He laughs when I laugh

Cardinals Game!

Josh and I took some time off from work and school and parenting to go to a recent Cardinals game! My first one. A lovely couple from our field work church bought us tickets. The weather could not have been more perfect for a baseball game. It was a balmy 80 degrees after the sun set.

We took the metro down to the Ballpark. It was filled with Cards fans heading out to the game. The metro was really cheap and convenient. It dropped us off right in front of the park.

The stadium gave great views of the downtown area, including the Arch. It was nice to just be able to be out in the city. 

It was a pretty short game--and we won! We were home by 10:30. Rhett didn't miss us much--it was way past his bedtime and he slept like a baby the whole time!

Shoot

I haven't written in awhile! I promise I'll make some time to sit and write out full posts soon. Exciting things are happening all around us and I can't wait to share them with all our loved ones. Here's a brief list of things that have been going on around here lately:

• We have been accepted into on campus housing for the next school year. We don't have our specific assignment or move-in day yet, but we will be moving some time this summer. Living on campus is going to be quite a change for us. We are excited to settle into our new home soon!
• Josh's first year at the seminary has flown by! He has just one more full week of classes left and then he'll be spending the summer with Rhett! We're excited to save money  on childcare and Josh and Rhett are thrilled to be getting more quality time with one another. 
• Josh has accepted a position with campus security. He will be working a few night shifts each week. This will be a great supplement to my income. We are very grateful that Josh did not have to get a job during his first year at the seminary. 
• Rhett is (already!) exhibiting signs of toddlerhood. His eating has been pickier, his temper shorter and he has been demanding a lot more entertainment lately. He hasn't been overly thrilled with giving up his bottle habit, but the strawberries are making up for it. 
• Rhett is stubbornly refusing to walk. He seems to like crawling just fine thankyouverymuch. He'll pull up to furniture, but he's wised up to us trying to get him to stand on his own. Any time we try to lift him up to a standing position, his legs turn to jello. Ah well, it'll happen when it happens. 

That's a pretty brief update, but more is coming soon, I promise! 

Everyone remember that next weekend is Mother's Day! If you haven't already gotten your mom the perfect gift, hit up Amazon ASAP. 

Rhett's Birthday Cupcake in Video

Rhett's Birthday--The Cupcake

With Rhett's first birthday came the iconic first bites of cake. We've actually been pretty picky about what we've allowed Rhett to eat. He hadn't had any sweets at all prior to his birthday. Josh kept trying to sneak him some cake or ice cream, but I really wanted to hold out until his first birthday for that first taste of pure, delicious sugar. So on Thursday evening, we grabbed Rhett his birthday cupcake! 

At first, he didn't really know what to think. He clearly didn't know that the colorful object in front of him could be eaten:

He spent some amount of time meticulously brushing off the sprinkles:

then, went in for the kill:

Loving Rhett

I just can't believe it. I have a one year old boy. I don't feel old enough to have a one year old! And Rhett definitely doesn't feel old enough to be one year old! I mean, just yesterday, I was meeting him for the very first time, right?

I've been a bit emotional in the weeks and days leading up to Rhett's first birthday. Because everything about first birthday screams "not a baby anymore" to me. Rhett's clearly in a transitional period to being a toddler. I can see it. He understands what we say to him. Last week, he crawled over to his diaper basket, pulled out a clean diaper and crawled back over to Josh, handed him the diaper and laid down on his back. And it's just astonishing to me. And moments like that have been happening more frequently. He's starting to understand more about his world and though it's amazing and wonderful to watch, it's also a bit heartbreaking. Josh (and others) have been perplexed by my sadness over the big 1. I finally broke down a little bit and told Josh how I've been feeling. I told him that from the very moment Rhett was born, every day he has needed me less than the day before. He's becoming more independent every day. He's learning how to sooth himself, how to feed himself and how to entertain himself. He's a very independent child and my feelings have been that he's just going to need me less and less until he finally goes off to college and I won't be a part of his day-to-day life. 

My poor husband had to talk me through this last night. He assured me that Rhett would always need me, I will always be his mother, and despite what greater society may tell me, he WILL always be my baby. When I met Rhett one year ago, we were complete strangers. He was completely dependent upon us as his parents to care for him, but he didn't really know us, and we didn't really know him either. Every day we spend with him, we learn more about him and he learns more about us. It's a constantly evolving relationship and we bond more and more each day.  People will say that it's impossible to understand how much you'll love your children until they are born. And I think that's true. But my love for my little son has grown immensely over the past year. When they pulled him out of me and brought him to me and our eyes locked for the first time, I knew that I would love him deeply. But even then, staring at my precious teensy baby, I could not have imagined how much my love for him would grow in a year's time. This year has been amazing for our family and Rhett has been such a joy to get to know. I've put away my sadness and I'm looking forward to another year of learning about my amazing son. 

Happy Birthday Rhett!

Happy Birthday, my sweet little bumblebee!