Birthday Bash

This weekend we had the party of the year!!!

The giraffe theme was set with wonderful decorations courtesy of Aunt Linde's fabulous design ideas. The giraffe cake was ready... Avery's very own cake courtesy of Casa Linda Bakery OMG sooo good the best white cake ever!The homemade ice cream.... was the flop of the day. The guys worked hard and offered to save the day, but the churner wouldn't churn so we did without. Oh well, it didn't fit the theme anyway.Aunt Linde was the hit of the day with face painting. Avery got a giraffe one, that was precious. He sat perfectly still while she worked her magic. Several of Avery's sweetest friends came to help him celebrate with our family. These special kids always go out of their way to play with our little guy, even though he is still too young to be much fun. I couldn't resist this precious moment. Anderson LOVES hats, he must really LOVE Avery, too, because he was sweetly sharing his hat back and forth with Avery when I was snapping a picture no one was watching . It meant so much to us that our sweet friends loaded up their kids and came to be cramped in the house when it was too cold to play outside. Avery really loved his new bath toy playing with his friends Maggie, Bradley, Caleb and Anderson. Katie and David won the prize for best dressed in the theme. Avery loved their shirts and David is obviously a good sport to put up with little friends bugging him with that dad gum brand new, super exciting, bath toy again.We also had big fun with our friend Anna Lee, but somehow we missed her picture.

Aunt Linde was MY HERO she came over Thursday, Friday and Saturday to help with party readiness from hanging picture frames, planning crafts and party favors to painting faces. Uncle Jeff also came early with ice for the ice cream that didn't happen.

For once I remembered to get a family picture. The only sad thing, you can't tell that Avery and I are dressed for the theme with giraffe shirts of course. Thanks Betty for Avery's! And shout out to Forever 21 for letting me be themed out, too.

Papa and LouLou of course wouldn't miss the celebration, even though Avery was pictured out. LouLou got the orange memo.

Not many kids get to have their great-grandparents at their parties but Avery had 3. Grandma and Grandad

and MeMe!!

Pop and Honey, Uncle Blake and almost Aunt Courtney also made the trek but we didn't do very well at pictures with that side of the family. Even Great Great Uncle Mackie came. We had so much fun with ALL our friends and family who made the party and those who were with us in spirit but couldn't make it.

And at one year we continue to have the sweetest baby boy, ever. After Avery's party he took a quick nap then we headed to Allen for an engagement party for our cousin Jennifer. This is the little prince playing while I made his bottle when we got home at 10:15. What a trooper!!!

Thanks Kelly, as you can see, your present is a HIT!

ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!

I can't believe that this time last year I was laying in a hospital bed in total shock wondering if Wee was a boy or a girl and being the NICU nurse hoping for a girl just knowing a boy would have to go to the NICU at just barely 36 weeks. I continue to thank God every day that not only was Wee a He, he was NOT a wimpy white boy and never needed any help from the NICU. I can't imagine our lives with anyone but our precious baby boy. We are so thankful for the pure joy he brings to our lives every single day. I can honestly say we have one of the easiest, happiest babies we know. Today also makes me thing of so many people who have done so much to support us and our kiddo from before he was born, I think of all of our friends and family who dropped everything at 10pm on a Monday night to come to the hospital and make sure we were okay. I think of our neighbors who gave us an exersaucer and swing set they didn't need anymore, just because, we don't even know them that well. I think of my friend Jennifer at work, an O.T., who gave me her home number and answered many, at times tearful, questions when Avery didn't eat well. I think of our church family who made meals, have play dates, love on Avery and are around to show him what church is really about, people not a place. I think of our families who are always there for us, keep Avery all the time, and constantly show him unconditional love. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!

Here he is with his final giraffe pose at ONE WHOLE YEAR!

And now for our Birthday in review...

We started with Avery's favorite breakfast banana toast. He thinks it is greatness and I LOVE that it is so easy. Make toast mash a banana and smear, for easing cutting use your pizza cutter.

I thought it would be a fun Birthday tradition to get to eat lunch with Daddy so we drove over and Avery, Michael and I had Chick Fil-A, it was a very fun lunch date!

After a serious power nap and a yummy dinner Avery enjoyed the greatness that is sprinkles!! At first I thought that we would just do the cake thing at Avery's party but then I decided you can't have your first Birthday with no cake. So, we decided to let Avery have a red velvet cupcake from Sprinkles. The men in Michael's family all always eat red velvet cupcakes and he had to have the best available.

He is a HUGE fan. I had to take it away, I think he would have eaten the whole thing.

This isn't overly relevant, but I love that Avery always crosses his ankles when he is content. So, after he finished his cupcake he kicked back with the crossed ankles in his high chair.

The family photo one year later. Apparently it is also college T-shirt night at our house...

Before bed we ready the Happy Birthday book our friends and family signed as they came to meet the little prince. I hope this will be a fun tradition, too.

One Year Ago...

I can't believe that one year ago today was....

a) Easter
b) our last day as a family of 2
c) the day before the most surprising day of my life
d) all of the above

Happy Monday!!

Brought to You by the Letter P

We had a very big day at our house, brought to you by the letter P.

Michael had his first official consult as a Planner. I think it went pretty well. I told him I would cook whatever he wanted for dinner tonight to celebrate and he chose Pancakes. Not what I would have chosen, but I obliged. Since baby boy is almost one I decided it would be okay for him to have his first Pancakes and even a tiny bit of syrup. He wasn't sure at first, this is the look we get with any new food.

But after giving it a shot, he realized he was a fan!
I signed up to go Pink. I am officially committed to the Breast Cancer 3 day walk. I am totally nervous excited to take on this challenge. My mom and sister have said they are going to walk as well, and I am hoping praying that some friends will join us, too. I love my family, but we will need a break from each other at some point. And, we have an odd number and I don't want to have to sleep in a tent with a stranger.

So, I have a contest for you... NAME OUR TEAM!!! I suggested Brownings for Boobs, but my Mom was embarrassed... so narrow minded. Linde suggested "The Girls," get it? Cute, but I think it might not be original enough. What do y'all think. The winner if approved by the team of course, will get something fabulously pink and a training walk dedicated in your honor.

And I feel the need to pontificate as well about one of my many TV shows

What is up with the blue team. Ron needs to go and they have let him in their heads. The blue team can not win with his large weight and poor weight loss, he can't help in any of the challenges, and Mike needs to learn to stand on his own 2 feet. Ughh!! I am so irritated. Also, what did I miss with Felipe and Gillian? Yikes! She needs to train him that is her job, sorry I love her but she does.

Okay good night.

Pleased mom? I posted. :)

Whatever!

Well Jillian, you didn't know it but you got lucky!

Jason, I am DONE with you. I thought you were a nice guy. I should have known I didn't like how you trotted your 3 year old over and over for all the world to see. I HATE when people say they are following their heart, just trying to be honest etc when really they are just being selfish. Newsflash Jason relationships are hard, you have to work at it. Of course the chemistry has changed you have to live in THE REAL WORLD, not Bachelor land.

DONE DONE DONE with you!

Wacky Wednesday + Terrific Thursday + Fun Friday = Great Week

This week was a great week. We got to do so many things I had about 3 different posts planned, but I had trouble with our internet so here is one really long one! Tuesday our baby boy turned 11 months old.... unbelievable. Michael and I keep looking at each other saying this is such a fun age, he is such a fun kid. Avery's crawling has reached mock speed, it is hilarious how he slaps his hands down extra hard and laughs while he crawls as fast as he can to whatever has captured his attention. We are also hearing lots of babbling about who knows what. Avery remains his own favorite playmate, a mirror is too exciting for words. It is also fun to see how his reach and bravery increase daily. Baby tippy toes are awesome. Water babies is one of our favorite times, Avery being the swim genius that he is can go underwater for 4 seconds and has his teacher wrapped around his chubby little finger. Last wee she told him he was so cute he should be the main character in a book, for the readers we are praise just doesn't get higher. We are having so much fun with our 11 month old, but I may need meds to deal with the fact that our boy is almost 1.

Wednesday we had some Wacky Weather. It was 80 degrees. So, Maddie and Hadley came to visit and we all went walking. It was so much fun. I can't remember the last time I walked 4 miles and actually had fun doing it. Hadley is too cute and was such a sweet girl. Avery had a blast taking it all in, too.

Because Avery was such a sweet boy during our walk, we had to swing when we got home. I think you can see he enjoyed his reward.
After all this I made Avery black beans and rice for his dinner, I thought it would be fun for us to all eat the same meal(only his not so spicy.) Well, independence is increasing at our house and Avery thought he would just eat it all by himself, no spoon or mamma necessary.

Can I say I don't think we have EVER had a mess this big. Of course I didn't think to strip him down when I realized he was going to feed himself for 45 minutes. Of course I didn't think to move him off the rug onto the hardwoods until 30 minutes in to said 45 minutes of feeding. And OF COURSE we did not somehow end up with poop on Michael and tee tee on me while trying to blast the beans and rice off of Avery.... What a night!

Thursday was my Mom's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOU LOU!!! Spidey had big fun celebrating with his LouLou all day. We got to have lunch and dinner with her, it was awesome. Especially when he managed to knock water in his lap and strip down to his spider man outfit in the restaurant at dinner in a rather ritzy neighborhood near where we live... nice!

Luckily Avery and LouLou thought he was looking good and since the weather was still nice his legs weren't too cold.

We even got to come back to the house for cookies and American Idol before Mom and Dad moved on. We are so glad we got to spend so much time with Mom on her special day. She means so much to us!!! WE LOVE LOU LOU!!
I don't have pictures from Friday but we got to go to Target which is always fun, see Aunt Linde and have dinner with our BFFs. LIFE IS GOOD!

Happy Birthday Pop

All of Michael's family was good enough to come to Dallas Sunday so we could celebrate Michael's dad's birthday. We had a yummy dinner of hamburgers, one of my personal favorites, and then came back to our house for red velvet cupcakes. The cupcakes were great especially since the family finally converted to cream cheese frosting... so much better than the disgusting junk old kind the boys used to request. Anyway, we are are so glad that we got a chance to celebrate one our favorite people! Here are a few of our favorite things about Pop:

• he is beyond handy, our house would not be 1/10 of what it is without all of his help with the remodel
• he is great with Avery, they have so much fun together doing whatever Avery wants
• he helped make Michael into the wonderful man he is
• he sacrifices time with his wife so that she can come and watch Avery for us
• we get to go see fun Cowboy games with him
• he loves a good Lifetime movie

Happy Belated Birthday Pop!