Someone turned THIRTY

I'm pretty sure that if I had ever asked Brad if he would like a surprise party, the answer would have been "heck no!" So I never asked.

You only turn 30 once, right? And when I asked him what he wanted, the only reply I got was "I want to watch the Penn State football game and the BYU football game." But that was clearly not enough  for such a milestone. I know he wants an ipad, but that was clearly not an option either. So a surprise party is what he got!

I still can't believe I pulled it off. It took two weeks of secret planning and lots of help from friends. Here's how it went down:

I told Brad that we had to go to Max's birthday party on Friday night (Max is our best friends son). 2 hours before the party was to start, I dropped Nick at piano lessons and ran over to the park to set up. Much to my dismay, the park (which I didn't reserve because I'm cheap) was reserved and chock full of people! So I frantically called three of my best friends who then called and texted all the guests while I ran to another park which was, luckily, open. I hurriedly set up and ran home to pick everyone up. Brad's parents and sister and brother-in-law were in town and when I walked in the house his mom told me that Brad had just been called into work! His advisor wanted to go over his dissertation before a deadline he had coming up a few days later. Slight panic (again) on my part. Luckily he wasn't gone for too long and we were only about 25 minutes late to the party. When he saw the banner and all of our friends cheering for him underneath and realized what I had done and what was going on he just gave me a weird look. Let's just say there were no "that was such a thoughtful thing to do, thank you so much" kind of comments happening!

I am horrible at socializing and taking pictures simultaneously so I didn't get any great ones. I did take a few with my not-so-great camera after I set up.

Don't mind the unsightly duct tape-- this onning was covered with  moss and this was only way I could get the banner to stick.

 I set up a little collage of photos highlighting some special moments and people from Brad's thirty years of life:

 We were so blessed to have Brad's family here and to have 60+ guests at the party. I snatched a few photos.

 The inevitable man circle...

 This is our favorite park that we'll miss sorely when it comes time to move. There's this great creek, a sand area, and a fun playground.

 Mal (Brad's sister) just got married this last spring. It was fun to be around newly weds.

 Here's my 30 year old husband! I had to take this photo for his resume. I really like him.

Here are 30 fun facts about Brad:
1- He says "ruh-roh". Instead of uh-oh. Yes you read that right. I am married to Scooby Doo.
2- He played football and basketball in high school. He also ran on the cross country team.
3- He loves BYU
4- He loves OHIO and anything to do with Ohio. He was a big Ohio State fan until going to Penn State (huge rivals). But he loves the Reds.
5- He never loses anthing. And when I lose things (fairly often) he can't do or concentrate on anything else until it's found.
6- He's really good at finding things ;)
7- He loves his mother (rightfully so).
8- He is a good brother to this 3 sisters and talks to them regularly
9- He's a little OCD about his wallet and his keys. He checks his pockets and/or bag 4 times before leaving the house to make sure they're there.
10- He owns 11 calculators
11- He can solve just about any math equation in his head
12- He loves numbers
13- He loves games
14- He wins at games about 98% of the time, no matter what game he's playing
15- He has pretty good taste in music, except for Kenny G and Elton John. He makes up silly songs and does silly dances all the time.
16- He played the trumpet
17- He's been in two musicals, The Fiddler on the Roof and Little Shop of Horrors
18- He's a home body -- he might not ever leave the house (other than school and church) if it weren't for me! ;)
19- His calling in our ward is to teach early morning seminary and he loves it
20- He loves sports
21- He loves politics and really enjoys bantering with people that have different view points as long as he feels like they know what they're talking about
22- He likes to read; classic novels and finance/economic books are usually what I see on his night stand
23- He likes TV and movies but is pretty picky about what he watches as far as inappropriate content is concerned (and I love this about him). He watches and enjoys girly movies with me, including the long version of Pride and Prejudice, Cranford, Wives and Daughters, and North and South, ect.
24- He coughs every time he sticks q-tips in his ears
25- He speaks Portugese in his sleep
26- He is hilariously and deliriously out of it when he is awakened in the middle of the night
27- He is a thoughtful husband; he often asks me what he can do for me and what he can do to make me happy.
28- He is a wonderful and attentive father and takes his role as father very seriously. He often talks about what kind of relationship he hopes to have with his kids as they grow and how he can help them accomplish their goals and be their best. All 3 kids adore him.
29- He would choose salty over sweet any day. He loves cheeze-its and pasta and chips with dip and bread and if he has to choose a dessert he'll choose no bake cookies or plain cheesecake with strawberry sauce.
30- When we were dating and he wanted to tell me he loved me for the first time, he chickened out and said "I more than like you." I still occastionally mock him about this, but I really think it's kind of sweet considering I am the only girl he's ever said that to!

Happy 30th Birthday to my wonderful husband! Here's to 30 more and beyond!

This morning started out like any other..

A work out, a shower, breakfast, getting myself and the kids ready, ect.

But then something out-of-the-ordinary happened.

A bus came, and took my oldest baby away to kindergarten for 6.5 hours.

And just like that, my life as I have known it for the last 5 years and 11 months, has been changed forever...

I turned my baby over to the public school system...
He is now spending the majority of his wakeful hours with people I don't know...

Does this seem ludicrous to anyone else? I've spent his whole life controlling his environment -- what he was doing, what he ate, who he spent time with, what was being put into his sponge-like, beautiful head, ect. And now I'm expected to send him somewhere where anything can happen and be okay with it?!

If you can't tell, this whole kindergarten thing has been hard on me. I've looked endlessly into the local charter and private schools, debated the pros and cons of homeschool, and so forth.

But in the end, public school (and Brad) won. Because if I'm being honest with myself, I have to admit that his teacher is awesome. That there are only 17 kids in his class, plus a full time para-educator (basically a trained teachers helper). And that the public school system here is incredible and out-ranks all the private and charter schools. So I'm choosing to have faith instead of fear. And despite my all-out sob session this morning, I'm actually feeling surprisingly peaceful about the whole thing. Now time to document:

Yesterday was orientation, where we went to school with Nick for an hour and a half. Nick was in true "Nick-form" and was incredibly shy and uncooperative. His teacher had a little scavenger hunt for the kids to do with their parents to get to know the room and the morning routine. Nick wanted Brad by his side the whole time, even when the instructions were to sit on the rug and read a book while the other kids finished.

 But when the teacher called the kids over for a story, Nick perked up a bit and listened attentively.

And when she told them to line up so they could go play on the playground with the para while she talked to the parents, he willingly obliged.

 And after the meeting when we went to get him from the playground, he was a happy camper.

 This morning it was time for him to ride the bus and spend the whole day at school sans parents. He was "a little bit nervous, but mostly excited." Here he is drinking his first-day-of-school-smoothie:

 Walking to the bus stop, a few doors down...

 Standing in line, waiting, waiting, waiting...

He put on his green jacket just in time for the bus to come --

going...

 going...

 going...

 gone.

 It was a long day. Luckily, I have wonderful friends who spent the day with me. Even still, I don't think a minute went by where I didn't think of my boy. 3:04pm couldn't come quickly enough. And this view was a very welcome site!

 He gave me a huge hug and then turned to his siblings:

 He loved his first day! He said he wasn't scared once and is "excited to go back tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and all the rest of the days!" I'm proud of my brave big boy and I'm excited for all that he will learn!

My baby is how old?

   I can't believe Baby Girl is 9 months old. This milestone age always throws me for a loop, realizing they've been outside of me longer than they were inside. I wish time would slow down a bit!

It's been a huge month for Cora. A few days after turning 8 months she finally figured out how to crawl forward. She's now zooming around everywhere and I can tell she's very happy with her newfound independence. She's also started clapping, waving, pulling herself up on everything, and sprouted 3 teeth (the 4th is so close!). She loves patty-cake and peek-a-boo. And she's not a big fan of baby food unless she's starving. She would much rather eat "real food" and has done really well with the few things we've let her try. She is still very much a Mommy's girl and is happy affectionate and just plain adorable.

On the flip side, my good little sleeper is no more! I feel like I have a newborn again, trying to function in a constant state of exhaustion. I'm hoping when this teething phase is over and our summer travels are done she'll go back to sleeping through the night instead of waking up every two hours and/or staying awake for an hour or more in the middle of the night.

I plan to make a come-back to the blogging world this fall when we're back in our routine and life has calmed down a bit. This is a big year for us, with Brad finishing up his dissertation and going on the job market. Lots to look forward to. Until then, here are some pictures of my girl from this past month!

The Big 8

8 years ago today I awoke at the crack of dawn, got ready, went to the temple and became a MRS. And boy do I sure like my MR.

On our 1st anniversary, whilst living in Denver, Brad took me to the Melting Pot and we fell in love with the food and the whole fondue experience. It's become our anniversary tradition. We can only afford it once a year and we look forward to it all year long! Because we don't have one very close to us in State College, we improvise a bit and go when we can. We've been to Melting Pots in Denver, Salt Lake, Cinncinnati, and Philadelphia. This year, while in SL, we discovered that my beautiful and wonderful cousin Chelsea and her hilarious hubby Marvin celebrated their anniversary 6 days before ours so we invited them along on our date. Chels and I are only a few months apart and have always been close. She's an amazing woman and mother and I love being with her!

 It was great to leave the kids for a bit, laugh our way through a delicious dinner, and celebrate being US. The past 8 years have brought a lot of changes and adventures, and I wouldn't trade one second of them. I fall in love with this thoughtful husband, loving father, and wonderful man more and more each day.

 Happy Anniversary to us!

I'm a guest blogger on Rachel, Write Here today.

You can check it out here.

And here's a photo...just because I can't possibly post without one.

Nick, in the digger part of some sort of construction truck at this year's 'Touch-A-Truck.'

I write blog posts in my head at least 3 times a week. Some are about my kids, some aren't. I actually have independent thoughts that don't revolve around motherhood. Amazing, I know. But as I'm trying to prioritize my life and give my kids a killer fun summer, I find that blogging is falling by the wayside, and when I actually sit down to do it, all I can muster is a boring update. But they're important to me, as this is the only place they're being recorded right now, so if I must, I must!

I missed blogging at Cora's 7 month mark. Here are some photos of her at 7 months:

 In her 7th month of life, Cora started sitting independently, mastered the plank position as well as downward facing dog, and became an expert at rolling half way under the couch and getting stuck. We tried her in the jumper seat (seeing as how it entertained Chase for hours on end when he was her age), but she could take it or leave it (so we left it -- no room!).

And here's my baby girl at 8 months, in the outfit Granny Shanny bought her before she even knew I was having a girl!

At 8 months, Cora is:
- Crawling and scooting backwards, much to her dismay! My boys didn't crawl until they were 10 months old, so even this backwards business is earlier than I was expecting!
- LOVES, well, ME! And I must admit that I love that she's a mama's girl. She wants me to hold her, cries if I walk out of the room, and showers me with cuddles and open mouth sucking kisses.
- Babbles, ba ba ba ba, all day long, and pats pats pats everything she touches.
- Is getting more and more of an opinion each day and lets me know when she does or does not like something.
- Refuses to be held any way but facing out. Loves to see the action going on around her.
- Has selective stranger anxiety, especially when she's tired.
- Entertains herself incredibly well, still loves her brothers and daddy, and has a sweet and happy disposition.
Can't believe my baby is 8 months old! I wish I could freeze her as she is right now!