St James Castle in Xilitla, Mexico

Okay, so here I am again. Looks like once a month is all I have time to blog for. We continue to trek along with the move, Holidays, and Ryan's work project. This last week was another step in Ryan's pilot program for work. In October, Ryan started the pilot program with the employees of a credit unions in a small mountain town, called Jalpan. They are now launching mobil banking to the customers of that Credit Union. For this new step, my Dad came down to help with the launching. So he and Ryan had it all set to visit Jalpan on Thursday, the 6th. Late Tuesday night, Easton and I decided to tag along. The next morning we were on our way. There was a tour set up for the travelers to see parts of Jalpan that same day. In the end we only had time to see one of the popular Franciscan Cathedrals. (In October, Easton and I had gone up with Ryan as well and saw rivers, waterfalls, fresh springs, etc. Jalpan is extremely gorgeous). The following night we hurried up a mountain to show dad the waterfall called Chuveje. We also decided to stay an extra day to see St James castle. Ryan and I had gone two years ago to see it, when I was pregnant with Easton. So we knew that it would be worth the extra night sleeping on those crumby hotel mattresses to see it again. 

On Friday morning, we travelled the extra hour and a half and spent a few hours hiking around the castle. Now, when I say castle, do not expect turrets and ball rooms... or at least not the ones you see in Europe. These are random staircases, walkways, walls, and "structures" just sitting randomly up against a mountain in the jungle. Ryan and I call it the Dr. Seuss castle, because it makes just about as much sense as those children's books. Though the castle makes very little sense to the eye, it is beautiful in its own way and perfectly situated against several cascading waterfalls. My Dad also noted that much of the architecture seemed to mimic the surrounding nature. 

Just some background historical knowledge: This James dude was part of a royal family in Europe, I want to say English. He decided to abandon his royal responsibilities and move to Mexico. I suppose the man was a bit eccentric considering this bazaar castle that he built, literally in the middle of nowhere. He had hippos, cats, monkeys, and who knows what else, caged around the grounds. This all took place 300 years ago. 

This first shot is at the entrance of the castle. Notice the snake-like rocks to the left. That's the beginning to the randomness that I am talking about.

This is looking back towards the entrance. Traffic is heavier at the beginning, but since the castle sprawls out in so many directions, you get to enjoy it all by yourself most of the time.

These are typical pathways you see going all throughout the different parts of the structures, winding through all the gorgeous greenery. 

Some more randomness. Its almost like pillars were put up for some room, that was never finished. But considering that they are everywhere, I think that was all he ever intended.

This is at the beginning. It might not look like these staircases go very high, but I promise you it is extremely intimidating to climb them. I still havent gotten enough nerve to go all the way up, but Fronk did it this time. What a man:) and yes, they pretty much go to... nowhere.

Not the best picture of us, but still fun and love the munchkin in the background

Starting at the bottom pools from the big waterfall. The water in this part of Mexico is THE clearest I have ever seen.

My Dad

Me and me Dad at a pool

Rocks + water = lots of throwing fun for Easton

A better view of where we were

And more rock throwing

My handsome hubby

All of us at the top of the pools by the waterfall

What a week!

I have been terrible with this blog, I know. My life has been a bit busy.
This week was no exception, but was more fun at the beginning of the week, than busy. My sweet sister, Haydee, came to town! The rainy days were not our friends, in the beginning, and put a damper on most of our outdoor fun, the first day. We resorted to baking cookies and hanging out. Oh darn. The second day we threw our heads back and laughed in its face all the way to Leon which is where the gigantic shoe malls are. Haydee + shopping= a very good day. She is THE best person to shop with, due to her impeccable style! The following day we enjoyed quiche from the french bakery, a stroll in the park, and horchata on the way home; all before we were out the door to drive her back to the airport. Though I am listing all that we did, the real fun was watching Easton and her get along. She is such an awesome Aunt and Easton was practically twitter-pated with her here. It took all of a couple of hours for him to be all over her. It was so sweet. Easton seemed so depressed the day after she left.
The second half of the week included a visit to the maxillofacial surgeon. Yup, I got those wisdom teeth yanked out last night. Wow! What a surprising procedure. I was in that Dr office for a total of forty five minutes!! Forty of those minutes were talking about recovery and numbing up the gums. It took all of five minutes to get all four of those bad boys out. A couple yanks each and the teeth came out whole. What talent, I must say! I had an evening appt., so we were home close to nine. I iced up my cheeks for a couple hours then headed to bed. So far so good. I woke up a few times last night and am taking pain medication, but no chipmunk cheeks for me and other than a feeling of sore, I can't complain! I am paranoid about dry socket, so I am a bit natzi about keeping everything sterilized  that comes near my mouth. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't get it! Other than that, I hope to be back at the gym next week, sometime!

Wedding!!!! (From my perspective)

What is wrong with me!?!?!!?
After all of the amazing wedding shots that I could have had, I ended up with nada (minus the photo booth pics and the iphone pic Ryan got).
In my defense I was running around with my head cut off, but I still can't believe I don't have a picture to share... so, sorry about that!

So I am going to back up to the week previous to the wedding. It was so much fun and so busy. I stayed with Haydee for the first few days. Every morning I woke up at 6 am, darn jet leg, and worked on her wedding cake. During the day, we ran errands for the wedding and ran more errands:) We also enjoyed some yummy curry at her Bishop's home, one evening. We also spent one of the days with my Mother's Aunt, Laverne, and her family. It was nice to have everybody together. Another day we went to the Del Mar Race Tracks. How fun!! I don't bet, but would pick a horse I thought would come in first, second, or third. Out of the eight races, I think my horse won a good five of them!

The evening of the race tracks, the Cifuentes clan headed over to Nate's Mom's house. She was kind enough to make some amazing spaghetti and caesar salad. It was also nice to get to know Haydee's new in-laws. They are some great people. I am very excited for Haydee!

That same night was when Ryan and Easton finally rolled in. It was a bit of a long day for them. Starting at 3 am, they got on a shuttle to head to the Mexico City airport. Then at 8 am were ready to check in. Ops, Ryan realized that his passport was expired... crap. So, he marched over to the US embassy and miraculously was granted a temporary passport within two hours. Thank Heavens! Then for the tickets... Ryan found a flight leaving Friday, but didn't want to wait. After a bit of searching on my Dad's part they found one departing that same day. Finally at about 10 pm, Ryan and Easton pulled up to the San Diego home. I couldn't and still can't believe that it all worked out!

The next morning we laid low and the boys took morning naps. Then we were off to Disneyland! I crave going back and spending multiple days there with Ryan and Easton! It was a bit hectic in the beginning, but fell into a very happy, enjoyable time. Easton, was of course, very entertained and content.

Finally, the wedding fun started Friday with a rehearsal and rehearsal lunch. It was so blimey hot!! We sat in 100+ heat under the sun as we figured out how everything was going down the next day. Despite the heat we got to see our other relatives, friends, and meet more of Nate's family. Basically more lovely people.

The venue was in a Californian canyon out in Malibu. The hills were incredibly beautiful. The view was just perfect. The venue was called a ranch, but was mostly rolling hills of vineyard, very beautiful.

That evening I continued to hack away at the cake. I was losing momentum as I was completely exhausted. I managed to hit the bed by 12:30, somewhat satisfied with the progress I had made. It included finishing the third chocolate cake. As well as cutting and frosting the Strawberry Vanilla and the Lemon Poppyseed. All in all, I was pooped. In the morning, it was a 6 am wake up call. I hauled over the next 5 hours and finally had the finished product, minutes before I was supposed to fly out the door to meet up with the other bridesmaids for makeup and hair. I think I was so excited that I barely realized that I was running on fumes. That morning had started out with tunnel vision and had a moment of dry heaving. Weird. I have never reacted so dramatically over stress. Usually it is just insomnia. Anyways, I think I was so stressed because I was DETERMINED to make this cake look nice for my sister's wedding. Baking in a small, I mean tiny, kitchen in the vacation rental with nine other people was not exactly ideal. I wasn't in the mood to make shift baking with limited kitchen resources, but what can you do. In the end it all worked out.

Anyways, past the cake (this was a big deal for me that week), I made it to the venue. (Thanks Jake for driving me the hour drive.) I felt like I walked into the room kinda hyper, but put on those brakes when I felt and saw nice cool air, yummy sandwhiches and fruit (the first meal in 24 hours and only the second meal within 48 hours!), cheerful sisters, comfy robes. Ahhhhh, is all I can say.
I felt like a model after the maku-up artist fixed me up. Seriously, not even a hint of bags under the eyes. She was A-mazing. Best make-up job I have ever had!! Then onto the hair and then of course watching my beautiful sister getting dolled up for her ceremony. Haydee was breathtaking. obviously. but seriously, how did so many of those genes skip me out!:) She was very much at ease as well. A bit surprising considering all that was going on prior to. When I had walked into the small bathroom where she was getting ready, there was also a make-up artist and two videographers contorting themselves to fit in the tiny space. I CAN NOT wait to see how the video turns out!

Then, after some new shenanigans with a serious car-crash-based-traffic-jam, the guests started to arrive. My poor father and hubby and baby and uncle and nephew and... okay you get the picture... sat in traffic for four hours!!!! awesome. Thankfully everybody else had to go through the same thing and in the end the ceremony started a bit late. It ended up being SUCH a blessing in disguise. With everybody coming in late, the ceremony started perfectly at sundown. The temperature must have easily dropped from the 100s down to the 80s. I gentle breeze ran through and then from the top of the hill stood my sister with the sun shining behind her. Angelic. Seriously angelic. It was such a beautiful sight. Of course, that was when I lost it. She walked down with my father and took her place to do the deed:) They exchanged darling vows and heard some sweet words from the bishop before he pronounced them man and wife.

Ryan and Martin ran the Easton and Calvin back to the hotel where the babysitter waited. Remember that traffic? well running was more like a snails pace. They didn't make it back till after the the entry, the first dance, the toasts, and the food. Nope they didn't make it back till 10 pm. The wedding ended at 11. Poor guys. My sis, Lil, and I made our men plates and then tried to get some good dancing and mingling in before the couple cut the cake. After the cake was cut and served. We enjoyed a few more dances and then were off to pick of the babies. We rolled into bed that night and then hopped out of it early the next morning to catch our flight.
and TaDa that was the wedding. (it only took me two weeks to get this written! sorry)

THE cake! :)

Easton-bul

So little Easton is ever growing.  I thought that it's about time to post a blog about what he has been up to.
Well, first of all his life is all about soccer balls, bouncy balls, whiffle balls, pretty much anything round. He will throw, kick and bounce them everywhere. We definitely have a soccer player in our midst. His favorite is kicking, and his aim is very impressive for a 1 1/2 year old. In fact, he usually kicks and throws balls straighter than I do. My favorite is when he shifts his weight between his feet before he gives a good kick or when he backs up and runs to the ball to try and get a little momentum. haha, no joke, he really does. This morning we were at the park for an hour kicking the soccer ball back and forth between us. It's nice to have an activity that we can both play at.
He is pretty active, just as any other child his age is. He loves to run and play, but is still very good at coming to me when he is told. I am pretty lenient with him, so he knows that when I call him it's for a good reason.
He is still a terrible eater. The only way I get fruit and veggies in him, is if its a sauce on noodles or a juice. He is a great tortilla eater and is a big snacker. He is a skinny boy still, but is ever growing upwards.
Easton's communication skills have taken another leap. Though his vocabulary is still small, maybe fifteen words or so, he is so much better at understanding me and I him. When he gets frustrated that I don't speak his language, all I have to do is put my hands up and shrug my shoulders, telling him I don't understand. He almost instantly calms down and tries to point or show me what he wants. It's quite magical to communicate so much easier. The words and gestures really help his patience, as he now understands that things happen in processes. For example, when he whines at the door and points outside, I tell him that we need to put on shoes first. I call out "shoes" while I walk around the house looking for them. He understands that he can't go outside without shoes and will call out for his shoes now, with me.
He is still a bit stubborn and when he doesn't get what he wants, it still ends in tears and angry shouting, aka, a tantrum. Though I consistently try to ignore them, they still come. I refuse to give into them and it takes a five minute meltdown before he gets himself back together. Patience is the key to these moments for me.
Easton loves other kids. If he hears them outside playing, he gets really desperate to join them. His newest and most favorite friend was his cousin last week. Wow, did he ever love Calvin. I wish I could just kidnap his cousin and have him play at our house every day. They totally absorb into their own world and play SO well. I love it! and wish Calvin was closer!
Other than that, Easton is a pretty average kid. Probably too indulged, as I hear most firsts are. But I am trying to work on that as whiny, spoiled children drive me bonkers!

Here are a few pictures of our favorite little boy... 

Taffy in the hair, awesome. 

After a really short haircut!

Brace Face

Have I mentioned that I got braces last month? Not really something I want to announce. But I figure I will cut everyone to the quick with the comment "you got braces?". I don't particularly like to draw attention to myself so when I have a rack of metal across my teeth, it doesn't exactly soothe me. On the flip side, I am ecstatic to get these puppies on and over with. I have only been dragging my feet for, oh, ten years! Those awkward teen years, when I was way too self conscious of myself, are thank heavens, OVER. So now that I am 26 with a sweet husband who has been encouraging me with every dentist appt, I put them on. Just for the record, I HaTE them. They hurt so bad. I have been chewing with the back four teeth only, for the past four weeks. Oh well, beauty is pain, right?

Malabar Ln

Ryan and I became proud homeowners two weeks ago. We closed on a small colonial home in Madison, and couldn't be more excited to do some updates. In fact our fhe was deciding how we want to redo the kitchen. The home is in decent condition, but is just dated and needs a bit of a facelift. I am ecstatic for the wood floors throughout the house, and once the kitchen and family room see some improvements, I can totally see Eason and I spending most of our time in that part of the house. That and outside. It has a darling backyard, thankfully with a fence for Violet. And it sits on a cute maple lined street. I have a feeling I will love fall in this home. Anyways, we feel like we lucked out and now we are just excited to move in. .. Which isn't for another six to eight months, yes yes, we are still in Mexico till early next year. I am totally ready to move up, maybe it is house related? Hm. For now, we are renting it out for six months to a sweet family who just needs some transition housing. Everything worked out beautifully, though I will say that the week was one of the hardest in a long time, I mean the week that we closed. Easton got croup and I got a nasty cold. So nasty in fact that after twelve days I went to urgent care at 6 am after staying up all night with a clogged and painful ear(that was this morning). Madison was also in the 90s and 100s while we were there so, we didn't get to enjoy the outdoors very much. Pretty much we signed for the house and found renters within six days. It wasn't fun, but so excited to have accomplished so much. I feel like getting married, having your first kid, moving into your first home... All of it is SO exciting and fun, I just wonder what you do when all those milestones are passed, endure to the end?

Monte Blanco 3

Easton and I have a lot of fun with the kids in our neighborhood. We live in a small gated neighborhood, so all of the kids have free reign of the outdoors. Some of our favorite and closest neighbor kids are the Hernandez' two houses down. I mentioned Mariana Hernandez in my birthday post. She has two younger sisters as well, Michi and Millie. Many times we find ourselves wandering to each others homes.
Mariana is Easton very first friend. He loves her more than anybody, aside from his parents. He calls her Mayiana and gets slightly hysterical when he sees her off in the distance. Mariana is very good to him and totes him around on her hip. Wherever Mariana is, you will find Easton very nearby. It is very sweet. I don't know what we will do when the Hernandez family moves next month. It isn't just to a nearby, new house either. It's all the way in Texas. I am excited for the opportunities there family will find there, but extremely sad to see them go.
Mario and Gaby are awesome parents. The type you try to watch, in hope that your own child will turn out like theirs if you follow suit.

Anyways, there are several other neighborhood kids that meander over to our house whenever our door is open, which is pretty much left open in the afternoons. As it has been quite warm here, we have been revving up the snow cone machine whenever the kids are out. Such a simple thing to sit on the front stoop eating snow cones with the neighborhood chilluns, but oh so memorable! I am pretty sure the kids enjoy it too!

Puerta Vallarta

Puerta Vallarta was a wonderful family trip. We loved all the time that we were able to spend with each other.

We opted to rent a condo instead of a hotel and it ended up being a very smart idea. We were able to preserve nap time for Easton and Ryan and I weren't strapped to a hotel room during that time. It was like a small apartment that had everything we needed. It was also on a quiet beach just a little South from town. For us, it was perfect. It was peaceful, comfortable and there was hardly anybody on the beach or pool, as it is the off season. From the pictures you can tell, it was pretty overcast as well. Normally, I would have wanted to see more sun, but considering we get so much in Queretaro, we were happy to have clouds while we played on the beach. There was actually a hurricane rolling through when we were there. Though "hurricane" sound intimidating, it usually doesn't mean more than some rain. For us it meant, about 2 hours of rain in the early evening. Something, I had no problem with! It was quite warm and humid. Strangely, I enjoyed some of the humidity. My skin and nails were loving it! haha. 

We really didn't do too much. We were just happy to lounge around in bathing suits all day. It was so fun to do whatever we wanted without any responsibilities. This was the first time in four and a half years that we have had this! 

We will def be doing this more frequently! 

We did venture out of the house daily to enjoy some of the surrounding activites. We went to town a couple times, shopped around, went to the Zoo and were sure to eat some fresh seafood, well at least for me. 

Easton was a champ!! WOW! I never thought vacationing with him would be easier. He took two naps a day and was a very good boy while he was awake! Again, I loved the condo idea cause it allowed him to keep his schedule, and therefore be much happier. 

We also drove to and from Puerta Vallarta. We were somewhat deceived with the distance. Many individuals who we had asked said that the trip was 6-7 hours long. Since we usually drive faster than the average Joe, I wasn't expecting to be in the car for any longer than 6 hours, but oh no!! It was 8.5 hours!! We got a little antsy towards the end of the trip but surprise surprise, it wasn't Easton asking if we were there yet, but Ryan!! haha. In fact, Easton was amazing the entire car ride! Again, I was so surprised and anticipating a stressful ride. Let me just say, I LOVE the Ipad! Easton watched his favorite movie 3-4 times each way. Between naps and the movies, you hardly knew he was in the backseat. ah, I love that kid!

So after all is said and done, the trip was wonderful! Ryan was totally in lala land with all the free time. We came back much closer as a family and rejuvenated for our daily lives!

This is about as close as Easton wanted to get to the waves. He didn't care for so much movement in his water!

But, Easton did love the sand.

There were continually Pelicans fishing close the beach. We would watch them from the balcony as they dove for fish and rested on the water. 

More Like a Journal Entry: Part two

So here is the other random part of this entry...  Here is a picture of Ryan's birthday with our friends. I know, a bit late!? yeah, only a month.

More park time. Again this was about a month and a half ago. Funny enough, we haven't been back to the park for awhile. We really do love our time there, though. 

Easton loves pushing the umbrella stroller all over the basketball court!

This picture is a bit overexposed. What you can't see is the blanket of purple
blossoms under our feet. The spring is filled with purple, fragrant trees.
This is what we attribute Violet's name to. We got her at the end of March, just
when the blossoms are in full throttle. So, Happy 2nd Birthday Violet!

And here are two random pictures of this cute little boy. I swear he just gets cuter and cuter to me! I love his slight curly hair and gummy grin! Easton is now a year and two months. He is so sweet and still very cuddly. He has been a bit whiney lately, probably because he has molars and all sorts of teeth coming in. His mouth is exploding right now. Poor kid. He also randomly changes his words around. I am no longer mama, but niania. Not sure where this came from, but oh well. He also says, bye, Violet, Sit, Dada, Mmmm, Ma (for more), Baa ("for stop it" or "leave me alone"), and I love hearing his sweet voice making sing song sounds as he admires and loves any dog that may be around, I now notice that my voice probably sounds really similar to his sometimes. This week he has been picking up walking much better. He is a little bit of a late bloomer for this, but I must admit when I am at the store with him, I am very grateful for this!

So here you go, a bunch of random things going on in this post, but whatev. I guess you kinda get the picture how our lives are a little random too.

More like a journal entry: part one

I went AWOL for a little bit, but my blog is always still lingering in the back of my mind. So I will do a quick recap as to what the Frank family has been up to. There have been so many small events and celebrations, that I can hardly remember them all even from last week. I guess I will start with the big stuff. Well, since, Easton's birthday we have been busy with a visit from my Dad, my birthday, Ryan's birthday, Dia del Nino and a bunch of other things.

I was lucky enough to have my Dad here in Mexico for my birthday. Magically, a work trip aligned with it and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. My Fronk made my day wonderful. I slept in and awoke to some mango crepe awesomeness. My sweet hubby had gone online and looked up a recipe and then bought all the ingredients and made it. Such a heart warming moment. Then he surprised me with a sewing machine. I have been wanting one for awhile and was hoping to get one by Halloween (I always have great costumes in mind (or at least I think so), but no means to accomplish them:)). I was so excited and totally surprised. This too, was a very thoughtful gift, as he had gone to multiple shops and inquired after the ladies to know which one to get me. I love this man. 

The day carried on somewhat mainstream and then for dinner we went to a restaurant on the lake and enjoyed dinner, just me, Fronk, and my Dad. I love eating out cause its such a great chance just to sit and talk without distractions. 

When we got back, the most tender gift awaited. At about ten, we got a knock on the door. I was surprised to see one of the neighbor girls, Mariana, on my doorstep with a hot, homemade cake and an origami box with a homemade necklace. I about died. Her Mom was with her and said that her girls had wanted to do something special for my birthday (as she nodded her head towards Mariana, implying that she did most of it). She had been hard at work and finally had it ready at that late hour. This was such a sweet act of kindness, I could have teared up. (The picture above is with the cake and the necklace she made). Easton and I play with Mariana and her sisters nearly daily, as well as with another half dozen neighborhood kids. It is the sweetest feeling to hear the kids laughing outside and seeing Easton begging at the door to play with them. Everybody gets along so well, it is almost like a little Utopia in our neighborhood. Simply picture perfect. 

So, needless to say I had a very thoughtful birthday and am so grateful for those that surround me.

Then came Ryan's birthday, April 30th (a Monday). 

The weeks before I started planning out his cake and party. I had wanted to use that Saturday previous to rent out a soccer field and have a game going and a bbq. Well, two weeks prior, Ryan announced that he would really like to go wake boarding for his birthday. As he needed to work on Monday, I knew it was going to have to be that Saturday. So, I botched the soccer idea. Then, a week later he changed his mind. Well, since his birthday falls on Children's day here, there was little hope of finding a soccer field available on such short notice. I wanted to take a cake to Ryan's work and sing there, but go figure the office was closed on Monday. I scrambled for another idea and tried getting a hold of friends to go bowling and eat cake on Saturday. Everybody was busy. Finally, I decided to have a lunch at our house on Monday and then take Ryan out that night with just the two of us. Well, the cake turned out okay, the hamburgers were yummy and our friends were able to come. It was a success. Couldn't believe what an ordeal that was turning out to be! ha. That night all the movies were sold out (which had been my plan since Ryan loves the movies), so we sat in a bookshop and talked about business ideas, another passion of Ryan's. Despite the setbacks, it was a wonderful day and I was so happy to celebrate Ryan's birthday the way we did. 

Such a perfect best friend, husband, and Father for me and Easton. I couldn't have picked a better match or a more wonderful person to spend the eternities with. My life is all wrapped up in this man and I love that we can laugh, bicker, love, understand, learn, discover, and face life's challenges together.

In between these events, I made a large cake for our ward's Dia del Nino celebration. We also had a nice Saturday afternoon at the theme park here (its geared towards kids). Here is a picture of Easton and I on the train on the left. Easton had, yet another haircut (picture on the right) and got a toy and red star on his forehead for being such a good boy. I had to post one of those pics! 

A couple of Saturdays ago we also decided to tackle a project we have been wanting to do. We bought all the materials to make another countertop. This picture below was before we finished the sides and top. I needed to put the stuff in before it was finished and Easton had a ball for the next few days, taking everything out and putting everything back in. Lovely. 

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.