My baby is 1!

A year has gone by.....already. I'm not sure how, but time is speeding up. Every moment disappears faster than the one before it. Does anybody know how to change this?!? No? Ok. I guess I'll just continue to cherish every single second of the moments. Not all moments should be saved, but the ones that should I will hold onto forever.

There was a time, not too long ago, when I thought I just might not survive another moment. I really thought that Brock would be the end of me. I didn't think I could, nor did I really want to, endure too many more of his "moments".

God has a special way of changing our hearts. I know He does. You know how?

Right now, when I look back on the first year of Brock's life, I only remember the sweet, tender, amazing, special, fun, laughing, playing, wonderful moments. I don't think about the months that I was awake all night long, exhausted to tears, crying out to God to send someone else to do my job. I don't think about the times that I thought that I might have to lock myself in the bathroom for a while so that I didn't harm my child. I don't think about every single tear shed in complete and utter desperation for Brock to please be "easy".

All I think about it is how abundantly blessed I am to have Brock. How his eyes look into mine and turn my whole day around. How his smile brings a smile to my heart and a tear to my eyes. How his giggle melts me and how his belly laugh absolutely brings sunshine into a cloudy day. I think about how wonderfully he has enriched our lives and how much we've grown as a family since his arrival. Brock is so much fun to be around and I'm excited for each day that I get with him now! A year seems like such a blink in the span of our lives, but my life has changed completely in the course of the blink.

My dear, sweet Brock-

Where do I start? There's so much to say to you, but I'm going to make this simple.

Thank you for being who you are. Thank you for challenging me to the very core of my being. If it weren't for you, I'd be stuck where I was. Because of you, I've changed. Oh, I've changed. You have changed me. You've forced me to be a better person, a better mom, a better wife. More patient and understanding, more sympathetic and empathetic. You have made me search for something that was missing - and at first I was searching in all the wrong places until I found the one place that I needed to be. You've helped me grow my relationship with God in ways I didn't know were possible.

Brock, you've come a long way in a year. I am amazed at you. You started walking at 10 months, you already know how much fun it is to get into stuff you're not supposed to be in. You are so naughty it's hilarious. You know when you're being naughty and you think it's the best thing ever. You pick on your big brother already. You two fight just like brothers should fight. You have an attitude. A serious attitude. I love it. I'm not going to love it in a couple years, but for now, I love it. You love nursing, STILL!!! I'm thrilled about this, since Caden had long since given up on this at your age. You still only say uh-oh, nothing else. You hit and throw tantrums, you scream and argue with us, and you have a strength that amazes me. I can't wait to see the many ways that you will change my life in the years to come, because if it's anything like the last year, bring it on. I'm ready. We're ready. You're going to be a warrior, Brock. A strong and mighty warrior. There's something in you that's ready to fight. I can feel it :)

I love you so immensely.

xoxo, Mama

Brock on his birthday, wearing his birthday outfit :)

Brock and his 4-tier turtle cake :)

Getting ready to let him dig in!

Another view of the cake....

He's ready to get in there!

Not quite sure about eating it...

Trying to pick up the whole thing.....so he could chuck it on the floor!

I saved it, and he wanted to give me the rest of the cake too.

A little distracted by the balloons behind him....

He may not have eaten much of the cake, but he sure wore a lot of it!

And then he got a fork - which made him want to eat a little bit more of it.

Gift time.....the favorite gift at the moment was the new sippy cup!

After the party, it was time for fun with Nanny!

Brock would sit on the back of the couch and wait (grinning with anticipation)

And then, down he went! He thought it was the best game ever!!!

Sweet Brock - Happy 1st Birthday. I love you so much!

Oh Nigel....

I think I have a pretty hot husband. I mean, he's tall, in great shape, has awesome blue eyes, and he wears a gun to work! What's not to love about that? However, the other night, he was getting ready for work in the morning, so he was shaving. He comes walking out and sits next to me, and this is what I found......

A MUSTACHE! And you know Nigel couldn't make a serious face with a mustache!

Me: "Umm, what's up with the 'stache?"

Him: "My razor died. I'm going to have to let it charge before I shave it off."

Me: "But you're going to shave it off, right?"

Him: "Yeah, probably in 15 minutes, after it's charged for a little bit."

So, of course, I chose to take pictures, remember it forever, and let all of you see it in all of it's glory! HA!

I sure do love you, Nigel. You make me smile :)

P.S. Thanks for shaving it off 15 minutes later.

Happy Easter.....oops :)

I was just going through all of my pictures and I realized that I hadn't put up Easter pictures! Ha! Well, here they are. The boys looked way too cute for me to just not post these!

We all got together to celebrate at my parents' house. It was a lot of fun! We had a great dinner, great dessert (roasted strawberry cheesecake....jealous?!?), and an Easter egg hunt! The boys loved it :)

Trying to get a 4 year old, 2 year old, and 11 month old to sit still for a picture proved to be impossible. Seriously impossible. Oh well, at least we got all 3 of them in the picture together!


Caden and Brock, dressed up in their tie-shirts from Amy. And, they are wearing matching brown pants :)

The 3 boys got each got Easter baskets filled with fun and candy :)

One of my favorite 2 year olds.....Jude! He hasn't quite mastered the art of taking bites, so when he gets something to eat, he just shoves it all in!

Caden and Jude got to hunt for Easter eggs - they loved it! Jude did so good finding them, too!

Fun with Nanny and Papa - I don't know very many kids who will pass up the chance to play on a giant ball! Jude and Brock were having so much fun being bounced and rolled!

With all of that, I hope everyone had a great Easter - if you can remember it :) I'll try to stay more on top of my pictures next time!

Caden is 4!

Wait a minute, WHAT?!?! 4?!?! No, couldn't be Caden. You have the wrong kid.

Oh, you're serious? Wow. I don't know where the time went.

Caden -

Energetic, fearless, sweet, stubborn, hilariously funny, witty, smart, cute-as-can-be. I could keep going. I love my Caden. He brings such a joy to my heart :) 4 years, huh? It seems impossible that it was 4 years ago that I gave birth to him. I swear it was just yesterday. I swear he's still my baby. Not if he has anything to say about it, though! He's so independent lately. It's sad, really. He doesn't need me as much as he used to need me. Although, most of the time, he still wants his mommy when he gets hurt. At least I still have that :)

He makes me laugh all the time. He says the funniest things. He's so creative, always coming up with new games and new stuff to do. Stubborn like his mama (I seemed to have passed that trait along to both of my boys, oops), crazy like his dad. He's definitely a good mix of both of us. He's going to be something amazing when he grows up, I just know it. Nothing is too big or too hard for our Caden. He's awesome. 4 years, seriously? I tell ya, I'm afraid to blink, because if I do, he's going to be 18 and heading off to college. Somebody slow time down, I want more time with my Caden!

Caden, I love you more than you could ever comprehend. And to think I thought I had all the love for you the minute I laid eyes on you. Little did I know that the love would only grow to a point that my heart can't contain it all! You are so special and amazing. I can't wait to see the kind of man you are going to become (but, I can wait, don't grow up too fast!). Thank you so much for making me smile every single day. You've always got something to say that gets me laughing. And thank you for the raspberries that you continue to give me almost daily. You know that nothing makes me laugh harder than when you attack me with raspberries! The relationship you have with Daddy is enough to make me jealous. There was a time when I thought you'd never leave my side, now I'm wanting a little more time with you stuck to me! We are blessed every single day by you and your love. You love all of us in such a special way. I love you, Caden. You hold my heart in your hands, son. You are awesome!

Love, Mom xoxo

Here come the pictures, and LOTS of them.....

We start with the Transformers birthday party, because Caden LOVES Transformers. A friend of ours made a pinata for the kids. It was a huge smash! (Tee-hee, no pun intended)

And thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate with us! We had a great time!

And the most amazing part - Optimus Prime captured in cake :) That cake was just for Caden! He only took 2 bites at the party. Seriously. He just doesn't care about sweets that much! The cupcakes are Autobot (good guys) and Decepticon (bad guys) logos that were painted onto fondant circles. Our same friend who made the pinata worked so hard at making the cake and cupcakes. She is awesome! We are so thankful! Thank you Lully!!!!

And here is Brock, he partied himself right to exhaustion! Seriously, he slept through the night for the FIRST TIME EVER after this birthday party! Hasn't happened since, but he did it!!!

And this is Caden's actual birthday, April 14th. We took him on an adventure hike that proved to be a little too adventurous for this mama with a baby on her back :) I made it most of the way up, but didn't get to the top because it got a little too treacherous. Nigel and Caden really had a great time, though. Climbing rocks....what little boy wouldn't love this?!? (And Amy, I know these pictures are enough to give you a heart attack, but you know that this is my future, right?)

Back home, cleaned up, and time for dinner! Caden chose Panda Express (good choice!) and then Coldstone Creamery for dessert. He ate more than I've seen him eat in a long time! Brock even got his first bites of ice cream :)

Um, are these 2 twins? They act like it! They even look a little like it! They sure do keep me smiling, though, which is something I thank God for every day :)

We had the best time with Caden this year for his birthday! I know that this will be one that he will remember. I made sure that he knew that he was the most special person on April 14th :) Isn't that what we all need on our birthdays, anyway?!?

Happy Birthday Jude!

Jude turned 2 on March 21st! Wow, how does that happen so fast? Seriously? He is just getting more and more adorable and he's really decided that he'd like to give talking a try. I love listening to him learning how to talk, he is so funny! He says some really cute things, just like all little ones do :)


He was excited for that giant chocolate cake! He LOVES cake, especially chocolate - just like his mama :)

Caden loved the chocolate cake, too!

This is Jude telling us that he's 2 years old! It's super cute!

A few pictures....

I thought this was so cute..... Caden had gone into his room for something and he now immediately shuts his door so Brock can't come in. Brock walked down to the end of the hallway and just sat down in front of Caden's door, waiting for him to open up :) Aww, Brock loves his big brother!


And big brother Caden loves Brock, too. Enough to make him the subject of his photography :) Caden loves taking pictures, and these are a few of the photos that he took of Brock one day!

3 boys in my bed!

Brock really wants to be with Nigel and Caden and be doing what they're doing. Brock listens for them, tries to hear where they are and what they're doing. He found them snuggled up in my bed one day :) He just had to get in on the fun!