Thursday, May 19, 2011

Micah Goes to the Zoo

A couple weekends ago the weather was just gorgeous so we decided to take Micah to the zoo. We called our good friends, Vic and Mina, to see if they wanted to meet us there. After church, Vic, Mina, Isaac, Ian, Brad, Micah, and I all spent the day at Brookfield Zoo. Technically, this wasn't Micah's first trip to the zoo, but it was the first time we walked around the zoo and looked at the animals. Brad wore him in the Ergo the whole day and Micah loved it! I think he was more interested in watching the other people, but that's okay. I can't wait for the day when he gets excited to go to the zoo and can't wait to see his favorite animal.


He was so good, but the zoo really wore him out so Daddy shielded him from the cold/noise and he was OUT.


Waiting for the dolphin show to start. I think he was more interested in the water than the dolphins.


He loved being worn in the Ergo.




The boys: Brad, Micah, Isaac, Ian, and Victor.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Cake Cookies

This is one of my favorite cookie recipes. I first tried them when I was student teaching in New Mexico. Now, I make them all the time and everyone who's ever tried them loves them. They taste just like the Lofthouse cookies. The recipe can be found on the side of the Pilsbury Funfetti Cake Mix box, but I use them for any type of cake mix. Today I made them with a white cake mix. Yum! Enjoy!

Pilsbury Cake Cookies

1 Cake Mix of your choice
2 eggs
1/3 c. oil

Mix together. Drop rounded teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. To make them extra tasty frost with your favorite frosting and add sprinkles!



The group I student taught in New Mexico with.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Reflecting on Mother's Day



My mom always jokes that I've wanted to be a mom since I was 2 years old. She might actually be telling the truth. I was always the little girl playing with dolls or Barbies or playing "house." It's not that I was a girly-girl, it's that I wanted to be the mom. I can't ever remember wanting to be something else. Even when I was thinking about a "career" it always had something to do with kids (pediatrician, preschool teacher, daycare worker, etc.). October 31, 2011 that dream came true. It was one of the happiest days of my life. Today is Mother's Day. My first. And I'm so excited to be able to celebrate this day along with so many other beautiful women across this nation. But today wouldn't be possible for me if it wasn't for my wonderful son, Micah. So, in honor of Mother's Day I want to write him a letter.

Micah, you are my world. Before you I didn't know what I was missing. I didn't know that there was a part of me that was created just to love you. You made me come alive in a way that I'd never known before. When I held you for the first time all I could think about was how much I love you and how I will do anything for you.

You are the sweetest little man. You have such an easy-going personality. You're constantly smiling at everybody, even when you're so tired. You're so independent, but you still need me. You can play by yourself for quite a while, but if I want to hold you and snuggle you don't mind. I love our snuggle time before you go to sleep. I hold you close and sing "Jesus Loves Me." You snuggle your head into my chest and just sit there, listening. You love music. Doesn't matter what kind, and it's even better if Mommy or Daddy are making fools out of themselves and dancing to the music. You also love to be outside. Going for walks is one of your favorite things, it's something we do almost every day. I love experiencing God's nature through your eyes. We try to point out the change in seasons to you and it just makes me so much more aware of this wonderful creation God has given us. Our days are full together. We have so much fun playing and singing, but my favorite is at night when you're asleep. When I walk into your bedroom to check on you, it's like everything else fades away. All the stress from the day is gone because there you are, so beautiful and peaceful. A reminder of the grace that God has shown me. Micah, without you I would not be a mom, my most treasured dream. Thank you for lighting up my life and filling my heart to overflowing. I love you so much.

Love,
Mommy

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Micah's First Easter

I know I'm a little late with this Easter post, but Micah was just so stinkin' cute in his Easter outfit that I had to post. Brad's Mom offered to buy Micah's Easter outfit. When Brad and his brothers were younger, his dad's mom always bought their Easter outfits and Pat thought that was so nice so she wanted to continue the tradition. We got this adorable outfit from Gymboree. Who says there aren't cute clothes for boys (not me anymore!)?



Easter was a very busy weekend for us. Brad had to work Saturday and Sunday morning until 3:00. I already posted about "The Great Diaper Change" that Micah and I participated in Saturday morning. After Brad got home from work on Saturday we headed over to his mom's house for Easter dinner with his family. His brother, Kevin, and his girlfriend, Mindy, were there, as well as his brother, Craig, and his wife, Jamie, and Jamie's mom and brother (we missed Doug and Carrie, though!). It was a delicious dinner. Grammy also got Micah a little Easter present. I think he enjoyed the wrapping more than the present itself!



Sunday morning, Micah and I got ready and headed off to church. Easter has always been my favorite holiday. I love what it means: the resurrection of Christ. He is not in the grave anymore. He's alive. He conquered death and sin so that I could live with him in eternity! That is so awesome. I don't have to do anything to receive this life, just trust him. I could never pay for my sins, the debt is too great. But Jesus paid for me. How awesome is that? Sometimes I just can't get over it! And now that I have a child, I realize even more what an amazing gift it truly is. Because more than anything I want Micah to grow up to love the Lord and serve him with his whole heart. To me, Micah is perfect, but I know that the truth is he has already been tainted by sin. And, just like me, he cannot pay the debt for his sin. It's too costly. And I can't do it for him, either. But I don't have to because Jesus did. Hallelujah! I am so thankful for my Savior and that empty grave! And I love going to church on Easter morning and celebrating that. I love the music, the bright colors, everyone cheerfully wishing you a "Happy Easter." Everyone together saying, "He is risen. He is risen, indeed." I just love it. And I'm so glad that I get to share this amazing day with my son.

Anyway, after church, Micah and I went to my parents' house for dinner with my family. Brad met us there after work. Micah got to spend some time with his cousins, whom he loves (have I mentioned that he has one more cousin on the way...on Brad's side of the family? So excited for another boy!).




We were out late again, but it was worth spending time with our families two nights in a row. And overall, Micah didn't do too bad with bedtime.

Since Brad was working Easter morning, I waited to give Micah his Easter basket. I should mention here that his Easter basket is not from the Easter bunny. Mommy and Daddy filled it with wonderful things that we knew Micah needed, things like some new toys, a few books, and a new Baby Einsteins video. We want Micah to know what this day is about, not think that it's about some Easter bunny coming to bring him gifts. As he gets older and has a better understanding we will incorporate other traditions as well, such as decorating and hunting for eggs, and telling the resurrection story. We're not completely sure what that will look like, but we do know that we want the day to be a celebration of life, not of gifts and candy. Regardless, it was fun watching him go through his basket this year. He obviously had no idea what was going on, but as he loves to grab things it seemed as though he was excited about taking things out of his basket. It was so much fun to watch him. And now we love watching how excited he gets when he's playing with his new toys. It was time for some real toys and he loves them!





Overall, a wonderful Easter. A great celebration of Jesus and wonderful time spent with family. We really couldn't ask for anything more.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

April Dates

As I mentioned before, for our anniversary I made Brad a book of dates we could enjoy each month. One "staying in" date and one "going out" date. In April our "going out" date was Brad's choice. Being the ever-so original guy that he is, he chose dinner and a movie. Well, more accurately, lunch and a movie as we are cheap and we also still like to be the ones to put Micah to bed. So, we headed to Pizza Hut for lunch. We both love Pizza Hut wings and hadn't had them in a while. They were delicious, just as I remembered them! Then, we saw "Rio." That's right. "Rio." A kid's movie. No, it's not because we're obsessed with kids or because we were missing Micah so much that we thought it would help us not miss him. Since we don't watch TV we're really out of the loop as far as what movies are playing. We hadn't heard of any of the movies that were out and we got a lot of different recommendations. Not to mention, the online description of many of the movies just wasn't appealing. So we went with the safe bet: "Rio." Not a bad movie. Not their best, but I really enjoyed the upbeat music. After the movie, we had some time to kill so we headed to the creamery for some ice cream. One of our favorite things to do is get ice cream. And last year a Creamery opened here in town (it is literally right across the street from the apartment we used to live in...so glad we moved a little further away as there is no doubt we would have been there every night in the summer!) so it is one of our new favorite places to go for soft serve. All in all, a decent date.

Our "staying in" date was a Disney night. For our first anniversary, we went to DisneyWorld. It was my first time there every, and Brad's first time in years. We both loved it. I always ask Brad if we can go back. So, in order to help re-live that wonderful vacation we put on our Minnie and Mickey ears (bride and groom since we were celebrating our anniversary) and watched a Disney movie while looking through the scrapbook I started of our vacation. We chose to watch "The Princess Frog" since we had never seen it. I thought the movie was okay, but there were quite a few scary parts. Probably not a movie I would let my child see. We loved looking through the pictures of our trip and talking about when Micah will be old enough for us to take him. Of course, any time I get to talk about Disney I love it.