My Baby is 1!!

My sweet little boy is 1!! We celebrated Rutland's 1st birthday this weekend and had a great time together with family and friends. His actual birthday was Friday, Feb. 20th and we had a small party at the Carousel at The Galleria on Saturday. It was a perfect weekend and Rutland had a blast playing with his cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Thanks to all our family for coming to help us celebrate. Rutland, you are my most precious little surprise that I didn't know I was missing but could never live without. Thank you for your amazing personality, constant smiles, and sweet spirit. We love you so much!!

Waking up so happy as usual on birthday morning :)

Celebrating at home with cupcakes Friday night (actual b-day)

Diving into the cake at his party!

Rutland walked 1,000 miles that day at the Galleria.

Big Girl Bed

Last Wednesday, Caroline's long awaited "Big Girl" bed was delivered. The plan was to put her crib in Rutland's room, give Rutland's borrowed crib back to Allyn & Ashley, and have her new bed in her room. Well, if anyone has put a crib together, you know it IS rocket science, it takes FOREVER, and can potentially ruin your marriage for 2 hours. So, Christopher understandably put it off for a few days, resulting in both the crib and Caroline's big girl bed being in her room for 3 days. Well, as much as Caroline LOVED her new bed, when push came to shove, she wanted to be in her crib still. What can I say, the girl is a creature of habit like her mamma. I panicked and expected the worst when the crib finally came out of her room, but she has done great snuggled in her new bed and we haven't even put the bed rails up. Day #4 and counting - let's hope the streak keeps up! Here are a few pictures of the new bed...

Dress up is not just for girls!

Caroline was playing dress up one night and Rutland decided he wanted to play too! Of course Christopher was not aware of what was going on until we paraded Rutland around the den in his bunny ears, tutu, and crown. Rutland LOVED the attention. At least there was some blue on the tutu, right?

iphoto slideshow

I made an iphoto slideshow of the engagement photos, trying to learn how to use my computer, so hopefully I can get it to show up here...(You will need to scroll down and mute or pause the volume on the blog music so you can hear the slideshow music.)

Engaged!

My sister and her boyfriend, Christian, got engaged this weekend! We are so excited and so proud of them. It was a total surprise, which she loved, and he picked out a GORGEOUS ring all by himself! After the proposal, which happened at a family friend's house that overlooks the city on Vestavia Drive, he arranged to have our whole family, including grandparents and his family waiting at a restaurant to surprise Ashley. Of course she tried to call my parents and grandparents, and no one answered except me. I played dumb and surprised, and told her my parents were at a movie (of course she bought it). She was so disappointed that she didn't get to share the big announcement with everyone, until they got to the restaurant and we were all there! It was a great night and we can't wait to start planning a wedding!! Here are some pictures of the engagement dinner...

This is Ashley calling me right after he proposed, telling me the good news. She thinks I am in Montgomery at my parents' house. My mother is listening in...

This is when Ashley first realized we were not all in Montgomery, but surprising her in B'ham

Christian and his mom, Laurie

The happy couple...

Ashley first seeing the Father of the Bride

We got Ashley some essentials she would need for planning the wedding...

The bling...gorgeous!!

The restaurant had a congratulations printed on the menu that night.