Happy Birthday! and New family pictures.

Holy cow. I cannot believe my little man is already one year old. It is almost shocking. We went and took some really great pictures and I am so excited to share some with you.

Here's the catch. That is going to be all you get for now. I'm not sure how best to display these. I want to order a large canvas, but we have so many already and we are running out of wall space. Plus I think Cory will kill me. So until I figure out what I am going to do, you just get this little teaser.

Easter style Color Festival

For Easter every year, the Hari Krishna temple in Spanish Fork has a Color Festival. Basically they make a ton of colored corn starch and throw it around making a huge mess and raising all kinds of money for the next year. It's surprisingly fun. The whiter the clothes you wear, the better.

What better way to celebrate Ace's first Easter than to experience some colored corn starch. Yeah. I took my 10 month old to the festival. It was fun. He was safe. We stayed in the back. Don't judge me (see super cute picture below, how can you not want some of that?)

Most people were super respectful and would either drop a little color on his back, or ask me if they could drop some on him. I was very impressed with the people. Ace seemed a bit skeptical. He is a people watcher and very much enjoyed watching all the people. Grandma Juls came with us and we had a super great time! I very much would love to do it again next year. I don't think I would take a little baby, but a 10 month old who can walk (and stay in the back) is probably not a big deal.

Broken

Yep, my age is finally getting to me. I still think I am super woman. I love playing soccer and probably always will, I just need to learn to do it like I'm getting older, not like I am still 17. On a side note, I did stop the guy from scoring... Just saying.

Ok so here's the story. I broke my shoulder. That sounds worse than it actually is. I broke my arm bone, near the shoulder. I went to dive, awkwardly, really awkwardly, and heard a very loud, very painful "POP". And then screamed.

We spent the better part of a few hours at the ER. Which wouldn't be so bad if our game wasn't an 11 o'clock game. We didn't get home until about 2am. But I was drugged and fell right asleep. I woke up grouchy and in pain, but what can you expect?

So what actually happened? My super strong shoulder ligaments tore the bone from where they connect to my arm bone. Sounds painful? Is painful. Here's to a few months recovering and praying that the ligaments themselves aren't torn.

New jobs means mom gets to be home more!

So Cory got a new job over the holiday season and started the 2nd of January. Which means that mom got a new job too. We actually switched jobs, kinda. Cory got a really good job with doTERRA as the Diamond Club Project Manager.

Which meant a few things: a) we needed someone to watch the baby, and b) my dad was out an employee. LIGHTBULB! I can come home and work for my dad. Thus eliminating the need for a babysitter and my dad won't be down an employee. Double score. I decided to still go in to doTERRA Wednesday's when Juls could babysit and Fridays when Lynne could.

The extra cool thing about this: we have essentially doubled our income. Which is extra awesome because we dug a small hole while I wasn't working after the baby was born. We won't recover overnight, but I can see it on the horizon.

Also, Cory's parents have been out to see us. They absolutely love being able to spend time with their grandkids (and kids) they spoil us rotten. From M&M's for me, to dad time for Cory, to small to-do's around the house, to more clothes and toys for Ace than we know what to do with. We sure do enjoy having them around, not just because they spoil us, but because it is nice to be around family. I wish Cory's family wasn't so far and scattered. I think he gets a little overwhelmed with my family being here and around all the time.

Aceson has mastered the army crawl. He is really quick too. It's only a matter of time before we are going to have to get some gates and lock this kid in.

December: The busiest month EVER

So let's run down the list of things we have done this month. Family pictures with the Hill's. It's been years, well maybe we never have, since we have done good family pictures and we decided to make a big, huge canvas for grandma Millie. I am actually super excited. Now that she has grown kids, and grown grandkids, and even quite a few great grands, it's about time she has a good family picture to look at and show off. The only person who couldn't make it was little Riker. Good thing Alesha is pretty good with editing and added him in like he had been there the whole time. No one will be able to tell he wasn't there for real.

Next we had my work dinner. Which was a lot of fun. Like usual. Giveaway's. Drawings. Good food. Good friends. Cute babies. Sounds like a great time. And it was.

Ace is trying to crawl. Yep, trying. He's not quite there yet, but if I put things in front of him and just out of reach, he stretches and twists and tries with all his might. He is able to scoot a few inches forward and gets better and better every day.

Hill family Christmas party. Baby's first Christmas is fast approaching. We opened our first presents and mostly Ace was interested in the paper (shocking right). Grandma opened her picture and loved it. She was so excited and happy to have a family picture. She said she hasn't had anything like that ever. So I am very glad that is what we decided to do.

Grandma Juls stayed the night Christmas eve because she had no where else to go. I am glad she did. I think it was really special for her to be around for Ace's first Christmas. Cory basically set him in the middle of the room and every time we opened a present he threw the paper in a pile around him. It was entertaining for a while, then the pile got bigger and Ace got less comfortable. He had a pretty good time though. Talk about spoiled. All of us really. We got a lot of things we didn't need or deserve, but are grateful for non the less.

Thanks everyone for making our first real "family" Christmas a really great one.

September/October/November

September:
This month, Cory (and Ace) had their very first real temple experiences. We went to the open house of the new Brigham City Temple with Heath and Linlea West. Then of course went out for some breakfast afterwards. It is a gorgeous temple. And Cory really enjoyed getting to see the inside for the first time.

We also got Aceson blessed this month. Grandpa Ron did the blessing. Ace cried, well screamed, the whole time. Then we had a great family bbq. Cory's parents were in town so we had all the families together. For as much strife as we were expecting, there really wasn't much.

October:
Ace is finally coming to terms with the carseat. As long as we can get a bink in his mouth (which he's starting to like also) and maybe a noisy toy above his head. Sometimes he plays and sometimes he falls asleep. There is a lot less screaming anymore.

We also experienced the baby's first snow this month. We woke up to almost 2 inches one morning and had to run out to take a picture. Ace was looking around and smiling and not really quite sure what to think. We might just have a snow bunny on our hands.

November:
Mobility! Yep the little man is starting to roll tactically. I mean he has been rolling for a while, but he is finally starting to realize that he can roll to actually get somewhere or something, not just to roll.

Dad and Ace planned out a great birthday for me this year. Took me out to dinner with our wonderful friends, the West's. Then for breakfast we went over to Kneader's for their wonderful cinnamon bread french toast. THEN Danaca and Phil watched the baby so we could have a night out at dinner and a movie. I am so lucky to have such a great hubby.

June/July/August

June:

Possibly one of the funniest moments with mom and dad and the whole diaper changing idea. I posted about it on Facebook. Here's what I said, "Little man peed all over the couch while getting his bum changed. So we decided it was a great time for a bath. Immediately after putting a diaper on, he proceeded to fill it. While dad was changing him, he decided to pee all over. Again. I love being a mom." But truly, I do.

I'm starting to make piles of clothes the little man has outgrown. I literally cried when I was pulling things out of the dresser. Cory laughs because he thinks I am too emotional about this sort of thing. Which might be a little true. But it is sad for me as a mom that my little baby is outgrowing newborn stuff. It's barely been 3 weeks.

July:

The little man is starting to sleep through the night. Which is a wonderful thing. It's not every night, but it's great when it happens. Most nights he gets up to nurse around 3:30 or 4. And with a 9 pm bedtime, that is a solid 6 hours. I also caught him laughing, yeah, full on laughing in his sleep. It was glorious.

Soccer season is starting up again and I am super excited. Although. We only have 20 spots on the varsity team, and two of them are for keepers, 16 spots on the JV team, and about 50 girls at try-outs. But with all the talent we have, it is going to be a wonderful season. I am very excited.

August:

I headed back to work this month. The good news is, it will only be part time every day. 10:30-2:30. And extra lucky for us, dad gets to stay home and be with you. The schedule actually works out well. He can meet me in Orem just in time for me to nurse for a bit, then onto soccer. The girls absolutely love having a mini-mascot around. We got Ace matching onzies to the team's t-shirts.