Before there was Henry...



Andrew and I had our first night away from Henry this past weekend.  It was difficult for me to be away, but it was so nice being with my husband again, just the two of us.  I have been so focused on Henry that I have neglected the man that made this fairy tale come true.  So, these are just a few of the many reasons I love my husband.

 

He...

gave me the most amazing, fairy tale day of my life when he married me.

He...

dances with me.

He...

makes every anniversary special. 



 He...

sits in the very top row of Intrust Bank Arena so that I can see Carrie Underwood (at least I think it was her).

 He...

enjoys kids as much as I do, especially when he gets to play.

 He...

makes me laugh.

He...

takes me to the middle of nowhere and lets me sit in the hot sun while he flies his glider around then I get to chase him through farm fields.  Wait, that's a good reason to love me. 

He gives me adventures I never thought I would have!

 He...

always has the answer and if he doesn't he won't give up until he finds the answer.

 He...

is a pilot, which makes him that much sexier.



 He...

flew me to Hot Springs, AR to see my grandma, just because.



 He...

stays active so that he will be around for a loooong time.

 He...

loves my family because I love my family.

 

These are just a few reasons I love this man so much.  Can he be irritating? Of course.  What man can't? But he has taught me how to communicate, how to trust and, without fail, shows me an unconditional love that I have never known.  I hope that you are as lucky as I am to have found the one person that is truly your happily ever after.

Tommies

 This past Saturday, March 16th, I decided to get some friends together to hang out at our house.  These are friends from all different areas and times of my life, but we all have one thing in common, we are teachers and mommies (Tommies).

The kids were very close in age.  Below we have Josef, who is two, with his mom Erika.  My first teaching job, eight years ago, at Black Traditional Magnet, I taught with Erika and we have been friends ever since.  Josef definitely had a challenge with being the oldest kid, but he did great and he needs the practice, Erika is due in May!!

This picture cracks me up because Henry and Josef are fighting over one little corner of this toy.  Josef is telling Henry that it is his corner and Henry could care less.  I would like to think that Henry is young enough that he didn't know what was going on, but he is pretty ornery and has probably learned to defend his toys because of Charlie (our dog).  I wonder if it will still crack me up in two years?

Molly, who is one, is the daughter of Jill who I met through a Sunday evening small group.  Jill was the only middle school teacher in the group, but we let her come anyway and I'm so glad we did!!  As you can see below, Molly is ready to cheer for her K-State Wildcats!

William is showing off his adorable toothy grin with his mom, Stephanie.  Stephanie and I taught 3rd grade together at Allen Elementary and have continued to stay in touch even after a I moved to Caldwell.  William will be one in less than a week.  Yea!!

Will tried to escape, but those sneaky moms gated off the stairs.  He looks like a happy little captive.

Cooper was our youngest little attendee, at 8 months.  She is hanging out with her mom, Beth, who I met at the birthing class Andrew and I attended.  It was a fun class and we really enjoyed getting to know another couple in the class.  We should have had six weeks of class with everyone, but Henry was born the day before our last class.  You might say Andrew and I are procrastinators, oops!

Cooper really enjoyed the Jumperoo and Beth found a new toy that will allow her to get more things done around the house.  A win-win situation for everyone!

I love this little face.  I'm pretty sure he is saying, "I can't play anymore, please put me down for my nap."  Henry was such a trooper.  He didn't get a morning nap, so he was awake from 7:30am until 1:30pm.  Luckily, everyone else needed a nap too.  They played hard and hopefully everyone slept hard!

I had such a great time getting everyone together.  I can't wait to do it again!

9 months old

This is a little late, but as you hopefully saw on Facebook, Henry is crawling!! If you are a parent you know that my time of putting him on the floor and blogging next to him is OVER.  I love that he is exploring and learning what he can and cannot do, but a crawling kid is definitely a game changer.  

The ninth month has been a lot of fun.  We started this month in Hawaii, but if you want to see those adventures check out my previous blogs. 

I love this picture below because it is his "go to" face when he wants you to laugh.  When he first started doing this face he would make everyone laugh, so of course, all the positive reinforcement means we see this one a lot.  I still laugh, every time. 

Not only is he crawling, but the little stinker is pulling up on everything.  He would rather be standing than in any other position.  Most of the time he is already standing in his crib when I go in to get him.  There have already been several bumps and bruises, but for the most part he is a tough kid and just keeps going.

We had a wonderful family Valentine's Day.  Andrew and I have never done a lot for Valentine's Day and this year was no exception.  But it was still the best one ever because I had two Valentines this year.  Henry is so happy when Daddy gets home.  I love watching them together!

Henry met Will, who is the son of Molli and Kyle Slade.  I grew up in church with Molli, I'm pretty sure we've known each other since 3rd grade.  It's amazing how our life paths have paralleled and I am so excited that we get to be Moms together!!  Unfortunately, they live in Kansas City, but I'm sure Henry and Will are going to be long distance best buds!

So exciting!! Henry graduated to the big bathtub.  He loves taking a bath! But what is a bath without some rubber duckies? Yes, we even sing the Sesame Street song, what I remember of it anyway.  This big, blow up duck is in our bathtub so that Henry wasn't overwhelmed by going from the sink to a much larger space, thank you Tobias' for the awesome gift!

Hopefully you saw the pictures of his first snow.  With the two back to back snow storms that went through we with ended up with about 20 inches.  So many firsts this month.

I can't imagine what the next month will bring, but my happy, healthy baby brings more joy to my life than I ever thought possible.  Every day is something new and it just keeps getting better!