Night-Night, Lew-Lew!

So this is kind of blurry, but you'll get the picture... Today, Boston and I hung out with my dad and Rachel. My dad kept falling asleep on us, so we did a number of things, from tickling him with a feather duster, to throwing balls at him, etc. He kept waking up, and then falling back asleep. So we decided to try something that might just help him sleep a little better...

Night-night, Lewey!

Time For Cake!

After opening gifts, it was time to cut into the cake. The first to go was the Rice Krispie Mickey. All my nephews jumped in, calling an ear, a head, whatever they could claim! Then we cut into the cake. The top layer was a yummy vanilla cheesecake flavored cake with chocolate chips and buttercream frosting. The bottom was chocolate cake with chocolate chips and buttercream frosting. Both were equally delicious! And Boston loved them both as well.

Here's Boston trying to decide what to do with it. It was hard not having a high chair there, but we made it work on mommy's lap!
Boston starts by poking in a finger or two, as Grandma watches on.

He's being a little timid at first, so mommy tries to help. Boston won't let me feed him anything else, so why cake?

Nope, I can do it myself, mom!

Yep, I've got it down now!

Such good cake, mom! Thanks for making it for me!

I started getting too much cake dripped on me, so I stuck him ontop of the table and hung onto him from behind. That's when he really went to town!

And here's the aftermath. We headed straight for the tub.

We had so much fun with him!

Boston's 1st Birthday Bash

We celebrated Boston's first birthday in Vegas this year at my parent's house. We had to go to Vegas to do something anyway, so we decided as long as we were out there, we may as well celebrate a little early. Boston was super excited to see everyone and to see all the new toys and his cake. Here's Boston (center-obviously), Natalie (left, top), Brayden (left-bottom), and Addyson (right) checking out Boston's new ride-on Mickey Mouse toy from Grandma and Grandpa Gifford.

I think he likes it!
Yep, he REALLY likes it! Check out that smile!

Here's Boston opening his present from Aunt Annie (or Auntie Anne, as she likes to be called) and his cousins, Jackson, Natalie, and Brayden.

Thanks for my Mickey Mouse tableware and jammies! And I love my piano, too!

Here's Boston and mommy opening his gift from Aunt Angie, Uncle Ron, Kaitlyn, and Rachel, as cousins Stephen (top), Alyssa (left), and Benson (bottom) watch.

I love my lawnmower! Thanks, guys!

Here's Boston with his new Aphabet Pal. Thanks, Aunt Jena, Uncle Ryan, Harrison, Stephen, and Benson! I love it! As an aside, Mark and I have wanted to get this for Boston for awhile. Actually, Mark has wanted it for awhile. He plays with it every time we go to Babies-R-Us and tries to spell bad words, which it won't pronounce. Way to sensor, Leap Frog!

Here's mommy's favorite gift ~ Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Simkins for all my cute clothes! I was super excited to get these clothes for Boston, especially since we only have one pair of jeans, and we will definitely be wearing them all year long, living in Cali!Here's Boston and Natalie playing with his new Mickey Mouse car! Doesn't he look excited!

Happy Birthday, little man! We love you so much!

My name's Mommy, and I'm the Boss! (AKA, Boston's birthday cake)

OK, so there are lots of pictures here, but I am super proud of this cake! I had it in my head that I was going to make Boston a Mickey Mouse cake since he was just a few months old. At first, I envisioned a complete 3-D replica of the Clubhouse. Then I realized my name is Mommy, not Buddy, and I don't live in Hoboken. So then I thought I would just do a round cake with some Mickey cut-outs and maybe some figures on top. Then, my ideas got more elaborate from there, until finally, I came up with this:

Oooh, Aaaah! I know it isn't as good as Buddy would do, but I still feel like I'm the Boss!
Here's me and my masterpiece!
And here's me with all my helpers. Kaitlyn and Rachel were real troopers helping me with this cake. I started baking it with Kaitlyn at 3:00 the night before the party. By 10:00 pm, Rachel came home from girl's camp, and we were still fussing with rolling out the fondant. So Rachel and Kaitlyn (and Mark, although I know he doesn't really want to be mentioned as a cake-maker) came over to grandma's and helped me roll out fondant until after midnight! Then they came over the next day and helped me decorate it for two more hours! Kaitlyn was awesome with piping, and she actually made the grass for us!

This picture is kind of dark, but I love how in awe Boston was of the cake. I think he thought it was a toy or something!

Cutest boy! He had just awaken from his nap to all this chaos!

Doesn't he look like, "Oh, what is that?!"

Mommy and Boston getting ready for the party to start... He looks so old to me in this picture!

Mark's family got to come down to my parent's house for the party as well, so Boston had lots of cousins from both sides with him to celebrate! Poor kid, he looks so tired here!

And here's the back of the cake, which I think might be even cuter than the front, since the black Mickeys are only on the back. Oh, did I mention that the cake topper Mickey is a "cereal treat" covered in fondant?

Here's Boston with Mommy, Daddy, and the cake again. This cake took so much time to make, but I had lots of fun doing it. Thanks Kaitlyn and Rachel for helping! You guys were awesome!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

After going to the aquarium, Boston got to try his first chocolate chip cookie. We tried to get him to eat something normal, but he wouldn't, and I knew he had to be hungry. He is on this self-sufficient kick, where he won't let me feed him anything. So anything he eats, he has to feed himself.

He went totally nuts with it and was so excited the whole time he ate it! Check out this cheez!
Super-messy little fingers!

OK mom, I'm all done!

He was so cute with it, and it was a good trial run before his birthday cake yesterday. Love this little boy!

A Day at the Aquarium

So we have been living with Nikki and John for a couple weeks until we start working and find a place to live. Catherine has been sweet enough to lend us her bedroom and is bunking with Mitchell! Boston is loving being around his cousins, although I don't know that I can say the same for little James. He is having a tough time sharing the spotlight with his baby cousin! Just before Mitch and Catherine started school, we decided to head on up to San Fran for a day at the aquarium. Boston was totally into it!

Here he is checking out the jelly fish with his mama. Hmmm, I think I'm going to have to start wearing base for the first time since high school! Holy redness!

And the next two pictures are Boston and daddy checking out the fishies!

At one point, Boston totally dove for it! Actually, at more than one point!

Here's John and the kiddos enjoying themselves at the aquarium. I think this is the first picture I've seen where these kids aren't "posing."

It was pretty crowded and stuffy inside. Luckily, they had a place where you could go out and get some fresh air. And yes, Mark is wearing a jacket. And yes, Boston is wrapped in a blanket. And yes, it was July. I LOVE San Francisco! I'm so happy to have moved to the bay area. It's just gorgeous!

So Where Do We Begin?

I know most everyone already knows what we've been up to. But for those of you who keep in touch via blog only... Woa! So much has changed for our little family so quickly. As you probably know (knew?), Mark was planning on starting a residency in periodontics this summer, and we were going to be spending three more years in Indiana. That didn't happen. Long story short, lots of crap happened, and we decided it was in our best interest to both be finished with school and get started with "real life." So we started packing...

Above: Boston in his new "play pen" while we packed. He refuses to be in the pack and play now that he can stand and furniture cruise. So we stuck him in our cleared out closet to play while we worked.

And packing led to putting the house up for sale. There's a long story there; maybe I'll post about it once we figure out what the crap is going on with it! Anyway, we headed out to Brentwood, CA to look for jobs. We are still waiting on our licenses, but so far things are looking good. We are loving it out there and are happy to be by family again. Don't know that Nikki is quite as happy to have us SO close!

I have so much more to post, so stay tuned... Boston's first birthday is coming up also, so I'm sure there will be even more to post in the next few days.

Little Boys and Tonka Trucks

What is it about little boys and trucks? I swear they come hardwired to know exactly what they should and shouldn't like. Boston has been pushing things around the living room for awhile now. Any object he can find, he'll "drive" it around the living room. The other day it was the bookends from his bookshelf. Well, we decided it was time to break down and get the poor kid some cars and trucks. We went to Meijer (or as Nikki calls it, Mujer) and picked out a couple tonka trucks for him. He has gone absolutely hog wild for them! Ten months old and already such a little boy! He will drive them all around the house. Yesterday, he drove it from the entry way, thru the living room, and into our bedroom. This kid LOVES trucks! The most hilarious thing is, he hasn't figured out how to get it to stand back up if it falls over, so he throws a hellatious fit when it tips. I was able to catch it on video, and it's the funniest thing in the world. Boston has been doing a lot of fit throwing lately when he doesn't get his way. He has also been doing a lot of biting when he doesn't get his way. The other day, I interrupted his play time to make him eat lunch, and he was not pleased. So he threw a total fit, kicked, screamed, punched, and finally BIT me on the shoulder. I told him, "NO!" He tried to bite me again. He is still the cutest thing ever, but he is becoming quite the stink pot! Anyway, here are some pictures of him driving his truck around, and finally the cutest videos in the world. The first is him driving his truck around and the start of the fit when it tips over. The second is the continuation of the fit after it tipped over. What a little stink! Enjoy!