go to time-out

I'm going to attempt to tell this story without a picture and it just may not be as good as it is to me...but here goes. Dave was gone when this happened, so I had to attempt to tell it to him too! Luckily, he laughed hysterically and was able to picture all of it....so hopefully you can too!

Yesterday, Mason and I were in the basement.
The usual routine...he goes for the remote and my phone, which are sitting on the coffee table.
I say "no no"
He tried to run off with them.
I grab them, put them back and keep my eye on him.
He grabs them again.

After I get my phone back from him again, I say
"do you need to go to time out?"

Okay...you gotta know that I have NEVER said this to him before. Other than slapping his hand, talking sternly and giving him "that face"....I haven't really thought he is ready for any other discipline tactics. It was closer to 18 months (??) when we started time-out for Taylor. I know, I know, every kid is different. But I really could not imagine my 12 month old little boy sitting in time-out.

So when I said this to him....I really was not expecting ANY reaction. It just kind of came out.
I took my phone back and carried on with tax work on my computer.

Then I saw him walk towards the corner (the same corner Taylor sits in for time-out) He caught my attention, as I was wondering if my comment really had meant something to him. Then I noticed that Taylor's princess car was in that corner.....
so yeah, nevermind, he's just going for the car.

I then watched him move the car out of the corner and push it pretty far away.
He then turned around and walked back to the corner and sat down and just stared at me.
It wasn't a sad stare.
It was more of a PROUD stare, as if to say "I can sit in time-out too!"
At this point I am laughing out loud, wishing my camera was by me and attempting to capture it on my phone, so I can show Daddy when he got back.

Little Mason...sitting in time out!

He stood up and walked towards me. So, just to test him, I said
"you go back to time-out"

and he did.

I was thoroughly entertained. I wish I could have staged lots of naughty things for him to do, just to send him to time-out and see if he'd go. I know, I know, that sounds so mean....but it was the CUTEST thing EVER to see him just go and sit in the corner when I had no idea he even knew what time-out was.

I ended with the usual routine we have with Taylor.
"okay, come her and talk to Mommy"

He RAN!
He was SOOO proud! He looked so intently at me, those big blue eyes just waiting for me to talk to him. Usually these talks aren't fun...this is when we talk about what Taylor did wrong and she's asked to apologize, give hugs, etc. She DEFINITELY does not run to me and look eager to have this conversation. Oh, but little Mason was just so eager and so proud! I couldn't stop laughing.

So although he WENT to time-out, I'm taking that as a sign that he is not ready for it....as he sees it as something to be proud of instead of something to avoid.

But this is one of those things that makes you realize how much they are watching, listening and learning every day. He has watched Taylor get sent to the corner, he knew exactly what I said, and what I meant. These kids are amazing....the things those little brains can do!!

a steal!

Okay, so I am by no means a pro at all this coupon stuff. It seems to be the craze these days and I am learning a lot from a few blogs on my side bar: Money Saving Mom and Couponing 101 . There are tons others, but these seem to be my favorite for now.

I just had to share one of the best deals I've seen so far in my early days of couponing....


WAL-MART: Kraft Salad Dressing for $0.08!!!!




From what I hear, these salad dressings are priced at $1.58 right now at Wally World. I think this is true, because I was just there and I remember seeing a shelf of them on sale. I just passed because I didn't need any right now. BUT NOW....you can use the $1.50/1 coupon in Sunday's insert (not sure if that is the Smart Source or the Red Plum)...and you can get these for $0.08 each!!! So yeah, I decided I needed some now, and called my mother-in-law and asked her to clip hers out for me too...so I can get SEVERAL!

We used to use off brand dressing and only had 1-2 bottles on hand. But thanks to my friend Kendall, who introduced me to the Kraft Food and Family Magazine a few years ago (subscribe here), tons of our favorite every-day meals call for lots of these dressings.

So if you can't tell, I'm pumped!! I'm not sure how long the dressing will be on sale...so I'll definitely be hitting the store SOON!

I hope someone's as excited about this steal as I am!
And no, I promise I'm not going to become one of those couponing or deal saving blogs, I'll leave that to the pros...I'll just share when I'm SUPER excited!

our new friend

Hopefully you all saw my previous post about the new member of our family!

I just wanted to share with you all the fun we are having with her....
She loves to be outside too....although we have to hold on to her tight or she'll get away from us.



She loves to swing....

and go down the slide...

and she's even been present at the dinner table with us...
Taylor even helps her eat.


There's love all around.

Mason's even taken a liking to her too...


Unfortuneately, our friend isn't going to be with us much longer.
She has begun to wear out her welcome.

Her days are definitely coming to an end.

best of friends

Riding along in the truck the other day, we looked back and this is what we saw...



It lasted for a few minutes, both of them just sitting in silence.


Our hearts melted.


I know they will fight, they have started to already.
I know they will have times they do NOT want to be siblings.
I know there will be times we have to seperate them.
16 months apart has it's disadvantages I guess....but so far I'm seeing far more GOOD things from their closeness in age.

I pray that they will grow to love each other DEEPLY and be the best of friends.

frozen toes

The things us girls do for some pampering....


Today, Jess and I had appointments for pedicures.

She made these appointments a few weeks ago....with the assumption we would be wearing our flip flops soon. Who would have ever thought today would be below freezing temperatures, freezing rain, sleet, ice and snow?


We were advised not to go.
We questioned as to whether we should or not.
But we didn't question it for long.


Give up an hour long pedicure we've been waiting all week for??? Yeah right!!

We drove 40mph....even with my 4x4 truck.
We saw multiple wrecks along the way.
One was PRETTY bad.
Our husbands were calling wondering why we were still going.
Luckily, neither of them actually said we needed to come home.
We just kept truckin.


Then an hour of pure bliss! The massage chair was heated, the water was hot....kind of nice on a such a cold wintry (March) day.


After our pedicures, we were informed the polish took an hour to drive and we couldn't put our shoes back on. REALLY? We thought they were kidding.

So we had to bare the elements in our flimsy salon flip flops.
My feet have never been so cold.
With flip flops that have a 1/16" inch sole, there's no way to walk without the tiny pellets of ice flooding over and covering the bottom of your feet.


We had planned to eat lunch afterwards and we were not going to let these salon inspired flipflops stop us. So our feet bared the cold some more, in and out of Chipotle. YMMMM!!


40 more minutes of 40mph driving and we were finally back home (well, a little more for Jess).


So maybe it wasn't the wisest decision we've ever made....to brave these kind of conditions for pedicures.


But we sure do have pretty toes!

THUNDER!

Last Friday night, we dropped Mason off with grandpa and took Taylor to her FIRST hockey game...to see the Wichita Thunder!


We've been a few times....we just like the change in scenery, having something fun and different to do.

Taylor LOVED it!

We were there for about 5 minutes when she noticed other people with snacks!

What's a hockey game with out nachos and pop!



We are such concession food junkies...this is not going to be a good thing for our kids!

Dave's cousin Terry and his son Brycen have had season tickets on the first row since the very first season of Wichita Thunder. We went down by the glass to see them at half time.

They had some extra tickets, so we went for free! Thanks Terry!

This is the last game that the Thunder will ever play in the Kansas Colesium.

Next year they will be at the new downtown arena in Wichita.

Terry tried to help Taylor get a frisbie from Thunder Dog....he just wouldn't look our way.

The entire way home, Taylor talked about the dog (Thunder Dog) and the gorilla (not really sure what that mascot was for). Over and over again.

"I like that dog

I like that lilla

that dog come to my house?

No Taylor, that dog is going to go night-night

Mommy, you see that dog?

Yes I did

you see that lilla?

yep

that lilla come to my house?

No Taylor, that gorilla is going to stay at the hockey game.

that dog come to my house and get my dog?

No Taylor, it's not going to come to our house
Mommy, did you see that dog and that lilla?

(this continued in a cycle for quite some time)

"Taylor, let's talk something else" (this was daddy, not me)

Then she was asleep.

I think she'll remember these fun chairs most of all. She was more interested in them than the hockey game.

90 and 1

In a previous post a few weeks back, I mentioned that we celebrated my grandma's 90th birthday....her birthday is the same day as Mason's.


We traveled to Independence, KS to surprise her at church that Sunday morning.

We missed having grandpa there...as he was still in Wichita in the hospital.



These roses were on the altar for her.

Doesn't she look amazing for 90!??!


We just HAD to get a picture of the 2 of them together.



90 years old and 1.....what a priceless picture.



There is actually no way she could have held Mason alone...in fact, although she looks extremely happy in this picture, she is actually freaking out about holding this chunk-a-lunk on her own! She did a good job though! (with some help)



It was so special getting to help her celebrate her 90th birthday! Mason's birthday will always be extra special because of sharing it with this wonderful woman.

fresh air

It's been beautiful here! 60 and 70 degree weather...and even some 80's!!

We are loving being outside!


I'm just LOVING those eyes!

Later that evening I attempted to trim Mason's hair. It didn't go so well. I've never really tried to use scissors while someone's head is moving in every direction you could possibly imagine. In fact, I've never really used scissors on anyone's head. And I don't think I want to try ever again.

We definitely have to keep our eye on him....he likes this game called "how fast can I get to the street before mom and dad catch me"



We hope this weather continues! We're hoping for a zoo trip soon!

new spring trend

I love to share the newest fashion and trends at my jewelry shows...well, at least just enough that us midwest girls can feel like we know at least something about the latest fashion!

To prepare for Jewels for Cora, I did some extra research on spring fashion.

I found out that YELLOW is HOT!!! I think they called it mimosa yellow. It's a very bright and cheery citrus yellow.

You'll also see a lot of ruffles and sheer material.

Wide legged pants and high waisted pants (yuck!) also will be found everywhere!

Oh yeah, and jumpsuits like this one.

(Ralph Lauren)

No thank you.

But there is definitely one new trend that brings a nice mix of the cold of winter and the warmth of summer into one super hot spring look....

A swimsuit and snow boots.

You know, for those days when it's not quite hot but not quite cold either.

WOW....why couldn't Ralph Lauren have thought of that!??!

She walked out of her room like this....as if she was just carrying on with her business. I think I may have fallen on the floor laughing.

Can't wait to see some of you sporting this trend out and about!

Cora on the NEWS!

If you missed the news tonight or don't live in our area, go HERE to view the video from Channel 12 that was aired tonight. And HERE is another news station that has the write-up of the story that aired.

The news is usually so negative...all the horrific things that go on in our world.
Murder, rape, drugs, violence, etc.
Not even worth having on.

But if you watched our local news tonight you heard about Jesus.

You heard about the blog that Joel and Jess used to give praises and prayer requests.

You heard about the desire for little children to come to know Jesus.

You heard about hundreds of strangers who reached out in love and support for this amazing family.

Of course we all wish we didn't have to hear these God-glorifying things on the news at Cora's expense. It was so hard to watch and see the hurt and pain in Jess and Joel's eyes as they spoke to the reporter. But again, God has a plan...and he continues to unfold it a little more everyday.

Read Jess's blog for her story on how this day full of news stories unfolded.

Cora's Playground makes the NEWS!

A story on Cora's Playground will be aired TONIGHT at 9pm on channel 24 and at 10pm on channel 12.

For those of you who are from out of town, here's the website for the news station JUST IN CASE they have something on there as well.

Channel 12 News

Also check out this article about Joel and Jess that was in our local paper.

It is truly amazing how the McClenahan's story is reaching the masses!

mr. independent

This little guy is VERY determined to do things by himself.
We didn't experience much of this with Taylor.
So we are definitely learning to be more flexible and let him be a big boy.

We either give in and give him the entire container of yogurt and the spoon, or we hear about it!

I do have to say, he's actually doing quite well!
He ate this entire yogurt and didn't get any messier than what these pictures show.

Way to go little guy!

bigger than us

For those of you who have been anxiously awaiting...
Here is the outcome of Jewels for Cora...
Last night Dave and I handed Jess and Joel a check for $2700!!!

With approximately $800 more still to come! So an estimated $3500 will be the total.
We surprised Jess with $1800 in free jewelry from the hostess benefits. Every female in her family got some of this love too!

My expectations were blown away.
It's amazing how God is taking so many of our simple human abilities and making them so much more.

Jewels for Cora was a night filled with tears and laughter. I think it was a refreshing mix of the 2. I think lots of people came expecting ONLY a jewelry show...they got much more. There were many there who didn't know Jess and Joel, they had never met Cora. Before the jewelry and fashion, we wanted them to know our friends. We wanted them to know their faith. And why this night was so important to so many of us. There were even some there who DO know Jess and Joel and they still commented that they heard things about them they never knew before.

Alone, I could have never done this. I know God had the biggest part.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17

(photos (photo courtesy Meg D )

But I also know that it's thanks to everyone involved that this night was as big as it was.

I could have never gotten 75 people there on my own.

I could have never found 100 ladies on my own to purchase new jewelry for their wardrobe for Cora. We had 100 customers EXACTLY! Thank you to everyone who passed the invitation on and spread the news of this event all over.

I could have never gotten catalogs to all the people ALL OVER wanting them. Thanks Andrea, Sarah and Shannon! That job turned way bigger than I imagined!

I could have never handled all the talking and sharing that night. Thanks Julie, Amy, Kendall and all the girls who read comments.

I could have NEVER EVER handled the computer part of things and had slideshows and music running smoothly...I couldn't even get the microphone to come on. Thanks Colin!

I could have never handled doing the actual jewelry show that night...even though I've done almost 250 of them. Thanks Stef! Everyone said you were so fun!

I could never have handled setting up 100 chairs...thanks so my wonderful husband!

I could have never handled taking 75 orders and being able to help ladies all around the room as well. Thanks Jessica, Sarah and Jacquie!

I could have never captured the night with photos to be able to share with everyone, including Jess and Joel. Thanks Meg and Kendall!

There are SO many other things that girls helped with...balloons, cookies, drinks, decorations (which were SOOO cute and SOOO Cora!), modeling, welcoming, set up, clean up, etc. The night was a success because of everyone involved.

I loved Premier before. How couldn't I? It allows me to have my dream job...being a stay-at-home mom and still bring in full time income. But I love Premier even more now. I love that we're taught to serve and enrich lives, and keep God in the center of our lives. I love that it allowed me to do this. I love that it is a product that is so profitable....especially in this instance. I love that jewelry brought a smile to Jess's face as she played in it, tried it on, and decided what she was getting. I love that my upline in Premier, whom I'm very thankful for, has decided to give to Joel and Jess too. When the news of this came through my email...I just cried. I love that Premier stands on biblical principles and has the ultimate goal of bringing hope and serving others. I never saw my business in the perspective that I do now. I am blessed for this job that came to me my senior year of college. God really does have a plan and he's working it out every day of our lives.

I am blessed and humbled that through Premier we could have Jewels for Cora.

money makeover

We had a great discussion with our small group this week on budgets.

It stemmed from a series of financial lessons we are doing in Sunday School right now.

All of this finance stuff has been something that has been near the top of our priority list for the last year or so...a little off and on...but now, completely ON! And no, it has NOTHING to do with the economy....it just happens to be falling at the same time.

I guess it's been about a year since our small group did a financial study...mostly based around Dave Ramsey...we LOVED it! Thanks Joel and Kendall...we can't imagine our lives now without someone bringing these lessons up for us! We had never thought of this stuff, never knew we were really doing anything wrong...or at least NOT right! We knew we wondered where our money always seemed to go and I knew it was NO fun hearing "don't spend any money" every time I left the house. And yes, I will admit....money always seems to bring about those ever so famous arguments in marriages...and they were definitely not absent at our house!

We tried so hard to put everything we learned into action and get on a budget. We were just beginning to figure it out when Mason was born...so that threw us all off. We gave up, and didn't want to give the time needed to get something working for us. So we just continued spending as usual. Some months passed and we decided we needed to give it a try again. This time it stuck! The hardest part was just learning the record keeping part of it. Thanks to Joel Smith and his wonderful excel sheet...we now have a system that works SO well for us. And it just so happened that right when we were beginning to make this a priority again...we began a financial study in Sunday School...with more Dave Ramsey and the Crown Ministries resources which helps us to keep biblical foundations on handling our finances. It was perfect timing for us!

BUDGET...this word SCARED me when we first started studying Dave Ramsey. I, had a very common response to that word...immediately thinking "budgets are BAD...they'll restrict me, it means I'm under someone else's controal, they're only for people who are struggling" The negative thoughts went on and on. Yes, I know, I was VERY nieve (sp?) to what this was all about. BOY WAS I EVER SO WRONG!

We LOVE telling our money where to go....every last dollar of it. Until we really got this budget down, we felt like our money controlled US...it caused stress. Now that we have gained control....it is SOOOO freeing! It's hard to explain until you experience it. I used to stress about the amount we spent on groceries...dreading hearing the total at the end. But now, we TELL ourselves how much we have....and when we spend it, WE'RE in control. It doesn't feel stressful at all. I used to shop for clothes, even when I shouldn't have been. I'd have a sense of guilt. Now, because we tell every dollar where to go BEFORE it is spent....when I buy that cute shirt that I'm eyeing...I have ZERO guilt! We put the money there to be spent. And if I just want $20 to blow....we just admit it...and put it on paper.

Saving was always a dreaded thing. We wanted to do it, we knew we weren't saving like we should. Well, DUH!!! That's because we had no idea where our money was going and we'd tell ourselves we'd save however much we had left over...HAHA!!! Now we name each dollar for each thing we want to save....before our money is spent! We have saved more money in the last 4 months than we have in the last 4 years we've been married! I just LOVE the control factor in this!!!

So I wouldn't say it was fun creating the budget, working out all the kinks, eliminating ALL spontaneous spending, figuring out how to keep records...but now that we have it down....it seriously is FUN! Does that make me a dork??? It's just so nice to be over the stresses of money....not that they'll never come again, because I'm sure we'll have things come up. But with this system, there's just nothing to stress about...your money goes EXACTLY where you tell it to go! Did I mention that I LOVE this control!??!!

So, if you can't tell...I'm a HUGE advocate for BUDGETS and for Dave Ramsey! He's funny, he's down to earth, he KNOWS what he's talking about...he covers all the myths that the world makes us believe about finances, credit cards, mortgages, etc. And teaches EXACTLY what to do to be different! And yes, we want to be different...because the world lives in debt, the world doesn't control their money...so being different is GOOD!

If you have never been through a financial study....you HAVE TO! Or at least get this book (and he has awesome DVDs too!) for yourself....

A quote that Dave Ramsey says is this "If you wanna be rich, you gotta do rich people things" We discussed this in Sunday School...and this comment can definitely be taken bad or good. Having a biblical foundation (which is SO important) with your finances doesn't really allow us to have the goal of being rich. But I'm not gonna look too deep into that comment...I think he's referring to the behavior we have to have with our money. I would say that most people who have lots of money, have it because of what they have DONE with their money...the control they have had on it. So that's the goal....the behavior. A change in behavior.

And the purpose for this post....not quite sure...I was just feeling energetic about this topic. Although I do know that if we had not been motivated by others...we would have never changed our behavior. So if this can motivate SOMEONE....that's the purpose.

attention all locals

YET another way we can help build Cora's Playground!!!

great grandpa

I'm very much behind on posts....

We got a call 2 weeks ago that my grandpa's kidneys were failing. He could definitely use prayers, for him to be comfortable and not experience too much pain through some of the other issues he's facing...and for his strength to get better.

He's been so healthy as he is approaching 90 years old.

He lives in Independence, KS but had to come to St. Francis in Wichita. Which means we could easily go visit. He and my grandma hadn't seen any of us since last Feb. when Mason was born. So we were very excited to visit, although we wish it was under better circumstances.



I realize these aren't the most appropriate of pictures...but I asked his permission and he didn't care one bit. Okay, so I may have forgot to mention they were going on my blog...but I'm pretty sure that could have taken hours to try to explain to him what my blog was.

Regardless....these are special pictures.

Grandpa was actually doing very well. He didn't seem much different at all, so it was nice to see him and chat.

Taylor spotted this Dora balloon in the hospital gift shop. Of course my mom, was happy to buy it for us. So Dora went home with us and has been floating around the house.


She doesn't really like Dora in her room at night when she goes to bed. So we stick her in the hallway. Last night, I rolled over in bed, to see the shadow of Dora high in the doorway of our bedroom, just a black outline of a very large person...a little scary.

It' so neat for our kids to know their great grandparents, this is the only set left. Even if they don't know them WELL, the times we have are special.

more on jewels for cora

Check out my friend Megan's blog!!!

She was our official photographer for Jewels for Cora and she just did an awesome post with AWESOME pictures from the night!

This is me and my sister-in-law, Stef, the other jewelry lady....who did a FABULOUS job and was so much fun!

I spent the last 3 hours, with the help of my friend Sarah, entering jewelry orders!!!! We have a few more orders coming in tomorrow and Jess is in the process of picking out $1400 in free jewelry from the hostess benefits!

I will announce the total amount raised for them soon!!

Cora's night

Jewels for Cora, just amazed me. It seems everything that is going on right now is turning WAY bigger than we imagine. That's God, not us.

I don't have any pictures yet.

So for now....check out THIS blog....I met Beki for the first time at the event, such a sweet gal!

She took some great pics to give you a little idea of what the night was like. I'm stealing one. Here's one of Julie...she taught us so much about who Joel and Jess are, beyond what we already know. Julie, you were AMAZING....thank you for sharing those stories and feelings about Jess and Joel. We all know how amazing Jess is...but now we know even more!

If others post about the night before I get around to it, I'll send you there.

And yes, I will announce the totals SOON...I just want to wait till it's more official, rather than it changing each day as we have more and more orders coming in. I will just say that it VERY MUCH exceeded my expectations.

I called Jess to tell her that we were giving her all the free jewelry benefits that my hostesses normally earn themselves. She said "but I wasn't even there"....oh my Jess, you were there...you were SO there! So was Cora.

She stopped by to pick up a catalog and start picking out $1300 in free jewelry....soon to be more. I told her I hoped she even liked Premier jewelry (although how could you NOT!)...because she's going to have more than she knows what to do with!

There will be more to come on Jewels for Cora, for all of you who couldn't be there. Go here to my past post, if you want to know more about what the Jewels for Cora event was.

For now, I'm going to work on getting these orders entered...which seriously may take a year....but this time, entering these orders means so much than it has ever meant before!

test picture size

blog makeover!

TA DA!!!
My blog got a makeover!

Thanks to Bethany and of course, her husband Chris, for my new layout and design! She is SO good with photoshop and her husband knows all the html stuff. I SO want to know this stuff, but I think it's going to be a long learning process. I've been wanting a new look for awhile...I wanted a bigger posting area, for bigger pictures and longer lines of text (which surprisingly I DO know how to do, but just couldn't make it work with any cute background I was wanting)....and I was really wanting a customized header, so I figured just going completely customized would give me just what I wanted.

Bethany is the sister of one of my good friends from middle school and high school. I connected with her through her blog sometime last year....she lives in Arizona. It's been so fun keeping up with her blog...she is the ULTIMATE party planner and it's so fun to see what she has in store for her kids' birthday parties. She's a super writer...and a SUPER photographer! She's even starting her own photography business! AND, she can even do customized blog looks!!! Amazing talents!

If you see a blog makeover in your future...hop on over to her blog and leave her a comment or email her at bethany.m.graham@gmail.com and she'll give you all the details!

Thanks Bethany and Chris...I love it!

happy birthday

Happy Birthday sweet little Cora.
We love you and we miss you.I'm sure Jesus throws one AMAZING birthday party...wish we could all be there!
Ymmmmm.....birthday cake in heaven....that would be heavenly!

Even though you are gone, the celebrations are not falling short.
There is so much going on for you today. We hope you enjoy it all.

It's all for you...and your amazing mommy and daddy.

the party

Well, here he is....our baby.....who's now ONE!

Thanks Megan for the inspiration for the shirt! That may be a tradition at our house now for birthday parties! It was so easy to make!

Here are the cakes....

This was the first time I've ever used tips. Thanks to my friend Mallory who let me borrow her cake mold and tips! She gave me some helpful tips on how to make the little cake too....I just cut the shape out of a paper pattern.

There was a moment in the day I thought I was going to LOSE IT. Dave walked into the kitchen/dining room where the cake was finished and sitting on the table. I heard him GASP loudly. I just KNEW it was the cake.....and the culprit was either the little 2 year old running around in the house, or the dog. It was hard to tell...we think it was the dog. Luckily it was just the corner...and JUST the frosting (wait, now that I say that, that sounds more like a 2 year old's doings!)....we patched it up and no one could even tell.

We had lots of food and lots of guests! 14 adults and 5 kiddos. Our house was quite packed and crazy!

Here's the birthday boy with his sister and cousins!


Onto presents!
Actually, due to a 30 minute nap (go figure on a day like this, he'd choose to do this to us!)...he was a little more reserved than his usual self. Daddy had to hold him for a little bit before he was ready to go at it himself.



And of course there is ALWAYS lots of help opening presents!


And now, for the highlight of the night...


A few days before, I said "I doubt he'll touch his cake much at all...he's been so weird about touching his foods, I don't see him wanting to dig into a cake."




I was OBVIOUSLY wrong....


Way to entertain little man!

He kept going and going and going. He ate the entire little cake...probably equal to 2-3 adult servings.

Needless to say, he went straight to the bathtub....in which he did NOT want to get out of!

It was such a fun night! Thanks to everyone who came....Nana and Papa, Mima and Papa Dippel, Aunt Stef, Tyler, Jaden and Paige (Uncle Steve thought the KSU bball game was more important than a one year old bday party!), Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Steve who came from Texas, Great Aunt Barb and Uncle Jim, Cousin Terry, and our good friends Dwayne and Ginny who are kind of like another set of grandparents! Thank you for ALL the wonderful gifts...Mason was very much spoiled...or shall we say, VERY MUCH LOVED!

Here's the video we showed at the party...since I didn't have a scrapbook for him, I figured I should have SOMETHING of his first year in pictures. It was fun making a video...maybe this will be another new tradition! (make sure to go to the very bottom of my blog and pause my playlist so you can hear the songs on the video)

It ends with a verse that has been a huge part of the last month around here...a verse that will forever have a special meaning to us.





Happy Birthday Little Guy...you have been such a blessing to us this past year. Your smile and laugh melts our hearts every day. We love your shy little look as you bury your face when you're happy to see one of us. We love that you are showing us what it's like to have a boy. You love to throw your arms back and forth across your tray, making food fly everywhere. You love to bang your sippy cup as loud as you can on the table. You like to feed the dog, and you are getting very sneaky about it. You love balls and cars. You love to run the other way when you're trying escape with a cell phone or remote...and you don't really care how many times you're told no. We've found multiple items in the toilet, some of which can never be used again. You love to open cabinets...all of them. We will soon be putting locks on EVERYTHING...for the first time. You are adventursome and tough. You discovered there is a backyard beyond the deck right away...it took your sister MONTHS! Your chubby legs and chubby cheeks are PERFECT! We love you more than we can ever explain to you. We have learned this last month how to be a better mommy and daddy....after your sweet little friend, Cora, went to be with Jesus, we were reminded that you belong to God. And we are thankful he has entrusted us to raise you. We pray that you will grow to know him, love him and serve him. We love you Mason! Happy FIRST Birthday!