Perspective

Tuesday I had every intention of posting a lovely “woe is me” post about how hard of a time I am having with the fact that Bo was turning one. It was all boo-hoo-hoo about the fact that I knew he would be our last child and I would never again get to hold a newborn of my own. I don’t want to be done having children, but for now, that’s the plan.
Then, as I was getting ready to put my thoughts online I received an email that I truly believe has forever changed me. A friend/coworker had received terrible medical news involving the word “terminal” and the prognosis listed “months” on the long end of things. One week ago I was sitting in our Loft eating lunch with this guy and laughing about life and kids and whatnot. Now he is making final arrangements.
He’s not the first person that I have ever known to get cancer. I’ve known people who have died from cancer. I have just never seen a prognosis so grim, so fast, and so out of the blue. HE WAS FINE A WEEK AGO!!!!
So quickly everything in my life seemed fine. I may not hold another newborn of my own, but the chances of holding a grandchild some day aren’t out the question. For him it is. How dare I bitch and complain about anything when I have good days left – days where I get to be truly happy. Does he? Knowing what he knows, probably not.
I am empathetic to a fault. I can’t help but weep for his wife and pre-teen children. Just because they have warning, I don’t know how you truly prepare for something like this.
So often I read blogs about moms that have lost their babies or have sick babies and I just sob for those parents and wonder what it must be like to go through that. What about when a 12 year old has to say goodbye to their daddy or watch him pass away?
Now don’t get me wrong – he has every intention of fighting this but it’s an aggressive little bastard that’s taking over his body and he knows his chance of winning isn’t good. Whether he wins or loses, his battle has certainly put things back in perspective for a lot of people.

One ONEderful Year!

Thank you Blogger - I forgive you...

Then...


Now...


How did this?


Turn into this?


Happy Birthday Bodey. I can't believe that you are already a year old. This last year has flown by at warp speed. Seriously, it seems like just yesterday you 10 pounds of pure colic! I remember thinking those nights were so long and that I didn't know how we would get through it. We did though.

You are certainly still a mama's boy - which I tend to love and loathe at the same time. It melts my heart the way you light up when you see me - but it breaks my heart when I can't pass you off long enough to use the restroom without you screaming. You're getting better though...slowly but surely.

You will eat everything and anything within arms reach. Our daycare provider was shocked by the warp speed at which you consume your snacks. I hope you stay a good eater and don't go getting all picky on me.

You are so in love with your brother and he is with you. You two could play together alone for hours. Saturday I walked into H's room to find you two like this:


Watch out Jonas Brothers. The Gerhardt Brothers are comin' up!!

My favorite part of the day with you is bed time. You are all snuggles as we rock to sleep. I cherish that part of the day and as you enter dreamland and your tiny baby snores sneak out - I pray to God to watch over you and your brother, and thank Him for giving me such an amazing gift.

Happy Birthday Bobo! We love you to the moon and back!!

Party TIme!

We celebrated Bodey's first birthday yesterday and it was just wonderful. Bo wasn't sure what to think when he arrived but once we introduced him to the balloons and removed the ridiculous hat I had been forcing him to wear, it was par-tay time!

He seriously just sat like this for the first half of the party and let big brother open all of his gifts. When we tried to get him to help he would just cry. So sad!

Seriously - hated the hat. Like his shirt? The adorable Molly crafted it for him!

Once he discovered the balloons it's like he was a new baby! All smiles and chatter!

Smash cake before

Smash cake success!

And the cake for the rest of us. I have seen versions of this around the interwebz and since his "theme" was just primary colors I thought that this would be the perfect cake. A good friend of mine made it and it tasted even better than it looked!!

One of the best parts about parties like this are that the cousins get to hang out together. I wish I had taken this picture before his cousin Eric had left so you could have seen all of them. They had so much fun just running laps around my parents' house!!
I’m glad that the party is over though. Now I have just one more full day with my sweet baby before he is officially ONE. I’m not ready for this at all, but that’s a different post entirely.

Pour Some Summer Goodies on Me!!!

I recently participated in my first blog swap and I'm so glad I did. I got paired up with an absolutely lovely woman and we exchanged summer goodies. It was great. There is nothing like getting home after a long, boring day of work to find a box full of great gifts - just for you! Here's a look at the pure awesomeness that I received.



First let's talk about that cup. Oh lordy, that cup is AMAZING. I'm kind of a drinking glass snob. I HATE cups that sweat. I drove my parents crazy growing up because I never used a coaster - now I don't have to!!!! I have used this cup EVERY day since receiving it. Admit it - even iced water tastes better in a really cool cup! When I first got it I thought I was going to have to hide it from Chad. He has deemed it the perfect whiskey cup. He's yet to get to try it out. Angie also included a Texas Margarita recipe which I'm sure will taste fantastic in that beautiful, double wall cup with the big plastic straw!

Then there were the flip-flops. So shimmery and summery. I don't have a lot of purple in my wardrobe yet, but thanks to this great gift, it may become my go to summer color. I already found the perfect shirt to match them. And speaking of shimmery - that lip gloss is so great - gives a super slick look!

I was in serious need of some new nail polish because I was in a dark depressing color rut. I have no fun colors at home. Only almost black purples, and almost black reds. I'll be donning this fun color all summer...and thanks to the toe separaters and file, my nails won't look too jacked from an at home pedi.

The best part of this whole blog was getting to "meet" Angie. She's an amzing woman with some of the most adorable kids I've ever seen. I had never read her blog before but now I'm hooked. I really admire her family's love for getting outside and playing together, not just hunkering down in front of the tv like so many families do these days (including ours FAR too often). If you get the chance to check her out, please do!

Thanks to Aly, Lindsey, Chelsea and Molly for hosting this great swap and
Thanks again, Angie, you certainly helped get my summer off to a great start!