Mom....

I love being a mom. It is the most challenging yet rewarding experience of my life. I couldn't love my boys more than I do. They teach me so much and bring such happiness into my life. So every year I get so excited that my birthday and Mother's Day are so close together! I get spoiled two weeks in a row!!!

As I said before, for my birthday this year, Nathan and I got to got o the Carrie Underwood concert. And of course since their were no kids around, I didn't get any pictures of Nathan and I, but I did remember to get some of Carrie!! She put on a great show and I was so happy that we got to go. O also got to spend a night away from the kids!! Nathan kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday, and I would tell him all I want is a few hours by myself. Well he recruited his mom and they spoiled me with a night at a hotel and a massage the next day. It was HEAVEN!!! Although I did miss all 3 of my boys:)

Then, my sister flew out and surprised me. She took a shuttle from the airport and was sitting on our couch watching tv when we walked in from church. I think Carter was way more surprised than me, although we were both equally happy to have her here!! Once he realized who it was, he ran around screaming and laughing. I love it when my sister comes!! The next day for my actual birthday, we went out to dinner and had some cake.

I got to be a princess for the day...

For weeks before my birthday, Carter kept telling me he was going to get me a princess cake. He would ask me over and over who my favorite princess was, to which I would reply Belle, and he would say ok we are going to get you a Belle cake then!! But the store didn't do Belle, so he picked out his nice little Cinderella cake for me!! Such a sweet boy!!

Me and my prince!!!

My boys and I on Mother's Day...

Like I said... I LOVE being a mom!!! 

Grandma's in the house!!!

My mom came to see us the week of Chase's birthday. It was sooooo awesome to have her here!! No matter how old you get you still need your mommy!! We did a little shopping, ate some food, had Chase's party, played lots at home, and the big thing we did was go to the zoo. Carter really wanted to take her there for some reason. He talked about it for weeks before she came. She also watched the kids one night while Nathan took me to the Carrie Underwood concert for my birthday. I LOVE Carrie Underwood and we we found out she was coming here, I knew we had to go! My mom was thinking about coming out and hadn't decided when to come. So I called her and told her to come for Chase's party and to watch the kids for the concert!! And of course she agreed!! Yay for mommies!!!

Carter and his best buddy Davido... they came to the zoo with us

The famous polar bear who swims and does flips all day long! Carter's favorite!!

My little monkey and his favorite.. the monkeys

Snuggle time with Grandma on the tram! Love this face!

Davido loves Chase and rode in the stroller with him most of the time

Carter fell and scrapped his knee... Here is his sad face afterwards

The gorilla just taking a little snooze

These chimps were just laying like this when we walked up... I thought it was so cute!

One tired boy!

Lots of playing on Grandma's ipad...

And lots of stories read and snuggles given!! We LOVED having Grandma here and want her back!! We love you!!

Let's party!!!

For Chase's first birthday we had a monkey themed party. This little boy loves monkeys! He laughs and smiles every time he sees one, so I decided he would like that for this party.

Mommy and the birthday boy...

My attempt at monkey cupcakes.. they turned out alright, but not as good as I was hoping. The kids liked them though so that's all that matters right :)

The table... I had some food out on the counters, but I thought this would be cuter if the food was kept off...

We had to have some little monkeys and banana candies!

And here is the little man. I made him this shirt and I thought it turned out pretty cute!

These are Chase's girlfriends... Harper and Quinn

And here are Carter's girlfriends... Brooklyn and Hadley

Opening presents.... He kind of liked it, but mostly wanted to play with Brooklyn over the couch

And then it was cake time...

It took him a minute, but he got the hang of it...

Once he realized his hands were covered in frosting, he didn't like it as much... Carter did the same thing!!

He found his balloon, and that's all he wanted after that!!

He just kept looking at all the frosting on his hands...

It was really exhausting!

And here is his loot!!!

We were really excited because Grandma Woolf got to be here for the party. It was so fun to have her here! I can't believe my little monkey is one!! Time has gone so fast!! Happy birthday buddy!!!!