Welcome to Camp William

And so it was your birthday and we partied, of course! This year I went with a camping themed party for Will.....Welcome to Camp William!!! I am so laughing at myself now because the only picture I got of the ceiling was on my dang phone. I spent like 2 hours (how lame am I?) cutting out stars and hanging them from strings on our ceiling!

My sister was in town on Friday for one of my nephews doctor appointments so we had them over that night for dinner with my mom and other sister Katie. We got to hang out and have presents. Then on Saturday we threw a party and Steve's family came over. Not that we planned on having separate "parties" but it worked out because we don't have a ton of extra space in our house to gather.

Will just had the biggest smile on his face while we were singing to him. He even got a little shy, a rarity for this kid. 

I also made my famous dirt cake for party favors in mason jars for everyone to take home with them. Nice work on the pictures of the details right?

As a one year old there isn't much you need or even know you want so we went over to the store on his birthday and let him pick out his own present. We were thinking a big dump truck would be a big hit, but when we got there he promptly made Steve get the Sully stuffed animal from Monsters Inc. and give it to him. It's BIGGER than him. He was sold and so we bought it for him. He has slept with it every night since and insists on bringing it down the stairs every morning! All in all I would say this birthday was a success.

William Remix

I'm quite flabbergasted that it has been a year (dare I say over a year, playing catch up here) since this little nugget entered our world and changed it forever thereafter.

I'd like to say that I was more laid back this go around, being my second go around. I think we've been pretty relaxed about the whole situation, except for the fact that Will is 100% BOY...and his kidney complications (more on that in a minute). 

Before we had kids I wondered what life would be like having one. We both knew it was something that we wanted (of course), but it's really hard to picture yourself until you are doing it hands on everyday. We always joked that Steve was going to have a hard time with kids because of all the germs that they come with (he is mildly OCD about stuff like that). One day he excitedly came in to tell me that, "It doesn't bother me to pick up Chuck's poop anymore....I think I am ready to have kids!!!" So we did, and Katy blew our minds. She was an angel baby. And by that I mean she was the EASIEST kid I ever imagined I could have. 

So we were a family of 3 and life goes on. Everyday learning new things. Teaching Katy all we could. Learning as we go. Hoping with all our hearts that some of our "good" was rubbing off on her and the person she was becoming. My heart was so full of love for her most days I felt like it was going to just up and burst out of my chest!

How do you add to that? I mean how do you share that love with another? It wasn't until I had mister that I understood how that love could grow. And again, I'm awed how it all works...the bigger picture. Having kidos makes you realize how important the small things are. How important it is to celebrate the  fact that we are here living this life together, as one big happy family (most days *wink*)!

Being a mom to Will has taught me a few things: 

1- Boys are DIFFERENT than girls in every way. I know boys are more high energy but this kid is a TANK...and I mean that by his attitude not his stature. Poor kiddo only measured in the 13% for height and weight at his one year appointment......he is seriously moving at 110 miles an hour at all waking moments of every day. 

2- That pulling hair and pestering your sister is going to be one of your favorite things. I am hoping that your hugs are going to get you out of Katy laying the smack down in the future. It will be your only saving grace. 

3- You have me completely wrapped around your finger and it's been such a pleasure getting to know you and your personality this year. 

I absolutely cannot wait to see what this coming year has in store for us. Love you forever buddy! Happy Birthday!!!

Fresh faced at the hospital

one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

                 

six months

seven months

eight months

nine months

10 months

11 months

one year

cake smash | will's first taste of sweets

This boy melts my heart. If he could only talk I would probably give him whatever he asked for! I wanted to do cake smash pictures, just like we did for Katy. He was not such a big fan of them though. Luckily I still got some cute ones. These were actually taken on his birthday.

Side note: This is when his runny nose started. Since his birthday he has been SICK and we have been to the doctor multiple times. Each time he has something different, and this week he is super stuffy. Hopefully he can get better soon because I felt awful taking these when he was obviously feeling not at the top of his game. The reason being, I still need to take some one year pictures (and he is 13 months!!!) Hopefully I can get some in the next week or two.

national holiday | 30 by 30 birthday list

I am 30 *mind blown*!!! Officially do I have to catagorize myself as an adult, when does this all happen? I still feel like a little kid, and then I realize I'm just a mom that acts like a kid. That and the fact that Steve keeps telling me he is only 22 years old...that kind of suprised me to think that I am 30 when I am just turning 22 again in Steve's mind. Adds a few years I know.

I'm getting side tracked. I've always wanted to do a birthday list, but haven't ever made one so let's give this a try. Here are 30 things that I would like to do while I am 30 years old...in no particular order of course!

1. Pick fruit at a local orchard
2. Run a marathon
3. Do 30 random acts of kindness
4. Make Halloween costumes for the kidos this year
5. Go to New York City
6. Get my house work organized
7. Read the book of mormon again
8. Blog every day for one month
9. Limit my TV time and get outdoors more
10. Make 5 movies
11. Get out and go on 5 new hikes with my family
12. Teach Katy how to sew something
13. Make my garden super cool
14. Run a race with Katy
15. Go on an epic road bike ride with Steve for a date
16. Run a half marathon
17. Write a short story for my kids
18. Try 5 new cookie recipes
19. Make a piece of art for my house
20. Try my hand at juicing
21. Cook a turkey by myself
22. Practice hand lettering
23. Try screen printing something
24. Read 12 books
25. Try a new restaurant
26. Find the perfect shade of lipstick and wear it more often
27. Paint each of my fingernails a different color
28. Learn to play a musical instrument
29. Build a bird house
30. Take 10 rolls of film and get them processed

I will definatly be blogging my progress. Here's to being 30.
Also, on a side note, Steve and the kids totally made this the best national holiday EVER!

monday fun day | Logan | april 22nd

What is a Monday Funday? Well...it's a free day where we can do whatever we want and go wherever the wind takes us. We are random by definition.

beardshall (beard-shall):
1. the act of flying by the seat of your pants.
2. to be awesome
3. a combination of random and blow your mind crazy have the best time.

We literally found ourselves driving up to Logan this particular day because we wanted some of that famous Aggie ice cream. I think I've had this before but it's been a long while. Steve was happy to oblige us and proudly drove us up there to his old stomping grounds.

Katy and Will, of course, had a great time. Katy was so cute to share her ice cream...something she has a hard time with (which I'm convinced she gets from her sweet tooth mother). We also went to the book store and got a shirt, went to Steve's old dorm, checked out the temple, and drove around town.

Funny side story. The weekend I met Steve he was talking about going back up to Utah State with his friends. He was recently back from his LDS mission, and was 100% going back. By the end of the night we had a date set up for the following week. While eating our 2$ waffles at the Belgian Waffle Inn I mentioned something about going back up to school at Utah State. Steve quickly cut me off and said that he didn't know where I got that idea from but he was going to the U. This is funny because many many months later he told me this was a spur of the moment decision he decided to make right then and there on our first date. I'm sure we would have made it work, but I am grateful he stayed with me!