1st Birthday Slideshow

OK, so I promise this is my last sappy post for awhile!

Here is the slide show that I will be playing at Drake's party tomorrow. I'm planning on just having it run on repeat on the cake table and people can watch as little or as much as they want.

Tomorrow is the big day! Hopefully I will have pictures up by Sunday night or Monday morning.

My Sweet Drake: A Letter From Momma

Drake-
Last night I snuck up to your room to check on you and there you were asleep with your little pink seahorse tucked under your arm. You. With your sleep sack that seems to get snugger by the day. You. Who has pacis strewn every which way around your crib. Sweet You.

What a different sight you are in your crib than you were just a few short months ago. I used to sneak in to find a little baby burrito swaddled as tight as could be to keep you feeling safe. You always looked so cozy with only your brand-new baby face and wild dark mop of hair peering out from that security net that was your swaddle.

As I am writing this my eyes are welling up with tears. These tears are not tears of sadness, but rather tears of complete joy and thanksgiving that your Daddy and I were able to part of your first year with you. And I want you to know we totally lived it up this first year.

You see Drake, I told your Daddy before you were born that we could not wish time away because it would go by so fast and we would want those moments back. We didn't wish time away but truly lived minute to minute and because of that we were able to savor every moment both big and small with you.

Sure, we enjoyed all the big moments like your first Christmas, watching you learn to sit up, the first time you crawled, those first teeth popping up and those first steps.

But you know what?

Those big things have nothing on all the pretty amazing small things this year was made of.

The first time you noticed Skinner and how from that day forward you were the best of friends. The way you are so quiet and sneaky when you are doing something you aren't suppose to. The look on your face when you had your first taste of ice cream. Your never ending love of the grocery store and the people in it. The way you look when you just get done eating a dinner of mac and cheese with pasta covering your body.The look of pride on your face when you mastered clapping.

 Oh and the hearts you have touched...believe me... there are many hearts that have been touched by you my sweet boy, so so many.

The best part is we captured all the big moments and  many of the small moments on camera for us to relive again and again. Around 5,000 photos of you have been captured in your 1st year alone to be exact. I think memories are one of the best gifts we can give you and your off to a great start with 5,000 things to remember. Don't worry because this 1st year, well, this is just the beginning of those memories.

                                                                            

I will end this letter by telling Thank You. Thank You for being the sweet, spunky, and adorable boy that you are. Thank You for letting me love you so much that it physically hurts. Thank You for being the missing piece of our family puzzle. Thank You for your enthusiastic clapping and those electric smiles and  your cute little toddle when you walk.

But most of all Thank You for letting me have the awesome honor and privilege of being your Momma. I know God hand-picked you just for me and for that I am forever and eternally thankful. Thank you for being my son. Thank You.

I'll Love You Forever...

Momma

Let the Party(s) Begin

I'm calling the commencement of Drake's 1st Birthday festivities to order!!!

1st order of business-Daycare Party!

I decided to carry the dog theme into Drake's treats for daycare. I had such a fun time making these dog themed Jell-O Jigglers and they were way easier than I ever imagined!

How cute did these turn out?!?!

All it took was:

4 small packages of jello (any flavor)

and

2  1/2 cups boiling water

mix well, pour in a 9x13 pan and chill for 2-3 hours

Use cookie cutter to make desired shapes

I see many more Jigglers in our future!

Next order of business-The big party on Saturday!

Drake Gives Back-Update #1

Last week was a big week for Drake Gives Back!! Here are some of the highlights:

•  I received an extremely generous donation from LeapFrog . The kids at the hospital are just going to LOVE it!!

• Two different media outlets have expressed interest in running a story on Drake Gives Back. I'm hoping it all works out because it would really help give the projects some  "legs"!

• We  took Drake shopping so he could "pick out" something for the toy drive. He picked out a cool cars racing set.

• I'm going to incorporate Drake Gives Back into Drake's birthday party on Saturday. Look for more updates next week!

As always, if you or you company want to donate please e-mail me (you can find my e-mail under the Contact tab at the top) any donation large or small is so appreciated!

The Great Escape

Ben and I escaped for a rare weekend alone to celebrate our 5th Anniversary (July 23rd) and my 27th Birthday (July 24th). We thought there would be no better place for a quick weekend getaway than Kansas City and we were right! 

We started our trip with a BBQ lunch at Oklahoma Joe's. This BBQ place is in a gas station. It definitely looks like nothing special but the food is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! 

We stayed right on Country Club Plaza at the Marriott

And got upgraded to an awesome suite

With equally awesome views

And what would a getaway be without a glass (or few) of refreshing white wine

Or silly shots of me pretending to drink out of a fountain

OK, so Ben's shot is a bit better than mine

 We actually had our picture taken in this exact same spot when we came 6 years ago.

If only I could find that picture, but I can't.

So just picture me skinner with blonde hair and Ben with a head full of longer curly hair.

We even got to have....wait for it....a leisurely breakfast.

With no wild baby to chase after we got to enjoy coffee, pastries and just chilling.

It was GREAT!

This is the point where my picture taking stopped, but the fun continued. We went on a tour of Boulevard Brewing Company and got a sample 4 big samples of their great beer. I think I need to work because they have an employee bar where all the workers get to have a drink or two after work... for free!!

After the tour we stopped for lunch and then headed the 3 hours home. We did a little shopping when we got back (for Drake of course) and then headed to my favorite sushi place for dinner. We even got wild and went to a bar afterwards for a nightcap. We may have even stopped to get Birthday Cake ice cream to eat with brownies at home and watch an episode of Glee before calling it a night. Wild I tell you, wild.

This morning we headed up to my parents to pick up this handsome dude

Man!

Did I miss him!!!

All in all, it was a weekend for the books!

PS-You know you're a mom when you get a copy of  What to Expect the Toddler Years for your birthday.

July 23, 2005

On July 23, 2005 a 21 year old girl walked down the aisle to marry her college sweetheart. They were married in a beautiful ceremony filled with personal touches. An unforgettable reception full of food, friends, drinks, touching toasts and hours of dancing wrapped up the fairytale day.

July 23, 2005 was just the beginning.

2 Apartments

1 House

1 Dog

1 Baby

7 Vacations

Countless Laughs

Shared Tears

and

Many Memories

5 Years Later....There is still so much more of our story to be written.

The Pink Track Suit

In celebration of our 5th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow

I thought I would share  our engagement story. Enjoy!

You know how there are some days you will never forget what you were wearing, what you ate, or what song was playing on the radio for as long as you live? The day of my engagement is one of those days. Even if I didn't have pictures to remind me, I will never ever forget that I was wearing a pink track suit when my husband proposed to me.

It was December 22, 2004. I was a senior in college and home for Christmas break. Ben, having graduated the year before me, was working at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. He was going to be joining me that night back in my hometown to spend Christmas with my family. I had a feeling that Ben might propose to me on Christmas Eve and had the perfect outfit picked out for December 24th. Little did I know that Ben had other plans.

On the 22nd, we decided to order pizza from the local pizza place and have a low key dinner. Ben had to drive two hours to my parent’s house, so I called him and told him we were going to order the pizza little early and were going to pick it up and put it in the oven to keep it warm so we could eat right when he got there. Ben started going off about how he thought that was an awful idea and he really liked his pizza hot and fresh. I thought this was very strange behavior for Ben since he is the most laid back guy I have ever met and will pretty much eat anything. I got annoyed called him a "pizza freak" and hung up.

When the time came to go get the pizza, I was in the middle of a good book and asked one of my sisters to pick it up instead. My dad was making a huge deal about me going to pick up the pizza, and picking it up alone. I was annoyed with my dad, but agreed and drove in the cold December evening the 6 blocks it takes to get to the pizza place.

I got out of my car, walked in and heard somebody calling my name behind me. I turned around and there was Ben down on one knee right in the middle of the pizza parlor. He asked me to be his wife. I said nothing. I could not believe Ben was asking me to marry him. I was so caught off guard. I started to get tears in my eyes, gave Ben a huge hug and said "Yes"!

Can you imagine the look of surprise on my family's face when I came home with the pizza and was wearing an engagement ring? Yep, they were pretty surprised...well...everyone but my dad. He was in on the whole thing!!

So on December 22, 2004 I got engaged in a pizza parlor wearing a pink track suit.

My hair was a mess and I was not wearing a speck of makeup.

It was far from the engagement I had pictured in my dreams...it was better.

I was going to be marrying the man of my dreams and sometimes the outfit, the hair, the makeup, the location-none of it matters when you are the happiest you have ever been in your life.

                                 

Cake Smash

While we were on vaction I decided it would be fun to do a little cake smash photo shoot with Mr. Drake.

As expected my sweet-toothed *rambunctious little guy loved it!! I'm already excited to see his reaction to his smash cake at his party ( in less than 2 weeks -SO EXCITED) I have a feeling he will "dig" that just as much!!

*This post is part of Wordless Wednesdays

A Beautiful Mess

Live and Love...Out Loud

Wordless Wednesdays

*This post had been entered in Word Up, YO!

Drake Gives Back

A few months ago when I started thinking about Drake's 1st  birthday party I thought it would be super fun to incorporate the party into my blog. I had originally wanted to do a week of great giveaways on my blog to celebrate. I was able to get several different companies to commit but I started second guessing what I wanted his blog birthday celebration to really be about.

I will be honest, I have tons of free products I have received from different companies sitting around my house that they gave me to review or in exchange for promoting a giveaway. I know many of you also have lots of free stuff  you won from a blog or have received to review in your house as well. Giveaways are fun, but there is not real meaning behind them.  I started thinking about something I could do that would make a difference and really mean something. I came up with a new idea and approached the companies that committed to the giveaways. To my excitement they all agreed to be part of my new project-Drake Gives Back.

Drake Gives Back is a toy drive that will donate all toys received to a local children's hospital. With companies like Playskool, Discovery Toys and Tommee Tippee already on board we are off to a great start. The drive will officially run August 1st through September 1st. If you or your company would like to make a donation please e-mail me (my e-mail address can be found under the Contact tab at the top of the page) with how you would like to help.

Every week in August I will have a post with a progress report of the different companies/people who have donated and different ways you can get involved. I am excited and have so much pride in Drake Gives Back. I might only be one little blogger, but I have big dreams of what this can become. Will you join me?

*All donations will be made to Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa

When on Vacation..

When on vacation a group photo is a must

 (Pretty good looking bunch, hey?)

When on vacation family photos actually get taken

When on vacation our little fish shows off his skills

When on vacation Drake takes on his very first water slide

(And then I'm brave enough to post a picture on the Internet of me in my swimming suit)

When on vacation every story is just breathtaking

When on vacation there is uninterrupted time with Daddy

When on vacation we all 3 swing together enjoying the cool morning

When on vacation I soak up every second with my baby toddler

When on vacation you don't even need water to swim

When on vacation Drake decides crawling is over rated and walking is the best way to get around

When on vacation...well... I think this face says it all

We are back from a great and relaxing trip.

I missed you all!!

Thanks for being so kind to my guest bloggers last week.

They sure brought you some pretty awesome posts.

I can't wait to catch up and see what is new with all of you!