Brody is 18 months!

I can't believe my baby boy is 18-months old.  It's so nice that our little guy is gaining some independence.  I love it how you are starting to play on your own and you are your own little person except you can't completely talk yet.  Since you are 18-months old now, you can now go to Mother's Day Out.  I know it will be good for the both of us!  Since I worked with Blake and Sydney, I missed out on so many little things with them throughout the day.  I am so happy to have been with you all day and been able to see everything!!!  This is usually when I stop counting your age by months and now, you're a year and a half.  I feel like the little baby phase is over and we are moving on to the next stage!  You are so much fun right now!

Some things you do:

• At your 15-18 month checkup: you had 5 shots ouch!!  You weighed 24.6 pounds, height was 33 1/2 inches and your head was 18 1/2 inches
• You love to climb up on the kitchen table and stand up, your other favorite thing is getting into the dishwasher
• You hit and throw everything, you're our next baseball superstar and maybe even our ticket!
• Cutting more teeth, the sharp "fang" ones, you now have total of 16 teeth
• Still in 18 mos clothing and size 4 diapers, shoes size is 5
• Love to eat String Bean Chicken from Panda Express, peas, spaghetti and you love to take food and dip (ketchup or chips/queso)
• You love to drink from a straw
• At 17 months you started hitting off a baseball tee and you won't take off Blake's big helmut, you wear it everywhere, even in the car. 
• You love baseball hats and try to put 5 at a time on your head and you point up in the closet until you have them all in your hand.
• You hit the ball, drop the bat and run the pretend bases all the way around until you get a homerun and then you clap
• Words you say: hat, ball, mom, dad, Bake (for Blake) and Siss (for Sydney) sky, more
• You are a poop machine - boy like 5x a day, can I have a break mister?!
• Took you to ENT for snoring, she ordered a sleep study but can't get you in until November, hopefully someone will cancel. My poor little baby, you snore soooo bad!
• You sit on the couch (not for long) and watch Yo Gabba Gabba and you even try to say it on your own
• So cute, you squint your eyes and smile when I bring out the camera, I'm training you well cause you have thousands more pictures in your future buddy!

Kindergarten Graduation

Today was Sydney's Kindergarten Graduation.  It was so cute.  They got to parade in front of all the parents in their caps up to the front of the cafeteria to receive their diplomas.  I can't believe that Kindergarten is over.  It seems like it just started!!  I remember how sad I was once school started and my little girly wasn't with me anymore during the day.   It's been a fun year, but also a year filled with notes home for my little Miss Chatterbox's talking, not following directions, not staying on task, getting into her classmates' business, arguing with others, getting out of her seat, talking in line and redirection.  Her poor teachers, they are angels!!  I don't know how they do it all day long!!  Lordy, I think I am the one who needs the "I made it through Kindergarten" diploma!  Yes, I shed many a tear over this.  My sweet little Sydney has a mind of her own.  She is so strong-willed and wants to do her own thing.  She is so the opposite of my personality, but I love that she has taught me so much, especially patience!  Oh...the morning arguments before school, the crying because she didn't have the right outfit or shoes on, goodness.  She's a girl, and this is only the beginning!!!

I am soooo excited that Sydney has come home for the last 7 days in a row without ONE single mark on her folder.  I can already tell, she's growing up a bit.  She has been waking up before me for the last week and gotten herself dressed and fixed her hair.  All without her momma and all without a single tear or argument!  I am lovin' it and I love my girl to pieces!!  Congratulations my lil' graduate! 

 Sydney's friends

Sydney's BFF Brooklyn

Sydney's Teachers - she adores them and plays them after school every day!

The girls!

Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh Baby!

What a little songstress!!  This is so cute and it made me smile. I love any videos of little kids or babies doing cute things! This song is so popular at our house, even Brody loves to dance to it although he can't sing quite yet!  :-)

Top 2 Tuesday...Dates

Tay is having Top 2 Tuesday-Dates at The Undomestic Momma.

So, since having three kids keeps us so busy, we don't get to do dates as much as we would like.  But here are my two favorite things I love to do...

1.  Go to Market Street in The Woodlands.  It's so hot in Texas and when this little upscale shopping area opened up, it was so unique in that it was setup as an outdoorsy place, most people in Texas run for the A/C on hot days.  It's so beautiful there, the flowers, the smells, the restaurants - of course my most favorite one ever - Jaspers, the shopping, the kid activities, the new boutique hotel!!  It's our favorite little escape from the world.  I love that it's so close to home, I feel like I'm on vacation or in another city when I'm there!

So, here is one of my perfect dates at Market Street...

Eat Here!!  Yum.

Then shop, walk around, people watch and have an overnight date at Avia, the new boutique hotel there.

Have a drink up on the balcony!

Then go for a swim!

And go nighty-night here...

Or here!

2.  My other favorite date would be somewhere by the water or at the beach.  Since Galveston is so close, it makes it easy. 

We would go eat some seafood and have a tropical drink with an umbrella and then go for a walk on the beach at sunset and sit and talk about our kids!

Summer Begins Next Week!!!

Eight school days left until summer!!  It's so unreal to think that school will be out next week, Thursday to be exact.  I'm ready for a break from homework, paper shuffling, signing folders, carpooling, waking up early, the nightly bedtime battles, etc!  I think I'm probably more excited than the kids!  Three months to do whatever we want!!  I'm looking forward to having Blake and Sydney home with me during the day.  I know Brody will love having his Bubba and Sissy home, someone to play with besides me!   It's time to get the summer schedule ready...top on the list - swim lessons for Sydney, finding a summer Mother's Day Out for Brody and signing Blake up for golf - he needs to do something other than baseball!!

Bret Michaels...HIRED!

I'm so glad Bret Michaels won Celebrity Apprentice tonight, especially after everything he's been through!  I was rooting for him all the way.   I hope he makes a big comeback after he recovers first!  With Trump's help, he'll be bigger and better than ever before!  I'm looking forward to seeing one of my favorite 80's guys again in concert!

Philly Cheesesteak Soup Mmmmm!

Years ago when I worked for Hewlett-Packard and had to go on a business trip to Atlantic City, we flew into Philadelphia.  One of my co-workers and I were dying to try a real Philly Cheesesteak.  So we searched for a good walk up counter place and ordered.  We devoured the thing in minutes it was so good and oh-so-bad on the heart!  Luckily, we have a new pizza place close by called Vito's and the owners moved here from Philly about a year ago.  We are in love with their cheesesteaks and they even ship the dough in from Philly.

So, I was looking through magazines one day and saw a recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Soup.  I knew I had to make it - I could eat soup everyday, I love it.  So, here is the recipe...

1/8 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/2 strips
2 large green bell peppers, sliced into 1/2 inch strips
3-4 garlic cloves (the more the better in my opinion, I'm a garlic lover)
1 1/2 pounds top round steak, sliced into 1x 1/2 inch pieces
1 quart of beef broth
1 (10.5-ounce) can beef consomme
3 cups of water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme
Toasted French rounds
Provolone cheese

In large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add onions, bell peppers and garlic for 8-10 minutes, stir frequently- (I like my onions well done, so I cooked mine for about 15 minutes).

Add steak, cook for 10 minutes , stirring frequently until browned.  Add beef broth, consomme, water, salt and pepper stirring to combine.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for two hours or until meat is tender.  Stir occasionally.  Add thyme and simmer for five minutes.  Ladle soup into oven proof bowl, top with toasted French rounds and Provolone cheese.  Broil 6 inches from heat for three minutes or until cheese is browned and bubbly.  Enjoy!!

***You may want to decrease the salt to 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon or you may want to wait and see if it needs any salt at all.  I added the entire 1 teaspoon and ended up adding three cups of water so it was not as salty.  I think the broth and the consomme had extra salt I forgot about!

Overall it was so yummy!!  Tim loved it, he told me how good it was about four times while he ate it.  I actually let it simmer for about 3 hours instead of 2 hours.  The meat was really tender!



 

Friday Photo Flashback

I scanned in some pictures for Alicia's Friday Photo Flashback. When I think of ALL the photos I have in albums before I went digital, it makes me stressed. One of the new projects on the to do list is to scan all of my albums. I know it will take forever but all I can do is take it one book at a time! Here are some old school photos, they make me laugh!

Homecoming 1987.  Love the yellow socks and braces!  This mum is tiny compared to the ones the girls in Texas wear these days!!

Christmas 1988 - Another braces picture.  Love the acid washed jean jacket and jeans.  I took it a bit far with the jeans on top and bottom look...wouldn't do that today.  Also, I must have been into side pony tails!

Prom 1991 - I utterly hate this picture and can't believe I'm even posting it - so embarrasing!  I still bring it out every now and then to show Tim how silly we looked.  The minute I saw this backdrop, I was so disappointed, c'mon now three balloons and some roses?!  A kid could have put a better backdrop together!!  Hot pink was and still is my favorite color!  I must have been using too much baby oil and iodine, I look sooo orange and my hair looks like a mushroom.  Tim has the bang action going, too funny!  Real men wear pink!!

Summer 1993 - My hair was short and sooo dark.  My sister called my hair blue because it was so dark!  Used to wear gold jewelry back then and the red nails uhhhhggg!!  My finger nails look like they are from a Barbra Streisand/Mike Myers skit on Saturday Night Live!  And who wears panty hose anymore???  I want to be that skinny again!

December 1996 - Our first married Christmas together, I still love this picture.  We were just married about six weeks prior on November 9th.  My hair was so dark here too before grays and going blonde!  Wish I still had those eyebrows that I plucked away when thin eyebrows became popular during the 2000's.

Just Around the Corner

Today was the day that Blake and the 4th grade boys got to view THE movie about growing up called "Just Around the Corner".  I can't believe it's this soon!!  I was in 5th grade when we watch the movie.  I have been talking about it all week with him and told him that today was the BIG day!   We are so open with him and talk about all the changes that he will go through and we have even started talking about deeper "Birds and the Bees" stuff too.

I couldn't go to the preview that was yesterday because it was parents only and I have all kids with me at all times, so I couldn't go.  I had to look it up online and found a little video clip.  I couldn't help but chuckle.  Here's what the website said the movie discussed:

An upbeat look at the changes of puberty, featuring two fourth grade boys and Todd – a promising art student and easy-going teenaged big brother. Todd helps prepare the boys for the momentous changes waiting “just around the corner.” Topics include: when to expect the onset of puberty; physical and emotional changes of puberty; maturation of the male reproduction system; common experiences of puberty, including voice change and feelings of awkwardness; and the importance of good hygiene and healthy habits.

So the minute Blake walked in the door, he started giggling like I knew he would.   He said everytime they said the PEN*S word, all the boys laughed.  I would have loved to been a fly on the wall! 

Wishful Wednesday - Bedrooms

I was so excited to see the new post idea on Kelsey's blog - The Seattle Smiths  for Wishful Wednesday.  The theme is bedrooms.  One of my most favorite things to do is decorate; however I have slacked in that area for the longest time since having three kids keeps me so busy.  I love to watch decorating shows and look through decorating magazines.  My favorites are Ballard Designs, Pottery Barn, Country Living, Southern Living and In Style to name a few (ok, more than a few).  I love Candice Olson's style on HGTV and Nate Berkus.  They are amazing at how they can transform rooms.  I couldn't choose just one dreamy bedroom, so I narrowed it down to my top three.  I love French country romantical style, antiques, a bit of modern but yet I also love the beachy Shabby Chic/all white casual look too.  I noticed in all the pictures I chose, there is a chandelier, love 'em!!!

'I wish' .... I could come home to...

Courtesy of Candice Olson of Divine Design on HGTV

Courtesy of Southern Accents

Courtesy of Houzz.com

Fallen Hero Comes Home...

Today, I was doing my usual weekly run to my office, aka Hobby Lobby-ha ha!  I needed to stop and get gas right around the corner from my house. As I turned into the parking lot, I noticed hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles along with police cars and American flags. The man getting gas next to me said it was for a fallen soldier and I remembered hearing about it on the news.

As the Patriot Guard Riders all left the parking lot with their engines cranking, it gave me chills.  On my way to Hobby Lobby, I saw American flags all up and down Main Street of the little town of Tomball, Texas.  Businesses had signs honoring Corporal Jeffrey Johnson. 

Jeffrey's life was cut short on May 11, one week ago today and on Blake's birthday. He was killed by a bomb in Afghanistan fighting for our country at 21 years of age.  Soooo young to die!

On my way home, there were hundreds of cars lined up on the side of the road to stop for the procession, myself included. There were children waving flags, parents, veterans, signs, huge American flags, fire engines, helicopters and lots of red, white and blue. I have never seen anything like it before. It was SO moving and SO patriotic. I almost felt like it was July 4th!  Jeffrey received a true hero's homecoming!!

Please say a prayer for his family which includes his wife, parents, grandparents and three siblings.

Babies+Hot Cars Don't Mix

My sweet "Bubby" in his carseat at four months.

God sent a little baby (one that I did not know) an angel today.  I am so filled with adrenaline and emotion right now.  I just can't believe the events of this afternoon.

Blake asked me last night if I would take him to Game Stop to get a game that he had been wanting.  I told him I would take him after school.  I believe things happen for a reason and just at the right time - it's God's plan!  My friend sent me a text and asked if I would pick up her kids and one other friend.  So, I had a car full of kids that I had to drop off and this was not my normal schedule.  Sydney decided to go to swim team practice with Brooklyn.  So, I just had my boys with me.  We went to Game Stop, we got Blake's game and were in and out within minutes. 

As I was about to get into my car, I glanced into the car next to me and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw tiny feet hanging out of a baby carseat and a blanket completely covering the carrier umbrella part.  The car was turned off, only the baby's window was cracked, the car was unlocked and there was no parent in sight.  The temperature on my car read 95 degrees, it's already getting sooo hot in Texas.  At first I thought this was an episode of ABC's "What Would You Do".  There was a hair salon in front of my car and I kept thinking surely someone is going to come out.  I waited and waited and no one came out. 

I was not going to leave until I saw someone get in that car.  I wanted to give them a piece of my mind.  I was furious, how could anyone do that to a tiny baby!!  It had now been 7 minutes.  I called the police.  All I could think of is the stories I hear on the news about innocent young children and babies dying in hot cars.   

The police showed up in minutes...5 police cars, an ambulance, a fire truck, wreckers.  They immediately opened the door, took out the baby and went to examine him in the ambulance, which he turned out to be just fine, just very flushed and dehydrated.  As soon as all the commotion began, out comes the parent...a father.  This was the man who walked into Game Stop as we walked out.  I looked at my receipt showing the time I checked out to the time the police showed up - 15 minutes.  Fifteen minutes that this baby was covered up with a blanket in 90 degree weather with a two inch crack to breath all alone, by himself.  Except, he wasn't alone.  God was with him..  Who knows how long that father would have stayed in Game Stop.  Really...was a game more important than your four month old son?

I let this father know how I felt when he came out and I was practically in tears.  All he could say to me was "Yes M'aam".  I think he was shocked, but he also didn't seem too distraught about it which really suprised me.  Maybe he was in disbelief that he was in deep do-do.  The officer who got my statement said the whole front office was radioing to check on the baby.  He told me I did the right thing by calling them.  I mentioned I kept checking on the baby and how I felt bad for not taking him out of the car.  He told me it was best to let them take care of it not knowing if I would be attacked somehow by the parent.  By this time, onlookers were everywhere.  As unGodly as it sounds, I wanted him to feel like an idiot.   Being the parent of a new baby is tough.  You cannot make quick trips to the store, you can't run in and out anymore.  As a parent, you owe your life to that baby and you will do anything it takes to keep them safe.  Apparently, this father didn't quite get it yet.  You take your new baby EVERYWHERE, even if it is inconvenient or if your baby is asleep.  All he had to do was lift the carrier and take him inside.  Four month olds love their carriers and don't wake up THAT easily.

I had asked the officer what was going to happen to him.  He told me that the father didn't know it yet, but he was getting ARRESTED and what he did is a felony in Texas.  They put him in the squad car and were taking him to jail.  He put that baby in danger - for leaving him in a hot car for 15 minutes unattended with the doors unlocked (he could have been kidnapped). 

I am so thankful that God chose me to look out for this baby today and put me in that parking spot to keep him safe!  When I left, I pulled around by the ambulance and the EMT brought him to me.  I gave him a big kiss and told him God loved him and He was looking out for him today!  :-)

I can only hope that for the rest of tonight and for the days ahead, that the baby's father ponders his actions today and realizes what a big mistake he made that could have cost his son's life.

Finally, as the hot summer months approach, please, please look into other people's cars.  There could be a precious life inside, someone that needs to be saved!

Sunday, Sunday!

So sorry for the long post, I can't help it!! :-)
Sunday, Sunday...I can remember growing up as a little girl and oh how I did not like Sunday afternoons or evenings.  It meant the start of the new week.  It meant going back to school and missing my parents.  I remember looking out the front windows of my childhood house as the sun was setting thinking about how much fun I had over the weekend either playing with friends, going swimming or going places with my mom and dad.  As I watched the sunset and waited for CHiPs (yes, I'm so a child of the 80's) to start, I remember the smell of dinner cooking.  My mom always made the best meals and I think that's why I love cooking so much today. She always made sure we had dinner on the table every night (and that meant a home cooked meal...no fast food)!  Many times on Sunday, I remember in between commercials for 60 Minutes, my dad making the best steak ever outside on the grill.

It was during our family dinner time, that I remember feeling so loved and safe.  We talked, we laughed, we watched my older brother Kirk stick beans in his nose, we sat there until we drank all our milk (even the milk that I spinkled with Lawry's seasoned salt) and we didn't get up until we were told.  I held on to that last bit of family time together until the next night.

So, where am I going with all this you ask?  Well, I still get that "Sunday night feeling" that I had as a little girl.  Even though I don't go to the office anymore, I still dread the weekend coming to an end.  I always love the new memories that we get to make and share!  I love being with my own family and hate it when everyone scurries off into different directions on Monday morning.  I miss our family togetherness!

This weekend was much needed for me to renew and refresh!!  We have not had a weekend home in three weeks due to travels, baseball, my niece's birthday party and spending Mother's Day with family.  We were supposed to have Blake's baseball tournament all weekend long, but it was rained out, sigh!!!  I didn't want to seem overly excited, but I soooo needed this time to chill out and do whatever I wanted and to not be on a schedule!

As the rain came down so hard Friday night, I attended Wine Night at a friend's house.  It was a nice getaway for several hours and a great way to start the weekend.

Saturday morning came around and it was still raining, I love rainy Saturday mornings and days!!  Tim said the whole tournament was cancelled!  Yay!!!  I went back to bed and slept until 10:00 - haven't done that in awhile!!!  When I woke up, I decided it was going to be a cleaning and organizing day.  Mom took Blake to the Children's Museum along with my nephew Jacob.  So the house was quiet without Blake and Sydney fighting!!  It turned out, I was in Sydney's room ALL day long.  Yes, it was that messy and trashy and so unorganized.  How did this happen in such a short time?!?!  I guess it's the six year old in her!

I had two big trashbags full of just trash stuffed in her closet, under her bed, in her drawers.  Oh my!  I am a neat freak and when it comes to closets, it all has to be in color order and one side is short sleeved/warm weather clothes and the other side is long sleeved/cold weather (if you wanna call it that here in Texas) clothes! 

Finally, I hung up pictures and cute little things I got from the girly section at Hobby Lobby.  It was finally starting to look like a cozy room (her room redo will be in a future post).  I hung up four paper lanterns that we used for her birthday party in the corner of her room.  When she saw it all, she was soooo excited.  I still have several to dos...finish her wall letters, take down fan and put up chandelier, get new comforter, find a leopard dust ruffle, paint a few walls a different color-there is way too much pink going on and finish re-doing my old childhood desk for her.

So today, I got to sleep in late again till 9:30, loved it!!  The sun was out today and I was ready to get out of the house after being in it all weekend!!  I'm just that way.  I was feeling cooped up even though I was getting so much done!

Tim surprised me by taking me to my most favorite restaurant ever at Market Street in The Woodlands called Jasper's.  Wow, twice in one week, my sister Stephanie and I met there on Thursday!  One of my most favorite things to eat ever is their Masa Soup.  It's to die for.   If you are in Plano, San Antonio, Austin or The Woodlands - you must try Jasper's!!

After Jasper's, I had to have my cupcake fix!!  Blake found his momma a new cupcake shop that is close to home.  It's called Frost, so we had to try it!

I loved this sign in their shop...

We tried three - S'Mores, Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Dream, mmmm!  They were so yummy.

Sunday, Sunday...there's always next weekend, family time, baseball and new memories!

Have a great week!

Shannon

Tomato & Cucumber Summer Salsa

I am so excited that summer is upon us.  Summer=long days of staying busy with the kids or the complete opposite - those lazy days of doing nothing at all!  I'm counting down to June 3rd - the last day of school!

One thing I love about summer is cooking.  I love the whole cooking process - from choosing a recipe, to grocery shopping, to the chopping, dicing and mixing - it's so relaxing to me.  We will have plenty of time to cook in the summer and the kids love to pull up a chair and help.  I love eating lots of fresh vegetables since they are so light and healthy.  When I was pregnant with Brody, I craved tomatoes all the time.  I came up with a very easy recipe that I eat year round but especially in the summer.

Tomato & Cucumber Summer Salsa

1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, diced (either white or purple)
1 cucumber cut in cubes
Olive oil - about 2-3 tablespoons
White wine vinaigrette - about 3-4 tablespoons
Course salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon, fresh parsley
1-2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Cut all the veggies and place in a bowl, add olive oil and white wine vinaigrette (I usually don't use a measure on either of these, I just kind of eyeball it and add a bit more if I need to). Mix well.  Add the salt and pepper, parsley and Parmesan cheese, mix.  Chill to let the flavors marry.  Mmmm, the tartness from the vinegar and the crunch of the vegetables makes my tummy soooo happy!!  You can eat it with crackers, tortilla chips or crusty bread.  I usually eat it plain, right out of the bowl, and I could eat it all in one sitting!!  Enjoy!

Wishful Wednesday - Thrown Away

This week, through some blog hopping, I found this super-cute blog by Kelsey!  Each week she has Wishful Wednesday and it's my first, so here goes...

I Wish I Didn't Throw Away that $300 cash I received from the attorneys I worked for before I headed off to college!

I worked for a group of attorneys the summer before I left for college.  I dragged my butt out of bed everyday when I could have been enjoying summer and lounging by the pool, but they paid me good money so how could I refuse!!  On my last day of working there, they took up a collection for my going away present and surprised me with $300 in cash.  I was sooo excited.  To a poor ole' college kid, that was like $1,000 to me!!  I still lived at home with my parents at the time.  I had been cleaning up my room and was going through things to get rid of before I left.  I had a huge garbage bag full of stuff and junk to throw out.  It was Wednesday night, the day before the trash was picked up.  Inadvertently, I kept the card but threw away the envelope, forgetting that I had taken the money out of the card and stuck it in the envelope instead.  I didn't realize this until Thursday afternoon when I went to look for my $$$$! 

It was too late!  The money was gone, zip, zero, zilch, nada!!  I made the dumbest mistake ever!!  There was no way I was going to the dump site to find it, that would never happen and I'd never find it!  I just hope someone found it, maybe it made their day!  I love cleaning and getting rid of stuff I don't need.  But after this happened, I take my time in making sure I am not throwing away something valuable.  I check and re-check before I throw something away just to be sure I don't make the same mistake!! 

Ten Years Ago...

Ten years ago...our lives changed forever! Ten years ago, we became parents to our dream baby boy, Blake Ryan, our Millenium baby!  I remember when Daddy and I picked out your name.  We were 18.  We dreamed about having you for 10 years.  We wondered what you would look like and picked little babies and kids out that we thought looked like you (even before you were born).  College, jobs and marriage had to come first!  I was terrified of being pregnant, let alone being a mother.  I didn't think I would be good at it.  I loved my time to myself, I loved time with Daddy, I loved being able to do whatever we wanted.  That all changed the minute we laid eyes on you, our precious Blakey! 

You gave mommy a heck of a time at the end.  I was on bed rest for 6 weeks before you were born.  You were due on April 28th, but decided to stay nice n cozy until Thursday, May 11, 2000.  I had a long day of labor, I was tired, I was hungry, I was throwing up and yes in pain until that epidural arrived!!  To top it off, pushing you out for 2 1/2 hours was exhausting!!  Then came the big moment, the moment I saw you and heard you cry...12:55am.  The moment that changed our lives forever. 

As exhausted as I was, I didn't want to let you out of my site.  I hated when they took you away to get your bath and all spified up for us!  Everyone else got to hang out by the nursery window to see you, everyone but me!  Word had it, you were the biggest baby in the nursery.  A whopping 9 pounds and 15 ounces...goodness, and all natural baby, no C-Section!!

We brought you home from the hospital on Mother's Day and our story with you began!  I soon came to realize, that it was no longer about me or about us, it was all about you and your needs!  I cherished every moment with you.  I loved watching you sleep, listening to your breathing, listening to your cooing, and feeling your baby soft skin!  I was heartbroken when I had to go back to work when you were just 8 weeks old. 

You have taught us so much...about patience, selflessness, helping others, unconditional love.  You helped me laugh when I had a bad day at work, you allowed me to be myself and to grow as a person and a mommy.  I can never thank you enough for all the gifts you have given me!  You make me laugh daily, I love how you take care of your momma even without my asking.  I'm so glad to be your mommy and look forward to the next decade of your life (it better not go as fast as these last 10 years)!!

Ten Things I Love About You!

• 1.  You always think of others and you are a great friend, a great student and a great baseball player!
• 2.  Your creativity (I think you'll be an architect or an engineer) and your simplicity (the smallest and littlest things excite you)!
• 3.  You always help me out when I need a hand, without asking!
• 4.  You still call me mommy or momma...love that and you truly care about me.  I'll never forget being pregnant with Brody and you took such good care of me, at age 8 - helping me in and out of the car, carrying bags and my purse for me and you brought me my Tums everynight without fail when I had horrible heartburn!!
• 5.  You clean the entire house without me asking and you don't like me to look until you are all finished.  I know how much you love that allowance money
• 6.  Your persistence!!! You never let anything go without trying at least 10 times!!
• 7.  I love how you share my love of radio and music.  I crack up that you are Mr. Knowitall when it comes to songs.  You are Mr. Jukebox, Mr. iPod, Mr. I'll Study All the Words Till I Get it Right!  And your shower jam sessions with your clapping and band sounding foot stomping just makes us laugh so hard!
• 8.  You love your family, and I know you love your sister to pieces even though you fight with her!
• 9.  I love when you cuddle with me on the couch with your head on my shoulder and we watch tv together and you twirl my hair!
• 10.  I love our date nights when it's just you and me and we go to dinner to talk and go see a movie!

I hope you have a great 10th birthday.  You are two years away from junior high, three years away from being a teenager, five years away from high school, six years away from driving (ugg)!, and eight years away from becoming an adult, graduating from high school, going to your prom and leaving us to go to college!!  We can't wait to share all those moments with you.  Thank you for being you and I'm so glad that God chose me to be your momma!!

These are some of my favorite pictures of you through the years!

You were a monster of a baby!

6 months

14 months

2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years

6 years

7 years

8 years

9 years old

You are so special to me and I love you more than you could ever imagine!

Happy 10th Birthday!

Love, Momma!