Happy Halloween!!!

BJ's mom knit Shepherd a viking hat for this winter. As Shepherd's first real Halloween approached, so did my first costume-making responsibilities as a mom. Seeing how cute the viking hat was, I decided to just make a fur vest, shoes with leather straps, and a leather skirt thingy and call Shepherd a viking. It worked splendidly.

Here are some photos of our Halloween evening. First, here are some pictures that show his costume really well.


Now for some pictures of BJ and I at home with our little viking.



And lastly, just in case you were wondering, here are some pictures of what Shepherd thought of having to dress up.

The Artist Gene

It has yet to be seen whether Shepherd has inherited my love and talent for art. But I do know one thing for certain; he really likes to bite off the tips of crayons.


I'm going to call it promising and leave it at that.

Shepherd's Birthday in Exhausting Detail

Well, my intention was to get this blog done much earlier today, but Shepherd has been under the weather with a fever, runny nose, and mild cough, so I've been playing nurse. He is now in bed trying to sleep off that fever (please say a little prayer that he will soon recover), so I'm going to take a moment to recount his birthday.

I put the camera by my bed the night before so that I could get a first-thing-in-the-morning picture. He is always really happy when he wakes up.

Because I have no patience when it comes to giving gifts, we opened presents first thing after everyone was awake. Ninety percent of these presents were from Aunt Marcy. One of them was from BJ and I. He is going to really love his Aunt Marcy.

His Nana knit him an awesome hat for the winter.

He was unsure about the whole unwrapping process. He mostly just wanted to eat the paper.

Our gift to him was a walker that turns into a scooter when he gets older. He thought it was big fun helping his dad put it together. (Everyone take a moment to laugh at BJ's bed head.)

Later that day, it was time to eat, and eat we did. But first, we took pictures in ridiculous hats I got because birthday parties for one-year-olds should be cheesy, and dang it if I wasn't going to go all out on the cheesy.

Now, I have always objected to the idea of giving a baby their own cake on their birthday and letting them dig into it. However, when I started planning out the big monster cake, I couldn't help but think how cute a little monster cake would be. Before I knew it, I was sitting with my camera taking 40 pictures of Shepherd tearing into his own chocolate cake. Here is what I learned from the experience: giving a one-year old their own cake is one of the funnest things you can possible do on earth, it doesn't hurt them, and you will laugh until your face hurts if you ever actually experience it. In other words, I've been converted.

At first, Shepherd was hesitant with the cake. He would only stick a finger in, lick it, and then look at us to see if we really were condoning this behavior.

Once he got his monster's horn, though, he tore in, and there was no stopping him.

After he had eaten about a third of his little cake and we took it away, he sat in his chair laughing for no apparent reason. It was as if he was just really happy to have discovered that the world had something as beautiful as cake in it.
So that was Shepherd's birthday. It was a great day. And despite the sickness, today had a pretty awesome moment as well. Shepherd took his first steps totally unaided. He did about four little steps to get from me to a chair. He really is growing up on me *sniff sniff*.

I've been trying to find time to do a post with birthday pictures for the past week, but life has been hectic. Between having BJ's parents in, having church member to our home for game nights and meals, and trying to get my Etsy shop ready for the Christmas season, I have been hopelessly and perpetually behind. This is just a quick post to say that tomorrow I will hopefully do a post with far too many pictures and (most likely boring) details about my little guy turning a year old. Until then, I am going to strive to get a full night's sleep. Goodbye.

Happy Birthday, Shepherd!

One Day to Go: Project Cake is Completed

My mom always did elaborate cakes for mine and my brother's birthdays. Because of this, I've always seen the ability to decorate a cool cake as a sign one has truly arrived in motherhood. Unfortunately, I've never really decorated a cake before. But after nearly three hour of carving out pieces, mixing dyes, and getting icing unto virtually every surface of our house, I now have two cakes for tomorrow: one for Shepherd and one for the rest of us.


As you can probably tell, I went with a monster theme for Shepherd's first birthday. Here's one last picture of my little guy before he becomes a big one-year old. I'll post pictures soon of the big day!

Two Days to Go: The Present

Nesting is an important part of pregnancy. Unfortunately, we weren't able to set Shepherd up his own room in Farmington, so I had to make due with a corner of our bedroom. This is why I was really excited when we moved into our new house to set up Shepherd's room. It took a year, but for Shepherd's main birthday present, he is getting a room of his own.

My parents were kind enough to paint Shepherd's room for us the day before we arrived in Ardmore. Over the past two weeks, I've put together the pieces of his room. As of five minutes ago, it is officially finished. Here it is.

First, I painted some letters to spell out his name above his crib.



Then, I finally had a place to hang the Great Dane painting I did for Shepherd when I was pregnant.


I also made curtains. These did not come out well in the photo. They are denim with a white ribbon with little dog foot prints.

Lastly, I painted a giant weanie dog. It seemed like the thing to do.


Shep likes his room. He mainly likes the toys in his room. He likes to play with his toys in his room, preferably with no pants on.

Three Days to Go (and now for the hardest thing I've ever done)

When you read this title, you probably feared I was about to spend a whole post reminiscing about the pain of natural child birth. You can take a deep breath now, because that is not in fact the hardest thing I've ever done.

No, the hardest thing I've ever done is go through the hundreds of photos of Shepherd's first year and pick out my top ten favorites, but after hours of ignoring house work and my ever-lurking to-do list, I've managed to do just that. Drum roll, please.

10. Because I feel like I could just reach out and pinch that cute little baby's cheek.

9. Because he laughs the most when he's playing with BJ.

8. Because it reminds me that once upon a time, long, long ago, he slept.
7. Because I can use it later to show him that he spent much of his first summer naked, and that is irrefutable proof that we are awesome parents.
6. Because it reminds us that life is sometimes taxing even for a sweet baby (and by life I mean mom and her stupid camera).

5. Because we spent a lot of the past year just hangin'.
4. Because I've chosen to see this not as him laughing in the face of my baby-proofing attempt, but rather as an example of his advanced resourcefulness.

3. Because the day before my 20 week ultra sound, I told BJ I wanted a boy who looked just like him.
2. Because this is the first look he gave me.
1. Because when I think of Shepherd, this is the face I see.

Four Days To Go

Before I begin this post, let me say that if my obsessing over my son and his coming of age is mind-numbingly boring to you, feel free to ignore my blog this week. I totally understand that I am one of those parents who bore people with endless doting over my child, and I honestly feel sorry for those of you who are subjected to my gushing. That being said, the countdown continues.

Today's post is on ode to one of my favorite things about my son: his enormous saucer-like eyes. Here they are through the first year.

Month One

Month Two

Month Three
Month Four


Month Five

Month Six

Month Seven
Month Eight
Month Nine
Month Ten

Month Eleven
Month Twelve