One.

How did this happen so fast? My son... is one.

How have 365 days passed by when it seems I was just folding tiny little blue blankets and tucking away itty bitty socks into drawers getting ready for your arrival? One year ago today (1/24) I was welcoming your precious soul into this world with "I love you"s and kissing your wrinkled newborn skin while breathing you in. How is it possible we have made it through a year already? Witnessing so many firsts....first holidays, first crawl/walk, first words, first foods, etc. We have already gotten rid of some of the "baby" items in the house (e.g. - swing, bouncy seats, baby bathtubs, etc), it is bittersweet. I love watching you grow and develope your personality, yet at the same time if I could only figure out a way to freeze time and slow it down. I want you to keep that delicious baby smell, ultra soft plump cheeks and sweet innocence for just a bit longer.

So 1st birthday it is then. Yes, time to celebrate the little guy who has docked ship in our sea of life and stolen our hearts like a tiny little pirate. So exciting!

Ahoy there me hearties... Pirate Josh set sail Saturday, January 22nd, on a swashbuckling birthday adventure. Shipmates mom and dad swabbed the decks and gathered up booty to get the ship in order and fit fer Captain Josh's special day...

Sweet grub cooked up by land lubber mom.... okay, fine... in non-pirate terms, they're cupcakes. Cute heh? I found an old childhood candy, "Sixlets" (little malted chocolate tasting pea sized balls), now come in bags of solid "designer" colors. I found some silver ones that kind of looked like pearls... pair that with some gold gel decorator icing, and me gold booty... errrr, some plastic gold pirate coins, and voila' you have cupcakes fit for a tiny pirate boy's birthday.



The captains special cupcake... (Note, the tiny plastic pirate - I dug through a box of them at the party store to find the perfect one. Leave it to me, as usual, to find one that had no price tag when I got to the register. The young man's face at the register told me he wasnt keen on the idea of having to price check this seemingly insignificant little piece of plastic. He said "Ma'am, I really want to give you this little man, but I do not want to get into trouble." Meaning, "I am trying to be nice here, but I really do not want to have to walk across the store to price check this".  I said "I am not leaving the store without that little rubber man." ....and I didnt.  Thats right, mom on a mission.)                                   



Opening gifts...





Poor Middle Little, I felt bad because she kept saying "It's my birthday too!" when we would talk about what we were going to do for Josh's special day. I didnt want her to feel like he was being treated special or more important... she just does not understand at two, that everyone gets their own special day when its time. So I did what any good sucker momma would do, and I bought her a couple gifts to open for doing so good at potty training. ;-)

Apparently I was not the only sucker either, cause Grandma did the same thing and bought her a toy camera to open. Which she used to assist me in taking pics of brother's birthday. As you can see, she is still in training mode. She loves the bathtub tea set I found... heck, if your going to drink the tub water anyways (yuck!), why not do it in style eh?

Check out his solid gold couch... big pimpin'! Okay, not really... but he had a blast with it before he even got it opened.

Two tired Littles. Opening gifts is a lot of work.

Didnt take him long to figure out what to do with the couch. I can picture a remote in his hand already. My little couch potatoe tater tot. 

Me lil' bucaneer beauty...

Stripped down to a diaper and pirate hat, ready for cake...

It's at this moment I want to cry. The lighting of the 1st birthday candle. This is it, no going back, no re-doing. He is growing up. Now officially counting the years.


He was not sure why we were all looking at him and singing...

And that little rubber man, the one I refused to leave the store without... he loves him. (He ate most of his cupcake by dipping the pirates legs into it and eating it off the pirate.)

Middle Little is much more proper in her cupcake etiquette.

The aftermath.

Silly Grandma

"Got cupcake?"

Because sometimes our maturity level drops by half our age.

Once a food fight ensues, it cannot end until everyone is wearing some.

After a nice warm bath with every speck of cupcake removed, a good little refreshing nap, it was time to PLAY. Arrrrrgh matey!

At exactly 3:44 p.m. today, my heart swelled up at the memory

 of your entrance into this world. It was beautiful.

You are loved.

21 years and counting...



Barely dipping the tips of our toes into the sea of 2011 and we already have reason to celebrate!
Today marks a 21 year anniversary for the hubby and I. 21 years! If our anniversary were a person, he'd be all grown up and legal to party! ;-)~

21 years... dude, a lot goes on in 21 years. On one hand it seems like the time has flown by in the blink of an eye, on the other hand, I can really close my eyes and start back-tracking through the years and am overcome with every emotion you can think of in reliving so many memories...so many.

Of course there have been bad memories, there are truly no perfect "Leave it to Beaver" June and Ward Cleaver marriages, they do not exist, and if so, cannot be healthy relationships. Sometimes the imperfect, translates into perfect. As a whole, in looking at the big picture, any not so great times in our relationship are so mild and fade away in comparrison to the good thats been. The sweetness and pure joy that I have experienced, I wish on anyone lucky enough to find their true love in life. We have cried, comforted, laughed, loved and lived. We have shared so much and continue to. You know its right when asked if you would do it again, all of it? You answer, "yes!" in a heartbeat. Looking forward to the years to come. It only gets better.

A new year & we are blessed...

Here it is... 2011. I just now got used to writing 2010 on everything and now this?! Another year has flown by. We were blessed in many ways in 2010.

January 2010



February 2010



March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

Captured: one of those magical sibling moments when they are in their own little world.

Hubby and I were blessed in 2010 with celebrating 20 years together learning what makes each other tick. Moving into year 21... *singing* "Celebrate good times, come on..."

Big Little is of course an adult now... or at least that is what the law tells us. I still refuse to believe our 19 year old is, in fact, 19. She is a beautiful being. I love her so.

Middle Little continues to thrive and grow into this beautiful little soul that makes me so proud to be her momma. I love her precious self. I cannot believe this new year, our girl will be turning the big 3!

Littlest Little came into our lives in 2010 and we will never be the same. I learned after his birth, when we thought we may be looking at some serious health issues with him, the anguish and heartache a momma feels when something could be "wrong" with your child is just about unbearable. I can honestly say, that time period after his birth was probably one of the worst times emotionally in my life. (This rates right up there with the emergency room/hospital stay for our oldest in November 2002 and for the hubby in 2010... a very tough time and one that makes you think about a lot of things and how short life truly is. So important to LIVE every day.) Joshua is perfect. A happy healthy roly-poly little butterball of a boy. I love him. We have watched him grow too fast over the last year and are enjoying watching all of his "firsts". We have a birthday coming up right around the corner!

For now though...we start the year off right with friends, fun & food. Not a bad start to the new year really.

Bowling with Church friends, then to our Pastor's home for pizza/dessert and more playtime.



Lesson learned: Do not give a toddler an entire bag of M&Ms. To say she was more hopped up than a leprechaun who's found their pot of gold at the end of a rainbow is an understatement. Here we see Middle Little on a mass sugar high taking off down the bowling lane and Daddy catching her. There should be a warning label on M&M packages. Took a good hour for the sugar high to wear off enough that she was actually showing up in photographs again and not just a colorful blur.



Speaking of high... I must have been, but I like bowling shoes. Something about wearing shoes that look like they belong on a circus clown's feet and looking around the room to see everyone else wearing the same hideous shoes...makes me smile. Least they updated their bowling shoes, and these were a fashinable green versus the red, white and blue numbers they had for years.

See the beautiful shades of pinks/oranges and burgundy?

Yes, because we are a fashionable team of women bowlers.

This is serious game.

Our most handsome score keeper, Clenton Jr., who was also an excellent bowler.

Strike for Daddy!



Then time to turn in our super cool Jolly Green Giant colored

bowling shoes and head out for pizza and more play.

Hanging out at the Pastor's house...

They have the coolest old house, kind of this Secret Garden type antique treasure. See the wood beams in the dining room? That whole wall/ceiling at the dining table is made up of windows overlooking a beautiful private lawn. To be able to eat dinner under the stars no matter what the weather is just too totally awesome.

Cutie-pie Clenton was kind enough to share his toys...

Even the big kids played...

Goodbye 2010. You were a pretty good year. There were heart-wrenching trials, lessons learned, indescribable joys and lots of love shared. Looking forward to the new year and what it will bring us.

Happy New Year & God Bless Us All!
New years resolution... to see how much more I can suck out of life this year.
Mental note: I need a "bucket list".