Caleb's !st Birthday - More pictures

Are you ready for picture overload???

Scott grilling up the food

My wonderful mother, she was an amazing help for the party!

Caleb's new found mischief

The Atkinson's with my grandmother "Mimi"

Mimi, my sis Bekah & My Daddy

The party!

Cupcake time!

Caleb wasn't quite sure what to think at first...

Maybe this thing isn't so bad...

Scott giving his mom in Idaho a play-by-play of the party

Okay, I like this thing!

Just don't try and take it away from me!

Mimi's birthday present to Caleb, a water table! It was a big hit...Until Brendan got wet and then cold.

'Pepa' with the birthday boy!

My Cousin Missy. I don't think there was much of the party when Missy or my Aunt Benita didn't have a baby in their arms. They just LOVE babies!

Mimi & Lily

Can you tell they are best friends or what?

Uncle Kevin with Caleb

See! What did I tell you.

The two of them with another baby!

Baby Nate.

Presents!

He was so proud of himself for climbing on that box!

I'm shocked there is no baby in this picture....

'Unka Jon' is by far Brendan's favorite Uncle.

Grami & her baby boy

Wow, that was a lot. But now you have the whole "picture" of what his big day was like! Surrounded by friends and family, passed from person to person, food, fun, presents & cupcakes. Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us and for my mom and sis for helping me put on a great party!

Caleb's 1st bday - Cupcake

We celebrated Caleb's first birthday this weekend. I will be posting all about the party with lots of pictures. bUt until I get them loaded onto my computer, I thought you might enjoy a quck (4 min) video of Caleb's cupcake at the party!

How did the year go by so fast??

Birthday

I was really able to think about my life and getting older after my birthday party this year. I have the best Best Friend ever (I'll have to write more on her later), but Tawni has a wonderful husband and a good friend to me. When Rob found out that Scott was going to be away on my birthday, he felt terrible. So he decided to throw me a birthday party. Through no fault of his own...no one came.

However, it will be a birthday I wont soon forget because I felt truly loved and appreciated. No politics, no acting put together, or worrying about my children being disruptive, no games-we-all-play-at-parties, no stress.

It was just me, my children, my two friends and their children.

Rob made dinner; just for me. We had steak with a homemade steak sauce, twice baked potatoes, and asparagus with a Benedict sauce. I got to spend time with my best friend, have great conversation, and just enjoy being me.

Our boys played (and fought) with their toys. We had Cookies and Creme Ice Cream Cake. And I was presented with a small packet of letters from friends. I loved them all...especially Shanda's (who lives on the other-side-of-the-world). It made me cry at the memories (I might retype it so you call can see how much we have been though together) and remember that this is what has made my life what it is. Building friendships and memories with friends that are like-minded, supportive and share a common faith with me.

I put the boys to bed and spent time with adults (something that can only really happen after 8:00 at night). As I was driving home that night at midnight with my two sleeping kids in the back seat, praying for the safety of my husband in another country, I had to stop and really thank God for how blessed I am with my friends and my family. Who cares that I am now 28? So what if I "feel" old.

This is my life, and the older I get, the more I learn about myself. I don't want to go back to the days of staying up until 4:00 am every night, or wondering if Mr. Cool is into me or not, or studying all night for the final just to sleep through my alarm the next morning. I am happy being in my late twenties, happy knowing that my husband loves me, happy that I have found a job that I love and am good at, happy with my children, and happy with the best friend (and her husband) anyone can find.

Happy 28th Birthday to me!

(still dreading 30, but I still have a couple years...)

28

This year I turned 28. I'm not really one to focus on age, especially not myself. It seemed silly that I always forgot how old I was when I was only 22, but somehow 6 years later, it is much more convenient. I love celebrating birthdays, just not ages. So when my birthday grew near I was thinking about how old I was, thinking I was turning 27. Except I know my lovely sister is having her 30th this year, which would make me 2 years younger. Dang, how can I be that old already?

I feel old.

Sometimes I still feel like I am fresh out of college, still a newlywed, starting out on this journey. But in reality, I have been married for almost 6 years now, at the same job for just as long and on my second promotion. We are happy with our little family and out two beautiful children. This is where we are, this is life, I am no longer "Just Starting Out"...maybe I need to change my blog?

I watch my student workers, still in college, being trained for a full time job after graduation. With late nights, Denny's study breaks, first dates, final exams...I know that! I was there! Not long ago. And yet, I feel so removed, I'm not one of them. We go to bed at 9:30, Denny's is for breakfast now, and we are lucky if we get one date night a month. I'm their boss, married with two kids.

I feel so old.

Please don't get me wrong, I am happy with my life. I love my life. But 28 is hard. I'm now in my late 20's. We have traded in our life of late night movies, spontaneous weekends, cheap Hyundai's traveling all over southern California, parties & clubs, fake nails, and Saturdays at the mall for early morning feedings, a house with a mortgage, minivans, kid birthday parties, Costco memberships, playgrounds, and full-time jobs.

I am old.

And yet...I love my life.

Brendan Turns 2!

Our little baby is no longer a baby... He is now 2 years old! To celebrate this major milestone in his short life, we have actually had 3 birthday parties!

Birthday Party 1:

Our first celebration for Brendan's birthday was on July 11th while in Idaho visiting Scott's Parents. The day before we left we had a small celebration. Scott's mom made a chocolate cake for Brendan and he got to open his presents. He received an Elmo shape matching game and a bubble blower-mower (although we haven't yet gotten the bubbles to work). Brendan calls his mower his "race car" and pushes it all over the house, the back yard, any where he can. A new favorite toy.

Brendan's 2nd Birthday - Take 2:

On Brendan's actual birthday, we were in Solvang at the end of our vacation. My mom bought Mickey birthday items which Brendan just loved! We had cupcakes, Mickey suckers, and all kinds of fun toys. My parents bought Brendan a Tool box so he can help daddy around the house and my brother got him a cute little outfit with a handyman on it. Surprisingly, Brendan really liked the shirt and asked to put it on after he opened it.

Brendan's Birthday Party (number 3):

On Sunday, we had Brendan's actual birthday party with his friends. We had a BBQ on Sunday afternoon and the kids had a blast playing outside. We had bubbles, a sprinkler, a kiddie pool, sidewalk chalk and all kinds of cars, bikes and other outside toys. The weather was nice but not too hot. I know Brendan had a great time.

We made a huge BBQ dinner, with way too much food. BBQ spare-ribs, pulled pork, chicken, baked beans, coleslaw, Mac-and-cheese, watermelon, and sourdough bread. Too much food, but it was a lot of fun.

We did cupcakes instead of cake with blue sprinkles and a sour gummy banana on top (since the party was monkey themed. Brendan liked the banana, when I turned my back he stole mine off of my cupcake! Since this was his 3rd party, he understood the concept to blow out the candle, this was the first time he was actually able to blow it out on his own!

Presents were a lot more fun compared to last year! He really enjoyed his toys, were opened all of them and Brendan played with all his friends. Scott and I bought him a Tonka race track with extra cars, it's a good thing because the cars were a big hit with all the kids, they had difficulties sharing 10 cars between 4 of them. Uncle Kevin & Aunt Bekah bought him a tunnel and bubble machine that they let him open earlier so the kids could play outside with them before dinner. He also received a wagon with sand toys, a Handy Manny doll, and a Mickey Mouse tub toy. He really did love them all! It was so fun watching his excitement!

Caleb basically slept through the evening and was passed around a few times, he was as happy as could be.