Last night, the three of us headed to Siloam Springs to visit some friends from our church in Benton who were there for children's camp. Our church used to take the youth there when I was in middle school, so I spent a few summers at Siloam. I had not been there since I was in 7th grade ('97), so I was very excited to go tonight. Pretty sure not ONE THING has changed. As a matter of fact, we walked into the worship center and I remembered the smell! It smells exactly like it did when I went. Weird how smells trigger your memory!
Brody was trying to wake up from the 30 minute car ride.
This is my friend, Laurie. She is the Preschool/Children's Minister for the church. I interned under her my senior year of college. It was my dream job....until I had a baby, of course! I also started babysitting for Laurie's son Shawn when he was 6 months old and I was about to be a Senior in high school. We go way back! :) She is one of my favorite friends. We still see each other when we go to Benton every month and we text message several days a week, so we stay in good contact.
We went to the worship service. It was great! The music was wonderful and the speaker was great as well. It's funny how a message intended for children can speak to adults as well. I really enjoyed it!
Brody LOVED the praise music! It was SO LOUD and we were worried he would cry, but he laughed and squealed the entire time. Josh put him on his shoulders so he could see. He LOVED it! He got so excited that when it was time to sit down for the message, he kept squealing and laughing. I tried to put his paci in his mouth so that he would stop, but he pulled it out and started laughing again! So he and Josh went outside and strolled around for a while. 
This is my friend, Laura Kate. Today is her 9th birthday! Our families were good friends from chuch. I also taught her swimming lessons one summer while I was in college. She is such a cutie! She got so excited when she saw me tonight! She gave me a big hug, then she asked me if Brody was my baby. Later in the night, she leaned over and asked me how many kids I had! Haha! She said it had been a really long, long time since she had seen me because she said I wasn't even pregnant the last time she saw me. I told her the last time we saw each other was my wedding which was almost 2 years ago. She said that was a really long time ago. I loved it! Glad it felt like a long time to her because it sure has flown by for me!
We got there about 6:40 and met up with our friends, so we could attend evening worship with them.
This is my friend, Laurie. She is the Preschool/Children's Minister for the church. I interned under her my senior year of college. It was my dream job....until I had a baby, of course! I also started babysitting for Laurie's son Shawn when he was 6 months old and I was about to be a Senior in high school. We go way back! :) She is one of my favorite friends. We still see each other when we go to Benton every month and we text message several days a week, so we stay in good contact.We went to the worship service. It was great! The music was wonderful and the speaker was great as well. It's funny how a message intended for children can speak to adults as well. I really enjoyed it!
Brody LOVED the praise music! It was SO LOUD and we were worried he would cry, but he laughed and squealed the entire time. Josh put him on his shoulders so he could see. He LOVED it! He got so excited that when it was time to sit down for the message, he kept squealing and laughing. I tried to put his paci in his mouth so that he would stop, but he pulled it out and started laughing again! So he and Josh went outside and strolled around for a while. This is my friend, Laura Kate. Today is her 9th birthday! Our families were good friends from chuch. I also taught her swimming lessons one summer while I was in college. She is such a cutie! She got so excited when she saw me tonight! She gave me a big hug, then she asked me if Brody was my baby. Later in the night, she leaned over and asked me how many kids I had! Haha! She said it had been a really long, long time since she had seen me because she said I wasn't even pregnant the last time she saw me. I told her the last time we saw each other was my wedding which was almost 2 years ago. She said that was a really long time ago. I loved it! Glad it felt like a long time to her because it sure has flown by for me!We had a fun time catching up with friends. They were going to have pizza at 9:30 during their group time, but we couldn't stay that late with Brody, so we left after worship and stopped and got really healthy snack...hamburgers, fries and diet cokes. They were really good though!
Julee and Me
Rachel and Evan (Julee's brother) and Blake and Leslie
He was probably thinking, "Oh no! Not another camera!"
Brandon and Jill
My mom and Julee's mom
Rachel is a perfect mix of Martha Stewart and a 1950's housewife. She was like that all through college. We made her cut the cake since we knew she would do it correctly! Haha! Thanks, Rachel. 
Then, I looked over and she was laying on the wood floor letting him grab her face. It cracked me up! 
Brody's birthday plates, napkins and bib came in yesterday. I was excited to get them! They are so cute in person. I am getting very excited about his first birthday, even though I cannot believe it's almost here! 
I am going to have his name monogrammed on his bib in yellow. I think it will be cute for him to wear when he eats his cake. 
Also, I want to wish Julee a happy birthday! She is just the most precious friend. I love that God placed her in my life when he did. I think you have a few friends that feel like family, and Julee is defintely one of those people to me. I am so thankful for a friend who loves my family and me as much as Julee does. Happy Birthday, Julee! We love you soooo much and cannot wait to celebrate with you tonight! 
This is one of my very favorites from the day he was born. This is the very first time I held him. I LOVE this picture!
Here is a picture of Amanda's cake table. The colors for the wedding were black and apple green. So pretty and so summery!
Brody ate his first peach while we were there. He has had it pureed but never whole. He liked it a lot!
Saturday afternoon, we ran over to visit my grandparents for a little while. Brody had a lot of fun trying to destroy my grandmother's perfect house. I think I held my breath every time he reached for something! 
Pretty sure I never got to stand on the dining room table when I was little! :)
We also went to visit our friends, Zach and Beth, and their new baby girl, Blakely. She was born almost 2 weeks ago. I loved getting to hold her. When people came to visit us after Brody was born they would say they couldn't remember their babies being newborn and as small as Brody. I remember thinking that was so weird, but Saturday I had that moment. She is only 1 oz bigger than Brody was at birth. I looked at Josh and said I couldn't remember Brody being that small. I seriously cannot. It's so weird. It made me sad because I know he is growing so fast. 
This flower headband is one of the gifts we took to baby Blakely. Her daddy is a 5th year senior on the UCA football team. Their school colors are purple and black, so I thought she could wear this to his games this fall. I was so excited to finally have a reason to buy one because I LOVE them! I also bought her some tiny little zebra print Mary Janes. I decided I loved shopping for girls and I'm thinking we need a sweet girl one day....just not anytime soon!:)
Sunday we went to church and I finally took a picture of Brody in the nursery. I never take my camera inside with me, but I stuck it in my purse this morning and got a picture of him when I went to pick him up. 
I was at Rick's Bakery yesterday ordering some cakes for a few birthdays over the next couple of weeks and I talked to my friend that I have made there. She is VERY excited about the one year cake and said she cannot wait to start planning. We talked and I think I am going to take in some of the plates, napkins, etc when they come in and start working on a cake. You think I'm crazy, which is fine, but you realize I have a lot to live up to with this party since the boy has a monthly birthday party also. I have lots of little idea that I think are going to come together to make a super cute party.
These are chalk glassware. You write names, etc on the chalkboard part. I really liked these and I wondered if I could do them myself, so I went to WM and bought some super cheap tea glasses to practice on. A set of 4 glasses was only $2, so I didn't feel bad if I messed them up or they didn't turn out. I just painted them with chalkboard paint. It was super easy. I am pretty pleased with the way they turned out, although I think if I make them again, I will do a bigger square. I think it would be even better if I had some super cute glasses. Now that I know what I am doing, I might try some nicer ones. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to use if we had people over or just for Josh and I so we don't get our glasses switched. 
Brody had his 9 month pictures outdoors tonight . It was our third attempt to take them. The first appointment was canceled because it was 102 degrees close to picture time. The second time it was cancelled due to the large knot he was sporting last week, so we were very happy to finally to take them tonight! Here is a pic of me and my boy before we left the house.
Before we left, Brody and Josh were eating marshmallows and at one point it looked like he was trying to play chubby bunny! It was hilarious!
Yay for tomorrow being Friday! 
