Happy FIRST Birthday Blake!!!!

My Baby Blake, 

... can I still call you that?

You'll always be my baby ...

Happy Birthday to you!

You are one years old today.

How can that be?

I am reminiscing on the day you were born. It was an amazing day ... of course, there were the normal jitters but it was a planned birth ... and before we knew it, our family was forever changed.

What an incredible year it has been ... simply remarkable.

You are such a bright star - one of our greatest delights. You have the sweetest personality ... winner of the worlds BEST smile ... very good natured. You are so patient - especially with your sister who tends to yank the "best" toys out of your tiny hands ... they are, apparently, "Sophie's toys" and you are most welcome to play with them after she's done. Even with all the patience in the world, sometimes that reasoning doesn't fly.

Despite that, your sister STILL adores you and you STILL adore her. In the mornings, neither of you smile until you see each other. I love that. I hope that you will always have a special smile for each other.

You are so curious. It's good ... and bad. I've stopped you from the possibilities of electrocuting yourself by nearly sticking your fingers to investigate the electrical socket ... or the times I saved you from the (many, many, many) attempts to exit the house to explore the great outdoors. Somehow I think baby proofing is on the (very ... immediate) horizon.

You're babbing a lot lately. I swear you say, "Gung Gung", which is your grandpa ... but otherwise, you just babble away.

The past week, you've started to stand and cruise around, holding on firmly to the couch or any hard surface that you can reach. You love standing and reaching for toys or anything we've tried to "hide" from you. I've even caught you climbing Sophie's chair ... trying to take a peek out the window. Fortunately for me, you're not quite tall enough ... yet. Soon enough Blake, soon enough.

I pray that you will always have that 

sunny disposition and precious laugh ... forever and always.

May you always know how very much 

we LOVE you and are PROUD of you!

I love you Mr. B

Yours ... forever and always,

Mommy

Easter and Desmond's 3rd Birthday

This year, we spent part of our Easter celebrating 

our friend Desmond at his 3rd Birthday.

We went to church in the morning and then headed over to 

Desmond's house for a Birthday/Easter Party Extravaganza. 

We've known the Watson Family since it was just Brian and Suzanne 

and then excitedly waited for Brian and Suzanne to return from 

Rwanda with a little boy they named Desmond. And now, Desmond 

and Sophie are classmates at school, so it was so special to get 

to celebrate Desmond at his 3rd Birthday!

Desmond is obsessed with the movie, "Cars"

 Desmond's Car tattoo

 Sophie got some heart tattoos too! 

 Sweet Meredith!

 Lining up for the Easter Egg Hunt

 Sophie found some eggs ...

 Sophie searched for more eggs ...

 And then found some more ...

And then went back to hunting for eggs ...

 Sophie and her bestie Alexi

 Happy Birthday to you Des!

 Blowing out 3 candles ....

 

There was a cotton candy machine ...

Sophie might have been in heaven ...

really and truly ...

Sophie and Blake go to the Getty Villa

For weeks, possibly months, my mom has been talking to Sophie about the Getty 

and meeting "Pau Pau's Getty friends" ... so Sophie was definitely excited 

to go when my mom invited us to visit her over our Spring Break. 

And what happened was completely and totally unexpected 

but I suppose when you have a 10 month old and a 3 year old, 

nothing in life can really be expected.

It all started out so well. 

We arrived at about 12:30, a little before my mom's shift was done so we 

took our time, getting out of the car, making sure we had everything we 

needed and then finding my mom, who was in the Family Forum.

Pre-chaos 

Sophie was SO excited to see Pau Pau!

This is when chaos hit.

A few weeks ago, one of Sophie's classmates got sick in class, in the middle of the school day. 

Since then, whenever Sophie has gotten upset, even in the slightest, she'll make herself throw up. Sounds ridiculous right? It is ... and so frustrating.

So, back to the Family Forum. Shortly after we arrived, we saw my mom and as she excitedly ushered us to the Family Forum ... it happened. Sophie saw what can only be described as Aphrodite (which my mom has been teaching her about) flying, otherwise known as shadows against a wall, Sophie started slowly backing away ... in a panic. I heard her say, "I want to go home, I don't want to see Aphrodite flying" ... and then I knew what exactly was going to happen while still hoping against hope.

Oh and yes, it happened ... Sophie gagged until she threw up. Right in the middle of what is known as the Roman kitchen. I was mortified. But then what could I do? I handed Blake to my mom and rushed Sophie off to clean her up ... then back to the car to change her clothes and back try to salvage what had started out so well but had gone badly so quickly. 

And despite Sophie crying that she wanted to go home, all the way back from the car, she actually ended up having a great time in the end. Sophie greeted many of my mom's Getty friends and we had lunch in the cafeteria.

It was at the very least .... memorable.

Post-chaos ... 

Lunch with Pau Pau

My sweet little boy ..,

all dressed up for a special occasion!

Pau Pau with the Grandkids

Something about this photo just made me smile ...

The photo of the day ...