Tussleberry Pie....

My family is one with many nicknames. Easton, himself, has DOZENS of nicknames. One of Ryan and I's many nicknames for him is "Easton-Toe" or "E-Toe" for short (long story as to how that came about). One of my parent's many nicknames for him is "Tussle" or "Tuss" for short. Out of that nickname came the bizarre song we made up called "Tussleberry Pie" - hence the title of this post. I fear Easton is going to want to disown us all by the time he's 3. Ha! Hey, we may be crazy, but we're fun....right!? :-P

This picture was taken last Thursday night. Our baby looks SO big in his swing! I am going to have to find a picture of him at a couple weeks old in his swing to compare this picture to. He is all smiles in this picture, we love how easily he smiles....

Last Saturday we went shopping in downtown Rockford and then went to Red's on the River for dinner. I wanted a picture, but Easton was more interested in the river and wanted no part of picture taking!!!! STINKER! :-)

Ryan, letting me know what he thought of the sangira I ordered. Sangria = yummy. Thank goodness he helped me drink it because 1/2 glass of sangria = shnuckered Kami.

Grampy engaging in tomfoolery and horseplay....Hence Easton's bunny ears.

Then on Sunday we relaxed at Grammy and Grampys with some family and friends. Cards, food, boat rides and a bonfire. The boys were excited for the day!

*And then last night we introduced Easton to his first Baby Einstein movie! Baby Beethoven! We don't like him watching tv, but we made an exception for this dvd and he loved it as you can see!

*By the way, Ryan is NOT wearing a silky satin shirt! LMAO Dad! It's a regular dress shirt....

Last Week: A Review

Last week was a doozy - so busy! The hustle and bustle of life has certainly worn out our little E-toe (as we call him). He has been a VERY sleepy babe for the past 3 days!

A week in review....

Tuesday, after running around town like a mad woman with my babe in tow, Easton, Ritzy and I took a walk to enjoy the warm and sunny day. Easton looked so cute in his "big boy" cap and shirt, I had to snap a pic!

Easton wanted me to show you a picture of him blowing bubbles too, he loves blowing bubbles, I don't love constantly cleaning his shirts because they are full of drool from all of his bubbles. :-) Okay, I lied, how can you not love doing baby laundry - everything is so cute and little!

On Wednesday Easton and I had a lovely play date with my friend Kristen and her 3 month baby boy, Ethan. Afterwards, Easton decided he wanted to relax and "veg" while scouring the Pottery Barn catalog for some new furniture for mom and dad.

Daddy decided Pottery Barn was not appropriate reading material for Easton, so instead, they kicked back with a little "Over In The Ocean" ....

On Saturday we took Easton to Countryside Greenhouse to get flowers for our pots and after planting them all we had friends over for dinner and games. All of this excitement tuckered my boys right out.

Then, on Sunday, Ryan and I had Easton dedicated at church. It was a lovely service and Easton got all sorts of "Ooos" and "Awwwws" when he was shown on the big screens (of course!) Afterwards we celebrated at my parent's house with some friends and family. It was really a special day having Easton dedicated.

Coming up is the long holiday weekend - I hope you all have a fantastic weekend and enjoy the gorgeous weather!

Mother's Day Musings....

I hope everyone had a beautiful Mother's Day. I know I sure did. This Mother's Day was extra special because it was my first official Mother's Day (last Mother's Day I was newly pregnant).

It struck me on Mother's Day that I am now an official member of the elite group of superheroes that are often referred to as "Mommy", "Mama" and/or "Mom". Labor and delivery was my "initiation" into the group and I feel like Mother's Day was my "graduation" from my old (childless) life, to this fantastic new world of burp cloths, breast pumps and peepee teepees.

This elite group of superheroes that I am now apart of, we aren't too hard to spot.... We wear the spot of spit-up on our shoulder like a badge of honor. The stretchmarks on our breasts, they are our war wounds. The glorious sack of giggly glee hanging from our left arm? That beautiful bundle is our prize and is the glorious little person who makes us the superhero we are, mommy.

Until I had Easton, I never could fully understand the power of a mother's love. I shared my feelings of overwhelming love and joy for my son with my mother the other day. As I spoke about him, tears came to my eyes and I couldn't finish what I wanted to say. There were no words. I told my mom that couldn't even begin to describe how I feel being Easton's mommy and the love I have for him. And then in a beautiful moment, a moment that I will forever tuck away in a precious "mental box" for safekeeping, my mother looked at me and smiled so warmly, tears in her eyes, and said, "That is how I feel about you."

I love you so much mom. Thank you for your love, your faith, your encouragement, your style, your silliness and your grace.

Me and my husband's "mini-me" on Mother's Day 2008

Kami
Mommy to a chunky little gigglebox and a white puffball obsessed with anything squeaky

Testosterone amongst the Estrogen....

Last night some girlfriends and I threw a surprise bridal shower for our friend Lisa. She is getting married on June 7 in a gorgeous outdoor wedding and is having the same big band play at her reception that we had play at ours - can't wait!

Anyway....Ryan decided to stay from the estrogen-filled event (smart man!), so Easton was the sole testosterone amongst us crazy ladies. Of course, cute as he is, my girlfriend Sandy (we refer to her as "Auntie Sandy") could not stop snapping pictures of our little man and he completely ate up the attention (of course!)

The pictures she took were so cute, I had to share them! (Credit: Sandy Duryea Photography)

Lake Bug....

Ryan and I are embarking on a new adventure. Ryan has been lusting over a piece of lake property for a while now (ever since my parents got their lake house) and yesterday we decided to pull the trigger on it. So now the two of us are the proud owners of Lot 2 of Cranberry Lake Court!

Cranberry Lake is located in Wright Township and is bisected by Ottawa and Kent Counties near Sparta. It is an all sports lake and we're looking forward to enjoying it with our family.

We took some pictures of our lot and the lake today!

A view of the lake from our lot....

My dad walking down the side of the lot

Ritzy surveying the land, it got his paw of approval!

There are 6 lots, this is the only one who has built so far, they will be our neighbors!

Us on the lot, obviously, very excited. :-)

And....last Thursday we went up to Big Rapids to visit Easton's Uncle Kolby at school to celebrate his 21st. By the end of the evening, Easton wanted to show those big college boys that he could "hang"....the end result? ....

Heart melting....

I had to share....

The other night Ryan and I were at my parent's house. My mom and I had just changed Easton's diaper and he was laying on the floor in their kitchen nook on his back and my mom was sitting on one side of him and I was laying down on the opposite side of him on my side.

So Easton was lying there and I was talking to my mom when she started to laugh and pointed for me to look at my little E-man. Easton could hear me talking, but couldn't see me since he was on his back, so he rolled himself over to his side so he could see me and was staring at me with that big toothless smile of his.

My heart melted. He was looking for mommy - and rolled over to find her. Not a big deal to you all, I am sure. But to me, it was heart melting. My heart does lots of melting these days. :-)

Special Day

Today, May 1st, is a very special day for two reasons....

Reason #1. Today is my brother, Kolby's 21st birthday! Happy Birthday bubba! Can't wait to see you tonight to celebrate! We love you!!!!

Reason #2 why today is so special....because one year ago today, Ryan and I received the best news of our lives....

(yes we took a pic with the pregnancy tests, we weren't excited at all!)

Now a year later we are in love with the best gift of our lives....

We're so blessed God gave us you E-toe :-)