Costner's Presents

Honestly, I didn't think Costner would care anything presents, but he actually did show some interest.  My cousin, Amber, took pictures, and she took a TON just like Travis would.  I really appreciated that because he couldn't be there, and it made me sad that he missed it.  So I realize that these are redundant, but they're more for us than anyone else.  Costner just looks like a baby doll to me, and I can't leave any out because he looks so sweet.  Oh, and yes, he was an elf.  :)  My mom got him lots of cute clothes and couldn't resist that.

 

 I love how the bigger kids get more excited for him than he was.  Look at Sage's face.  :)

 That little car talks, sings and lights up.  He loved it.

 That car (he got several) was his favorite.  It has a little man with it (the driver) that when you shake it, the car moves.  Really cool.  And since Jaggar won't let him get his remote control despicable me car, this was a nice fix. 

 He got so many clothes.

 And pajamas.

 Sweet angel...and is my hair almost to the floor???  I actually decided in the summer that I was not only going to have long hair but ULTRA long hair.  I'm close.

 This picture is my favorite.  My sweet, snuggly baby.

 Playing with the reindeer that Amber got him.  She somehow heard we love Christmas.  Wouldn't it be ironic if Costner ends up not caring about it as much as the others with his birthday DURING Christmas?  The time when all of that stuff is everywhere and easily given as a gift?  Never going to happen but you know...

 Look at his beautiful blonde hair.

 Ummm, is it crazy to anyone else to see him STANDING there?  I mean, Really!

 Super crazy!

 Isn't he beautiful?  I don't know who he looks like anymore, but it doesn't really matter.  He sure is cute.

 Love Jaggar in this picture.

Baby doll

 GORGEOUS!   Little blonde beauty.

 And this is pretty much what the party did to him.  The life of a baby is awesome!

Bleu's First Birthday Party: Cake

The thought occurred to me to do Costner's birthday in Kentucky a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  My mom always comes here for the kids' birthdays, but since we would be there a week before Costner's, why not do a party there with the whole family?  I almost felt a little funny about it because sadly, my extended family doesn't even really know my kids that well, but that doesn't mean they're any less loved.  Then we needed to come up with a day.  Rather than have everyone get together on a separate day of the week, we decided just to do it on Thanksgiving.  Getting a cake was almost overkill with all the desserts and food on Thanksgiving, but the kids liked it, and everyone has to have a birthday cake.  It ended up being just right, even though Costner was overwhelmed just by the sheer number of people.

His smash cake.

Being the mother of the year that I am, I decided before we sang that it'd be appropriate to light the candle for a 1 year old.  Hindsight is 20/20 because WHY I did this, I have no idea.  What baby knows what to do with a candle other than to TOUCH it?  So you can see me realize this too late, so he cried through the entire happy birthday song.  I'm a genius,I know.

But thankfully,the pure sugar I put in front of him quickly made up for my stupidity.

 Hmmm....this is all right.

 I think it's REALLY all right.

 I didn't even put the little cupcake that came on top of it that said My First Birthday for the picture, but there was one. :/

 I think I love this.

 Yeah!

 Starting to slow down

 But now getting his second wind!

 Can't stop

STRETCH it out!

 It got everywhere...his hair, his eyes...too much.

So we put him right in the sink for a bath.  There was no other option than to just fully bathe him so that he could open his presents.

Costner's First Birthday

Well, nostalgia has hurt me all day, so let's get current.   Look at this precious piece of heaven.  He is STILL that, and I know him so much better than I did a year ago.  For instance, I know the difference between, "EEEEEEE!!!!"  and "UHHHHHHH!"  and "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"  Generally, they all mean, "Mommy!!!!  GET ME!"  OR, "Give me what you have."  But YOU wouldn't know that.  :)  He has a smile that lights up the room.  He smiles with every bit that he is, and it is contagious.  I think he's going to be like Jaggar in that he's rotten and that cuteness will save him.  He is a climber now, too.  If you're on the bed or couch, he's right there, too.  He has taken a few steps over the past few weeks, but so far, crawling is our main way of getting around.

I planned on him wearing that shirt on his actual birthday.  It was a perfect fit for the day.

Playing at home while his siblings were in school.  He has starting dancing like real bouncing instead of just waving his hands (he still does that too), and I tried to get it on video.  I got a few seconds.


Here he is this morning.  Sometimes, he just throws his hands up like, "YEAH!  Feelin' good!" and it's so funny.

 See?

 The brothers.  Jaggar kept saying, "I love him so much!"  And he was also irritated that we acknowledged Costner's birthday today.  See, we had a party for him on Thanksgiving in Kentucky (which I'll get to), so Jaggar was like, 'But he already HAD a birthday."  NO WAY should he get two!

 LOOK at him and that wild hair.  I just can't bear to cut it.

 Look at that.  Doesn't even look like the same child.

 I LOVE this pic.  I have to give my new iphone props for taking beautiful pics.  The clarity is awesome for a camera phone.  (That was my Christmas gift from Travis.  It was supposed to be a surprise, but it couldn't be purchased for my upgrade price without activating it then and there.  I was really upset about that. ;)

 In laws came over this afternoon and brought him some presents.  He is actually starting to care...somewhat.  He was so sweet smiling at his things.  Sage took these pictures?  Why?  Because Travis is in Florida (going on 3 days, which feels like 3 weeks) on a tv shoot.  I've been slightly bitter about it today, but at least I'm not married to a deadbeat, so that's a huge plus.

 He was like, "Who are these people?  What is going on?"

 I LOVE that sweet face he has.  I just want to squeeze him.

 Precious angel

 I got a small cake from Publix because...well, I did his party last week and had a big cake.  I had intentions of having ANOTHER party here with friends here...then Travis went out of town unexpectedly, and honestly, I'm just beat.  And would it be for him?  He'd be totally overwhelmed.  I'm kind of pushing myself to bring some things down a notch.  He is one.  I do not have to order custom invitations and get my cricut out and make a personalized banner.  I LOVE THOSE, btw...and I don't think those are bad.  But I just don't want to MISS life while I'm so busy trying to make it a certain way.  I HAVE to do enough of that.  So this was good...and the cake was amazing.

 Just ask him. ;)

 I have a LOT more messy birthday cake pics from his party in Kentucky.  Don't worry, I'll probably post them ALL. ;)

 Bleu had another interesting surprise, but it takes another post to set it up.  More to come.