 He wanted to take his clothes off and get in the water. Lol.

There were annoying gnats all over the place so he kept slapping himself in the head... Over and over. It was really pretty funny. 

Much too preoccupied to talk to Mimi. 

Picking mommy a flower.