Andrew's First Birthday

I can't believe my baby boy turned one!  The time has really flown the past 6 months.  I really can't call him my baby boy anymore... he is definitely a toddler!    He walks everywhere!  He first started taking a few steps at 10-11 months but started "really walking" (20 steps or more in a row) in Utah a month ago and now he is really going places & he is getting faster!  Video as promised...

Andrew has really progressed and learned so much in the past month!  He can say Uh-Oh, Ah-Choo, Puppy, Bear (Be), Bottle (Baba), More (in sign), & ball.  He understands alot more words and understands what to do when we give commands.  He gives kisses and loves to dance to music!  He loves to read books with us and turn pages!  He gets so excited every time he sees or hears a dog!  He loves to pick up, throw, and kick balls (true boy) but also loves hugging his teddy bear and his stuffed puppy! He loves bath time (which is basically naked playtime to him)!  He only takes one belated morning nap a day now (so sad to see the second nap go).  He is an early riser, but goes to bed early & sleeps all night long... so that is nice for us!  I just love this little boy.  He is a very sweet part of my life.
I went up to Swan Valley a few days this week to help out at CMM.  I am grateful for the help I got so that I could help out at such an amazing place.  I was there most of the day and didn't get to see my boy only for a few hours in the morning.  It was really hard I don't know how all those working moms do it!  I truly missed being home with him.  I came home each night with a greater appreciation for being able to stay at home with my sweet boy..  I love being his mommy and really feel like I am living my dream.  Thank you Andrew, for making my life better I can't wait for the next year!

About a week ago, we went and took his birthday pictures.

All he wanted to do was this:

Notice those cute shoes GG gave him
for his b-day...he loves them!

We got some great pictures...

He loves this chair btw.

The balloons didn't last very long.  

I tied them to his arm after

 taking these pictures and Houdini

 got them off, with this as a result:

Good-bye balloons

But that is okay... we got some other cute ones.

For Andrew's birthday we mostly stayed at home and made cupcakes.  We made fun plans at the Zoo for the next day.  We went out after his nap (which was a really good one btw) to visit Jorgene, my old piano teacher.  She really is so much more than just a teacher to me, she is one of my greatest friends.  We had a wonderful visit & I'm so glad I was able to see her again before we leave.... but also more sad than ever to go because we had such a good time.  She is a wonderful women.
We came home and hurried to decorate & frost cupcakes.  We had our family favorite for dinner... Pizza Hut (pan style crust).  Then it was time to have cake!

MMMmmm...

 Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Boy!  We love you!
Your personality and smile brighten each day!

Science in our Chimney

A couple years ago we had an issue with flies.  We cleaned up really good and thought we were rid of them.  We didn't get them last year but this spring they came back with a vengeance.  After looking at the situation and doing some thinking I told Briant that I thought they we coming from the chimney.

You see when we bought our house there was no wood stove but there was a chimney.  The people who owned before us must have taken out the stove because I'm guessing the chimney had issues and was not up to code.  I am guessing that they didn't close off both ends of the chimney when they took out the stove.  This doesn't make any sense if you ask me.

Earlier this spring we heard "noises" in that area of our house that sounded like wings moving across the walls (I thought it might have been a bird)... but it went away after a week or so.  I didn't think anymore about it until this issue.

My suspicions were confirmed when I drove into the garage one day and saw a ton of flies in the garage.  Then everything came together.  The chimney was the only thing connecting the basement to the garage and the flies were coming out the chimney through that little trap door.  Plus I could see the flies pupae  (they look like cocoon pod things) in our house by where the stove used to be close to the wall.

So we called a chimney cleaner to help clean our chimney hoping to clean out the eggs they were laying and get rid of our problem.  Well, the guy took one look in that little trap door and shut it and said, "YUCK, guano."  I didn't know what that was.  Well my friends, it is bat poop.  That's right we had a bat and he was hanging out right next to that door.  The guy took a picture with my phone.... I didn't want to get anywhere close!

I guess that "wing on the wall" sound we had heard earlier was a nice little bat making a home.  You can see the rag the bat put in there that's ripped up (obviously not from human hands).  The flies then feed on their guano and lay their eggs there because it makes a perfect meal and habitat for them.  This was all very interesting to me and it felt like a nice hands on environmental science lesson to me.  So many things I never knew.  Bats and flies living in harmony.
He wasn't really sure how many bats there really were.  Bats live in colonies so there could be more than one.   There were a couple options to get them out.  We could bomb them and kill them, or we could try to nicely coax them out with a chimney brush.  Well bats are good for the environment so I chose the latter.

I video taped the whole thing from the car.  I never actually saw the bat leave. The guy said he thinks there was only one.  But when the guy was done the bat was no longer there.  I hope he is happy somewhere else and am glad he isn't in my chimney.  The nice guy vacuumed out all the guano and taped off the top of the chimney.

I can say happily that our home has returned to a normal state :)  No more annoying flies!  What an adventure.  End of science report.

May Mobile Moments

Wow!  Is May over all ready?  Here is what we've been up to the last month...

Hey!  Aren't you supposed to be asleep?

Loves looking out the window

He loves Cheerios... can't you tell?

They're all gone!

I'm always amazed at what he is fascinated with!

"Let's see... I'll have some of this &..."

Shopping at Old Navy... he's a good sport.

Andrew's first band-aid.

He tried to eat it that night!

Push up pops with dad.

Trying egg yokes

Second Chance Prom... 

A much needed night away and

a night worth remembering forever!

The Dress I borrowed.

This isn't a mobile picture but I thought I'd add

it in while I was on the subject of SCP.

Briant surprised me with something I've always 

wanted to do.  I never went to my prom,

but I'm sure this night was way better

than my high school prom ever could have been.  Why? 

Because I was with the love of my life!

We danced the night away

and had a fun time just being ourselves on

the dance floor, just like when we were dating!

French Braiding

Getting good at stairs!

Can you tell this monkey likes bananas?

Love this book

I took a picture to remember this moment.

My baby in my arms, love for him in the air.

Sweet little features I never want to forget.

His sweet scent that melts my heart.

A good day at the farmers market!

Hanging basket for my mom... half what I pay

at the greenhouse.

My running buddy

Just kicking it (look at his foot) on our run.

Our finished project.

Helping daddy vacuum

First shaved ice of the year.

It was worth letting go of my no sugar 

point for the day.  Tiger's Blood & Cream!

Can I help clean, Mom?

A froggy in his pond

On our way to Utah.  He loves this toy.

You saw all the Utah mobile pictures in the last post,

but this one was too cute not to post again.

Go, Anna, go!

I laugh everytime... 

Packing away all the burp clothes...

Bitter sweet.

Ash's ballet recital.  So cute!  Good job kiddo!

Loves to watch Baby Einstein from You Tube.

New glasses!

Andrew and Chelsea... 9 months apart.

My new niece Lyvi.  She is so precious!

I forgot they come this tiny!

Andrew loved playing with Esau... in fact, he 

loves playing with any dog.  He just giggles every

time he sees or hears one!

Giddy-Up

What's this for?

We are in trouble.  Got to watch close while

we do the dishes now.

Look close

Mama duck and her ducklings.

My beautiful Iris'

Helping me change the water outside!

Loving my new bag.  I had a lady from the 

farmers market make it for me.  Just the way I like it!