Reid's First Birthday

We had such a fun weekend celebrating Reid's very first birthday. Friday I brought home jungle Crave Cupcakes for Reid. We had a pizza party and then had cake via Skype with grandma Cleo. Reid got to open his presents from his grandparents and his auntie Kerri and us.

Getting ready to blow out the candles

First cupcake

Crave cupcakes

Saturday morning Ty, Stacey, Dale, Kristin and baby Mackenzie came over early, before the party. We got to hang out for a bit, and then all Reid's friends started to arrive. It was so much fun. Lots of friends, lots of laughs. Everyone had a great time.

Cake I made for Reid

Getting ready to blow out the candleHamming it up - as per usual Personalized M&M's for the birthday boy

My Little Boy is One!!

It's Reid's first birthday today!! I was so excited to hug and kiss him this morning. The little butt slept in till after 7, so I almost missed out on the opportunity. I was putting my make up on and I could quietly hear him saying "go" in his room. I was very happy to be able to kiss those sweet cheeks before I had to leave for work.

We've got a fun weekend planned full of lots of cake and friends! I still can't believe that I am the mother of a one year old. And such a special little guy too. He's getting much more chatty. Among his favorite sayings are "go away"(mostly to Franklin), "good boy", "good bye", and "hi". He's been really working on the G sounds lately. He's still walking like a champ and growing like a weed. His new measurements are 22.6 lbs and 30.25 inches!! Time to turn the car seat around and ride in the car like a big boy!

I'm very grateful this little guy came into our lives. He has definitely changed us completely! Watching him grow and learn is astonishing and I'd never trade it for the world. He amazes me everyday and I am so excited for all the years to come.

BitterSweet

Ahhh, February 14th. It's a very bittersweet day for me today. It's Valentine's day, which I'm not usually a "fan" of, but Christien's coming home today too, so it kind of makes it special. And it's Reid's first Valentine's day too. It's all about the love now! Christien being home tonite is another great thing. Not only is he going to be home for his two weeks, but he's going to be home till the end of April. He'll get to be here for mine and Reid's birthdays! Exciting. It's a beautiful day out. However, it's also my last day of maternity leave. How quickly a year goes... I'm exceptionally happy that Christien will be here to be with Reid for the next two weeks. Makes going back to work a bit easier, knowing that not only am I heading back into the workforce, but I don't have to deal with dropping Reid off at daycare too. Christien and Reid will have their two weeks together. Then I get a vacation day at the end of the month (ha ha) so that Christien can start school on the 28th, and I can watch Reid and get him ready for his first day of daycare on the 1st. So many transitions. On one hand, I'm very happy to be getting back to a normal routine. Waking up at the same time everyday, going to work, picking up the baby, having dinner and getting a work out in... It's great. But then I look at his sweet face and think how much I'll miss him.

I think that if I had a legitimate job to go back to things would be different. As it stands, I'm just heading back to another "no job, job" for the next few months. So basically I'm every one's gopher. Whoever gets to me first gets my time. I didn't like it before I went on mat leave, and I'm not going to like it now. At least before I went on leave I had something to look forward to. I'm not being a cynic, but it just really stinks when you are just left in the lurch by your company. A company I've worked for for the last 6 years. You'd think that they would have something better to offer me. I should not be surprised as I've seen them do this to countless other employees. Either way, that's my fate. For the next few weeks at least.

That's enough optimism for one day. Ha ha ha. I'm just counting down the hours till I get to see my husband now. And Reid's birthday party is this weekend, which is going to be so supremely exciting!! I cannot wait.

February Mergers...

There is all so much that's been happening in the last few weeks. We're planning Reid's birthday. We have company coming to stay with us. I'm starting the Happiness Project (more on this to come). Reid's turning 1 (did I mention that...)?

Christien will be back on Monday and I start back to work on Tuesday. It's nice that he's going to be here for the last little bit of February so that Reid doesn't have to be in daycare. I'm not worried about him being there all day, right now it's just about saving the money. Ha!! Reid's going to be a champ. He loves people, he's so social, I'm not concerned a bit. We can take him into his daycare for an hour or so before he starts and I'm just waiting till all the paperwork is complete before we bring him in there. So Christien is the one who will be hanging with him. He's going to be fine, and he's going to love it. So many new friends!!

For Reid's birthday we're going to have a little family get together on Friday night (his actual birthday). Saturday we're having our close friends and family over. I'm making a marvelous pulled pork for lunch. And making a fabulous monkey birthday cake. I also ordered some personalized M&M's for the party and they came back and are the best thing that I've ever seen. On Christien's "to do list" is to pick up balloons when he's off. Reid loves balloons. I can't wait for this birthday party. He's one. That's so special. I feel beyond blessed to have him in my life. He'll never remember this party, but that's ok. I'm going to remember it forever cause it's a milestone for me. Hopefully Amber and I can pick out a cute outfit for him tomorrow too.

I'm starting to feel very pressured all of a sudden. It's just cause so much is coming to and end and so much is starting up. When I go back to work our lives will have done more then a 360. It's still whirlwind. I'm very happy to have Christien back home with us for two months. At the same time we had to postpone a few things we were planning, and Christien has been doing this job for over a year. It's going to be strange to just have him here on a daily basis. It's all going to work out for the best and I can't wait. I love my little family.

Mexico 2011

Well, it's been awhile. We we have been back from Mexicoi for about a week now. Christien is back at work and I'm getting ready to head back to work byself. Mexico was great. We had a fabulous resort. Great food, great people. Great beach. So much to do. So much fun. Glad we decided to do one more big trip before I went back to work. Christien got accepted at SAIT for a February 28th start. We always knew that he'd be going to school to further himself in his trade but this seem to have come up rather quickly. We're both very excited for him to be in school and for him to be at home for two whole months.

Reid turns 1 on the 18th. We're going to have a little party for him and all our siblings will be here to help us celebrate!

Here's a few Mexico pictutes for y'all