The Fruits of Your Labor

 Yes.  I am being very literal with that phrase.  About a month ago, Luis built me a little garden and while watering it this afternoon, I found this.

 That's right.  A red strawberry.  We have had some green ones for about a week but they have finally started to get some color in them.  I am going to give it a day or two before I pick that bad boy.  

Some of our other plants have started to flower.  The beans and the squash have lots of flowers, where there is only one flower actually blooming on my tomatoes (though you can see a couple getting ready to)  I just told my sister that I don't have the patience to do this gardening thing.  I want my veggies now.  After today though, I am so glad I am taking the minimal time to grow a few things.  The day to day changes are so beautiful.

 Oh, and one tip that I discovered for those who have outside cats who think "garden" us a synonym to "bathroom,"  after I water each plant, I give the entire bed a spray down.  She hates doing her duty in dirt that is already wet

Bryan's First Birthday

I can't believe that my baby is one already.  Where in the world did the time go?  Not that long ago I was bringing him home from the hospital.
For his birthday, I decided to do a cake smash pictures.  I am glad I did because I was so busy at his birthday party to take any pictures.  I am also glad that I did his cake smash myself instead of paying someone else.  It would have been money wasted because my little man wasn't very cooperative.  Though, what would you expect from someone who is getting all 4 of his 1st set of molars.  I did get some good shots though.

He loved that "1" candle.  It made for a great spoon.

After that it was all down hill.  We had stopped because he was getting fussy and didn't want the cake at all, but the next day was even worse.  We tried to take some cake smash pictures at his party, but he took the words "It's my party, I can cry if I want to."too seriously.  You would cry too, if it happened to you.  We hate molar pain.

My Mommy Break

I love it when the Daddy takes baby out, giving me the whole house to myself.

While, of course, I love that boy more than anyone in the whole wide world. To get a break was amazing.  I could go to the bathroom without this:

Eat chocolate without sharing.

And get my kitchen clean without this:

Ok, so usually, he is screaming at me through the gate.  NOT being all cute with his squinty smiles.  But man is that face cute?
It was nice to be able to relax and do my own thing.  It's also nice the 5 minutes when he gets home because he missed me so much it makes me snuggly.  What do you like to do when(if) you get a break?

The Lazy Mama

Sometimes, that is what I think this blog should be named.  At least it would be informative about my posting habits.  I don't hate blogging, in fact, when I actually sit down to write a post, I enjoy it.  When Bryan finally goes down for a nap, however, I discover that the motivation to blog as been replaced with the desire to nap, play a game, or (insert other lazy thing).  Occasionally chores win out too.  Eventually I will learn to manage my time and motivation, right?

This boy is full on walking and running now.  He is fast too.  I turned to leave one of the rooms and jumped because I didn't recognize him.  He is still falling down here and there, but honestly, we all do.  Ok, so I do.

He is getting such a personality on him too.  I see little mixtures of us both in him.  Like his taste in music is the same as the Daddy's, (Gustav Lima for the win!) but he does a happy dance when he is eating, like me.  This past week I have seen him develop the wariness and shyness around strangers.  Someone he doesn't know that well said hi to him today and he ran to me and burried his face in my lap.

Bryan's new favorite things are balloons, the ball popper, bouncy balls and his brand new toy car Uncle Danny got him.  That last one is the Daddy's new favorite as well.

Yes.  Those are pads.

He really likes nectarines.  I am trying to get him to eat more on his own.  It just feels like as soon as I put his food(which he normally eats fine) in that tray, he wants nothing to do with it.  Except for nectarines.  We could just eat those all day long.

They will be mailing his Hogwarts letter to "The cupboard down the hall"

This weekend my handsome boy is turning 1. Which means there will be lots of pictures coming.  Where has all the time gone?

11 Months and Walking

This weekend, my big boy hit a big milestone at Papa's house.  He took his first steps.  I think it was a big let down for him when we got back home because there were only two people to clap for him.  He loved the attention of 8 of us cheering him on at Papa's. So much so, that he didn't start walking again until today.

We have been working on our sign language, and while he "asks" for more all the time,  he did it the right way on his own for the first time.  Usually it looks like clapping when he asks for more, but he actually got just his fingertips together.

Another big thing that happened this week was the wonderful night that I got a full nights rest.  I had forgotten what that felt like.  For the rest of you mommies that are asking what this "full nights rest" thing is, it is wonderful!  

Bryan went to bed at around 9, woke up two hours later for a snack. I somehow managed to get him back to sleep in the crib.  I went right to bed after that and didn't wake up until 7:30.

Warning: Husband brag.  Bryan actually woke up at 3, but that wonderful man woke up and put him back to sleep without waking me up.  How he got the baby to sleep in a timely manner without a boobie, I will never know.

I wish I could be worried about jinxing the full nights sleep, but it only happened that once.  Oh well.  Eventually we will get there.

It always makes my heart smile to see my two babies cuddling.  And I always love that girls smile.

Apparently we love Cheetos.

Cleaning B's room

Ever since we talked about moving Bryan to his own bed, it became apparent that he needs to spend more time in there.  Easy yes? No.  His room has slowly become a storage room for all of his old things.  So I took my little helper, and we cleaned it up a bit, though I'm pretty sure someone left it messier than when we started.

He sure loves sharing

My cute little mess maker only uses bottles if I am trying to put them away.

I also lowered his crib mattress.  Bryan has gotten so tall that if he leaned over too much, he probably would have flipped right over the edge.

Though the new height was unfamiliar, he is finally getting back to longer naps.  He napped through an entire episode of "Once Upon a Time" today.