A Long Celebration...

We have had so much fun celebrating Tatum's first Birthday!! It started on Wednesday where we took him to the Aquarium in Sandy for the first time. We went with all of Tatum's cousins and they had a blast! Tatum loved to see all of the fish...he especially loved the Jellies and the Sharks!! Afterwards we all went to Burger King for some dessert.

On Thursday we had Tatum's party. We had family and a few friends over for pizza and cake and opened presents. Tatum had so much fun opening his gifts...although we could of just gotten him a balloon and he would have been happy. Then Tatum got his first taste of birthday cake! He dug right into it, it was everywhere!!(Shannon I tried to make a cool birthday cake with no success! It was a disaster and I ran out of time...so that explains the lame Birthday Cake :( Thanks for your help though!)

Today we went to visit Dr. Arnold for Tatum's 1 year check. He is finally on the charts...his weight is 19.5 lbs and is in the 10th % !! That is huge for a kid that was always 0% for weight :) Tatum has grown so much in the last month or two. He is now so close to walking...he can figure out how to get anywhere in the house just by scaling the walls. He also has been learning so much, he says uh-oh and knows what a dog and a horse say. It is so weird to think that I have a 1 year old...it doesn't even seem like that long ago when I was in the hospital anxiously awaiting Tatum's arrival. We have come a long way.

Happy Birthday!!!

I just want to take a quick second to wish my baby boy a
HaPpY BiRtHdAy!!!

I dont have time to do a full post right now, but expect in the next day or two some pics from his Birthday!

House Arrest!!

So for the past week or so I have been feeling a little under the weather. I have realized just how pathetic I really am. I would like to use the excuse that I have been sick, but it probably wouldn't be all that true. Yesterday I noticed that since Sunday night, I have been stuck at home. I literally have left my house once in 5 days and that was to go to Costco. Wow that is sad. Well I thought that I was due for a new post and since my life obviously hasn't been very exciting, I thought I would share a few things that have helped me keep my sanity during my "House Arrest"...

1. Cleaning my house, which is somehow always messy....



2. My "Friends" DvDs...

3. Scrap booking...



4. Oprah... 5. And Dr. Phil...

6. Video taping Tatum doing funny things...(Which I cannot figure out how to put on my blog if anyone has any pointers)



7. And anxiously awaiting Dad's arrival from work...

Happy Valentines Day!!

I just wanted to do a quick post for Valentines Day. When Eric and I were dating we always thought that Valentines Day was kind of a dumb holiday. Eric thought that there shouldn't be just one day out of the year that you do nice things for your "SwEeTheArT"...that you should do these things everyday. Well on this day 3 years ago our minds changed about this holiday. Today we celebrate the anniversary of our EngAgeMenT!! It is kind of nice to know that today we don't just do nice things for each other because thats what society wants us to do...we have a reason to celebrate!
Lately I have been complaining that none of my clothes fit me and that I need to go shopping. Well today Eric surprised me with a much needed shopping spree!!! I am so excited...this is the perfect gift. Eric is the best husband, he is too good to me... even when I don't deserve it! I am so happy to have him in my life and look forward to an EteRnitY with him! I love you babe!!

Welcome Home Jake

This was such an exciting weekend because Eric's brother Jake came home from his mission!! On Friday night we slept over at Eric's parents house so that we could wake up early and help clean their house and get ready for Jake to come home. Well after a stressful morning we finally got to the airport and brought balloons and signs to await Jake's arrival. It was so exciting to finally see him again! My favorite part was seeing Hunter run up to Jake and give him a hug...he missed him so much! It was so cool to see him meet his new nephews for the first time!
After the airport we went back to Eric's parents house and looked at pictures and heard stories from his mission. Bolivia is such an amazing mission...each missionaries goal is 5 baptisms a month! While his parents were in Bolivia, Jake had 4 baptisms alone! We all are so proud of him! Everyone helped Jake return to "normal" life by introducing him to the Wii and watching his first Jazz game. Its fun to see him adjust to life in the real world again!

Mischevious boy

The other day we got a taste of what Tatum will be like eating his birthday cake on his 1st birthday! Eric's sister Rachel gave Tatum an Oreo cookie...he has never had one before. I let it slide this time only because it was a new experience and he is almost 1! Lets just say he LoVeD It!!!

Lately Tatum has been walking, of course while holding on to something! This is his favorite thing to do. He could be screaming while I am holding him, but the second I put him down he is just fine! Now that he knows how to move around, he has been getting into EverYtHinG! The other day I was doing laundry and he was in his room playing, the next thing I know he was pulling the clothes out of the dryer. He moves so fast! Another time he was in my room and I went to throw away something outside. Well I came inside to see he at the top of the stairs smiling and waving at me!! I freaked out!! I now have to constantly watch him. He is such a mischievous boy!!!

Farwell beloved Prophet

One of the most memorable experiences of my life happened today. After I heard that President Hinckley has passed away I decided that I wanted to go to his viewing. I new that it probably be an all day event, but so worth it.
Well I heard through a friend that it only took about 20 minutes to go through and to leave bags and strollers in the car to get in faster. We got all ready and left the house at about 2:00pm and decided to grab some food on the way. We got on the freeway and I just felt that maybe we should go straight there and get there before it got too late. An hour later we reached the conference center and saw enormous lines outside. We waited for about an hour outside in the cold, with Tatum. Finally we got inside where they seated us while we waited to see the Prophet. An usher told us that it would probably be another hour and a half sitting before we could go upstairs. After about 10 minutes we got up to leave thinking that Tatum would never sit for that long... remember we didn't have a diaper bag with toys or treats. As we were walking out the sweetest lady who was an usher asked us why we were leaving. After telling her that we had been here for an hour and a half already and that Tatum wouldn't sit any longer, she told us to follow her out. She took us to an elevator and told us that we have gotten this far and shouldn't miss out on this great experience. We got off the elevator thanking her and got to the room where President Hinckley's body was. A sudden flow of emotions hit me like a ton of bricks! I couldn't even see him yet but I just felt the spirit so strong. We were put right in line to see him, he was only a few feet away. I stood inches away from his body with tears streaming down my face. I felt such strong emotions and not because I was sad, I was so overcome with joy! I stood there thinking of all the wonderful things this man has done and then I just knew that what I was feeling was his spirit. It was such an amazing feeling and something that I will never forget as long as I live.
Looking back at these events, we realized that we witnessed a miracle. If we had stopped to get food on the way or walked out a few moments later, we would have missed this lady and would not have seen President Hinckley. Its just amazing how the Lord works and I am so glad that we followed our intuition.