Breck's 1st Birthday Party

Breck's first birthday party was at my parent's house in Kearney. Grandma had to work that weekend so we moved the party to Kearney so she wouldn't miss this milestone with the little man. I had known for about 6 weeks that our theme would be a lion one bc Breck had started roaring like a lion whenever he saw one or we asked him to and I thought it was adorable and decided we'd go with "what he liked":) So lions it was. His Auntie Carrie designed his birthday invite and cupcake toppers and they were super cute. His cousin Sarah designed his lion cupcakes and decorated his #1 smash cake, we are so blessed to have such talented family members!
His birthday fell on a Saturday. And a Saturday in October means.....HUSKER FOOTBALL. So between shouts and screams from his football loving daddy, uncles, cousins and grandpa........baby Breck didn't get much of a nap. He was a trooper though as long as mommy was close by during his party. We had pulled pork sandwiches on Grandpa's grill, beans, chips, and salad for dinner and of course cake for dessert. He had all of his most important people at the party, G&G Westerbuhr, G&G Hingst, Uncle Kurt, Uncle Mark and Aunt Carrie, Auntie Janine, Uncle Dan, Alec, Auntie Martha, Sarah and Amber were all there for the big event. Erica and Chelle are college girls now and couldn't make it and we missed them lots! He got lots of fun presents and some $$ too and big brother Kayden helped him open them all. He decided he liked ripping the paper too and I'm pretty sure he'll be a pro by Christmas time!
During his gift opening someone clapped for him and he decided he liked this. Well he joined the clapping and then would scan the whole room to make sure we were all watching and we were all clapping WITH him. It was adorable and I hope I can remember that moment forever. So everytime we wanted to get him to smile the rest of the night....we'd all clap:) It worked great and he loved it.
During cake time, he enjoyed us singing to him and wanted to check his cake out. He also helped blow out his candle with lots of cues from me "blow it like we blow hot food".....but when it came to cake smashing, he wanted nothing to do with it. He wanted OUT of his seat and didn't even want to taste his cake. I was pretty bummed to not get the famous cake smashing pics that you always take at first birthdays. But our little guy was too tired from his football party/birthday party day and just wanted some mommy cuddles. Who can argue w/ that?
You had a great 1st birthday party baby boy! Surrounded by lots of people that love you so much!

Dear Brecken Cole,

Tonight as you slept in my arms I looked at your toes and fingers and couldn't believe how much they have grown in a year. A year. A year changes so much when you are only one. It really shows us grown-ups the meaning of time.
Happy 1st Birthday my baby boy. You turned one on Saturday and I can hardly believe it. I would swear I just had you. You were just placed on my chest and our eyes just met, you just looked at me for the first time and calmed your screams because you knew I was your mom and we had always known eachother. Our hearts beat in a rythm together for 38 weeks and 6 days. I felt every kick, hiccup and roll inside of my tummy. And now you are a 24 pound baby boy turning 1!
This past year with you has been amazing. You teach me everyday about happiness. You are such a sweet, happy little soul, you wake up with a big smile and go to sleep at night with that same smile on your sweet little face. Everytime you see me your face lights up and I get to see that perfect smile again on your adorable face. You giggle all day long and if you hear anyone else laughing your giggle begins even if you don't know why you should be laughing.
You love to cuddle, your little head knows just where to lay on my chest to cuddle in just so. You often pat my back as your snuggling in for some mommy love, I love that so much and it always makes me smile to feel your little hand patting away.
And of course, you are such a smartie, you love learning your animal sounds and growl when you see pictures or toys that are Lion, Bears, and dinosaurs (or if we ask you what those animals say). You "moo" like cow, "woof" like a doggie, and pound your chest like a gorilla (but you prefer to come and pound my chest if I'm around:). You say mama, dada, hot, bye bye, and hi and sign eat, bath, more, drink and all done. You started walking a couple weeks ago but you still prefer to crawl, you think your faster that way. But when you do walk you are so proud of yourself and smile from ear to ear. You love puzzles and blocks and cars and trains. And bring me books all day long to read. Your FAVORITE book is "Barnyard Dance", if I'm reading you another book and you see that book, you'll grab it and open it and start pointing for me to read that book. That is another thing you love doing, pointing, at everything you see and everything you want us to look at with you! Any toy big brother likes is your favorite right now too. You LOVE your bath and could play in the water for hours. You love to be outside and get upset if someone runs something outside and you don't get to join them for some outside playtime! You are getting less tolerant of big brother taking things from you and let us know when you aren't happy. You sleep with mommy and daddy most of the night but take naps in your crib. You nurse on demand and eat 3 meals a day, you feed yourself most of the time, the only food we really still spoon feed you is your yobaby yogurt. You've had pretty much all of what we do other than peanuts/nuts and honey. You've had organic, whole milk and you'll drink some! Your a little stinker when we change your diaper and roll around and get cranky with us about it. But you are a champ in the car and we are so thankful for that! In the Tahoe when we are driving and you are tired you hum yourself to sleep:) You love your big brother and always want to play with/by him. You also love your daddy and get super excited when he gets home from work. But right now, your greatest love is for your mommy:) You prefer to always have me in your sight and if I'm playing with you or holding you or sleeping with you, you are completely content. Mommy loves this stage. I love that I am who you want when you cry or when your sad, or when you want to laugh. I adore you too little man and enjoy every second that I spend with you!
Happy first birthday baby boy. It has been a wonderful year and we are so very blessed to have you in our family. I have cherished each moment you've slept in my arms or cuddled up next to me, each smile you've given me, and each laugh we've shared. I feel so very thankful everytime I look at you, my heart swells up and it feels like it's going to burst. You were made for me little man and I am so very thankful to have you as my son. We all love you to the moon and back a million times!
Love,
Mommy XOXOXOXOXO

"married?"

The other night Kayden SLAMMED his head into my nose (it still hurts!). So hard that I cried and ran to the other room so he wouldn't see me. He comes and starts climbing on me and begging me to go back to his room to read his bedtime stories. Kyle proceeds to get kind of cranky with him and tell him to leave me alone b/c I was hurt. So after I pulled myself back together we went to read stories. After stories we were laying together in his bed and he said, "mommy why was daddy so mad at me for hurting you?", I didn't really know what to say because daddy wasn't "really" mad as he said, just a little stern. So I said "bc I'm his wife and he doesn't like it when I'm hurt." He then had to ask me when we got married, "Did you get married when I married Carrie?" (yes, he still thinks HE married Carrie...not his uncle Mark!), I said no, we got married 6 years ago, before you were born. He then stood up in his bed and danced in a circle and said "did you do that when you got married?", and I said, "why is that what you do when you get married?" he said "yes". And I laughed. So funny to me that he thinks dancing in a circle is what you do when you get married (especially because he was JUST at his Uncle's wedding!). But I love that in his 3 year old mind, you dance in a circle and get married:)

Toddles....

My baby Breck took 8 steps to me on Thursday, October 21. We were outside and he was holding onto the pinwheel, I just randomly set him on his feet and walked back a little bit and asked him to come and to my surprise he did. I couldnt' believe it. The day before Kayden had tried to get him to walk to him and he would just plop down on his knees and crawl to him, so I was expecting his first steps to be days/weeks or so away. But he must have just gotten the courage and done it. I could tell he was "ready" for awhile now, but he just wouldn't go for it. They were 8 tiny little steps and he was SO proud of himself! Mommy cheered and cried and laughed all at once. I was so happy for him because he was so proud of himself but inside I was kind of sad that he was taking this leap to big boy land. We called daddy (who was on his way home from work and was pretty sad he missed it) and told him the big news. When daddy got home he showed him his new moves and walked 3 steps to him. Since Thursday he has been walking 3-5 steps pretty frequently when we ask him to walk to us or just as he plays when he doesn't realize we are watching. And yesterday he walked 12 steps to Kayden which made Kayden SO happy that he walked more steps to him than he did to mommy. I'm SO happy I was there to witness his first steps and that I wasn't out shopping or something random and missed this big monumental moment in my little guys life. Congrats baby boy! You are so cute with your tiny little steps and the big smile you put on your face as you wobble towards us! Love you!

"I Love You Kayden"

Today Kayden played. With a buddy, at the park. This is big for my little man who left his diaper friends when we moved from AZ to KS. He had friends he had known since he was too small to move on his own, other than a roll across the floor. Friends who he learned to talk with, crawl with, walk with, and get into trouble with. Those little ones have forever carved a spot in my heart, we pray for them daily. We think of them often. We love them big time. They are "his diaper friends". I am so very happy for each little friend he had in Arizona. Together they learned the very early dance of sharing, playing, fighting and loving someone outside of your little family circle. Those mommies were my village when I was first becoming a mommy. They were there for me to cry with. Laugh with. And discover who I was as a mommy. Being a Mommy....This brand new thing to me that was more important than anything else I had ever done in my life.

And now we moved. Although I was very happy with this move b/c it brought me back to my beloved seasons and closer to our families. Leaving our friends was hard. (and I do miss the shopping too:) So Kayden and I have gotten to carve our way through this together. Making new friends and finding a village that works for us in this new, very different place. This has at times been hard for my little guy. He misses his familiar. He misses those littles that he saw at the very least weekly, usually every couple days. But preschool has helped with the transition. He is now talking about his new friends almost everyday and I can tell his heart is healing from the loss of his AZ home and "family". He is telling me less often that he wants to go see his friends in AZ and more often that he wants to play with his school friends. In a way this makes me sad, that they are becoming less of a focal point, but I know it's healthy and what is needed.

So today after preschool we went to the park with Andrew. Andrew is apparently his best buddy at school, along with Cooper, Mia and Taylor. It's interesting watching these friendships develop outside of mommies helping them form. When your in diapers, your mommy chooses who she has fun with and you then "get" to play with those littles. When school starts.....the kiddos pick their friends and then the mommies "get" to hang out during playdates. Funny how that works:) Luckily for me Andrew's mommy couldn't be any sweeter. She and I could talk for hours so I'm glad Kayden and Andrew clicked so well:)

At the park as we were going to see the geese, Andrew looked back at Kayden and said "I love you Kayden." and Kayden in return said "I love you too Andrew". My heart melted. For two reasons, 1) I LOVE that they are so innocent that they can tell another "guy" that they "love" him and 2) My little man is adjusting and will be okay. He is finding local besties that will make his days happier and I am so very happy about that!

(on a side......I look over at the park and he and Andrew are at the drinking fountain drinking out of a plastic bubble container they found on the ground. That put this mama's OCD into OVER DRIVE! I was that crazy mom screaming across the park for them to stop. Hope that doesn't make Andrew's mommy re-think her friendship with me:) Funny the things kiddos will do with another little one at their side encouraging them! Ewwww Ewww Ewww!!)

Booty!

Pretty sure Breck has the cutest booty around.

"MOOOOOOOOOOO"

Today as we were driving in to town Kayden told me "roll down the window mom so I can talk to the cows". So I did. And I hear "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" over and over. Then he says "do you think they heard me? do you think they understand me? why aren't they talking back?"
Awww the imagination of a 3 year old is the best. The things he comes up with keep me laughing daily. So blessed to have that little soul warming my heart every moment of every day.