1 Lucky Kid!

Brian is 1 year old already!

I still remember March 17, 2010 pretty clearly in my head, so it is hard to believe this little guy has already lived 365 days of his adorable little life. For his actual BIRTHday, we celebrated with ice cream pie at Mikayla's ladies bible study. This weekend we have a slightly larger party scheduled and I will have more pictures to follow. For today's post, here are some interesting facts about our cutie pie.

Brian HATES laying on his back - especially when changing his diaper! Even though we lay him on his back to sleep, he quickly flips over and always sleeps on his tummy.

Brian loves to clap! Especially if he sees his sister singing or dancing, he loves to clap along.

He gets MAD if he sees someone else eating or drinking something and not sharing with him. (Luckily when this picture was taken, no one had started eating yet.)

He will pretty much eat anything! Some of his favorite foods include: pizza, bananas, and french toast, but we haven't found very many foods that he won't eat yet.

He said "Mama" a few times around the middle of February, but hasn't said it (or any other words) since.

He is a little daredevil! We are getting very nervous for the next 17 years because we are pretty sure he is going to be a climber with no fear. He has already tried to jump off the changing table many times and once from his sister's bed railing. He is going to keep us on our toes for sure!

Love you, my little peanut!

2 Birthday Parties on 1 Day!

Last weekend, we were fortunate to celebrate Hannah's and my birthdays! First, we decorated the apartment up in a "Love" theme for Hannah's party.

Display of Hannah through the years. All 3 of them!

Toppings for "Decorate your own sugar cookies." There were sprinkles, M&Ms, and red sugar crystals.
(The sugar cookies were supposed to be heart cut-outs, but the humidity too here didn't let that happen. Oh well, they were still good.)

Homemade banner

Some of the party favors included caramels (in the dice boxes), pencils, Reese's cups (that said "Thanks for coming to my Party" on the bottom), heart marshmallows, chocolate kisses (with party symbols on the bottom), and toothbrushes (for all that candy!).

Hannah was so excited when she saw all the decorations!
(I didn't get a better photo of her wearing her "party ears", but she is wearing bunny ears that have hearts in the middle part. They were so cute!)
On the right side of the picture, you can see the plates and cups and maybe even the Heart shaped bowls. We had spaghetti and garlic bread - one of Hannah's favorite meals and served it "family style" in the big heart bowls.

Finger painting with her friend, Tyler.

My plan was to have the kids make hearts using their hands, but they had a different idea!
(Luckily, I had already made a heart with Hannah a few weeks before to have a sample to show everyone. If you look at one of the pictures of the table at the top of the post, you can see the one she made.)

Eating the sugar cookie she made - she is quite an artist and insisted on pink frosting and pink M&Ms. When I asked her why she only wanted pink, she said "So it will match my pink dress"!!!

A gift of play-doh - the gift that keeps on giving!

Opening a present from Mommy & Daddy - a Corduroy book, which was one of Mommy's favorites as a child.

We played "Pin the Heart on Hannah."

Showing off her other party outfit.


Only a few hours later, I had a birthday party with some of my Okinawa friends. Some weren't able to make it, but we had a great time with those that came. We are already planning our next party for April!

My friend, Sara, makes this amazing dessert called "Pine Bark" that kind of tastes like a Heath bar. She specially made some for me and my party.

All the ladies at the party.

Back row from left to right: Jessica (work), Alison and baby (Sara's friend), Nana (Judy's mom), Sara (work), Kirsten (work), Aida (church), ME, Kelley (work)

Front row: Judy (work), Jada (church - and Aida's daughter)

It was a great day, but I was exhausted by the end.