Happy 2nd Birthday!

Well my little buddy is two years old today! I think he knows mommy is feeling a little sentimental because he has been especially snuggly today. He had a great little birthday party on Saturday here at the house. When he woke up from his nap later that afternoon after I had put the house back to together he said, "Where's my party?" When he found some leftover cupcakes he said, "My party!" I'm still not sure he understands birthdays and birthday parties because he keeps saying, "My birthday is coming up!" (We've been talking about it for ahile I guess!) Anyway, here he is with his balloon man.

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And here he is taking his first bite of "party" better known as cupcake.
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And as a comparison, here he is at his party last year. Crazy how much they grow!


Here is some of the crazy present-opening. It was a little chaotic to say the least. And to top it off he LOVED the first present he opened and wasn't all that interested in opening the rest!

And the aftermath..... here we are trying to get the packaging off his new toys. I mean why such secure packaging? You'd think it was like super-secret confidential CIA documents or something the way they package everything these days!

Soccer Practice

So I am WAY behind on updating the blog, but I have to throw this in really quick before I go back to Christmas pictures. Mark had his very first soccer "practice" tonight and he LOVED it. They just get used to be on the field, kicking balls, etc. They even played "Red Light - Green Light" which Mark has never played before. Here is a video of his first time.....and if you listen really close you can hear him yelling "stop" as he continues to race to the boards.

Yikes! Its been awhile!

It has been quite awhile since my last post and its not because I wanted you all to watch that video over and over! (Even though I think I could!) I just got busy I guess. In November we celebrated my birthday with a trip down to Great Wolf Lodge in Texas. We had tons of fun as you can see. I will say it would be better to go when Mark is at least 42 inches tall (can ride big slides with mom or dad).

Lets see.... we had a great Thanksgiving, but I forgot to take the camera. And we had a Life Group christmas party....also forgot to take pictures of that! We decorated the house for christmas. Here is Mark helping...




John and I went to Austin for a wedding this last weekend (yeah, no pictures from that either) and I was describing Mark to a friend. I think I used the words, "handfull", "onery", and "defiant". Okay - so that sounds bad!! I say those things lovingly as only a mother can! I think he is just the most perfect angel in the world, but he is a boy that's a toddler and I think that is what I was describing. So for all of you that have heard me describe Mark that way I would like to retract that statement and replace it with, "He is busy, determined, and creative!" Doesn't that sound better?

But as an example of Mark being pure boy I will tell you a little story. The other day I saw Mark leaning over his little table with his head just inches from the table top. I said, "Mark, what are you doing?" He said, "I spit." What? And yes indeed as I got closer there was a large puddle of saliva collecting on the table! Seriously? Girls just don't do that! So I said, "No!! We don't spit! Go get a kleenex (he can reach them) and clean it up!" Which he did, and then continued to make spit puddles so he could then clean them up! Lord help me for what is in store the next 18 years!

Here are a couple pics of Mark being a quiet peaceful child...I actually have proof!

So I have been meaning to upload this video for a couple of weeks now. We happen to think it is hysterical...our own little Sinatra! Please excuse my singing!

Snow Boots

Mark found some hand-me-down snow boots in his closet the other day and insisted on trying them on. Thought you might like to see him model them. He's also worn them with nothing else on but a diaper but I won't show you those!

October Festivities

Well October was all kinds of fun. It was great to be home again after spending most of last month in OKC. Although I will say that no matter how much time I have off it never seems to be enough! I figure thats how it is with everyone though. Anyway we started off October by going to the fair. Mark loved to pet/feed the goats but the animal he was most interested in petting was the ostrich of all things! And thats the one animal that mommy didn't want him near! (They're scary!)

The best part about he fair, as you all know, is fair food. And Mark figured that out right away. He started off with an ice cream cone, then onto an entire corn dog, then the potato spud thing, then part of dad's turkey leg, and he wanted the corn on the cobb but we cut him off!

Also in October Mark got another cousin!!! Baby Barrett was born October first and after Mark and I got over our colds we finally got to visit. And Marks' new favorite thing to do is hold baby Barrett, "I howd him." We are excited that for at least a brief while, Mark is bigger than Barrett!

We also carved our pumpkins the night before Halloween. Mark got his very own pumkin from Aunt Brenda that he got to carve. He did really well scooping the guts out but got mad when he couldn't hold the knife. And as you can see, he helped John carve his Jack O' Lantern too.

Hot Dog, aka baby Barrett, came over to visit on Halloween! He slept the whole time in his hot dog and didn't even notice all of our laughter. Mark had to "howd him" of course so we tried to get some cute pics of the two cousins in front of the pumkins.

We celebrated Halloween by trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. It was fun, but Nemo was a little to focused on his sucker and not trick-or-treating, so daddy had to carry him home. My favorite part of Halloween was greeting the trick-or-treaters at our door. Eveytime the doorbell rang Mark would jump up and yell, "oh no!" and sprint to the front door. He even started handing out the candy and saying "thank you" to all of the kids. It was pretty funny...he was VERY enthusiastic. Well these are some pics from throughout the month, sorry I'm not a very good photographer!

Recent pics

Mark was sick yesterday...can't you tell? John said he looked up and Mark had done this all by himself. Is he proud of himself or what?

Next a quick torture session for Mobley that Mark likes to call, "Moby-horsey"

Number one Broncos fan!!! Thanks Bob for all of the gear!

Giddy-up!! Look at the the new horsey that Opa and Oma brought over for Mark! Thank you!