Easter

I told Brendon he's missing Henry's first Easter.  Then he reminded me, that this was Henry's first Easter:

Oh yeah.  I forgot.  But this is his first real Easter.  Truthfully, I'm not sad about Brendon missing Henry's Easter. Don't get me wrong, I'd love Brendon to be here, but it's probably Brendon who is a little sad about missing Easter with Henry.

The Easter bunny was very generous to Henry, thanks to Grandma & Grandpa's good connections with him.  They go way back.

Henry has eaten more chocolate this past week than ever before.  I'm pretty sure he loves it.  I think he takes after his mom in the candy department: the more the merrier.

My friend, Cassie, invited us to Spanish Fork's Easter egg hunt, which was a success.  After three eggs, Henry was satisfied.  And, knowing that I would be the one eating the contents, so was I.  Henry was anxious to pick up the brightly colored eggs covering the grass and, when the bell rang to hunt, he quickly went to find the eggs.  He walked around picking up and holding an egg for awhile, dropping it, then picking up another one.  He eventually put two in his basket and held one in his hand.  We enjoyed our eggs and playing in the park for the morning.

   

Grandma Sue bought Henry an Easter outfit.  While trying on his shirt, Henry went from crying to his cheesy face to laughing, all within a matter of seconds while I snapped the camera.  I love him.

 

We spent the holiday with a lot of family, enjoying good company and food. Everyone loved being with Henry, so I had basically a full weekend break, which was much appreciated and very rejuvenating.

Dear Dad

Just thinking about you.

Hope you're having a good day.

We miss you.

And we love you...

MOST!

See you soon, but not soon enough.

Let the one week countdown begin.

My Best Bud

It's amazing what a little companionship does for the soul.  

This little buddy makes the month without dad much more bearable.

(Dad must be aching to hold, hug, and play with "the little buddy.")  

I'm so grateful that my buddy is so happy and so easy going. 

That he is content inside the house and thrilled to be outside.

I'm grateful that he is my bud.

When I'm tired, he goes about playing on his own.

When he is ready for a playmate, he lets me know.

When he smiles or laughs, my heart still melts.  

He is the best little buddy.

In the whole world.

And he's mine.  All mine.

Get Together

As soon as we knew our husbands would be going to Kirksville at the same time for a test, Laura and I planned a get together.  We used to live next door to each other and would regularly pop our heads in on each other and hang out, talk, or watch tv together while our husbands studied.

Henry and I headed up to Logan after the dads left for Missouri and played for two days with Laura, Peyson, and Ainslee.  We had so much fun playing with old friends.

Laura and I were able to catch up while talking and hanging out, just like the good ole' days.  Peyson and Henry played together all day long.  Peyson was so nice to Henry, sharing his toys and playing "Boo" with him.  Henry really enjoyed Peyson's company.

I met Laura's new one-month-old baby for the first time and was able to hold and love her.  She is a doll and it was fun to be with a newborn again.  Henry got jealous whenever Ainslee cried and I was holding her.  Yep...he's an only child.

These kids were great together and we hope to hang out again while our husbands are away (again).  Thanks Laura, Peyson, and Ainslee!

Same Old

Life around here has been, well, uneventful.  Even boring.  I find myself needing a hobby--and one that doesn't require sitting.  Or maybe one that I immediately fall in love with.  Everyone always talks about how busy their lives are.  Mine is the opposite.  Why do I feel ashamed to admit that?

I'm honestly having a hard time knowing what to do to entertain a one-year-old all day long.  The short attention span coupled with staying inside due to cold weather and my inability to be creative makes for one bored little boy.  At least I'm pretty sure he's bored.  He's even tired of playing "I'm Going to Get You" with me.  The silly thing is, he still loves the game with everybody else.

I looked online for some activities to try this week.  With five minutes at each activity, we total 25 minutes of fun!  What about the other 9 hours of the day?  Well, I guess we'll just have to figure that out on our own.     

Being bored isn't all that bad.  I remember when my grandpa was in the hospital (on his death bed).  I was at the bus stop and overheard a conversation:

Boy: "How's it going?"

Girl: "Same old.  Same old.  Life is pretty boring."

I wished, in that moment, that my life was "boring."  I wished that everything was okay with everyone and that I had nothing to report when someone asked how everything was going.  I wanted everything to be the same old.  

So I guess I should be grateful that my days are sometimes boring.  

Birthday Celebration

Thanks to grandmas and grandpas, Henry received a number of gifts on his birthday.  To this day, we play with those toys daily and are grateful for the added variety to our toy collection.

To celebrate our Henry, we held a small birthday party with close family and friends.  I am generally not one to "get into" this sort of thing, knowing that Henry is so very young, it costs money, and I am not a decorator.  But for once, I couldn't resist and had so much fun planning and carrying out our simple party.

In order to get Henry's birthday decorations hung before his birthday (a couple days before his party), I stayed up a little late to finish and hang a few things.  When Henry woke up, I walked around to show him his "Happy Birthday" sign, a picture garland, and a birthday wreath, saying, "Happy Birthday, Henry!" while pointing to each item.  Henry loved everything.  He smiled every time I pointed and said, "This is for you...Happy Birthday, Henry."  I couldn't believe how much he seemed to appreciate everything.  His happy face occurring several times throughout the days leading up to his party while looking at all the decorations made every ounce of effort worthwhile.

My favorite part was definitely baking.  I've been wanting to make cake pops and this was the perfect excuse to do just that.  I probably definitely consumed more than my fair share of cake (and cake mix) in the two days leading up to the party.  Decorating the cakes, though definitely not up to par with the professionals, was right up my alley of "fun."  Floods of memories from working at the BYU pastry kitchen came to mind as I frosted cakes.  I'm looking forward to a lifetime of cake baking and decorating.

Just like I knew he would, Henry devoured his cake.  He dove right in and ate and ate and ate.  Thank goodness Grandma Sue was here to tell me to take the cake away after 15 minutes or Henry just may have consumed his entire cake, which was quite large for a little boy (or an adult, for that matter).  While getting Henry ready for his after-cake bath, cake was falling off of Henry and landing on the sink counter.  Henry was quick to snatch up anything he could find, even returning to his high chair for remaining crumbs after his bath.  Ooo, I just love my little eater.

After experiencing his first jet stream of sugar in his body, Henry was first exhausted and took a small nap.  When he woke up, he was wired and talked and jabbered like never before.  Dad & I couldn't quit laughing with our little man.  It was hilarious!

One

Has it really been one whole year since I gave birth to my beautiful baby boy?  I still remember everything so clearly...I just had a one-year review in my mind of all my feelings and experiences.  Not only is it a miracle to periodically see the growth of a baby from inception to delivery, but also to see the growth of a baby from one minute old to one year old.

This is so bittersweet.

Henry was grown from a baby to a toddler this year, experiencing everything from love and laughter to tantrums and tears.  Brendon and I have been very grateful and amazed at Henry's gift to love, laugh, and bring happiness to others.  Henry radiates when he is with people.  We know this will be a lifelong gift that will bless the lives of many others.  Henry has already brought so much joy into our lives and our love grows for him daily.

Within the past month, Henry started doing the following:

• Saying "gog" or "gie" when he sees a dog
• Scaring us, just like we scare him
• Crying...a lot (maybe because of teeth coming in? maybe because he knows what he wants but can't tell me what he wants?)
• Throwing tantrums when I take something away, complete with his head lying on the floor, tears, and his little bum up in the air while he lays on his stomach
• Feeding himself with a spoon (or maybe I should say making big messes with spoons)
• Mimicking words and sounds, including "Bbb" for "Baaaaa" (like a sheep), "hi," and "hey" 

We love you so much, little Henry!  Happy Birthday to you!