The Real BirthDAY!

    So of course I have tons to report on the week. Sunday, the parents (Perry and I) had a genius idea. Grant loves to be outside and it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I wanted him to be able to be in the sun, however, I didn't want to supervise him the whole time. So the idea was... we put up a kid gate. So there is Grant happily playing with the rocks with his cuz.  I love letting him play with out getting worried about how fast he is walking down the drive way or if he is going to want to go in the street. I am one of those parents who believes in prevention when it comes to discipline... like don't let the atmosphere that would cause one to be disciplined to be around. So basically what I'm saying is using the gate made it so I didn't have to say no to the street. 

Tuxedo from DI.

  
 So then Monday was exciting. I had planned a great family home evening dedicated to Megan because she is going on her mission. I asked her to tell me what she wanted for dinner. She chose a Thai theme. So I made pineapple fried rice and coconut curry chicken.  I added fresh vegetables and dip and plain rice to the menu after the main things. Man it was sooooo good! I guess I'm a pretty good cook or something or the recipes were divine. For dessert we had yummy sticky coconut rice with mangos. Also delicious. During dinner we went around the table with different facts about the area Megan is going and pictures of the area. Then we went around and talked about an experience with Megan and why she will be a good missionary. Then I read the history of the mission and tried to sing the mission song.  She mentioned that she really like the FHE and I felt really good about that.  Then alas she left early Wednesday. We all said goodbye and lucky for me Grant woke me just in time. I know he woke me many many many times in his lifetime but I would much rather wake up from him than an alarm clock in some circumstance.. or I would rather not be woken by anything but him if it has to happen.
     Thursday Amber and I, and my mom went to the DI. Perry took Grant.  We were there forever and Perry babysat Grant for 6 hours! What a great hubby! If it were only me I wouldn't have been gone that long. Oh well. Perry had the opportunity to put Grant down for his nap. That helped me realize that Perry can watch Grant all day but I think next time we try it I will pump milk. So that is exciting for me if I want like a day off from nursing Grant. Or in case someone needs to watch Grant while we go on a small vacation they can bottle feed him. He just wasn't too interested in bottle feeding before but now he seems like he would do it. So at the DI I searched for blouses and skirts. I'm in need of more colorful blouses for my skirts.
    So I don't remember much else of what went on this week until Grant's birthday. Below is a picture journal of what Grant did on his first birthDAY as opposed to the party day:

Not from his birthday but look at that good form. He will be a great pitcher.

On the phone.

This is where the birthday events start.

So he had peanut butter.

Played in the backyard.

We went to the pet store.

We fell in love with this pure bred 9 week old german shepherd pup. He was 1400 dollars. Very calm puppy though.

Opened presents... He did better here than at Christmas.

Thanks to Aunt Amber, Uncle Jason, Cousin Trey, and Cousin Hailey. Exactly what we asked for...a tub mat, push light, and water pour thing for tub time (its rubbery).

Thanks to Grandma Stotts and the Gneiting family.

I think this birthday cake turned out way better! Simplicity is the bomb.

He cried a little when he saw the smoke.

He dug right in. However he didn't like being messy. 

Got his first hair cut! The day after the birthday!

So strong carrying a basket.

On Saturday we decided to do the strip thing... except for us that meant you know all the clean things to do that were free. We saw the lions at the MGM grand, the Bellagio fountains show, and the flamingos and other birds at the Flamingo. I wanted to see the circus show but  we didn't have time, the boys didn't have naps, and the parents were getting tired. I will post pics of that once my sister sends me the CD of pictures. I forgot my camera so we used hers and we didn't have time to upload pics.

  Before we went to the Strip Perry was asked by his tudee/student if he wanted to get paid for moving someone's stuff into their new home. He said it would take 30 minutes. I decided to tag along expecting to go to the strip afterwards. Lo and behold, Perry was helping move Brandon Flower's and Tana Flower's mattresses. If you don't know who they are, Brandon is the lead singer to the band "The Killers" I am familiar with a couple of their songs. I talked with Tana a bit and it was really fun. She is pretty down to earth. So I haven't really mentioned that Perry posted on Craigslist that he can tutor or teach French or Spanish for a charge per hour basis. He now has 4 students and Tana may want to be one of them. He makes pretty good money with that and after moving things the other day he is also probably going to get regular moving jobs. So we are slowly making money. I also have an interview with an online company today to be an Administrative Assistant who works from home. Perfect for a stay at home mom. 

Stay tuned for next weeks post. Sorry this one is late but better late than never!