Last Thursday night, my family came over to celebrate Jill's birthday!
Jill requested chicken spaghetti, salad, green beans and rolls for her birthday meal.
It was fun having my family over for dinner. I don't know the last time I cooked for them. Maybe before Brody was born! Ha! I cook every month or so for Josh's family but never for my own. Even though my family is in the same town, we are all so busy that we don't eat together except every other Sunday. It was fun to eat with them on a week night. I think I will start having them over more often since my mom hand washed all my dishes while we watched the NFL draft. :) She is so sweet and so helpful! 
Josh and Brandon didn't move all night. They ate in front on the TV so they could watch the draft and then they played on their phones. Exciting night! Ha!
After eating, we had birthday cake from Rick's! 
Jill requested chicken spaghetti, salad, green beans and rolls for her birthday meal.It was fun having my family over for dinner. I don't know the last time I cooked for them. Maybe before Brody was born! Ha! I cook every month or so for Josh's family but never for my own. Even though my family is in the same town, we are all so busy that we don't eat together except every other Sunday. It was fun to eat with them on a week night. I think I will start having them over more often since my mom hand washed all my dishes while we watched the NFL draft. :) She is so sweet and so helpful! Josh and Brandon didn't move all night. They ate in front on the TV so they could watch the draft and then they played on their phones. Exciting night! Ha! After eating, we had birthday cake from Rick's! Isn't this cake sooo cute??
I bought these plates and napkins and had Rick's make a cake to match. Jill loves paisley so when I saw these I knew it would be perfect for her.
Jill opened her cards and gifts after we ate cake. This is Brody's card to her. He spent a lot of time coloring the inside of the card and the envelope. He would color a while and then look at me and say, "nice?" I would have to tell him it looked nice before he would start to color again! Haha!
Brody enjoyed himself as well that night. His favorite thing to do right now is to play with our vacuum cleaner. He is obsessed with it! Ha!
A few people requested I post the poof video again in honor of Jill's birthday so here is the link to the post with the video. Enjoy!!
I bought these plates and napkins and had Rick's make a cake to match. Jill loves paisley so when I saw these I knew it would be perfect for her. Jill opened her cards and gifts after we ate cake. This is Brody's card to her. He spent a lot of time coloring the inside of the card and the envelope. He would color a while and then look at me and say, "nice?" I would have to tell him it looked nice before he would start to color again! Haha! Brody enjoyed himself as well that night. His favorite thing to do right now is to play with our vacuum cleaner. He is obsessed with it! Ha!A few people requested I post the poof video again in honor of Jill's birthday so here is the link to the post with the video. Enjoy!!
Brody tried to help break ground while we were there! I love how big he looks in his hard hat!
He had so much fun! As soon as we got there he saw all the construction vehicles and started yelling, "dump truck!" Then, he saw the big brush fire that they had going where they were clearing the land and he yelled, "hot!" He was going crazy with all the action out there.
We stayed out there for about 30 minutes but it was enough time to exhaust Brody. He fell asleep on the way home!
I got a few things ready around the house for small group while Brody slept. Before I knew it, Josh was home from work and I quickly cooked dinner before our friends came over for Bible study. This is what I cooked. Please try not to be jealous. It beats fatty, greasy fast food, right?
We had a great Bible study and now I'm laying on the couch thinking about eating something else. I have already polished off chips and salsa, an iced honey bun, and a granola bar since dinner. How does a baby that's 5 inches long and weighs just a few ounces cause me to eat so much?? It's crazy!! :)
Amanda, Hillary, Me, Laurie, and Kelly
We left the airport and headed straight to eat at The Varsity. We had a great time talking and eating! 
I might have eaten two cheeseburgers and fries. I was starving after the flight and the burgers were really small. One of the girls asked me if I really got two cheeseburgers and I said, "Yes...one for me and one for the baby!" :)
We headed back to the hotel to hang out. I visited with Megan, Erin, Dina, and Rachel. We had a lot of fun chatting!!! I didn't get any pictures with these girls because we were always in our pajamas when we hung out!
Amanda, Mandi, and Me
Ashley and Betsy (mom and daughter) sat in front of us at the conference. They are the cutest! I love Betsy blog and I hope I'm as cute as her when my kids are grown. :) They were such joys to be around. 
Caroline and Jenna
Me and Caroline
My college friend, Terri, lives in the Atlanta area. She also met us for dinner. She is so funny! I loved getting to see her. I think it had been almost 3 years since we had seen each other. 
The 5 of us got on a plane and fly back to Branson. We ate lunch at my favorite restaurants in Branson, then got into the car for our two hour drive home. 
Me and Kelly at lunch. 
Not only is she a wonderful sister, but she is a fantastic aunt as well! Brody loves Jill so much! When we go to my parent's house, he runs into her room and says, "Dillllll!!" If she isn't home then he walks around the house with his arms in the air saying, Dill?" 
Brody had SOOO much energy! We had to take turns chasing him around. He basically started running when we got there and didn't stop for the hour we were there! It was crazy!
Brody and Josh were dressed the same but it wasn't planned...blue shirts, khaki shorts and Sperry shoes. :)
Brody was actually still in this picture...A rare moment that night! Ha!
This picture makes me laugh...It looks like he is whistling!
Ignore my crazy hair...I had been running around chasing Brody!
He found a few sticks to play with!
Before we left he played a little disc golf. :)
Brody's doctor could not believe how big he was. He said Brody is a big, thick boy! We laughed when we looked over his growth chart from the past 18 months. Brody was in the 5th percentile for weight until his 9 month appointment when he finally went to about 30-40th percentile. He has always been average height as well until now. I can't believe we are finally on the upper parts of the growth chart. :)
It's funny that he is so big because he isn't a big eater. Some days he will only eat a meal or two and just refuses the rest of his food. I cannot imagine how big he would be if he ate a lot! He doesn't eat meat except for an occasional chicken nugget, but that's hard to get him to eat sometimes. I know weird, huh? We love meat so I'm not sure why our child is vegan! Haha! Can you imagine how much he would weigh if he liked meat? He only will eat cheese, fruits, crackers and breads. Our doctor told me not to worry and suggested a few tricks to get Brody some extra protein. He said at this point he is getting plenty of protein from cheese and milk.
I didn't know Brody was getting shots yesterday though. Three of them to be exact. I think it is worse now when I take him for shots then when he was a little baby. He understands now what is going on and it breaks his heart and mine as well. They made me hold him down against the table today and he was looking up at me like, "This is a fun game, Mom!" Then, the nurses started sticking his little legs and he looked right at me like I was a traitor. My heart just broke. I had tears in my eyes, too. I always cry on shot days. Always. At least now I wait until the nurses leave the room. At his 2 month appointment he and I were both just sobbing before they even left the room! Haha! 
I got him to stop crying by showing him the flashy, silver band-aids on each of his legs. He saw them and said, "Ohhhh!" And so the band-aid obsession begins. Didn't we all love band-aids at one point in our childhood?
After we left the doctor's office, I did what only seemed right after shots...I took him to get ice cream! I felt like I deserved ice cream, too, for having to hold him down on the table. :) My parents always did the same thing for us after shots so it's just a habit now. I love a good habit!
Julee met us there while she was on a break. I think Brody enjoyed looking at college girls out the window more than he did eating ice cream. His sibling and I ate all of the ice cream instead. :) 
