It's FUN to be ONE!

It is, in fact, FUN to be ONE! Why not? I mean come on- the whole idea is to take cake and ice cream and SLAM it into your own face for the FIRST time and just wallow in it. So Blayne, Caden and I marched ourselves to the newest cupcake place in town- Delasandri's Gourmet Cupcakes- we bought 4 different kinds -to let Caden try-...Blayne insisted on carring them upstairs...see above...we ate them anyway, of course- he's one, he didn't seem to notice.

It was truly a beautiful moment- he was thrilled. As far as gifts, as a second child (sorry buddy) we tried to stick to 1.) things we didn't already have, and 2.) things we really needed. Yes, bowls were scarce in our kitchen- but hey, they were a hit!!!

These one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish shoes were too much for momma to resist...

And finally, cake time! I have Caden J. pegged as a vanilla man, but Blayne chose who got which cupcakes. Chocolate it was.

Ah yes, oh happy day; messy, chocolaty bliss.

The annual illegal picture in front of the police station.

And so goes the celebration- PARTY ON!

Even Zaza made it for the special day! After all, she was here last year!

What, other than bowls and cake, does a one year old really want? Freedom to pull as many wipes or tissues out of the box as he wants, of course!! And, yes, he did make it all the way to the bottom before he crashed at nap time.

Aw yeah, fun to be one for sure! Happy 1st birhtday Caden J.

"Momma, you're really TALL!?!"

To celebrate momma being officially out of her 20s, daddy went all out! As you might guess, daddy, Blayne and Caden picked out the perfect new cruiser bike for me!

Title explanation: There are a lot of September birthdays for the Miller-Springsted crew: Tia, Mia, Bucca, Kennedy and Mommy. So, as we went from one to the next, I kept telling Blayne that I was turning 30. While putting her to bed the night before my big day, she looked at me and said, "Momma, tomorrow's your birthday, right?" "Right", I said. "You're 30," she replied, "you're really tall."

Daddy managed to get me the day off work and we spent it together enjoying the offerings of the city of Houston including the Museum of Natural Science and the Children's Museum of Houston. It was a great day, we even stopped on the way home for some Korean BBQ- yummm!!

Late afternoon we headed to Kemah to enjoy a cocktail at the Flying Dutchman and took the kids to the playground. On the way home we planned to stop at Target and get some food to cook dinner and relax...or not. We missed the turn to Target (odd...) and as we approached the stop sign at the local pavilion, daddy's grand plan was unveiled. A SURPRISE PARTY! It was a great party- daddy had arranged for food, fun, friends and even a band! It was a great day.

Thanks again to daddy and everyone for a great 30th birthday!

Daddy of the Year!

We were all set up to go on a group camping trip when Daddy opened his mouth and out slipped "if you don't want to go, I'll take the kids and you can stay home."

I don't think he had finished the sentence before my bag was unpacked. It's not that I am opposed to camping, and I truly regret missing a weekend away with my babies, but I have not had much of an opportunity to be by myself in, well, about 3 and a half years.

On top of everything, he managed to snap some shots to document the occasion. However, I have very little idea of where they were or what they did...I probably should have let Ian write this post.

I know one day they loaded everybody up in the Chronister's RV and drove to a cajun festival. I got a media message that even showed Caden's carseat strapped into what I can only assume was a couch...

A nap?!? At the same time?!?...Now he is just gloating- I have never been able to accomplish that. Hooray for you daddy, and thank you for some time off!

The bloggers thank you too (whether they know it or not) because it was a big push to getting even this close to caught up.

Caden.0

In our visit with the Schenck's, Aunt Peggy was telling us about a comedian they like, Daniel Tosh, and his TV show Tosh.O.

We were, ironically, hopelessly, looking for something-anything to watch one weekday evening and came across this masterpiece. If you've never seen it, I highly suggest a trial viewing. Keep in mind, it's on late, so not exactly kid friendly...

One weekly segment is the "Video Breakdown". Relatively self explanatory- so when I came across this series of photos, I couldn't help myself. Here is my verion of a:

"Photo Breakdown"

Ok. So, Caden is definitly doing something he is not supposed to do.

How is he so tall?

Is that a donut?

Please tell me this won't end badly...

Let's find out in this "Photo Breakdown".

A baby opening a drawer- ok, relatively normal. Of course, had his parents properly baby proofed their house, none of this would have happened.

K- he's managed to get himself into the drawer, remove some applesauce and pose for the camera. He obviously knows he's being watched.

Perhaps the original intent was not to feed the dogs...but simply to chow down on some awesome kids snacks, but alas, eating through the plastic proved too challenging.

Moving up in the world. Next drawer- iced animal crackers- SCORE!

What's this?

Got it! Awesome!

I could eat it, you know...I am a growing boy...

NAW- more fun to feed to the "mon-tees".

Yes, yes, this poor child's parent went so far as to pick up the camera instead of their child, and for that....we thank you.

Long Lost Friends

Well, it only took 3 years for the Schenck and the Miller family to finally coordinate their schedules and get together for a visit!

Mind you, after all that time, I didn't manage to get a photo of all of us together. Heck, forget together, I don't even have digital proof that we were in the same place at the same time! I assure you however, we were. I know we posed for a shot of the 8! of us, but it must be in someone else's digital photo album.

What can I say?- it was wonderful to see them- meet sweet Julian, and spend some time catching up. We adore them, miss them and wish the miles between us were less. I wish I had gotten more photos of the kids together. We promised to not let it be so horribly long until we meet again...perhaps somewhere fun and tropical?

PA bound

Late August we made a trip up north to good 'ole PA. This is a mixed up collage of photos from our adventure!

Rub a dub dub, 3 kids in a tub! There were so many ADORABLE shots of these 3, but alas, in today's age we can only post "clean" photos...no pun intended...well maybe a little one ;-)

We cooked, we drove...

we played,

we ate, we shared (sort of),

we brainstormed (and finally figured out who Caden looks like),

(no doubt who he acts like...)

we swam,

we relaxed,

we smiled,

we drank and were merry,

we celebrated b-days for Bucca, Mia, Mommy and Kennedy,

It was wonderfully fun...

and exhausting.