Blake's birthday cake make-up

 Tyler was nice to share his cute birthday cake with Blake.

 I'm pretty sure he liked it.

"It's party time Woody, Yeeeee Haw!"

We found out we were going to have a baby early on the morning of Feb 2, 2007, Super Bowl Sunday.  I was really ready to give up and accept that Heavenly Father needed everybody to make different sacrifices and maybe not having children would be ours.  Nothing we could sacrifice could even come close to the blessing of the Atonement so it seemed okay with me.  I had learned this in weeks prior - a big lesson on sacrifice and the Atonement, and also the kind of sacrifices that actually being a parent would take, although they didn't become a reality until months later.  It is a blessing to me that life's greatest lessons are learned in our greatest trials and I am grateful starting our family didn't come easily.

 I know I'm a bit biased, but Bronson was the cutest 2 year old.  I didn't appreciate how cute he was (probably because I was taking care of baby Levi) by my goodness, those were some good days.
Isn't it funny what our minds remember.  I know those were the some of the worst days of my life, but also the best.  I'm glad that's what I think and feel when I remember that time, even though I know it was rough, somehow we survived.  I would love to go back now just for a day.

 After weeks of wiggling, Bronson came home from school with a great prize around his neck - his first tooth.  His new tooth poked through at least a week before he finally got it out.  When I had loose teeth I don't ever remember them being loose for more than 3 days cause I couldn't stop playing with it.  Bronson was quite content to just let it fall out it self, but his patience paid off.

 I love October, so we decided to make the most of the birthday by adding a little bit of spook to it.

 We made candy corn lanterns out of balloons and mason jars.  

It wasn't until after that we realize our colors were out of order.

 When it comes to cake I think these mini cupcakes are my favorite.  

They are easy to make and the perfect size for every mouth.

 I don't have a lot of space to decorate, mostly the tv cabinet and my kitchen cupboards.

The kids love all of the hints of Halloween, they loved helping me decorate as well.  I love

when they tell me how cute something is or that I did a good job.  It makes me smile.

 and as fast as we could get things ready Blake did his share by undoing as much as he could :)

 Levi made a very cute halloween banner that he was excited to put up before the party.

 Here is is, the 6 year old Jedi himself.  

 Levi had the idea of being R2D2 for Halloween which is why Bronson is a Jedi, but after realizing he wouldn't be able to do much in that kind of a costume,  he was excited, very excited to be Dusty instead.  What a cute little crop hopper he makes too.

 After we hit it the first time I wasn't expecting it to break open so fast, I think we had 4 people have a turn then Darth Vader was up to bat . . .

 Chase broke it open (Chase and Bronson have the same birthday so we did a little coordinating to 

not have parties at the same time) So Bronson really enjoyed all 3 of the birthday parties this weekend.

  because sometimes you really need to take a whack at a skeleton head

 such cute kids, we are lucky to have so many great friends and neighbors

 The thing about birthday parties . . . well Bronson got a ton of fun toys.  It was better than Christmas.  At the end of the day he had everything spread out on his bed and told us he was just looking at his collection.  He was in heaven.  I am not one for excess stuff so after we saw it all, even I had to take a deep breath. . . his friends were really nice.

The birthday boy just before school with his cute buddy Rushton.

Same party - different night 

The Bat pinata was a bit disappointing as the handle broke off after 2 hits.  It got a little crazy with big kids and little kids going in at the same time.  I have to say the 5 and 6 year old boys were much more polite.  FunDaze I'm not impressed with your pinatas :(.

I always love seeing the big guys help the little guys, thanks Uncle Geoff.

Bronson received this star wars costume from his friend party the night before, I don't even 

know what they are called but he loved dressing as the uh . . . star wars robot guys.

and incase he wasn't spoiled enough already . . . goodness he had a great weekend and was so excited

but all of the gifts . . . well they give me anxiety???  So after kids get spoiled at Christmas, then it really starts to feel claustrophobic.  I wish I had the perfect solution, that we could actually put into practice.

Happy Birthday Bronson, I hope your birthday wish comes true.  You always asks me why you were born first, and I know it's because you are so brave and will be a great example to all of your younger siblings and parents.  I wish the first child didn't have to seem like such an experiment, he has been through a lot. If only I could go back to undo some of my big mistakes, but hopfully we can keep moving in the right direction.  I love you Bronson!

Blake is 1

 Where did that year go?  Time is flying by so fast it's getting a little scary.  We have loved every moment with this little boy.  He is getting to be such a stinker but still so cute.  His biggest dilemma seems to be his teeth, right now I can see 6 different teeth all over his mouth poking through.  The first year goes by too too fast.

 Since Blake has become an expert drawer and cupboard opener and unloader I decided to bring the play kitchen upstairs so he could go to town.  He has loved it.  However it still doesn't keep him out of the toilet bowel and dog food, toilet paper . . .  He is such a cutie.  He thinks he is so funny to run away or crawl away from me.  He has the cutest giggle.

   I always worry about parties, and quite frankly didn't really want to do one for the fact that he is one.  I thought we could just spend a fun day together and finish it with a little ice cream or something.  Well the plan changed when I had my next great idea to have a 2 day party over the weekend when people could just stop in when they wanted and then it wouldn't be so overwhelming to have tons of cousins in your face.  Blake's schedule has been changing from day to day as well so I thought this way would work better for him.  Here are some pics of the birthday fun.

We gave him a little people zoo with a bunch of animals to go with it. 

(it wasn't as great as I'd hoped but he still likes it)

The problem with a 2 day party is that we had no idea when anyone was gonna come and we didn't end up doing the same thing with everybody so it was a little inconsistent.  It ended up being a 3 day party and by the end . . . it was not the simpler easier version I'd intended.  As we've been getting ready for Bronson's birthday I was trying to explain to him that he could only have one party to which he replied "But Blake got to have lots of parties . . ."  It was good and bad but I surly won't be doing it again.

I didn't even do a cake, as they seem to be a huge headache and for the most part kids just lick the frosting off anyway.  So we stuck with root beer floats.  We did get a little cake for Blake, but he was so tired and the cake had been in the fridge . . . it wasn't your typical one year old cake experience.  The whole thing is even making feel a little sad about it as I type it.  Sometimes it just feels like we put on parties for other people, not the guest of honor, which is why I didn't want to do one in the first place.  I am glad we did but I'm just sayin'

So cute . . . 

the birthday weekend was exhausting 

taking down balloons

So the last person to trim Blake's hair was me :)  and it has been getting so long sometimes I just wanted

to buzz it all off.  He was getting a bit of an afro and his hair is a lot more course than it used to be.  Jared was also sick of the headbands - honestly it was long enough to put in pig tails.  So I decided it was time to get it trimmed to even it out again, this would be his 4th hair cut.  So what started as a trim very quickly became a full haircut from Aunt Cami.  I'm not sure if we had a communication problem or what, but Blake lost all his curls.  I didn't realize how short it was at first, and then I got kind of mad. I was planning on at least taking some good pictures of him before we cut it, and some pictures to show  how long it was.  It took a couple days of getting used to seeing him with short hair, but he is still just as cute so it is growing on us.  I know Jared likes it much better that people don't ask if he's a girl.  So we may grow it out one more time or not, I don't know but he is pretty cute either way.

Right after we cut it

Morning pics

Blake weighs 23lbs 15 oz 82%

his head is 19 in. 99%

his height is 29 in. 10%

He isn't walking yet but starting to jabber a ton.  Sometimes it really sounds like he is saying "Hi Dad"

and I think he's trying to say Simba sometimes.  He loves baths and water, he gets so exited when I turn on the tub.  He is a little chaser of toys, unloader of drawers, and lover of nutri-grain bars.  We couldn't love him any more.  He is the light of our family!