Andrew's 1st Birthday!

If you want to see way too much video footage of Andrew's first birthday, check out his YouTube channel.

He is definitely going to be a chocoholic like me! :) Here are some pictures from his day. We enjoyed playing with his toys and just hanging out together. He even helped me make (and taste-test) his doggie cake. He loved it!




Thanks for all the phone calls (especially the singing), emails, balloons, and presents! Andrew had a great 1st birthday and was very worn out by the time he went to bed.

Looking Back!

In honor of our little guy's 1st birthday tomorrow, I've been doing some reflecting on
the year. Here's a little look back at some of the fun we've had together! I can't
believe how fast it has flown by!!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Three Incredible Years

Here are a few pictures of some of my favorite moments with Kevin from the last 3 years. I am lucky to be married to such a phenomenal guy... and I am excited for many many more years together! Happy Anniversary! (I'm only a few days behind on posting this :))

A little weekend fun

Here are a few pics from our weekend.

I had a blast spending the weekend with a 11 incredible women at a cabin up in Twain Harte. A few of us ventured outdoors for some playtime in the snow.




After I got back, we spent Saturday & Sunday playing with this crazy little guy.

Google Haircut

Andrew's hair has desperately been needing a haircut for a few weeks. It has been looking like a bad toupee.



This morning we went to Google's onsite haircutting place and Andrew got his first real haircut. He was awesome. No crying. No screaming. He just moved a lot. The stylist has a lot of experience w/ baby cuts, so it worked out great. The best part was that although it wasn't free (like an at-home cut), it was pretty cheap and I didn't have to deal w/ a screaming baby. It also was super quick bc the lady was so good- less than 10 minutes. Yay!

Such a stylin kid!

More walking...

Something new

Here is some fun video footage I got today. He seems to like doing this walking think in short spurts now with a little prompting... maybe because chocolate was involved? :)

Don't Don't Stop the Carnival

I've been looking through our wedding video footage and am finally uploading it off my video camera. This was one of the highlights of the night... DJ Neil's "Carnival." None of us wanted to do it... but in the end, he convinced us... and although we all did it... we were all hoping he would've stopped the carnival a little sooner. Just imagine this clip going for about 10 minutes longer. (Liz- I know you'll be super excited to see yourself in this footage :))



What a great party! Ah... I miss DJ Neil. Maybe we can fly him out when Jessie gets married? ;)

Happy Valentineiversary!

Our wedding anniversary is only 4 days after Valentine's Day... so typically we don't really do much for Valentine's Day and just do a lot for our anniversary. Today I was surprised with my first "Valentineiversary" present. Kev & Andrew went on a special father-son shopping trip to pick it out. I got a darling joint card from the boys and this awesome iPod nano.


It is really thin and shiny. I am already worried I am going to break it. Maybe the YW who drive in my car will now think I am a little bit cooler... but probably not. I am not the brightest when it comes to new technology. I have never owned an iPod. I don't know the difference between one that is an iPod touch, nano, shuffle, or whatever. I have surprisingly had an iPod shuffle for 2 years and I have never used it bc I didn't really know what it was. Yes, I am that dumb. That will hopefully all end this week. For my "Valentiniversary" Kevin is also going to give me a iPod tutorial. By my Thurs road trip I will have some music on the new iPod nano. I am excited. Now I just need some good songs to add to my iTunes library... I currently have 6. Any good road trip song suggestions??

A Beautiful Weekend for Lacrosse

Despite all the rain that was predicted, we had a beautiful weekend in Santa Barbara watching Jessie & the BYU women's lacrosse team play in the Santa Barbara Shoot out. This year was MUCH better than last year (Jessie' played almost 100% more than last year, I wasn't pregnant and worried about giving birth on the drive home, and we had Andrew to entertain us this year during any down time.)


The highlight of the game was when she tackled the other team's goalie and got carded and sent out of the game for a bit. She also got several AWESOME goals and assists. Jess is always the entertainer... her falls were very dramatic and kept the games lively too. Here are several pictures from the weekend.

Night games under lights are the best. As you can see, Andrew was really interested in the game.

Cat & Scott

Elise & Dan

Kim & Jules

The whole clan... including our LAX star! Way to go Jess for organizing such an awesome family reunion.

Jess playing D

Andrew getting some love from Uncle Scotty



Jess going in for a shot

Telling the ref about the bad call she made

Getting down for the ground balls

Posing with her ultimate super fan

What a great way to spend a weekend!! I love my family and I was especially glad to have the little guy back! He's such a goofball.

We are excited to see how the BYU girls do for the rest of the season and we're hoping they make it to the National Tournament this year! Go Cougars!

Counting down the hours...

Dear little buddy,

I am counting down the hours until we see you again (less than 14 now... since it is 1am). Last Friday it was very sad to take you on an airplane to Utah and drop you off.


I've been missing your darling smile and cute little laugh. I am so glad you have so many people who love you in Utah!


To help myself feel less sad, I have been distracting myself with a lot of this...

and this...

a bit too much of this...


and some of this...

Sleeping in until 10am has been great... but waking up and seeing your smiling face (and not just through a WebCam) will make me even happier. Can't wait to see you soon!

xoxo
Love,
Mom

Missing You Already

We're heading on a little trip next week (without Andrew) and I am already missing the little guy. I'm sure I won't be once I'm sleeping in until 10am and running on the beach in the morning without having to push a 30lb stroller.... but to make up for leaving him, I'm trying to spend some extra time with him this week (even more than usual). This means I've been taking a lot of pictures. Here are a few of my favorite ones from yesterday and today.

Straddling his cool car wash/car garage (Thanks Buskirks!!)

Reading... and ripping books

Eating snacks from his cool snack trap (Thanks Lorna & Aila!)

So proud of himself

Playing Peek-a-Boo

Helping with the laundry

I love how stubborn this little guy is sometimes. He really wanted to put the laundry in the washer by himself. When that didn't work after several attempts, he decided to just shove it in the crack at the side of the washer instead. At least he's a flexible thinker.

February Frugality Challenge

For any of you who love shopping and love good deals even more... check out my friend's blog- Dear Savvy Shopper.


This month she is hosting "The February Frugality Game." Check it out if you are interested in saving some $$ this month and possibly winning a little reward too.

Say Cheese!

The little guy likes to flash his pearly whites when I say "cheese" these days. His smile is sometimes a little bit creepy, but it is cool that he'll do it on demand.





He is also finding more new and interesting places to play.

Cleaning the walls with his handy toothbrush

Chillin in the closet

Hanging out with his buddies Aila and Kailee

He enjoyed stealing his toys back from the girls

This week we had fun hosting our weekly playdate at our place. The girls helped show us what we still need to baby proof... and the moms enjoyed eating little Valentines day cakes and chatting. We love our Monday playdates with the girls!