A Fun First Birthday Party!

Our Godson Cortland turned one this month!  He had a shindig that we were all fortunate to be able to attend!  I even took off the entire weekend which was great other than the nasty cold I was fighting off...

What a cute cake!

The Birthday Boy

Cortland was not interested in a family photo op.  He wanted to get his hands on that icing!

"Oh Yeah!"

He really enjoyed his cake

The attempt at getting a picture of all the kiddos at the party...it was a fail...

Opening presents.  Didn't he have a cute ONE shirt!

Logan really enjoyed the party.  He played and played and played.  I'm pretty sure he consumed enough sugar for an entire month also.  Cortland had a great time and has a lot of fun new toys to play with now!

Opening Day-Budget Friendly Style

Last year we went to the St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day.  After the World Series win in 2011, we had every intention to go to Opening Day again this year.  Our budget felt otherwise...we anticipated that tickets would be a bit more expensive this year because of the World Series win, but we figured since we were only having to buy 2 tickets this year (we took my Mom and Dad last year with us), it should be about the same cost.  After trying to get tickets through the MLB website and failing (even during the presale...), we went to Stub Hub and found that tickets were anywhere from $150 or more per ticket for top of the stadium and standing room only tickets!  After several weeks of deliberation, we decided to stay at home for Opening Day. 
I think we made a good decision!  Now, I love baseball, but I do not love rain.  It rained on Opening Day.  God Bless those fans that sat through the hours of rain before the game begin.  I was sure happy to be in the comforts of my own home. 
We did splurge on some St. Louis Cardinals decoration and party supplies to celebrate!

St. Louis Cardinal straws!

Logan was a huge fan of the straws

Our party favorites!

Logan attempting to keep us entertained during the rain delay!

Our excellent view of the Opening Day Parade!

My new St. Louis Cardinals wreath!  (Yes, I made it!  Here's my inspiration.)

One note on the wreath, do not use silky ribbon.  The hot glue will not hold...my balls keep falling off...the wreath is currently in repair state using fabric glue instead of hot glue.  Heehee!

Water! Water!

We celebrated Easter a few days late in our household since Jeff and I both worked Easter.  Logan had a lot of fun with Easter festivities with Grandma and Pappy and cousin's Lillie and Jacklyn over Easter weekend.  I was in shock the amount of candy that little boy hauled home!
We decided to hide the eggs while Logan was at school on Monday.  He was a very excited little boy when he got home!

Logan's Easter Basket full of goodies!

Look what the Easter Bunny brought!  A Water Table!

"What do we have here?"

Hunting Easter Eggs

Once Logan discovered the water table, the Easter Eggs were forgotten!

Where's Logan?  This is what happens after an awesome Easter weekend!

Now, I'm hoping for some more nice weather headed our way so that Logan can play with that water table some more!

Good Reads: Beyond Bath Time: Embracing Motherhood as a Sacred Role

I was recently given the opportunity to read and review the book Beyond Bath Time: Embracing Motherhood as a Sacred Role by Erin Davis. 

Erin is a childhood acquaintance of mine and when I was a poor college student working for free in an unfamiliar town for my clinical rotations, she and her husband fed me and let me do laundry at their house.  Click here for a bit more in depth information about Erin Davis and all her accomplishments.  She has written several books, but I was extremely excited to see that she had written a book about motherhood.

First off, let me tell you that I read this book in less than 24 hours.  I rarely read non-fiction books that quickly.  The book is written almost as if you are sitting with Erin discussing motherhood.  I feel that Erin's use of personal stories really bring you into the book and make you feel like a part of the group. 

That being said, I am going to read the book again with my bible, highlighter, pen and a pad of paper handy.  I am going to REALLY read this book.  This book is written for a Mom to take the time to reflect on what the author is saying about motherhood from a Christian perspective.  There are questions at the end of each section that are great for a mother to do on her own or for a small group (or large group) to discuss. 

In the book, Erin is not afraid to take a long hard look at our society's view of children and mothering and stand up against it.  She talks about being a Mom as a joy, blessing, and how pleasing it is to God instead of mothering being a burden and something that cramps your lifestyle. 

I'm a big fan of any book that helps me to be a better Mom.  I've read all the What to Expects and many other child rearing books, but none of those books look at the big picture of being a Mom.  Beyond Bath Time:  Embracing Motherhood as a Sacred Role is about the big picture.  How to raise our children in a loving, Christ-centered environment even when you are not always the "perfect Mom".  Erin is brutally honest with herself and challenges readers to do the same.

This book is full of Bible verses (which I usually find somewhat challenging to read because of hard to understand Bible language), but the author does a great job of breaking down the verses and applying them to being a Mom in today's world.

This book is definitely written for the Christian mother and I would say best for Moms of younger children mainly because that is what the author speaks a lot about since she is a Mom of two young children.  Although, I do think any Mom could probably benefit from and enjoy reading this book.

I have been personally touched by this book.  I sometimes feel like I do not do enough as a Mom and this book really made me realize what is truly important-raising children in a loving, Christ-centered home.

If you are looking for a good book for enjoyment, as a daily devotional, for a bible study or book club, Beyond Bath Time: Embracing Motherhood as a Sacred Role is perfect.  Mother's Day is coming up and this book would be great for any Mom or soon to be Mom!

Here's where you can get the book:
Paperback on Amazon
Kindle Edition
Nook Edition
And here's the website for the book which is a great website with a blog, ways to connect with other Moms and many other fun goodies!
Happy Reading!

Disclaimer:  I was given a copy of the paperback edition of Beyond Bath Time: Embracing Motherhood as a Sacred Role in exchange for doing a blog review of the book.

A Mother and Her Little Boy

The photographer that took Logan's Easter pictures is holding a Facebook contest this month for pictures of Moms and sons.  I used the great photo she took of us as our entry, but in the process, I decided to go back and find a few other of my favorite photos of Logan and I.  I have thousands of pictures, so this is not an all inclusive list of my favorite photos of us, but it is a few of them.
Being the Mom of a boy is a bittersweet thing.  You know he is going to grow up and not want to give hugs and kisses to his Mommy anymore.  He's going to start to drive and go on dates and go away to college and meet that girl of his dreams.  And then he marries that girl and that little boy you love so much has a new woman in his life.  It will never be the same.  Of course, you are happy for him, but it is still sad.  I remember my Mother in Law saying that it felt like I was "taking a little bit of her son from her" before Jeff and I got married.  She wasn't being mean, she was just stating a fact.  Now that I have a little boy of my own, I completely understand what my Mother in Law meant.  That's why I try to cherish every single moment with Logan.  Every hug and kiss, every cuddle, every "Mommy help me", every picture taken, every opportunity to show Logan how much I love him.
Ok, enough sappy stuff.  Here's the pictures!

Who doesn't love a 3D movie!

One of my favorites!  Logan was so sick, but still all smiles!

Logan and I at his first trip to Busch

From our trip to Houston last year!  This carousel was so much fun!

Who doesn't love the hair sticking straight up photo op?

A recent favorite from Christmastime

Not all of our photos are perfect...here is my attempt at getting a photo of Logan and I at the fire station last week...still makes me smile!

So Mommies of little boys, go give your sons a hug and wives tell your husbands to give their Mommas a call or to swing by for a visit.  Those Moms will be so grateful!

A Hunting We Will Go

Easter Egg hunts are one thing that I have never experienced with Logan.  He's been on Easter Egg hunts, just not with me.  I always work weekends and that is usually when Easter Egg hunts are held.  This year, we lucked out!  A wonderful Mom in our play group opened her house to about forty kiddos for an Easter Egg hunt on Good Friday!  It was so much fun for Logan and for me (and my Mom, she got to go too!).  Logan is apparently a master Easter Egg hunter and met his egg quota quickly, but he was happy because after the Easter Egg hunt, it was snack time!!

Logan finds his first egg!

He was quick to swipe those eggs up!

"I see another one back there!"

Man on the move

Logan was not afraid to hunt through snake territory (at least that is what I call grass by trees because I'm crazy scared of snakes, my poor heart pitter patters to just walk across my yard) to find another egg

Disaster avoided.  He got the egg and no snakes!  (I'm really just kidding about the snakes.  I'm sure there weren't any snakes-at least I hope... Haha!)

Logan eyeing Addy's eggs...

My donut Easter Nests!  They were supposed to be Easter baskets, but I could not find red licorice lace anywhere!!  Here's how to make these awesome snacks!

Logan thoroughly enjoyed snack time and will most likely have a blue mouth and hands for at least the next 24 hours or so.

Just loved this photo.  He's such a cutie!

Thanks so much to the Mom who planned this Easter Egg hunt!  You are awesome and we had a wonderful time!
Logan spent Easter weekend with Grandma and Pappy since Jeff and I both work (boo!) and he has two more Easter Egg hunts under his belt this year.  He had a blast spending time with Lillie and Baby Jacklyn!

Egg Dying Fun!

I LOVE Easter Egg dying, but hate the smell of vinegar, so when I saw on Pinterest this post on using Kool-Aid to dye Easter Eggs, I was sold!  Grandma was on hand, so we had three sets of hands to help Logan out.  I don't really think he needed any help though...

Kool-Aid, water, and mugs was all that was needed!  Just mix each package of Kool-Aid with 2/3 cup water.

Logan quickly figured out the trick to carefully dropping the eggs into the mugs

He couldn't wait to take eggs out so he could put more eggs in the mugs.

"More Eggs!"

Good thing we used Kool-Aid, that Paas vinegar mixture would have tasted NASTY!

"It works!"

Our attempt at a family photo...

Egg Dying begins to get a little messy...

The finished product.  The brown eggs are grape Kool-Aid, I couldn't get a good color even with mixing flavors with the grape.  The blue, oranges, and reds turned out pretty awesome!

Yes, Logan's hand is still somewhat dyed a day later...

All in all, success!  I will most definitely continue using Kool-Aid to dye my eggs.  It smelled so nice and the eggs turned out pretty too! 
Logan got up this morning and tried to "dye" his plastic Easter Eggs in his mug of milk...he even found a makeshift spoon in his toy box.  Sorry, no picture, I was trying to avert disaster...
Happy Good Friday Everyone!! Enjoy your Easter weekend!

Somebunny has a New Friend

We took Logan for an Easter mini photo session last week.  The photographers were amazing!  Jenn and Joanna made this such a fun photo shoot for Logan (even during nap time!).  If you like what you see (and you will!), check out J Fortune Photography's website here. 
The Easter session was fun because Napoleon the bunny was there.  Logan was in love with this bunny.  He was very good with the bunny, but he did keep feeding it carrots.  I think poor Napoleon was glad to see Logan go. 

Logan and his new bunny friend

Feeding Napoleon carrots...

More carrots, but where's Napoleon?

I just love the expression on his face in this photo!

Kissing the bunny

Our little bunny!

This photo is great!  I just can't believe they caught this photo.  It's perfect!

See.  Told you they were awesome photographers.  Plus, they had such a cute little man to photograph who loved the bunny too!
Happy Easter!