Lets Party.

Nicole and I have had such dreams of throwing a co party for our little dudes since they were born. And with two little boys who could resist slapping a Thing 1 and Thing 2 theme on it. We served all the fun foods any kiddo could ask for like Yertle The Turtle's Tator Tots, Hop On Pop Patties (or what grownups call Hamburgers), and Lots and Glotz of Macaroni. And my personal favorite: Horton's Cheese Specs, but they were really just your average store cheese balls- oh yes I knocked it out of the clever park with that one... because Horton walks around with a orange spec that he claims is a microscopic community and it looks like a cheese ball... haha I still get a kick out of it.

But enough is enough. Back to the party.

Nicole also decorated her Christmas tree to look like she snatched it right out of Whoville. Which by the way I never took a picture of. Drat, I hate when I forget to document everything!

Overall I am going to mark this party off as a success and thank everyone who shared this special day with us and our two favorite little one year olds.

In the words of Dr. Seuss STOOPENDOUS!

^{(By the way, yes this is the last post about Khage turning one... I managed to turn this one milestone into at least four posts. I think he will appreciate it when he's older... or if he reads this in his teens and I am still too obsessed with him for his liking he may throw this in my face when I confront him after he comes home with a lip piercing and a sorry attitude about lack if independence. I mean come on Mom you have been obsessed with me since I was born, literally a whole blog devoted to raising me and four posts about my first birthday, give it a rest already... ).}

No Khage I will not.

12 Months.



A few special facts about our little baguette:
He will finally hold hands with us when we're walking around but he won't let you touch his hands otherwise
I have to check the trash can a few times a day to be sure he didn't throw away any of his toys
When he hears a dog bark sometimes he will mimic it with a cute little "oof oof" and it always throws us into proud parent mode
He loves playing in Daddy's garage with all the foreign tools and dangerous chemicals
I just relocated his books out of his reach because he just realized the pages are tearable
He is out of nowhere starting to get sweet little baby curls in the back of his hair
He will try and blow out candles, flashlights and light bulbs
His face when trying to blow these things out is very comparable to Popeye the Sailor Man
He hates to be away from home, which makes running errands troublesome
He would walk by the Christmas tree and just stand next to it and admire the beautiful lights
But now he yanks off ornaments and when we go to reprimand him he hands them to us like he just found them somewhere and he's trying to be helpful
We think he is going to grow into an outdoorsy guy with a goofy personality who loves to fix stuff and who eats strictly to survive
He does a little Stevie Wonder Impression, he closes his eyes and sways back and forth with such soul
When he gets frustrated he smacks himself in the side of the head
He tries to run but he always gets going way too fast for his legs to keep up and he ends up eating it hard
He is finally at the age where he crawls around pushing cars
He thinks it is funny when he beats on the dogs with his toys... we do not
Random things he finds on the floor still go right into his mouth, which is ironic because he is the pickiest eater ever
Climbing into things and dumping things out are kinda his thing
&
Watching him grow from a baby to a toddler has been the most amazing experience of our lives. We can still remember the day we brought him home and the very fears that kept us awake. We will never forget the tiny moments that mean nothing to most people but make up the bulk of our memories as his parents. And forever will we hold close to us the natural way in which we learned to love him... our baby so tiny, pure and beautiful. This past year has been full of such tender moments that we will never let go of because he is what turned us, two people, into a family.

A Birthday in Pictures.

Khagey had just woken up from his nap and needed some time to ease into party mode.

And like Daddy, he fought me on the partyhat wearing.

So this party was not off to a raging start.

But then the present came out, and nothing turns a party around like a freshly wrapped present.
Which Khage opened all by himself.

He is pretty much into paper tearing, so this is exactly what he has been training for!

We then ate a yummy diner of pulled pork sandwiches and cheesy tator tot cassarole.

^{(Get the oh so delicious recipes here and here.)}

Then Mommy set up for cake smash time. And boy oh boy did this ONE year old think he was cool... and let me tell you he was that cool.

Believe it. I was there.

Then Khagey terrorized his cake with a fork.

^{(Wanna make this vibrant playdoe colored moisty sodapop cake? Click here.)}

Khage rockin his "say my age" look.

And this our friends is what you get when you give a ONE year old free range on a birthday cake.

Safe to say he had a lot of fun... and we had a lot of cleaning up to do.

Khagey wanted Teddy to wear a partyhat.

And what our birthday boy wants our birthday boy gets!

It truly was a wonderfully fun first birthday.

Cake Smash.

From the moment we set him down he was in it to win it. He immediatly shoved little by little into his mouth and grinned at the loads full sugar that we willing let him consume.

Then he was over it. And the moment was no longer titled Cake Smash but instead Cake Tracks All Over the Kitchen. Bright playdoe colored cake footprints all over the place. We then had to persuade him to go back for seconds and thirds. But eventually he demolished the thing... and I planted his booty right on top of it as the grand finale. It was a wonderful end to a great birthday!



A Letter To My Baby.

Dear Khage,
I cant believe we made it through a whole year in what felt like less then six months. I wish someone would have told me kids grow up fast. Get it... because everyone says that business! And funny because it is always said, from the minute a baby slides out and yet no one person has figured out a potion to make this happen. I will work on inventing this and stop your growth dead in its tracks... after you learn how to wipe your own butt.

This has really been an incredible journey... being a Mother is my profession, my talent, my happiness, my duty and I am so utterly thankful. I learned a whole new and deeper love and the intensity of it often brings my heart to ache. Sometimes I cant sleep because I fear for the day that you are not by my side, most days I stare at you and wonder how I could have made something so amazingly perfect with a smile that yanks on my heart strings, and whenever you look at me I wonder if you know the extent of the love Daddy and I have for you. If it was money my boy, you could buy all the cheerios, chicken and cheese your little heart could ever desire.

You were a good baby, always sleeping well and rarely crying. You helped ease me into motherhood and I am so gracious for that. Many of your firsts are gone, but honey baby we still have so many more to share. I eagerly wait for the moment that MomMom leaves your lips.

Thank you for this beautiful year of all of us learning together. You made me a Mommy, my husband a Daddy and both of us the happiest we have ever been. I am so inlove with you KhageyBaby and I hope you always feel this love.

Happy First Birthday.

To the moon and back fifteen times over,
Mommy.

Today.

Today Khage and I bonded over Graham cracker milk dunking. We had a one way conversation where I  tried to persuade him to sample a little bite because we have never ventured into the land of dunking foods into our milk before. I was shocked to see him actually taking bites one after another and not shoving the food away, when it comes to trying new things he is such a food snob. Reason number 107 that he is just like his father and reason number 105 why, aside from the blood that runs through his veins and his dark eyes, he is nothing like me.

As I watched him nibbling on his soggy cracker I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with so many emotions about his first birthday coming up. I have been doing a pretty good job holding myself together over this upcoming milestone. I have on numerous occasions almost lost myself to a crying blubbering mess but I have managed to subdue it for a little while longer. I see a complete meltdown happening before his first birthday even comes about. I apologize beforehand to Brad for having to come in and clean that mess up.

This kid is my whole heart, ^{well he half'sies it with his Daddy}, and I am finding it harder and harder to give away my needy baby to an independent toddler. I will cling to him the rest of this week embracing the tiniest bit of baby that he has left to offer me. And I couldn't hold back the flood of love that was sweeping in during this snack time, I had to get in there and smooch that soggy cracker face. And that he did shove away. See that? He is already too big to let Mommy plant one square on his face.

Go Go Gadget Arm

Khage. Khage. Khage. What ever are we going to do with you? Your always walking around with a stick of some sort. It can be anything with at least an eight inch reach. We call it your GoGoGadget arm. Your always using it to smack things around, beat on the doors, the walls, or tv, knock things off the desk and occasionally you use it to get a spankin. A spankin... because that's your punishment when you hit us with it.

^{No we don't use the stick to spank him... we go oldschool on his butt. For the newschool folk that means we use our hands.}

I am hoping we can break you of this little habit before its kindergarten time. If not I foresee alot of notes being sent home with you that discuss the various ways you attacked other children with long random objects. For now though we say its cute and innocent.

Your all boy and ready for a rumble at anytime.

Finders Keepers

Losers weepers!

Sorry Bostyn & Kanon but you shouldn't have left it behind in my toy box.

I think I will keep it and use it to my advantage in the future as a bargaining tool.

Maybe I could offer it up as a truce after I have cut all your Barbie's hair.

Maybe.

A Remote and Tripod.

Today were taking our family portraits for our Christmas card... and when I say we I mean just Brad, Khage and I. If your familiar with cameras at all you know someone has to hold it and potentially push a button if you hope to actually capture a moment. Well we don't have one of those people, the camera holder and button pusher, and we hope to all be in the shot so we bought a tripod and remote. And to be sure they actually worked the way we hoped we tested these little devices yesterday. What we came up with was very interesting.

Let me set the scene:

Scum Bucket Brad just arrested for urinating in public, Bailiff Khage brings him in for pictures and finger prints, and Officer Jamee is in the background next to the camera and tripod yelling left forward right at the dirty scum.

 Then things just got weird.

That's one sick puppy!



But good to know the tripod and remote work.

Lets just hope the last few pictures are no reflection on family portrait day.

Our Thanksgiving.

 This years Thanksgiving was celebrated a little different from the traditional way that Brad and I are used to. This holiday was usually spent lounging about with the rest of the family and only venturing into the kitchen to sneak a taste of mashed potatoes or a snack off the veggie tray.  But with our families living hundreds of miles away, this years' table setting was for only two & a half and our mothers were not here to magically whip up the infamous meal. So instead of parking our rears on the couch, our day was spent slaving away in the kitchen making all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes and chasing around our mobile baby. We were tripping over Tupperware that he slew all over the kitchen, checking the temperature of the turkey with one leg kicked out as to block him from getting too close to the oven and instead of diggin in right when the food hit the table I was busy spooning up samples for Khage well before a spoon full of mashed potatoes even touched my lips.  

Well... maybe I snuck in a taste or two while the turkey was finishing up.

 Brad and I cooked our first bird.

Khage enjoyed his first licks of turkey and stuffing, green bean casserole and sweet potatoes.

And together we enjoyed our first very own Thanksgiving as a family of three.

 So CHEERS for a wonderful day spent with the ones we love over a table covered with deliciously cooked food and all the while being thankful for all of our countless blessings.

^{And a special thanks to my mother who saved us from having a spoiled Thanksgiving. She caught me just as I was putting the Turkey in the oven three hours early. Apparently a six hour cook time is only required if your bird is over 30 pounds.
Our turkey... he was a little 12 pounder.}

But enough about the turkey lets look at this ham