My Golden Birthday

Today is my Golden Birthday, meaning I turned 25 on the 25th. It was an awesome day!!!!!!!! Blake made us hashbrowns and muffins for breakfast (yum). Then, we went on a 5-mile run (Blake hates running). While Caleb took his nap, I made my birthday cake. he he. It was fun. And I got to talk on the phone to some of my favorite people. Then, we went to the Zoo. Finally, Blake and my parents surprised me with a gigantic dance party at Wildhorse Saloon! Woo! So many of my favorite people came and I LOVED it. Of course - food and dancing - doesn't get better than that. Nope.
Thank you for an awesome Golden Birthday, Blakey, mom and dad, and all my friends, family, and loved ones!!!!!!!!! Halfway to Fifty!!!!!!!

Cake Class #1

I signed up for a Wilton cake class at Joann's, and loved every second of it! Kelsi Simpson and I went together. It was a blast and we learned so much!

My very first cake after the first day:

My second cake that I made for Blake's parents and Thomas when they came to visit My cupcakes for practice: And my final cake in class. I really like polka dots!

And then I did this cake for a women's meeting in our neighborhood! Yay for cake decorating!

Terrible-movie-for-your-kids-alert

Ok so the movie Transformers was well done artistically, and the actors were all very good. However, I want to bring to light the underlying message of this movie, and its sequel that is coming out soon. The movie, aside from all the robots, is about a teenage boy who has dirty magazine pictures all over his walls. He likes a girl who, by the way, looks like she belongs in a dirty magazine, how she dresses with her greasy hair and red lipstick. She is everything but modest and sweet. The moral of the movie is said to be, "There can be no victory without sacrifice," which is roughly translated as, "Even if you have dirty magazines and all you think about all day is 'trash', you are still really cool and can get that slutty-looking girl to lie on top of you on the hood of a car at the end of the day." Yes, people, this is what these movies, directed toward OUR young boys, are deceptively portraying. My advice? Don't support it. There are plenty of other movies to see. I am disgusted. Sure, there are bad movies out there, but this one is TRANSFORMERS, a little boy's movie.

Our 4th Anniversary (a.k.a. "Fifth Honeymoon")

We went to Destin, Florida for our anniversary trip!! It was amazing. It was also one of the smartest things we ever did, taking a trip without the baby (who we missed incredibly). My parents were kind and giving enough to watch Caleb for us. He had a blast, ate lots of twinkies, pizza, and popcorn, and still talks about Ga-ga and Nina nonstop.

We stayed at our friends' condo down there, they were sooo nice to let us!! We made our own breakfast and lunch every day and ate out every night!

We got miserably, miserably sunburned the very first day. Every day we went to the ocean (which was right outside our window) and boogie boarded for hours! The waves were huge and beautiful! It was so much fun. We also went on an easy bike ride every day.

And, I beat Blake in mini-golf twice. :)

Another adventure was that I stepped on a crab in the ocean and it pinched my heel! I have a scar to prove it! Luckily that was our last day in the ocean, so I didnt have to get back in there. Next time, I'll find a way to wear shoes in the ocean. IIIIICK! Crabs are like big, hard-shelled spiders!!

It was SO FUN and we are so grateful! Yay for our honeymoons!

Being The Mom

Playgrounds...

"Yaaay Caleb! Good job!"
He can do a front somersault now! The Zoo!

I have been reading the sweetest book, "Being the Mom." It is so funny and so inspiring. Happy Mother's Day to every woman first of all. And second of all, I just want to say how grateful I am to be a mother. The greatest blessings come from the greatest trials. Motherhood has its challenges, but they ALWAYS com with rewards! Like getting showered with kisses and I do mean SHOWERED with kisses... or feeling two tiny hands on your elbow at the end of Relief Society, and hearing "Da-dee," and looking down to see his sweet huge smile... (he calls me momma and daddy... we're working on that one, since everyone calls me "Dani," it makes it confusing for the little man)... or picking him up in the middle of the night and having him cuddle up on my shoulder with his blankie ("Bay-ee") and fall right back to sleep... or having him walk up to me in the morning with a package of muffin mix, asking "MO! MO!?" (more)...

My heart is warmed from the sweetest moments of my life as a mother. I am baffled by the concept that Heavenly Father has allowed me this huge blessing in my life. Caleb is so amazing, and I am so excited to watch him grow and learn and succeed. I am so grateful for everything he has taught me. Wow! It's been a LOT!

15-month-old Fun!

Been trying lots of new shoes lately. The best were my brown heels. He wouldnt let me get it on film though.

Big cute smiles. Oh how I love those smiles!

Enjoying some fresh raspberry pie whipped topping. Yum.

Cozmo worn out from so much play with the toddler.

He loves to use the stack of cd's for his stool. Or anything about 6 inches tall.

Swaddling

One of the funniest blog posts I have ever seen. Please enjoy:

"[Baby] Henry likes to be swaddled and we are always watching jeff wrap him up. So [grown man] B decided being swaddled looked comfy and requested it also. The two boys spent conference all wrapped up, lying next to each other. Jeff took a picture and it makes me laugh every time.a. i love that b's legs stick so far out of the blanket. yep, definitely doesn't fit.
b. i love that little henry is just chillin, like this is his normal activity to hang out with other swaddled friends."

Thank you Lyndsey, for making me laugh til I cry... yet again... :)

Softball

Wow! I took Caleb to Blake's and my dad's softball game tonight and I am not kidding, he sat in his stroller from 6 pm to 8 pm!!!! I was shocked. He watched the entire two games and ate his dinner while just sitting there.
It got so cold during the end (mid-40's) but he was still a trooper. We had a good time! Go Superior!

Inspiring

I have just spent the last hour or two reading a blog that has inspired me and touched my heart. Three years ago I worked for one of the kindest people with the most pure heart I have ever known. He and his wife have a big, beautiful family. Their newest addition, Nathan, was born with several physical challenges. I started from the first post, which you can view here, and just read through. It made me cry my eyes out, smile, and laugh. I love this little baby boy and I have not even met him. I want to send him toys and gifts! I hope you enjoy learning about him as much as I did.

*Cheese!*

Little Caleb has been talking up a storm lately. Stephanie babysat him tonight and he really communicated with her! He told her he wanted to go outside, "Siiiide... siiiide." He told her what food he did not want, "No no no..." He told her about the plane he heard in the sky, "Laaay..." He is so precious! He has named his Blankie, "Baaay."
General Conference was a wonderful experience, having the internet at home for the first time, and being able to watch it on the screen with such good quality! We had it on in the office, and we played with Caleb in the family room and den the whole time. He did really great! He loved when the choir would sing and would stop what he was doing and run to see the screen, and start directing the music with both arms! We put up the tent during one of the sessions and he loved it too!

Caleb has also begun to understand camera's and the meaning of "Say Cheese!" This is the face he gave me when I said, "Cheese, Caleb!" Good boy! It's been so long since I've gotten a good smile from him on camera.