Can you guess which one??

 "God creates twins whenever he makes a face he really likes"- The Family Circus

 Can you guess which one is Ken?

That's right my adorable husband is a twin. They don't look very much a like anymore but when I first met them they looked so similar, not as much though when they were little. I wish I had some pictures of the two of them but all I have our home movies and they melt my heart. They were the most adorable blonde haired blue eyed little boys I have ever seen.  Their Mom used to tell me it was so hard to tell them apart that she would have to look for Ken's birthmark. Their twin-ness fascinates me and even more so when they have eerily similar experiences. Case in point, when we were visiting in Idaho Eric (Kens twin brother) was showing us a recent scar on his hand that ran in between his thumb and index finger he received from work. Ken and I looked at each other and with what seemed like what should have had twilight zone music playing in the background we showed Eric Ken's scar he had recently received from work... in the exact same spot. Neither one of them had known about the others injury. I often wonder what it will be like for Kevin and Eric's daughter as they grow up and see someone who looks so similar to their father, or if they will even notice. Am I the only one who finds twins absolutely fascinating?

Sleeping Beauty

Is there anything more beautiful than a sleeping baby? His sweet little chubby baby hands holding his blanket, snuggling so fiercely. His cute baby lips sucking his thumb (which he only does when snuggling his blanket). I love this baby so much.

Baby Carson

Memorial day is a day to honor fallen veterans who have died fighting for our country. Some people including myself and my family would spend Memorial day placing flowers on graves of deceased family members and honoring their memories. Two years ago my family had a terrible loss. My nephew Carson passed away after just being with us here on earth for 76 days. I think about him often, especially on holidays. Today marks the 2 year anniversary of Carson's passing and being that it is also Memorial day,  I would like to honor and remember baby Carson with this post followed by a poem (revised) I wrote last year.

 

I was there the day you were born, my little Carson Lee.
I took your first pictures and held you tight, my heart was full of glee.

 

 

Such a beautiful and precious baby, a bundling gift from God.
So happy and content you were, and everyone was awed.

 

 

We knew you were amazing, you melted all our hearts.
We never could imagine we would ever be apart.

 

 

I remember when I heard the news, I fell to the ground and cried,
I couldn't even fathom someone so young had died.

 

 

You blessed us with your presence for exactly 76 days,
You blessed us with your presence in so many different ways.

 

 

We still can not believe you're gone, not even after two years,
and as I write this and think of you I wipe away the tears.

 

 

We hope you're looking down on us our angel from above.
We can still feel you all around, and hope you feel our love.

 

 

Please know how much we love you, and miss you every day.

                                         Look down on us from heaven and listen as we pray.

 

We may never know why, you were taken from us here,
But we find comfort in knowing you're with our Lord up there.

 

 

Your Auntie Shell loves and misses you very much Carson.

City boy with a country heart

Growing up in Idaho I always dreamed of what it would be like to live in a big city. Now that I know I have to admit although I do like living in the city I still miss country life. I'm hoping that eventually we can make it back and live somewhat close to the country once this military life is over until then I have to rub off a little country life on Kevin whenever I can. Last weekend we went to the Chesapeake Jubilee (very similar to a fair). We saw a ton of animals which Kevin absolutely LOVED and then I had to grab some pictures of Kevin on some John Deere tractors. As I saw him smiling on top of the tractors it made my heart melt and I couldn't help but think of my Grandfather.

 I was so happy when I saw him light up being on the tractor, he loved them.

The sun was in his eyes but I can't get enough of this smile.

He's so adorable I just can't stand it!!

Popsicles

Kevin LOVES popsicles!! We buy the mini slow melts and let him go outside with them which he since he loves to be outside he especially loves it. These pictures are of his first popsicle experience I was surprised by how well he did with it. He didn't try to move around to much, he seemed like he knew exactly what to do with it, sucking just a little bit at a time. I love in the last picture how he sees the puddle of melted popsicle on the ground and looks up as to say "why is the popsicle gone"? We since then have started putting bibs on him even though the popsicle is slow melt he still managed to dribble quite a bit. Such a great welcome into summer; popsicles, flip flops, and shorts!!

I want to BLOG!!!

Kevin is napping, my house is clean (for the most part), and it's my day off. So blog I shall!! Last time I blogged about Kevin's 1st Birthday party in Idaho. His second 1st Birthday party was in WA with all of his cousins, my Dad, my Washington friends. It was an awesome party and a friend of mine named Rochelle made his cake and it turned out amazing.

 All I did was send her a picture of a cake I found online and she more than exceeded my expectations. I loved it. And it was the most amazing carrot cake I have ever tried.

 Kevin's little personal cake, so cute!

 The entire time we were in Washington Kevin had so much fun playing with his cousins and his Uncle Kaleb. I was surprised at how well he interacted and played with the other kids when he's not around kids that often.

 Here is Kevin trying to give Uncle Kaleb a kiss.

 Excited for more cake!!

 My sister Tara stopped at Baskin Robbins on the way to the party and grabbed these adorable clown cones.

 With the amount of older kids we had at this party we thought it would be fun to have a pinata. We found an awesome pirate ship one and everyone starting from young to oldest got a whack at it.

 Kaleb trying to get the ship.

 Adam loves pinatas and actually got a small part open which he was so excited for.

Overall Kevin had two amazing Birthday parties and I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with all of our family.

Kevin's (first) First Birthday!!

What a blessing it was to celebrate Kevin's first birthday with all of our family and friends in Idaho and then again in Washington. The first party we had for him was on his actual birthday April 3rd while we were in Idaho. We had it at my grandparents house and I was so excited because instead of presents I asked guests to write Kevin a letter which we are planning on saving and having him read when he his older (thinking 18 or 21), and every single guest wrote him one! I'm so excited for him to open and read them when he's older. We had so much family there and I'm sure you want to see pictures so here they are. . .

 Frame Matte for signatures, party hats, party favor boxes, and the box for his letters

 A lot of his decorations we ordered from 1stwishes.com and I was able to get most of the patriotic stuff from oriental trading on clearance!!

 His first encounter with balloons and he LOVED them!!

 His complimentary smash cake from Albertsons you receive when you purchase a regular cake. (Didn't notice I put the candle on backwards until I went through the pictures haha)

 At first he acted like he didn't know he was doing something allowed but after a few tries and us telling him it was o.k he went all in!

 Such a joyous day!!

 The awesome and delicious Albertsons cake.

 Giving daddy a nice yummy frosting loaded kiss.

 Having so much fun after he realized it was more fun to throw the cake then eat it. Luckily my Grandma had the super smart idea to put down an old shower curtain she had laying around.

It was such an amazing day and we had so much family there. Ken and I had amazing teamwork that day as well and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. After Kevin finished his cake I took his clothes off while Ken drew his bath, I passed him over and started cleaning up while Ken bathed him, our actions were smooth, and timed perfectly with each other. Not only did Kevin celebrate his first Birthday but Ken and I celebrated surviving the first year of parenthood. We've learned ways to work together, compliment each other and still work with our different parenting styles. It's been an amazing first year and I look forward to so many many more. This little boy is the love of my life and I thank God everyday for sending him to us and for giving me such an amazing husband to help me raise Kevin and for being there with me through this journey!