Shaking off the dust

Im going to take a break back tracking and write a short blog about the present, not that very much excitement is happening around here...

but, I joined the gym! this morning in fact. It was great! I have been putting it off because I didn't want to send Easton to a child care place while I worked out, till he was old enough. Well, he's old enough, but now there is no gym with child care. Long story, short, the one I had picked out didnt pan out. So, I joined my old gym and go to the early morning class while Ryan watches Easton. Why didn't I do this earlier!?!?

Anyways that was fun this morning... except the barking lady who wanted my knees kicked up higher. I don't think she knows that I have been sedentary for the past year and nine months! I am sure I will get my knees up higher in the weeks to come. Right now I am just ecstatic that I can manage to jump around for an hour and still catch enough breath not to pass out!

Now... on to planting flowers out front... isn't my life so exciting?

My baby turned one!!!

Day One Year One

Where did the time go!? I am sure many mother's feel the same when there baby's turn one, cause I totally want to cry at the thought. My friend laughed when I told her the thought was depressing to me, but it's true. First birthday today, leaving on a mission tomorrow! Okay okay, I may be jumping the gun a little, but I just can't get over how big he is getting!

So at one, here are a few fun facts about Bool...

1. He still LOVES books and has since he was about two months old, I kid you not.

2. He is a GREAT cuddler and a very sweet boy. Oftentimes when he is playing, he will just randomly take a break to crawl to me and hug me for a couple minutes. Then he will resume right where he left off with his toys.

3. He loves to climb these days and never ceases to surprise me when I find him on the desk, in a basket or somehow weaseled himself into all the clean, folded laundry

4. He has six teeth in! and more on the way.

5. Eats like a bird... it takes him an hour or two to finish a six ounce bottle as he only eats an ounce or two at a time. And though eating has been a challenge with Easton since day one, I was shocked and extremely grateful when that one sweet Monday rolled around when Easton decided to wean himself. He went from four mom feedings a day to one, which only existed to help myself with my milk anti-production. I could almost cry with how easy that was!!!

6. Has sweet brown curls on the back of his head. I keep his hair trimmed but most likely will not be cutting these locks for a long time. I love the shag!

7. Gets extra excited when there is any kind of animal around. He LOVES pets! especially Violet! They are each other's pals.

8. which brings me to number eight... he LOVES balls, especially holding onto my finger and running after the ball to kick it. He lets out a hearty laugh when Violet gets involved! He loves to kick the ball and watch Violet run after it and try to mouth it. Priceless happiness, right there!

9. Easton loves older kids and now twice, in the past week, has crawled over to two different teenagers to give them a two minute hug!

10. Prefers Men over Women. He oftentimes will gravitate towards men, though he always stays close to Mom.

11. Dirt, dirt, dirt. In his fingernails, around his lips, and even better is when its mud. If he is having a hard day, I just throw him in a pile of dirt and it makes all the rainclouds go away.

12. Also, Water! puddles, smearing water around, really, anything wet! He loves to feel liquid in his fingers.

13. He is not an avid TV watcher, but thoroughly enjoys Baby Einstein. Consequently, so do I:)

14. He started sleeping through the night. He did it on his own several times a month ago, but I gave him a little shove the past week. I just let him cry it out, if he wakes up.

15. Has always been exactly average in height and weight, until Christmas. He dropped dramatically in weight and a bit in height, I am assuming cause he was sick for a month. He has been shooting back up to perfectly average again.

16. Is still not into solids, but does eat his vegetables and fruit purees pretty well. He also enjoys bread, pasta sauce, soda (guilty), and pretty much whatever we are eating.

17. Doesn't say words, but has started repeating Baba (bottle), and as soon as I say it he gets really excited if he's hungry. He also is starting to get Dada and often repeats it and looks for Dad.

18. Doesn't walk. For walking, he is just being lazy. He pitches a fit if I don't let him walk around with my finger, or if I try to take my finger away when he is walking. Though, most of the time he barely leans on it or uses it. It's just his safety net. Though he does take a step or two between furniture and if we get him started in the right direction will take a few steps to Ryan or I when we hold our hands out.

19. Loves being tossed around and thrown on beds.

20. Loves to give kisses and gets jealous if he catches Ryan stealing one from me. He will speed crawl over, pull Dad away and then starts to give me kisses. This really gets Ryan and I rolling in laughter.

We celebrated his birthday three times! The first one was a couple weeks early with my family in Wisconsin. He opened gifts and made a huge mess with his cake. Classic.

The big picture, is after Easton twirled around on his butt in the cake. It was pretty caked on:)

He also got a Thomas the Train tent. He LOVES it and I highly recommend it to other mothers with a one year old. Peek-a-Boo just got better!

On his actual birthday we went for ice cream. Though he didn't want much of it.

Then, that weekend we went to Bicentenario with friends where he went on his first roller coaster. We also went swimming and ate cake again.

Making a Prince Charming

So, before all the Texas partying was a sewing machine and a girl attempting to sew a bow tie and pants. A couple months prior, I got it in my brain to make matching bow ties for Easton and his friend, Tate to use at the wedding. So, shortly thereafter I borrowed my friends machine, googled a couple tutorials and voila! haha, kinda. The pants I made, because for the life of me I couldn't find any black 12 mo-old pants, and they were a bit of a beast to make. But after much thread pulling and resewing they turned out pretty well. I basically made up my patterns for everything and hoped for the best. It was a little adventure and I admit that I was kinda excited to learn something new. Not exactly the most life saving talent, but it was fun and now I know that I can do it.

So here is one very cute boy all done up in the garb.

Bow ties and lace dresses

Yayyyyy! My BFF got hitched!

Laura made a beautiful bride, one that few could hold a candle to. She got married next to a river in Texas where giant oak trees line the water and rolling hills keep it hidden. It was GORGEOUS!

I really think this could be one of my favorite places in this world. Completely peaceful and quaint. It is found outside a small town called Kerrville.

The wedding party and family all stayed at a cute ranch just up the street from the location. Easton and I came up a couple days early, which was bitter-sweet. I am so glad I did because I feel like I got to see Laura before the party started. I love one-on-one time. At the same time, having Easton with me made it a bit more complicated, especially since he wasn't cooperating on the car rides and refused to sit with anyone but me. Poor little guy was not taking the vacation well and that left a very tired mother. We made the best of it though and carried on.

A few days after we arrived, all the bridesmaids and friends hit up a spa and the following day we threw a shower. Here are some of those pics...

Ryan came in on Friday to help hold down the fort and boy was I glad to have him! He helped a bunch with Easton and I even managed an eight hour night of sleep when he came in. Ryan loved Texas with all the hills and country music. It was fun to see him so happy.

Easton also made a new friend on the trip. Angela, a friend of mine, brought her little boy Tate, who is three weeks younger than Easton. It was SO fun to see the two together. Though, they are still figuring out how to play with other kids, I think they enjoyed having the other around.

Angela and Tate getting ready for the wedding

The boys tearing it up after the bridal shower...

Then on Saturday was when all the fun stuff happened. Right before sunset, Laura and John got married under a giant oak tree on the river. It was beautiful and I couldn't help but tear up a bit. Fran sang a hymn in her goose bump-giving voice and then we all headed up to the tent for dinner and dancing. Angela and I raced the boys home and came back to our circle of friends in time for the food. Shortly after, I made a fool of myself attempting a toast. I was totally in a whirlwind and ended up baring my testimony of our friendship. Awesome. Moving along... John and his friend dedicated a charming song to Laura. We danced, laughed and chatted to neighbors. It was a lovely wedding and very well put together. My hat goes off to Laura and her family for creating such a movie set.

Behind the scenes were her mother stringing lights and putting finishing touches on the grounds till wee hours of the morning, Grandparents cooing at Easton, and little boys running around having great fun watching the ducks and fishing on the river. Sounds about right, no?

Congrats Laura and John! LOVE YOU!

Getting Ready!

Here comes the bride!!

And the crowd goes wild!

First Dance

Partay!

Robbie Visited!

Hugs and Kisses from Bool to his Uncle Robbie

Robbie came to visit us a few weeks ago. It was SO fun to have him!

Robbie is one of my fav relatives because I feel like I can be so me around him. Which basically means that I am just ridiculously sarcastic around him. He is a great brother and Ryan and I had a lot of good chats with him.

I feel like we were a bit more laid back with Robbie's visited, and ended up taking him to church activities, to play soccer, etc. Though we were sure to hit up the taco stands as frequently as we could and we def made a trip to the Geiser (which are those hot pots that we have taken Brit and Shawn and Brandon and Sarah to as well. They keep requesting it for the next siblings who come down. It is a really fun place).

Robbie also seemed to take lots of naps while he was here. What is with these Franks and naps?!:) My favorite pictures are the ones below, where Easton is waking Robbie up from one of those said naps.

Smacking Robbie's face and pulling on his hair... "Time to wake up Uncle Robbie!"

(and I promise that these actions are strangely ones of endearment)

Where to begin!?

So,
we have been busy!
Ryan picked up Easton and I from the airport on Saturday from our two week trip to Texas and Wisconsin. I had been up since four that morning and crashed at a ripe 8:30 and didn't wake up for another twelve hours. The return trip was fine, but just a little tricky with a little kid. Thankfully, the four hour flight was accompanied by a young neighbor who was so tolerant of Easton throwing his chewed up cookie on him and incessant attempts to touch his sweater, earphones and just about anything else. Easton has also started kicking the seat in front of him where ever we are and no matter how quick I am to pull his feet away he successfully gets a jab or two in. Poor airplane folk.

Besides that I somehow managed to haul three suitcases, a jumbo car seat, and a squirmy child through customs and immigration. That is always the anticipated part! It all worked with ease though and somehow I managed to keep up my energy.

As I saw Ryan pull up to the curb to pick us up, it was like a glowing angel exited the car to come rescue me. ahh, I love Fronk! The ride home was nice to share, especially considering that waiting at home for us were four guests from Utah. One of several families stayed with us for the Youth Tremestral program this weekend. They were so kind and very easy to have around. When I woke up that following morning, the one after the 12 hour slumber, I found a rose on the kitchen counter with all the dishes done. That about sums up this family. So awesome. They left this morning and now I remember just how quiet this house can be. It's nice to be home and I am anxious to finish weaning Easton and get this kid sleeping through the night, but I do miss all the fun we have had.

I have about a half dozen more posts coming from the past three weeks. Oh yes, they have been busy and eventful. So stay tuned for more updates!

Oh and one last thing... have I mentioned that Ryan and I will now be staying in Mexico until January? This last trip made me sad to wait another 9 months to go home, but on the flip side, I am ecstatic to enjoy some more amazing weather and tacos. It is a balmy 70 degrees with the birds singing. AND I no longer need to lather on the lotion from dry skin, nope the weather is just right! such a highlight, no? :)

So many mixed emotions from the news, though. I was looking forward to going home and was getting everything rolling in that direction, but at the same time the news brought a bit of relief and happiness to spend a little more time here. I think I am sixes about where we are right now, but more than anything I am a bit jostled from all this whiplash of "we're staying" "we're going" "we're staying" "we're going". I just want to get the show on the road no matter where we are. So as my resolution to settle a little more here, I am signing up for a gym pass next week and planting flowers in the front yard. nine months shnine months:)