Happy Birthday, Beau!

My, oh my, how time has gone.  When parents tell you "Enjoy every minute, because it will fly by," they really aren't kidding.  I cannot believe it has already been a year since Beau was born.  Joe and I have been so blessed to have such a healthy, happy boy.  I honestly can't imagine life without Beau.  He has been the best thing to ever happen to us.  We love you so much Beau!  Happy birthday, baby!

Beau clearly had to become a Packers fan--so Grandma Michelle got him his very own Clay Matthews jersey :)

LOVES to push his car around!



Thank you Uncle Josh for the awesome "Happy Birthday" display of balloons!

So loved!

 

Beau and his "aunt" Dena share the same birthday!

 Getting excited to eat his cake!

"Aunt" Ashie even came home for his big day!

Cousin Banx dressed for the sailor theme :)

Aunt Joi loves to spoil little Beau-man!

Time to open gifts!  He wasn't too excited about tearing the paper, but he was definitely excited to play with the gifts!

I'm glad you have good taste like mommy and you keep a hold of that box---we love Von Maur!!!

Beau LOVED his wall of wheels!!!



Taking his gator for a ride around the room

 Beau and all (except for Gina, Alex and Houston) his "aunts/uncles".  These are the people that will show up at Beau's first football game :)

LOVED riding the gator down the sidewalk even though it made mommy extremely nervous!

Oh Puntin, where are your clothes?! :)

No drinking and driving Miss Banx!

 So excited to dig into that cake!

 Kept clapping when we were singing to him :)

  YUMMMM!

Happy Birthday, Beau!  We love you so much!

Beau's First Year

Carol's Pumpkin Patch 2012

 Last Friday I had a half day of school (due to parent-teacher conferences).  Brook and I decided it would be the perfect day to take the babies to Carol's Pumpkin Patch in Grinnell.  Beau LOVED the wooden car because, of course, it had wheels and tires for him to play with.  He didn't seem to care too much for the goats, but he sure loved the swing and snack time!

Beau just LOVED swinging in the car swing!  I think it was a hint that he wanted one for his birthday ;)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Stout!

Saturday, Grant and Alexa shared the best day of their life---their wedding. Even though it was a tad chilly, it was a beautiful, outdoor wedding. We are so happy for them and wish them a lifetime of happiness!  Congratulations you two!

Even though we didn't get any family pictures, the few we did get were priceless of Beau.  Yes, I did have him dressed in a three piece suit outfit :)

Beau loves posing with his Nana

He was a ham all night long!

Love my sister dearly

 

Loving Miss Mary's!

Brook sent me this picture last week when she went to pick up Banx from Mary's.  I must say, we do have the best daycare provider a mom/dad could ever ask for!  Mary is so good with our kids, she loves them, plays with them and SPOILS them!  I often receive text pictures throughout the week---which definitely makes it easier to be a full time working mom!  I love to see pictures of Beau and Banx playing together.  Knowing that these two will grow up together and always be each others best friend makes my heart melt.

Central Homecoming 2012 : Light It Up Dutch!

Being a Central Alum now, it makes me very proud to still participate in Central's activities and to stay involved with the school in any way possible.  I will never tell Beau WHERE he has to go to college, but I might give a little shove towards Central ;)

Last weekend was Central's Homecoming.  Friday night, we made a family event of it and went to watch the Lemming Race---oh the memories it brought back!  For those of you that don't know, the Lemming Race is a huge Central College tradition that happens every year during Homecoming.  Students dress up in the most ridiculous costumes and run from the library, to the pond.  They jump in the pond and swim/tread to the island as fast as they can then chant the fight song.  Saturday, Beau and I made it a mommy/son day and went to watch the football game to cheer on the Dutch.  I was surprised at how much Beau actually watched the game---maybe he will be a football player after all :)

Autumn Acres

 

A couple of weeks ago, our church hosted family night at Autumn Acres.  It was perfect weather for a perfect evening!  I took Beau and for being so little, he actually loved it!  He played in the corn box (Okay, it was more him EATING the corn than playing in it!) , we went down the huge slide, and he of course LOVED watching the wheels on the tractor rides.  We had a blast with Nana, Aunt Brookie, Uncle Austin, and best friend---Bankers :)