Boyd's Party!

We had Boyd's party about a week after his birthday because of scheduling conflicts, but we got it done!  I was stressed the week before because I wanted my house to be spotless and everything to be perfect, which it never will be!  Oh well!  I also stressed about making the cake because I planned a 3-tier sports cake for my little man.  If you have seen Boyd's 1st birthday pictures that Younique Photography took, he is eating his top layer of cake, which was a baseball.  I thought it would be a good idea to practice before the party.

I didn't want to go "all-out" for his birthday, but I wanted it to be cute and sports-themed.  I decided that I would just get balloons, a banner, and use sports plates and napkins and things (and of course have a sports cake!)  My parents came in town the night before to help me get ready and they were a huge help!  KK was also a huge help cleaning that week!!  Mark was also a huge help the day of the party, but he had to work all week so he didn't get to do much of the before-hand stuff.  He is awesome, though, and cleaned up the entire kitchen after our meal and helped keep me sane :)

(I thought they all deserved a shout out...)

Ok so the party started...we had 26 people in our house, so I was glad that we had screened in our back porch.  It was obviously very hot that day, but we had 3 fans outside and I guess they didn't get too miserable.  Halfway through the party it started raining so that gave us some relief!

So here is a picture of the cake that I stressed about!!  I think it turned out ok, but I was afraid it was going to fall over!  My mom put a dowel rod in the middle to hold it up (thanks mom!)

His birthday cake and banner...

The gifts.  Thank you EVERYONE!

Singing Happy Birthday!  Daddy had to help him blow out his candle :)

He was pretty proper eating his cake...I wish he would just dig in!

I am in love with that cheesy smile, even if his mouth is full of cake :)

He finally got a little messy...I think he was intimidated by everyone watching him!

We got him a John Deere sit and scoot toy and a John Deere push mower, which he tries to get on and ride, also.  We need to teach him how to mow so he can take over for his dad one day!

I think he already knew how to use the T-ball set because Cousin Jackson got TWO at his birthday party a few weeks ago.  Boyd was really excited that he has one now, too :)

I have a TON of pictures from his party, but I didn't want to fill up the entire page, so if you would like to see more I have them on Facebook.  Boyd had a great birthday party and we are SO BLESSED to have such great family and friends that shared his day with him!  We had 26 people in my house (do you see why I was stressed?!?!) but it was wonderful!  Boyd appreciates everyone, even if he doesn't know how to show it yet :)

One month to One year...

It is hard for me to imagine Boyd as a baby, because he seems like such a big boy!  I love looking back on his old pictures and seeing how tiny he was (and seeing his chubby stage, which was about 2-5 months.)  I thought I would do something creative with his one year pictures, like put them in a frame somehow, but for now I thought I would put them on my blog so we can take a trip down memory lane :) 

It is amazing to see the stages he went through and how much he has changed over the year!

This is the first picture of him EVER!  Dr. Lehnert is great and I can't wait for him to deliver Baby #2!!

I still can't believe my baby boy is ONE!  We love you so much!!

Fourth of July!

I didn't realize until I moved to Marshfield how big of an event the Fourth of July parade is!  Mark had told me, but until I went to the parade myself, I wouldn't have understood.  This year did not disappoint.  It was so fun to have all of the Messick family in town from Saturday until Monday!  We went to the farm to shoot guns and ride Lacey's four wheeler, we went to the parade, and we ate a LOT of food.  That makes for one GREAT weekend!!

Boyd enjoyed his first Fourth of July, also.  He got to ride the four wheeler with Daddy, Mommy, Papa Keet, and Aunt Lacey.  I was a little nervous until I realized that it doesn't go very fast.  I just made sure someone had a hand on him when it was moving :) 

This is a precious one with his dad!

I also tried our the four wheeler.  I don't think I'll be getting one anytime soon, but it was fun for a few minutes :)

My big man working on standing up at the parade.  He didn't want to sit still until the parade started, and then he was mesmorized by the cars driving by.  He loved it!

Boyd is definitely getting better at keeping his glasses on.  For a while, he would take them off as soon as they were on, so this is progress.

I know...what look is that on my baby's face??  I don't know, either, but it's pretty cute anyway!  He might not like this picture one day, but he sat in my lap almost through the entire parade.  I was so proud of him!

Boyd's first haircut

I had been thinking for a week that Boyd needed his hair cut.  I said something to Mark, but he was against it!  He thought his hair was cute, which I did, too, but it needed to be cleaned up a little.  I finally convinced him that it would look the same except a little shorter (I know...what a concept, huh!?)

We took him in on a Saturday expecting to make an appointment for the following week.  Angie was coloring someone's hair and said she could do it while she was processing.  I was so thankful that it worked out, and we got it done right then!  That is definitely a perk of living in a small town :)

Here is Boyd ready to get his hair cut...he wouldn't look at the camera!

Angie did such a good job...it looks great! Mark was better after he saw how good it looked, and once he realized they weren't going to shave it or anything crazy.  Really...what did he think they were going to do!!??  His hair is so fine and so light that you can't tell in this picture, but Angie spiked it up in the front.  It looked really cute, even though in this picture it looks a little unruly :)

11 months, more swimming...

Well Boyd is now 11 1/2 months...I am making plans for his birthday and I have already practiced his cake!  Knowing us, it's no surprise that we're having a sports themed birthday party.  We had his one year pictures taken the other day, though, and he wouldn't tear into his cake.  I hope that on his birthday he decides to go crazy :)

Let's see...I haven't given any updates on what Boyd is doing lately.  He has been pulling up and crawling since 8 1/2 months, but he is working on standing on his own, which he does for about 15 seconds now.  He looks like he is dying to take a step, so I don't know how long it will be until that happens, but I am content with him crawling for now.  My life will REALLY change when he starts walking, I'm afraid :)  He is also clapping, which I was worried that he would never do.  He really only says "mama" and "dada" and some other noises that don't really mean much.  I'm sure they mean something to him...we just need to figure it out!

He kind of has a "what are you looking at?" look on his face in this picture, but it was one of the best 11 month pictures we have.  He was not so cooperative that night :)

I love this look because this is how he gives kisses...he opens his mouth as wide as possible :)  I love baby kisses!!

So this is our plastic pool.  Boyd thinks it's fun to crawl in the pool, play around, crawl out of the pool, sit in our lap (and get us all wet), then start the cycle from the beginning.  I can't blame him, though, he's a busy guy!

I'm not sure why, but Boyd also likes to drink from the hose.  He sticks the entire thing in his mouth, then he gets waaay to much water in his mouth and he starts coughing.  He loves it, though, and he looks so cute doing it!

CHEESY smile!

I think you can tell from pictures that Boyd is a little ham!  He loves the camera and smiles almost instantly when he sees it.  I thought I would share a few pictures of his cheesy smile, as we like to call it :)

Wedding, swimming, turning 10 months...

Well, I hate to be so behind on my blog, but it does allow me to cram a lot of things into one post!!  I'm not sure that it's a good thing, but I am looking for the positive in my procrastination :)

Kayla's best friend Kayli got married a few weeks ago. It was a beautiful wedding in Branson, and we tried to get a good family picture, though Boyd didn't want to cooperate!

I always feel like I'm taking the pictures, so it's good to get in a picture with my little cutie pie!!

Well, his little buddy Brayden must have thought he was a cutie pie, too, because he went in for a kiss!  I guess Brayden's daddy isn't too happy with him kissing boys, but they will someday learn :)  It's pretty cute, but definitely something to learn for the future!

Boyd has a little plastic swimming pool in our backyard that he just LOVES!  I wanted to see how he would like an actual pool, so we went to our friend's house to swim one day.  We weren't able to stay out very long because it got kind of cool (I know...the ONE day it's not steaming hot!) but he had a lot of fun!

I can't believe how fast time flies.  Boyd is now (at the date of this post) 11 1/2 months, but these are his 10 month pics.  He is getting so big!  I like this picture because he looks less like a baby and more like a boy.  Well, I say I like it, but it also makes me very sad that he's growing up so fast :(

Here's my big boy with his sweet smile!  He LOVES the camera :)

I'm a big brother!!!

Well, as I'm sure most of you know by now, Boyd is going to be a big brother!  It might come as a shock to some of you, but it was something we were planning.  I wanted Boyd to be anywhere from 18-24 months older than the new one, and he will be 18 months.  Obviously, we were "planning" it, but we knew it would happen on God's time.  We are so blessed to be bringing another little baby into the world.  Boyd has been such a blessing and we have loved every minute of the last 11 months (especially since he was only 7 weeks old when he started sleeping through the night...)

I found a t-shirt for him to announce the news, and I was really excited about it.  I wanted to have him show up at our families' houses wearing the shirt and announce it that way, but I was only 4 weeks when I was in Farmington and didn't want to say anything that soon.  I didn't know when we would be going back, so I had to email the picture to my family.  We were able to show the shirt to our family in Marshfield, and it came as a shock to almost everyone :)  I also decided to post the picture on facebook, and I had a lot of comments, which were very much appreciated!

MHS Welcome Video

Three of our high school seniors, John Cunningham, Alex Cantrell, and Morgan Blackstock, came to us with the idea to do a welcome video for incoming freshmen. They showed another high school that had done the same video, and it was awesome! I was excited to see how we could make it happen. They planned the entire video, along with the student government sponsor, and they made it memorable!! Every detail was planned and I was so proud of their work. The student body showed so much school spirit and enthusiasm. I have never seen our students so involved in anything before!! The link is below.

By the way, it's kind of hard to hear because I'm so far away from the camera, but that's me in the van (yes, my cool mom van...) I was the "mom" who dropped off my "kids" at school :)

SchoolTube - Marshfield High School (Marshfield, Missouri) Lip Dub 2011

Easter time!

I bought a 12 month Easter outfit for Boyd, thinking that at 9 months it would fit him, but unfortunately I was wrong.  The sleeves of his shirt were too tight and too short, so I had to roll them up.  I think he still looked like a little cutie, though!  Little boys in ties are just adorable :)

I absolutely LOVE this picture of my two main men...how stinkin' cute are they?!?!

I love my little man...too bad he didn't cooperate for a full family picture, but we still got a few good ones.

Here is Boyd with his buddies Harper and Emerson.  I tried to put on his dress shoes, but they weren't cooperating.  We decided to go with the Chucks instead.  Chucks and a tie?  Works for me!

I realize I titled this Easter but have only talked about Boyd.  I know that most people reading my blog are mainly interested in him, but we woke up that morning to a very happy baby.  I brought him into our room and grabbed his beginner's bible, and we read him the story of the Resurrection.  We are so blessed to have our son and so blessed that God sent his son to die for our sins.  It is hard for me to imagine that sacrifice now that I have a son of my own...I cannot find the words to describe the importance of Easter, and I hope that people realize it's more than dressing up and hunting for eggs!

The rest of the day was very relaxing, and we enjoyed spending time as a family :)

These next few pictures are not from Easter, but we finally put on Boyd's red chucks from Aunt Becky.  They are a little big, but I thought we could manage.  He actually stood on his own for about 5 seconds when he was wearing them, but Mark said he thought that was only because the weight was distributed between the big shoes :)  He's getting there...he'll be standing before long!

Until then, he is enjoying crawling and pulling up on furniture, people, pillow, window sills, or whatever he can get his hands on!  My boy is growing up too fast!!!