Nate's 1st Birthday Party!

We decided to have Nate's 1st birthday party a little early, so it wouldn't get forgotten amongst all the other Christmas time festivities. We decided on a monkey theme because Nate has a monkey teether/rattle that has been his favorite since he was about 3 months old. We just couldn't resist this mod little monkey. We think he kind of looks like Nate, especially with his little top knot. I made a banner that had a picture of Nate from every month of the year.

I also made a big cake for all the guests with the mod monkey face and a little smash monkey cake, just for Nate. Chris helped by giving moral support and helping dye and cut fondant circles.

I ordered Nate a special birthday shirt with a monkey on the front and "Nate 1" on the back.

We rented a jungle bounce house for all of our little monkey friends. Nate got in the bounce house for a little bit, but mostly he wanted all his older friends to have fun.

Then, it was time for one of the best parts of a 1st birthday party...the cake! Nate was too funny with the cake. He got it in his mouth and held his hand in front of his mouth the whole time he chewed, like he was afraid someone was going to take this delicious stuff away from him.

Big brother Wes was nice enough to help Nate blow out his candle, since he hasn't learned to blow yet.

He may look like he's picking at the cake, but he had that whole thing devoured in no time flat!

Look at that face!!!

I showed a little video I made of all the pictures from Nate's first year. Sorry if I bored anyone, but I can't help it, I just love this little boy so much!

That's one little baby in one big pile of presents! What a lucky boy!

Mommy and Daddy took turns taking pictures and helping Nate open the ton of presents he received.


Then, all the kids helped Nate play with his new toys, as Linde, Grandma and Lou Lou tried their hardest to rip into all of the impossible packaging.

I can't even tell you how much we love this sweet, sweet boy. He's got such a nice, playful spirit and is really the BEST baby. I'm not sure they come any better than him.

Almost all of our family and friends were able to make it over to celebrate Nate's 1st year of life and it meant a lot to us.

We had a great party and the storm waited to start rolling in until party was wrapping up. It really was perfect timing. Nate was totally exhausted from all the fun and excitement and it was time for a nap! Happy Birthday Party baby boy!

Nate's 1st Thanksgiving

One good thing about being born 1 week before Christmas, is that you are able to eat an entire Thanksgiving dinner on your very first Thanksgiving!


This is one of the few pictures I was able to get of Wes, with his pilgrim Grandma, because he was so busy, busy, busy playing with all of the cousins.

Nate had a little bit of everything on his 1st Thanksgiving. Wes had a roll I think, he really isn't eating much these days. He always has to take one bit of everything on his plate, but if it isn't a quesadilla or hamburger, it doesn't really get eaten.


We had an absolutely lovely day and even lovelier company, at another fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at Aunt Betty and Uncle Gerald's house.

After dessert, we headed over to Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Pat's house to say hello to everyone. Wes immediately disappeared to play with Kylie and Colin, while Chris, Nate and I visited with everyone else. Nate thought Aunt Anne and Andrew were just hilarious.

Both boys conked out on the way home from fun exhaustion. Another great family holiday!

Thanksgiving Feast

Today, I went to Wes's school to help out with their Thanksgiving Feast. They had some deli turkey and all the fixings, including 2 kinds of pie. All the kids were very cute and it was nice to spend a little time with them all, instead of the normal drop off and pick up rush. I even got to meet the famed Ella, that Wes is considering marrying one day. The few kids, whose parents could not make it, were kind of upset. I'm going to try my hardest to make sure that Wes has someone at all of these functions for him. I sure hope I can stick to that. The thought of him being upset because I can't make it, just breaks my heart.

11 Months Old

Orange You Glad?

Nate loves oranges! His favorites are the canned mandarin oranges. I have them in little fruit cups in the pantry because they are easy to throw in the diaper bag when we are on the run. If he sees that you have one before you are ready to dump the contents on the tray in front of him, he will whine and scream until you do. One day, Grandma was watching the boys and Nate crawled away from her. He's fast and by the time she caught up to him, he had pulled to standing in front of the pantry shelf, had got out one of the mandarin orange fruit cups and was trying to figure out how to open it. He has now done this exact thing about 10 times since. If the pantry door is open and Nate crawls away from you, you know exactly where he is headed.

He also loves the Cutie clementine oranges. One morning I had taken Wes to preschool and I sat Nate in his highchair with some Cheerios in hopes of getting a few quiet moments to eat my own breakfast. I started peeling myself some oranges and Nate started to freak out. I wasn't sure what his problem was at first, I thought he was just done being in the highchair, so I took him out of the highchair to let him roam around. He started to freak out more, I figured I wasn't going to get my few quiet moments, so I picked him up in hopes that I could at least wolf down my breakfast while holding him. I started to put a piece of orange in my mouth and Nate leaned over to get it in his mouth. Then it all came together, he was freaking out over the oranges! Back in his highchair he went with a few clementine oranges, and I got my few moments of quiet to eat my breakfast. Boy, this kid is easy!

Filling in the Gaps - Day 3

Our last day at the parks was actually Veteran's Day which meant that the parks were a lot more busy than they had been the days before. This was ok though, because we had seen most everything we wanted to see and were using our last day to fill in any gaps, ride any rides we wanted to go on again and do some shopping.

The first thing I wanted to do was get some pictures before the parks got too packed. We got the prerequisite family pictures by the Mickey made of flowers at the front of Disneyland. I wish someone would come and do this in our yard.

We got this cute picture of Wes by the Walt Disney sculpture. We tried to get Nate in there, but he wasn't having it for some reason. Chris and I find this picture especially cute. Seven years ago, Chris and I went to Disneyland to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. We were walking around taking pictures of things and there was a cute little boy standing in front of the Walt Disney statue looking like he was waiting for someone to take his picture. Chris snapped a picture of him because he was so cute. We didn't realize until we looked at these pictures later, that the picture of Wes is almost the same picture Chris snapped 7 years ago, except this time it is our own little sweet boy in the picture! Here is the picture of the little boy from 7 years ago.

This picture of Wes and Nate in front of the castle is my favorite! I really wanted to get a shot like this and I'm so glad that it turned out. This one is definitely getting framed and displayed somewhere in our house. I especially like how Wes's ears are a little crooked.

After everyone was very patient with Mommy's picture taking, we headed over to Adventure Land because we hadn't spent any time there on our first day. Daddy and Mommy wanted to go on Indiana Jones before the lines got long, so we headed straight there. Grandma and Linde took Wes and Nate into the Tiki Room. Unfortunately, Indiana Jones broke down as soon as we started to get in line and the doors to the Tiki Room had already closed so we had to wait until they were done. Grandma and Linde said that Wes and Nate really liked all the singing in the Tiki Room. Grandma had told Wes that it was going to rain because at one point in the show they make it look like it is raining and storming outside the windows even though it is a nice sunny day in Southern California. I guess Wes kept trying to hunker down on the floor underneath the chairs and Grandma and Linde couldn't figure out what his problem was until he told them that he didn't want to get wet. He thought it was going to rain inside! I guess you never know what to expect at Disneyland.

Then, it was time for the Jungle Cruise. Chris said that he has never been on the Jungle Cruise and we all just couldn't believe it. We saw all the usuals, including, the back side of water and they even added some new things, like piranhas. By the time we got off, Indiana Jones was up and running, so Daddy and Mommy hopped on really quick before the line got crazy.

Now it was time to head over to Critter Country and Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain is not one of Daddy's favorites and Wes opted out, even though he is tall enough. So, Linde and Mommy talked Grandma into going. Grandma had a lot of fun and was really glad that she went because this is one of her favorite rides.

Daddy took Wes and Nate on the Winnie the Pooh ride, which Daddy thought was a little trippy. Then, Wes and Nate got the chance to meet and get their pictures taken with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh.

We did a little shopping in New Orleans square and Wes was throwing a little tantrum while I was trying to get a picture in front of the scary sculpture. So, I gave it up and put on my best villain face. Isn't Mommy scary?

Nate fell asleep right before we were going to take Wes for a ride on the Monorail and we didn't want to have to wake him. So, Linde stayed behind with Nate while Grandma, Daddy, Mommy and Wes took a ride around the park, and almost fell asleep ourselves.


Here, Wes and Nate are getting their silhouettes done for Lou Lou and Grandma. This lady literally cut the silhouette out of a piece of paper as she was looking at the boys, and it was super fast! I was amazed. The sign said "hand-cut" silhouettes, so I assumed the quotes meant it was done digitally or something and then cut out by hand. Isn't everything done digitally these days? Nope, there are still some talented hand crafters out there and this lady is one of them...awesome!

We went back over to California Adventure so Wes could see the Playhouse Disney show one more time and so Mommy could go on the Tower of Terror one more time.

Ok, so here's is the deal with Wes and the Tower of Terror. Wes has a total love/hate relationship with this ride. The day that we went on it, he cried right after and said he never wanted to go on it again. We assured him that he wouldn't have to, he got his picture taken with Mr. Incredible and we thought that was the end of it. That night as it started to get dark, he started saying "I don't want to go on the Tower of Terror" over and over again. We assured him over and over that he didn't have to go on it, but he kept repeating it to himself under his breath. I thought for sure I had scarred him for life. Then, on our last day at the parks, when we got into California Adventure he opened up the map and told Chris that he wanted a map that didn't have the Tower of Terror on it. Being the cute, funny, creative Dad that he is, Chris tore the Tower of Terror out of Wes's map. This seemed to make him happy, but he didn't like when we got too close to the ride and would make us promise again that he didn't have to go on it. A couple hours after Chris tore the Tower out of Wes's map, Wes wanted to make sure that we still had that part of the map. He didn't want to look at it, but he didn't want it to disappear all together. Then he started talking about how he didn't want to go on it again...until he was a bigger boy. Since we've been home, Wes can't stop talking about the Tower of Terror. When people ask him about Disneyland, it is one of the first things he talks about. He can describe the ride in great detail (for a 3 year old), and he only rode it once...I swear. He has built the Tower out of Legos and drawn pictures of it. It's really funny. I think it genuinely scared the pants off him, but I think he is also proud of himself for braving it. That's my boy!

As we were heading back to the hotel that night on the bus, we were all waving goodbye to Disneyland. Wes said, "Goodbye Mickey, I love you, I can't wait to come back and see you again". It really brought a tear to my eye. Chris and I love Disneyland and have always looked forward to sharing it with our children. We had a great trip and we so lucky that Grandma, Linde, Lou Lou and Papa were all able to share such a special time with us. We can't wait to go back when Nate is 3!

California Adventure - Day 2

Everyone slept pretty well in the hotel, considering there were a lot of people and a lot of snoring going on in one little room. Nate woke up, really early in the morning looking for his Nuk, stood up in his crib and said "UhOh" really loud. It was really cute and my mom and I heard it and started cracking up. He found his Nuk and went back to sleep for a few hours, until we were all ready to get up.

Here, Nate is lounging on the bed, eating some cheerios, waiting to go to Disneyland. Boy, this kid has it rough.

Wes was having some behavior issues in the mornings while we were getting ready. I think waiting around the hotel room for 4 adults and 2 kids to get showered and ready was a bit too much for him. He really couldn't wait to get back to Disneyland. Grandma and Linde were able to occupy him by letting him blow dry their hair. Wes really enjoyed this...will he be the next Vidal Sassoon?

I took this picture of the boys in the 2nd "A" of "California" outside of California Adventure. All of the holiday decorations were starting to come out all over Disneyland and California Adventure. Pay no mind to the skinny legs at the bottom of the "A", we didn't quite trust Wes to hold Nate up there on his own. I'll have to Photoshop those out later :)

Who knew that Radiator Springs was so close to Disneyland? Wes is all smiles as he waits to meet his favorite Disney characters of all time.

OMG!!!! It's LIGHTNING MCQUEEN and MATER!!!!! Seriously, you should have seen his face, he was so in awe. I think he really wanted them to talk to him, and you have to kind of rush through because there are other little kids waiting in line for their chance. The whole trip was worth it, just to see his face though, so cute!

We all rode the Soarin' Over California ride, which I love, then headed over to the Hollywood Pictures Backlot section of the park. We all, except Lou Lou and Nate, had to check out the new Tower of Terror ride. This ride is SO awesome, I totally loved it. Wes cried...poor Wes...he's such a mature boy, sometime I forget he's only 3. He did not like the Tower of Terror one bit and this became even more obvious later in the day and the next day.

While, I went on the Tower of Terror a second time Wes got to meet Mr. Incredible with Lou Lou and Daddy. Now, that's more like it.

Next, was the Playhouse Disney puppet show. Wes LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this! Wes has been watching Playhouse Disney almost every morning for at least a year and a half and he loved seeing all his favorite characters putting on a show for him. There was singing and dancing and audience participation. He got to see all his favorites from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny and Little Einsteins. Even Nate liked it and was clapping and dancing the whole time.

We ate some lunch, saw the 3D Muppett Show and rode the Monsters Inc. ride, then we headed over to the Bugs Life land.

They have a super cute Bugs Life show that we all enjoyed. There are also a bunch of little kid rides. Wes, Mommy, Daddy and Lou Lou drove some bumper bug cars around. Unfortunately, this ride ended with a fit because it frustrated Wes to no end. He was frustrated because he couldn't steer the car very well and when I tried to help him, he got even more frustrated, oh yeah, and it was nap time (which we were skipping while on our trip). Daddy eventually got him settled down and we all got on a ride called Heimlich's Chew Chew. It was a little train with car's made out of the fat, hungry bug, Heimlich, from Bug's Life. The train went all through different kinds of food as Heimlich chewed it, get it, chew chew?

We all headed over to Paradise Pier to go on the new Toy Story carnival game ride. Nate fell asleep in line, so Daddy and I traded off at the exit so Daddy could go on it and Wes got to go twice. This was another of our favorite rides, you spun around and played carnival games throughout on giant screens. I knew this would be right up Daddy's alley.

Unfortunately, it was time to say goodbye to Papa and Lou Lou. They were only able to stay with us for 2 days and had to fly back to Phoenix that night. Thanks for the Mickey ears, Papa!

Daddy, Linde and Mommy rode the big California Screamin' roller coaster while Grandma took one for the team and sat with Wes and Nate. Wes also got to meet Jessie from Toy Story.

We all had lots of fun playing different carnival games, and even won a couple prizes.

Wes got himself a Dumbo and Woody to take home, but was such a nice big brother and won 2 lobsters just for Nate.

It was getting dark, so we found a good spot to watch the Pixar Parade in California Adventure. It had all of our favorite Pixar characters from Up, Toy Story, Bugs Life, The Incredibles, and of course Cars. Wes loved it of course and Nate loved it too, he was dancing and clapping the whole time.

California Adventure closed 2 hours before Disneyland did, so we headed over to Disneyland to see their "Celebrate" parade. The parade had lots of participation and I managed to get Wes into the kids conga line that danced around the street. He was a little embarrassed and nervous though so he hung on to the rope right next to one of the cast members, kept his hood on, his head down and walked (not danced) around with the conga line. It was really, really cute. Later in the parade, they lent out drums and Wes got one! He was super happy to help with the drumming, after all, Wes has to be asked not to drum several times a day because it's usually on his brother's head or on a glass of milk that's going to spill all over. So, we let him help with the parade music and drum his little heart out until it was time to give the drum back. Wow, two awesome parades in one night!

When we got back to the hotel room, Mickey (Papa and Lou Lou) had left a Mickey Mouse action figure for Wes and Nate. What a fun surprise! As you can see from the picture, Wes was entertaining Nate greatly with the Mickey Mouse.