The rest of our weekend

We had a great weekend with Todd's family in town. Ashley got down Thursday night and Robin, Justin, Shawn and Tatiana arrived Friday night. Saturday morning we drove to our favorite photographer in Independence and had Blake's 1 year pictures taken. He did so well and we got in more pictures than we expected. Ashley was so helpful with James during our pictures and I was so thankful she was there. The rest of the gang wandered the shops in downtown Independence. We all met up around 11:30 for pizza at Square pizza. We all thought it was REALLY good. Too bad it isn't closer to us. We had a relaxing Saturday afternoon and evening. Sunday we had Blake's party from 11-1pm. After naps we headed to my parents for some pool and grill time. Monday we ran in the Amy Thompson race. Todd and I hadn't done that race since before James and it was great to see the course again. It goes through some beautiful neighborhoods around Loose park. Here are some pictures from the rest of our weekend!

Blake's Party

We celebrated Blake's 1st birthday over the weekend. He was a happy boy the whole party! These pictures are some of my favorites! We had a monkey themed party for our little monkey! I still can't believe how fast the last year has gone and how fast he is growing up! We LOVE our baby Blake so much!

Last Day of School pics

James and Blake had their last day of school on Monday! I can't believe that the year is over. It went by so fast. I will miss both of their teachers, but I'm sure next year will be great too! It is so hard to get them both to sit still for pictures and this was the best I got. I just realized I forgot to get one of James by himself. Opps! James and Blake will stay home with Daddy or a babysitter this summer on the days I go to work. Daddy says he is ready to have potty training boot camp with you James. He is determined to get you trained this summer! "No more diapers" is a frequent motto at our house!

First Steps

After a busy day at work it was great to come home and see Blake take his first steps!

Weekend in Des Moines

Almost walking

Blake is SO close to taking his first steps. He can stand by himself for atleast 10-15 seconds at a time. I really think he could take steps by June 1st!

Mother's Day Blessings

I am so blessed to be a mom to my two sweet boys. It is hard to believe last Mother's day I was 9 months pregnant and just mom to one. Blake has made my transition from one to two kids so easy and I'm truly thankful that he has been such great baby. Life with two boys has been busy, fun, exhausting and rewarding. I'm loving every minute of it!

The boys came home from school on Friday with some really cute gifts.


A framed picture of Blake

A flower and picture from James.

James also came home with a note called, "I love my mommy because"...
My mommy's favorite food is donuts
My mommy's favorite color is orange
My mommy's favorite TV show is Dora
My mommy's favorite game to play is Guitar
My mommy's favorite thing to do at home is touch the big spiders
My mommy's favorite restaurant is Pizza
My mommy is 4 years old!

I really got a good laugh from this!

Spring Sing

James had his end of the year preschool program at school this week. He and his classmates sang about 7-8 different songs and did a great job. James loves music class! Try to focus on our sweet James and ignore the boy in green picking his nose and the boy in orange with his hand up his shorts. :)


After the program we went back to his classroom to have strawberry bread and apple juice. I enjoyed watching them pray before they ate and all having such good manners. I learned a couple new prayers today!



We are so proud of our big 3 year old!

He was so happy to have Mommy, Abby and Seth in his classroom.

Thanks to Abby and Seth for coming!

James' two wonderful teachers Amy and Katie. They have been so great!

James and his good buddy Chase.

Ballgame and Papaw's Birthday

Sunday afternoon we went to a Royals game with Seth and the boys. It seems like we always pick cold games to go too. It was around 50 when the game started at 1pm, but was in the 40's by the time we left. The boys both did great for the first 1 1/2 hours and then they had both had enough! Hopefully, next time we go it won't be so chilly!

James enjoys pushing Blake in the stroller.

I love the sweet look on his face here.

All smiles!

The only thing that kept James in his seat was lots of snacks.

Another family photo attempt..

After the ballgame we headed to my parents to celebrate Papaw's birthday! Blake was very entertaining and made lots of silly faces. He wasn't sure about the corn on the cob.. He still has 8 teeth and the molars will probably be in soon. He already has a small chip on one of his front teeth. We have no idea when or where it happened. Thankfully, it is a very small chip and hardly noticeable.