A Cowboy Birthday Party

Sutton enjoyed his birthday party this weekend. He will officially be one on Tuesday, but we wanted to have a party for friends and family so we decided to celebrate this weekend.

We decided on a cowboy theme. Luckily a couple of years ago my school did a western theme so I was able to borrow a lot of the decorations. It was a money and a time saver! I was also able to get a Wilton cowboy cake pan off of ebay. Thanks to my friend Jaime for spending over three hours of her Friday night helping me get it decorated. Now that I've decorated a cake like that, even though it was time consuming, I think I might try it again for Macalan's birthday.

Sutton was spoiled rotten with lots of fun toys. Macalan had fun helping open the presents and promptly taking them away from him. Someday Sutton will get his revenge! :)

He LOVED the cake. In fact he ate two pieces. He wasn't sure what to think about the ice cream, as you can tell from the picture.

As we were singing Happy Birthday (with Mac crying in the background, he HATES that song), I couldn't help but get a little teary eyed. The first year goes by so fast and this past year has been filled with so many special memories. Sutton was a little bit of a surprise to us, but has been such a blessing. I can't imagine life without him. I'm looking forward to many more years of birthday celebrations!

I will update later in the week with his one year stats.

A child fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty.

Big Woods Run

Yesterday my sister and I ran another 5K. We did the Big Woods Run in Faribault. I was a little nervous because I haven't had the chance to run a three mile distance since school started. I thought I would really struggle, especially since I had no idea what the route was like.

When we got to the church where it was being held at we found out we had to ride a bus to the starting point for the 5K. The guy driving the bus didn't even know where he was taking us! People who had done the run before had to tell him where to go. When the race finally started most of us couldn't start running because there was a huge bottleneck of people trying to get on the path that led into the woods.

Right away I could tell it was going to be a tough run. The path through the woods was covered with leaves making it hard to see the tree roots sticking up out of the ground. Lots of people wiped out around me. Thankfully neither my sister nor I fell! About half way through there was a steep hill to run down and then we immediately had to run back up a hill. I usually save hills for the end of my runs so I was a little tired, but managed to run the whole way! The last mile felt like it took forever! It was great to accomplish another run.

Afterward LIsa and I turned in our slips for a door prize. It turns out all the door prizes were either small fleece blankets or a jar of homemade jelly. The jellies were all made by the ladies from the church that was hosting the event. We joked that only in middle America would you get a jar of jelly after finishing a race:)

Hopefully we can do it again next year!

Fall Photo Shoot

I was so happy I was able to get some really great pictures of the boys today! When Kyle got home from the ISU game we headed to a farm that belongs to the parents of one of my co-workers. They had lots of great old buildings that made the perfect backdrop for pictures. It wasn't easy, but thankfully I had lots of help to make the boys laugh and have fun.

After looking at these pictures it makes me really want to jump into photography, but I can't do that until grad school is done. One thing at a time. I can't wait to get these ordered!

Memories

Since I found out I was pregnant with Macalan I have been keeping a journal of what pregnancy was like, the birth experience, and any milestones he has reached or funny things he has done. I have been doing the same for Sutton. Last night I was looking through Macalan's journal and so many memories came flooding back. It's amazing how quickly you forget some of the things your kids do.

One particular entry had to do with the words Macalan was learning to say. The date at the top was from last August when he was about 16 months. He was saying words like bubble, water, and cracker. I also made some comments about him being nuk free for several days!

Now he speaks in very clear sentences and uses words like delicious. In fact people often comment on how well he talks. It's crazy how fast things change. There are days when Kyle and I wish he couldn't say so many things. :)

I thought I would include a picture of him from the summer of 2009, but I don't have any on my computer so I posted one from his first birthday pictures. He looks so different now!

Tailgating

Last weekend the weather finally cooperated and we were able to enjoy some ISU tailgating, not to mention an awesome 52 to 38 win! Macalan was practicing his bar backing skills. For some reason he thought it was great to fill cups with ice from the coolers. Hey...whatever keeps him from having a red-headed temper tantrum, which did occur while we were there! Sutton loved being cuddled by Aunt Penny, Grandma, AND Mommy. It was a great weekend!

I'm looking forward to hanging out at home this weekend. Kyle is heading to Ames without us. I just can't stand the thought of packing up the boys' stuff for a third weekend in a row. It will be nice to just be home and relax and hopefully get some of Sutton's birthday pictures taken.