Big Brother

Hello to my moms blog friends! This is Brody and I am here to let you in on a little secret my mama and daddy have been keeping for a long time...

 

I'm pretty cute, huh? You're looking at a soon-to-be big brother! I'm gonna be honest- I'm not really sure what that means yet. I didn't even have to work that hard for my promotion! I'm only 13 months old, ya know. And it doesn't seem like my parents really know what it means either- they spent a lot of time with their mouths hanging wide open the first few weeks after finding out. The only time they really closed them was when they were stuffing themselves full of pizza or something. My moms mouth is even wide open when she sleeps! I doubt this is normal.

I keep hearing my mom tell people she is due Oct 22 (about 16 weeks along) I think she means she is due for some kind of psych evaluation with how crazy she acts lately- dad keeps saying this is like 9 months of straight PMS- I sure hope that "S" stands for "spaghetti".

She is much more squishy these days (i'll deny if you tell her I said that) She keeps talking about some of it being water weight since we just got to AZ last week. Someone just needs to tell her she's full of it because she just smiles and laughs when I try to tell her.

Speaking of "full of it", excuse me while I have my mom change my diaper. I run this show, but don't tell her that.

And speaking of her being squishy, she doesn't know I know this, but when she drops me off at the gym childcare, she doesn't go to the hard classes she used to. Now I see her walking at a 2.0 on the treadmill. I'm certain she just goes for the break and the cable tv. She says she is getting more energy these days, though...

She has stopped falling asleep in the morning while she is supposed to be playing with me, thank goodness. Talk about sleeping on the job! She still has to nap when I do some days but other than that she seems just great! Why wouldn't she be with me as her kid? I'm pretty awesome.

Anyway, I have so much to do today. First up- go spill something that my mom has to clean up and then surprise her...with more poop!

-----------


Peace, love and a huge blessing from Heaven that we didn't know we were ready for yet! We are so excited!

My baby is ONE!

Happy first birthday (yesterday)...

To the boy who got me through the loneliest months of my life...just by existing.

The boy who started making us laugh the minute he was born by peeing on the hospital staff. And keeps us laughing everyday.

Who spends hours a day playing with his beloved bouncy and sports balls

Who waves at everyone he sees, especially if you are a pretty girl. If he really likes you, he will blow you a kiss and give you a high five/knuckles

To the boy who gives the best loves without even being asked

The boy who can say "mom" "dad" and "book" but his favorite word is "ball"

Who knows how to sign "more" and "please" but chooses to clap instead when he wants "more" or to say "please".

Who is working on teeth 3 and 4 and is not very happy about it

Who is ticklish on his feet, inner thighs, lower stomach, sides, armpits and neck.

Who is the only person on this earth that I will share my pizza crust with and still smile about it after.


Happy first birthday to the boy who I consider to be the very best thing about me. The boy who made us realize that our lives started the minute heaven decided we were lucky enough to have him.

We are so thankful to have our sweet Brodyn for eternity. It won't be nearly long enough.

*Favorite pictures from the last couple months and from Brodys birthday weekend in Nauvoo/Carthage, IL

Peace, love and regular blogging....soon!

Top 3 moments of the last year

The past (almost) year has been the best year of my life, hands down. And that is simply because of the precious little person that entered our lives on April 7th. I had a really sweet experience with my little guy a couple weeks ago (which I posted about on Instagram) but it got me thinking about my top moments since becoming a mom. Here are my top 3:

1. Meeting my son for the first time. Duh, right? I wrote about his story here. I was really emotional because I'm a girl, I'm my mothers daughter, and things were moving very quickly by the end (I felt like I dilated from a 7 to the nurse admonishing "CLOSE YOUR LEGS!" In 5 minutes) and then I cried through every push- I had so many emotions getting ready to meet our little angel. And I was starving, of course which is always a reason to cry.  The pushing lasted for about 35 minutes until out came the most perfect little being I had ever laid eyes on. Absolutely perfect.

 Yep, I'm crying as I type this. Thanks a lot, mom.

 2. When B was only a few months old I had been having a really hard day and he was nursing in my arms (as opposed to nursing from somewhere else?). As soon as my cry (yep, crying again...) became audible he quit nursing and looked at me just long enough to jabber something at me before getting back to business. I like to think he said something along the lines of "don't be sad, just look at the bright side-my milk tastes like the Pina Colada milkshake you just drank" or "perk up, lady- I am letting you cuddle the cutest baby alive, after all" It was just what I needed and so sweet.

3. I was getting ready to put him down for a nap recently and, as he always does, he was laying on my shoulder cuddling. He lifted his head suddenly, looked me straight in my eyeballs and kissed me right on the lips! Sweetest thing ever! It was probably just a ploy to get me to not put him down. Totally worked.

I am one blessed mama, no doubt. If you want to read more about my take on motherhood, I came out of my guest blogging hiatus long enough to answer some questions on an awesome blog, The Vintage Apple written by the lovely Michelle- check it out here

Peace, love and waterproof mascara! Let's all do something nice for someone today! Sounds like fun.

The best surprise/cleanse update

I live in Missouri. My entire family lives in Arizona. A 23-hour drive away if you don't insist at stopping at every Wendy's for a Frosty.  And sometimes that just stinks more than my dogs flatulence, especially since I consider my family to be my best friends. They bring out my best (which some may also consider my worst. I get kinda crazy)

I have been missing my family/Arizona a lot. Maybe because it is cold and gloomy here and I am stuck inside due to my 50-degree or below allergy (I tried to run the other day and made it about five steps before booking it back inside), or maybe because I haven't been able to eat my feelings away as much as usual since being on the cleanse.

Last week my dad called Cooper and told us to meet him a couple hours away since he was in town there for business. When we did he had my sweet baby sister and mom with him. Which as you can imagine, was the best thing ever for my little homesick heart. Absolutely amazing. Even more amazing than the Orange Julius Cooper bought me right before. That says a lot (it was a large)

They stayed until Tuesday night. I get SO stressed about hosting people at my house because I want things to be perfect, but my family is so easygoing that its always so nice having them here.  They might spoil us a little bit too in the form of love and Red Lobster biscuits, which is obviously the best kind of spoiled. Brody was an angel and so much fun the entire time.

I didn't take many, but here are some pictures from our fabulous weekend-

Come backkkkkkkkk!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The cleanse is OVER. I lost a total of 7 pounds and felt so fantastic, especially during the first two weeks when I was eating COMPLETELY clean, no "cheats" at all whatsoever. The last week I started tapering off and incorporating some regular foods. Which is a nice way of saying I am a cheaterpants but you know what? 2 weeks is a long time and I am super proud of myself for making it that long. And I only cheated a couple times the last week so keep your judgements to a minimum!

 I thought I would be super happy to be able to eat what I want when I want it but ya know? it hasn't been great at all! I broke out like crazy, am bloated and my stomach HATES ME. It stands to reason, you guys- after only putting the BEST foods in my body, it is not happy when I finally give it the junk that our bodies are not supposed to eat. Sorry, we aren't. Processed junk with all its refined sugars, fats, dyes etc is POISON. Pretty dang good tasting poison, but still.

POISON.

So the goal now is to eat as close to the cleanse as possible so I can keep the energy I have had. I seriously recommend that you guys try eating this way- you will be so shocked at the difference in how you feel! Again, you can find the book here. There is way more to it than just eating a plant-based diet.

Peace, love and cheddar biscuits! I may need to go full on the cleanse again sooner than anticipated...;-)