lovers day with my little lovey

 



 

we are a day late in posting this, but better late than never, right?

 

i love this little valentine of mine, and can't believe this is B's second valentine's day. he loved opening his valentines from his Honey and Mamma Donna and Papa Dick. he also loved eating chocolate hearts and reading his new book from his Grandma and Grandpa GG about 17 times.

 

he also rocked a pink polo yesterday. i was kinda excited when i bought it for him. perfect for valentine's day and perfect for spring. win/win. i thought it looked really cute on him, but a random man at the store thought B was a girl...and i'm positive it's because of the shirt. here's the story: B and i were doing some last minute valentine gift shopping for the mister. we were perusing through the ties, trying to pick out the perfect one. there was a man close by, doing the same, and holding a sparkly pink pair of converse sneakers (for his daughter i'm guessing). anyway, after making some faces at B and telling me how cute he is, the man came up to B, put the shoes right in front of him, and said,

 

"someday you'll be able to wear sparkly pink shoes just like these!"  

 

i didn't have the guts to say anything to him. i just turned my cart around and walked away, and muttered under my breath, "you are NOT a girl."

 

{i'm keeping the shirt, by the way.}

 

it's safe to say we have lots of love for this little bug. he lights up our life, and keeps us on our toes. he really is the love of our life.  

 

yesterday also marked B's 13 month birthday. hah. i don't know how long to keep these monthly posts going. do they stop at a year? probably not. he just keeps doing so many new things, so i want to keep it all documented, sooo, the posts will continue.

 

at 13 months, Bridger:

-walks, runs, trips, and still crawls occasionally

-blows kisses

-kisses everything (including stuffed animals and the screen when we FaceTime people) but will not kiss me. Boo. we are working on it.

-loves books more and more. he is completely calmed and soothed whenever a book is opened. he loves turning the pages, and points to all the characters and animals on the pages.

-knows where his nose is. we say, "where's your nose?" and B scrunches up his nose, and blows in and out. it's pretty adorable.

-loves to help unload the dishwasher with mom, and load laundry into the washer and dryer

-loves bananas, spaghetti, apples, carrots, celery, goldfish crackers, pretzels, pb&j sandwhiches, quesadillas, avocado, and of course Dove chocolate. hah!

-loves to be outside, it doesn't matter how freezing cold it is, he wants to be outside all.the.time.

-likes the park, going down the slide and swinging

-waves bye-bye

-blows kisses to people (and actually makes the smacking sound as his hand leaves his mouth!)

-likes to have his teeth brushed

-likes to push things: laundry baskets, tuperware, cars, books, his stroller, grocery carts, anything really!

-runs away when he knows he's about to get in trouble. it's pretty funny, actually!

-found his belly button! he pokes at it when he's in the shower or the bath.

-loves stuffed animals

-loves the cat, and the cat food still. so gross. i'm constantly catching him with cat food in his mouth, chomping away.

-loves playing with his toys. it's the first thing he goes for in the morning. he pulls the whole basket off the shelf, and plays and plays and plays....as long as someone is in the room to watch him...he doesn't like being left alone AT.ALL.

-is becoming such a little cheeser. he puts his ear on his shoulder, and does the cheesiest little smile.

 

 

he's done so much in the past month since his birthday, and we are excited to see what this next month brings. this baby is surprising and amazing us just about every day!

birthday festivities

oh geez. 27. 27
i think i am officially in my late 20's and that's freaking me out just a tad.
26 could have just gone on repeat over and over and I would have been pretty happy.

butttt, here i am. one more year down, and closer to 30. yikes!

we had a great weekend, celebrating and partying with the family.
since my bday was on sunday, we decided to do most of the celebrating on saturday.
we went to breakfast at my favorite, Snooze, and i had delicious pineapple upside down pancakes...annnnd Bridger made it through the entire breakfast without crying OR climing up on the table. This was big, you guys.

after breakfast, we came home, B took his naps, and then we headed out to go bowling, which was a blast, although i played pretty miserably (like, bumpers probably should have been used). afterward, we went to dinner to Rubios.
that's actually steve's favorite place to eat, but i was really craving it. plus, i had a free meal. Bingo!
after dinner with everyone, steve and i did a little shopping, and then headed over to chili's to get their molten lava chocolate cake. it was delicious, and i just so happened to sneakily mention that it was my bday, and they gave us our dessert for free, too. double Bingo!
we like getting free food, when we can.

sunday was my actual birthday, and it was equally as great! minus the fact that i had to share it with the Super Bowl. just kidding, i didn't mind.
we spent the day with dad's side of the family for baby wendy's blessing and a luncheon afterward.
we came home in time for the kickoff and then we made j-dawgs and shrimp dip for dinner.
and strawberry shortcake for dessert.
(and breakfast the next morning. shhh.)

monday, the festivities continued, much to my surprise!
steve surprised me, for one of my gifts, with tickets to the Avs game on monday night.
i hadn't been to a game in years, and it did not disappoint! we had great seats, and had a ton of fun.
he even picked out a cute Avs shirt for me to wear, which means we'll be going to many more games in the future. which makes me happy because 1) i really like hocky games and 2) sporting events is the only place that i ever get dippin' dots.

it was a memorable weekend spent with lots of family, my baby, and my man. it was pretty perfect!

wake up call

 

The night before my birthday, we were woken up by a crying baby around midnight.

This same thing happened one week before. Non-stop, hard, loud crying for 20 minutes until the medicine kicked in. Poor baby has been teething, and it's been pretty rough on him.

 

For a split second, I was upset, because waking up in the middle of the night is not anything I've had to do since he was a tiny little thing. He has always been a great sleeper.

Those upset feelings quickly went away as I scooped up my boy, and held him tight.

I am the luckiest! I get to be Bridger's mom. I get to be the one he cries for at night. I get to be the one that soothes him back to sleep. I get to be the one that snuggles with him until he feels better. I get to be the one that loves him the very most.

 

This was a sweet reminder, the night before my birthday, that I have everything I could ever want. (well, except maybe our own home--hah!)

I have my own sweet, little family.

Bridger has a dad that is the funnest playmate :)

I have the most kind and loving husband that always seems to think of the little things...because he knows that's what I notice the most.

And together, we have Bridger. The sweetest baby boy that reminds us constantly, even in the middle of the night, just how lucky we are to have him.

 

So, here's to my 27th year, and many, many more sleepless nights of snuggles and loves.

walking

we have a walking boy on our hands! he actually took his very first (tiny as they might have been) steps a few days before his birthday, but now, he is doing so much better!

today at church, he was getting all kinds of attention (and applause) for his new little trick...and loving every second of it, as he clapped for himself, too. he is pretty proud of himself!

he can't just stand up and walk quite yet, but i'm sure within just a little bit, he will be keeping up with all the other kids...which means he will be that much closer to going into nursery! yay! for now, he walks from chair to sofa to mom to dad, back to the chair, back to the sofa, back to mom, and back to dad. we think it's just about the most amazing thing any baby has ever done. ever.

need proof? well here's pictures to prove it.

and yes, no pants is normal in our house.
besides, they distract from his awesome new superman shirt :)

the party

{picture overload...proceed at your own risk}

Our Bridger boy sure is loved! 

We had the best time celebrating his party with all of our Colorado family. Bridger loves playing with any little kid, so he would have just been fine with some cousins and a cupcake to celebrate. But...of course that wasn't enough for me, so I did a few little things to make it special. 

He wasn't so sure about his birthday cake. I was totally expecting him to dive right in and be a huge frosted mess, and then I would get to hose him off in the sink, and we would get all these cute bath pictures. Not so much. Maybe he wasn't so into it, because treats and sugar aren't such a foreign thing to him. Truth is, I think he probably had a cookie before the guests arrived. Anyway, the little stinker poked around at the cake for a bit, took a few little nibbles here and there, and other than that, he pretty much just smeared the cake all over his tray.

It's probably for the best anyway. Especially since B's pediatrician said that treats are ok, but I should probably limit them to about 1-2 per month. per month?? Ok seriously. Let's get real.

Steve made Bridger the best present. He made him his very own barn. When I turned one, my mom and dad gave me a little playhouse that my mom had made out of a big screen tv box. It had a door the opened and closed, and shutters, and shingles on the roof. It was pretty dang cute. We played in that little house for years. It was one of the best gifts! Steve and I had a big box saved from a piece of furniture, and I wanted Steve to make something similar to my little playhouse that I had as a kid...except a little less girly (did I mention my playhouse had curtains in the windows? Ya. That definitely wouldn't fly with a boy). A barn was the perfect alternative. Well, Steve seriously whipped this thing together in about two nights. He worked late into the evening so that it would be ready for his party. 

It's safe to say that the barn was Bridger's favorite present. He loves it. It's kind of his happy place. It totally soothes him when he gets fussy. "Just take him to the barn" is a phrase we've come to know well. Steve will just hang out in there with him, and play peekaboo through the windows and door. Bridger gets a kick out of it...and so do I actually. It's a total flashback from when my sisters and I used to play in my little house. 

So grateful I have a husband that not only knows how to build a real house, but a cardboard one, too. 

Bridger wasn't so sure about the whole party thing, and everything being about him. He was a trooper though! To be honest, I think his favorite part of the night was taking a bubble bath with all his awesome new bath toys (thanks Brookie!) But, we sure are grateful to have such awesome family around that came to love on our little boy with us. We are lucky to have so many fun family members to help celebrate. 

Thank you for everyone that came! It wouldn't have been a party without you! 

one

our boy is one. ONE.

one year old.

 

I can hardly believe we are already here. One year later, and we have a boy that is completely different than the tiny little nugget I remember delivering one year ago today.

 

We have had an eventful (in some ways) weekend. My dad flew to Vietnam on Saturday morning, so we decided to have a party a couple days early for the little fella so that the Big Fella could be there, too. All the family came to help celebrate, and we had a blast! We had cafe rio and chocolate/peanut butter cupcakes for dessert. Bridger, of course, had his own little cake that was probably 30% cake and 70% frosting. Surprisingly, he didn't dig into it as much as I thought he would. He smeared it around on the tray, dug his hands into it a few times, and took a few little licks, but that was about it. I was looking forward to stripping the boy down and hosing off the blue frosting in the sink, but that just wasn't the case for this little party animal. He was content just poking around at it for a few minutes, and then he wanted to get down and play with the kids. Of course. He LOVES kids.

 

Maybe if each of the kids had their own blue birthday cake, Bridger would have been more into it. He's kinda a copycat like that.

 

He got spoiled rotten with gifts. He got a cool pirate ship that he loves to dance to, LOTS of fun bath toys, a bag of 100 balls, legos (which may or may not have been our gift to him from Christmas, that we decided to re-wrap because the kid got OVERLOADED with presents on Christmas), a ring stacker thingy, lots of books, clothes, new jammies, a new swim suit, and a little rocking/rolling puppy. Whew! I am going to have to seriously start rotating toys. It's a mad house with legos, balls, pirates, and books EVERYWHERE. Not to mention the tupperware that Bridger still pulls out all over the kitchen, because he's what, bored by all his new toys? I don't get it. Oh well. I kinda love that he is into everything. He's so inquisitve and curious, and I think it's pretty adorable.

 

But, who knows, maybe I will re-re-wrap those Legos for another day...just to keep the chaos a little under control.

 

At ONE YEAR OLD, Bridger:

-TAKES STEPS! He started just a few days before his birthday. It's adorable. He's taken about 4 or 5 at the most, but he's totally doing it!

-says "dadda" and "mama" 

-carries all kinds of things around in his mouth, like a puppy

-eats cat food for fun (Believe me, I try and stop him, but everytime I look the other way, he ends up booking it down the hall to the cat food. It's disgusting, I know. I'm praying it's a phase.)

-gets into everything

-has become a much better eater! He likes just about everything, especially greek yogurt, grapes, spaghetti squash, crackers, cereal with milk, craisins, and chocolate milk.

-still takes 2 naps a day

-still can't totally figure out how to go down the stairs, but going up, he's a champ

-dances everytime music comes on. It doesn't matter what kind of music--if it has any kind of beat, this boy dances. Waves his hands in the air, bounces up and down, sways back and forth, and even sometimes tries to sing along to the music. It's so great.

-likes to chase the cat

-gets so excited when he sees me or Steve (which of course, I love)

-talks all.the.time

-has 4 teeth and one poking through!

 

Bridger is the happiest boy, and has an infectious personality. We love him! He has made our life so much fun. We are grateful to have this little muchkin part of our family.

eleven months

We are one month away from having a 1-year-old.

That's 4 1/2 weeks.
31 days.
1 panicked Mom.
And a partridge in a pear tree.

These 11 months have been some of the happiest and hardest months of my life. The happy certainly outweighs the hard though. This boy of ours has made life so sweet, and we can't imagine what our life would be like without him. Actually, I can imagine what it would be like: BORING.

Bridger is always on the move. Constantly on the move. And now he's starting to get into just about everything. Sticking his fat little fingers into every little hole he can find (except his nose, thank goodness), pulling tupperware out of drawers, turning toilet paper into confetti, discovering the spice cabinet, and popping the little outlet guards out of the outlets. Since he's a baby on the go, I rarely never get to snuggle with him anymore. He would much rather be chasing after the cat, or pounding on Big Fella's office door, trying to get some attention. A tiny little miracle happened just yesterday, though. I was feeding him his morning bottle (which doesn't count for snuggling), and after he was finished, he just curled up in my arms, and fell right asleep. I had a to-do list about a mile long yesterday, but it was quickly put aside so that I could soak up these much needed moments with my boy as he slept. It was pure heaven.

Christmas prep and festivities are well under way at our house, and Bridger is LOVING it! We have been going to holiday parties, crafting up a storm, wrapping presents, decorating, eating, watching Christmas movies, making fudge, listening to holiday tunes, shopping, and loving this time of year.

The holidays are so much more fun with a little one!

Bridger's Holiday Top 10:
1. Fudge
2. Going outside to look at the sparkly lights on all the houses
3. The presents under the tree
4. Wrapping paper
5. Ribbon
6. The fireplace
7. Chocolate milk (which probably means he would love hot cocoa)
8. His Christmas jammies (which are constantly being washed so he can wear them just about every night)
9. Christmas cookies
10. Santa!

At eleven months, our little Bridger:
-is becoming a little bit picky with his food (grrrr!) We feed him just about everything, and anything we are eating, he will put in his mouth, but texture is a killer right now, and determines whether or not he's going to keep the food in his mouth. He also will chew up apples and store all the little pieces in his mouth, until he decides he doesn't want it anymore, and then whatever he didn't swallow, comes pouring out of his mouth in tiny little slobbery pieces. (grrrrrr again!)
-loves clementines. He will chew on them forever! He even likes to bite into them when the peel is still on, and suck the juice out that way :)
-plays so great with kids! He LOVES when little kids are around, and likes to get right in the action and play.
-goes up and down the stairs like a champ!
-says "Dada Dada" but unfortunately for me, not "Mama" (we are working on it though)
-loves being outside...even if it's freezing
-likes to climb up and over and under just about everything
-takes 2 naps still, goes to bed around 8:30 and wakes up between 7 and 8
-waves bye-bye
-fakes laughs and coughs ALL.THE.TIME.
-screams when he needs something (the upside to that is he doesn't cry much at all)
-gets into everything these days
-has 4 teeth (2 on top, 2 on bottom)
-loves to drink out of a straw (especially if there is smoothie coming out)
-starting to throw little temper tantrums (uh oh)
-walks along furniture and is starting to stand for a few seconds without help
-loves books
-loves his toy cars
-loves being sung to
-loves glasses and hats (especially Big Fella's)
-loves to play, but doesn't play super well by himself. He LOVES being around people...which is just fine because we love being around him :)

Can hardly believe how lucky Steve and I are to be parents. We love this little boy so much and are so grateful to our Heavenly Father for sending him here to be in our family. 

Let the countdown begin...31 days until my baby is ONE.