Birthday Man!

Cody is one today!

We made it through the first year even with very little sleep. Today is a day of reflection for me as I try to remember all of the little things that make my son such an awesome human! I cannot even imagine the great things he will accomplish and know and travel to see.

I am so excited to see all of the new things he does each day. For instance, he and Daddy love to "high-five" and he listens whenever Ani is reading a book to him. He is starting to climb the stairs and I am hoping out of the crib is not next. I am amazed that is already a one-man wrecking service.No dog kennel is too small or mountain too big. He is pulling up on everything and has turned everything in the house into some sort of drum or musical instrument. We have been going to Romp-n-roll baby gym class and having a blast. He will eat anything you put in front of him. I was cutting up a pear for him and he snatched it and started eating it.

Cody loves to imitate every sound and face I make. I am trying to get a photo of "the old man face." I think it is his thinking face but boy is it funny and he knows it. You can't help but smile when he smiles at you. He loves to help me with the laundry. I will go ahead and say "you're welcome" to my future daughter-in-law. Ha!Ha!

I am in awe at the sweet hugs and slobbery kisses I get each day. Thanks to God that I can be at home for them! I just can't believe that it has been a year. I can't remember as much as I was hoping but I know I was there ever day and as much as I can for Cody (and Ani too). I know that I am not the best about writing all of this down, and I intend to do better in 2011. I just hope that one day they will be able to read the stories and look at the pictures and know Mommy loves them so much.

Happy 1st Birthday Little Bear!

Happy 2011

Just a quick note to thank everyone for the wonderful blessing we received this Christmas season. Of course, we thank God first for the ultimate gift of his son. Now that I have children, in my own human way, I may have a tiny bit of understanding of the true sacrifice. We were blessed to see many friends and family, kept safe through all kinds of weather and returned home to VA safely. I will post pictures soon but wanted to get in a quick thank you to all!

November kids update

Cody is a busy man and has lots of exploring in mind. He cut four teeth on the top around Thanksgiving. He was fussy but we were glad to get it over with quickly. He chatters up a storm and says several words now. They include mama, dada, dog, hot, bye bye and hi. He is waving to everyone and very out going. He loves to take things apart and is slowing learning that they go back together, most of the time.

Ani is still busy in school, although the last week or so, they have had many late days to school. Her excitement mounts each day. She ALWAYS has her nose in a book these days. It has been difficult keeping her busy since we cannot play outside so much. It is very windy in VA and that makes cool fall/winter days down right cold.

Christmas with a baby

I have so many things I was to write and often organize my thoughts in my head. getting them onto the blog has been challenging. As I watch Cody pulling up beside me, I know what little time I have now is forever changing. He will be a year old soon and there is something magical about a baby's first Christmas. I remember just watching Ani sleep that night. Thinking about Mary watching Jesus sleep and trying to take in the awesomeness of it all. When I think about what a miracle each child is, my brain cannot comprehend.

For now, I am looking forward to Christmas surprises! I have a few up my sleeve and I am anxiously waiting to see what the kids have in store for us. I think we should all put away our hustle and bustle, shopping mania, and travel blues and see Christmas as it was on the first holy night. Full of wonder, amazement, HOPE, and most of all love. Merry Christmas and more to come.

The Daily Grind

Cody is getting bigger (9.5 months) and now eating 3 meals a day. It is expensive and silly to buy baby food when I can make it myself. Or so I thought. I bought a manual food mill and some green beans and away I went. This should be a quick 5 minutes, Ha! The beans were soft as instructed but I did not get very far grinding them. After 1 hour and only 4 baby food containers full, I am heading back to return it and buy an electric. Thank you God for electricity. I do not think I could keep up with little man under my own power.

Halloween 2010

My costumes were not very elaborate this year. Fine with me since Ani was challenging the last two. We still had lots of excitement. It was actually fun to go trick-or-treating to houses we do not know. Ani had a great time doing that but also enjoyed sitting on our porch and handing out candy too. She was a very cute ladybug.


Cody enjoyed carving pumpkins. At the patch, he chose the biggest one he could scoot to. He was orange from head to toe when it was all finished. He also loved watching all of the kids and riding around the neighborhood and mall in his stroller. He was a great turtle.

I will try to post an update for each kiddo this week too. Hope you are enjoying this lovely fall weather. I hear that snow is not too far away for us. :)

Halloweens Past

Halloween is so much fun. When I was pregnant with Ani, I made a promise to myself that I would strive to do 2 things for her every year...birthday cakes and halloween costumes. I have really enjoyed creating Ani's vision over the last 6 years. She has given me many chanllenges, but I think I have managed to give her a great costume and a wonderful time in make-believe.

I thought it may be fun to visit the costumes of the past before revealing 2010. Looking at these pictures all together make me realize just what a creative kid she is and how much she has grown. Here we go...