happy birthday keith!

We celebrated my sweet husband's 28th birthday this week. It's hard to believe we've celebrated TEN birthdays together!

Keith's 19th bday

On his 19th birthday, our love was new and exciting. We'd been dating for almost a year and though we weren't yet engaged, we both knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together.

Keith's 28th b.day

Ten years later, on his 28th birthday, our love isn't as new or exciting, but I love him even more than I did then, because it's committed and normal and comfortable. Living life together has grown our love, and not just the big moments like marriage, graduation, new jobs, moving, and birth, but perhaps even more, the everyday comings and goings, conversations and simply being together. We know and understand each other more. We've laughed and cried together many more times since then. We've talked and listened and thought and questioned and prayed.

I am thankful for my sweet husband and for the ways that he loves Carson and me everyday. I'm thankful we had a day to celebrate him, and I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays together. I wonder what our family will look like in ten more years?!

O-N-E

hi, it's carson.

and i'm guest blogging for mama today!

she's doesn't blog very often,

cause i keep her pretty busy,

so i thought i would help her out.

they told me i turned one.

i didn't get it.

they said it means i've been around for a whole year.

hmm, that sounds like a really long time...

i'm still not exactly sure what it means,

but I do know that I liked it,

cause we had a party!

with lots of my favorite people

and balloons

and lot of pictures of me.

i like pictures of me.

there was something called cake.

and all of my favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish.

happy

1st

birthday

carson

hmm, cake.

i've never had it, but it sure looks good.

and smells good.

i wonder what that waxy stick is?

oh no, she just lit in on fire.

what?!!

oh good, she blew it out.

that was weird.

hey, everyone is looking at me and smiling.

and singing.

i sure do like singing.

mmm, this is tasty...

i really like these little colorful circles.

i think they must be chocolate.

i think mama and daddy sneak this stuff without me sometimes.

because i've smelled it on their breathe.

well, they can forget about sneaking around anymore.

cause i'm not a baby anymore.

and i'm getting some too.

everyone is watching me

and they're actually letting me dig into this big cake thing.

all by myself.

nice.

pat, pat, pat the cake

this is awesome

thanks for the idea, Kaye:)

i like making a mess.

especially a yummy mess.

is that cake on the wall?

oops.

thanks for cleaning it up, reenie.

hey, i get some watermelon too?!

this is awesome.

hi, mama.

hi, daddy.

i can't believe you're giving me so many yummy snacks.

especially after supper.

this is awesome.

thanks.

i'm glad so many of my favorite people came over, too.

turning one is cool.

woohoo!

i thought making a mess was fun,

but, cleaning up may be even better!

mama, we should do this after every meal.

instead of you wiping my face and hands with a wet rag.

yuck. i really don't like when you do that.

this is sooo much better!

what?

the fun still isn't over?

everyone is still here!

wow, look at all of those boxes and bags.

i like boxes and bags.

ooo, they have pretty paper.

and i get to tear it up?!

awesome.

tearing paper is the best.

hey, check it out.

there are toys and books inside the boxes and bags.

nice!

really really nice!

thank you, everyone.

aww, i slept hard after all of that fun!

i slept without pants.

i don't like to wear pants if i don't have to.

what?

the fun's still not over?

they're singing "happy birthday"

cool

and putting balloons in my bed!

really cool!

now i get to check the mail.

i love to check the mail.

especially when there's something for me!

birthday cards!!

and more presents!!!

thanks for coming to my party, bobel and reenie!

and thanks for helping mama and daddy get everything ready.

thank you all for reading my very first blog post.

i'll try to calm down a bit so mama can blog more often, but i can't make any promises.

i may just have to come back and blog for her again sometime.

we'll see.

good bye, folks.

it's been fun.

happy birthday!

Happy birthday to my dear husband!

Here are just a few of the reasons I love him, acrostic style!

Kind to everyone

Encourages and challenges me

Interested in learning and sharing

Takes time to listen

Honors God by striving to live into his image everyday

We celebrated with a date Friday night! We enjoyed relaxing conversation and a yummy dinner.

Carson was in good hands while we were away. He stayed with his first non-family babysitters, but really, the Cottrells are our local “family”, and we knew they were taking good care of him. He had lots of fun!

Speaking of Carson, watching Keith become a daddy this year has been amazing!

Here are a few of the reasons Carson loves Daddy!

Devoted

Always ready to play

Does so many different things to take care of him every day!