Tarren's 1st Birthday

Tarren turned 1 on Friday April 24th. We decided to have his party on Saturday. We went to the same park that we used to have my birthday partys at when I was a kid. I decided to get the main cake made at Wal-mart and they did a really good job. For Tarren's birthday cake, I made him a small Elmo. It turned out pretty good.

Heath, Spencer's brother, came down Friday night and brought his big smoker. He smoked chicken, pork and brisket. They were up all night cooking it. It was sooooo good!!! We started setting up for the party and had everything almost ready when a family showed up with their grill. They came and asked us if we rented this spot. We told them no. We never rented it growing up. They said they had to pay $200 for this spot. We were floored. I told them we would move into the grass. They said their party didn't start until 5:30 and that we were fine. I think the reason they had to pay was because they wanted to use the inside of the facility. We were just using the covered outside part. We ate lots of food, talked and then we were ready for the cake. Tarren was a little grumpy because he did not get a good nap all day. He was not to keen about sticking his hand in the cake and eating it. He did touch it with one hand, but he did not want to get anything else dirty. Spencer tried to hlep him by putting his other hand in it. He did not like that at all. We decided half way through that we should take his clothes off. Yeah...that wasn't the best idea. Spencer had icing all over him and then when I tried to clean Tarren off I got my share of icing.

We went and played on the playground for a little bit and then we started to open up presents. Tarren got some pretty cool toys. He got a little bit of everything...clothes, toys, books and even a gift card. He did get a really cool riding toy.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and we had a fantastic party!! I think Tarren enjoyed himself. He expressed himself with a kiss for his daddy. :)

Easter

We went down to Pearland to celebrate Easter. We decided to do it on Saturday because it was suppose to rain on Sunday. We had a fantastic dinner of brisket, mashed potatoes, bread, corn and lots of yummy deserts. After dinner, the dads and older kids went out to hide the easter eggs and baskets. The tradition is to hide the baskets and they can't pick up any eggs until they find their baskets. I hid Spencer's basket up in a tree.






Tarren got his basket right in front because he is still little. He loved his basket and everything in it. He would pull out one thing and play with it then pull out the next. He only picked up one egg and then put it in his mouth.





After the egg hunt is done, they bring out the confetti eggs. It is fun to try and avoid being hit. No one is immune...not even Tarren. The confetti gets everywhere. It goes down your pants and sometimes you won't find it till hours later. I found some hiding in Tarren's diaper later that night. It is fun to smash the eggs, but it is a pain trying to get all of it out of your clothes.



On Monday, Spencer put a tire swing up in the tree in our front yard. It is fun to swing in. You can actually go pretty high. The first time Spencer pushed me I went so high my legs got scraped up in the tree branches. Spencer trimmed the tree so that won't happen any more. Tarren loves to swing in the tire swing.








Tarren is starting to walk a little better with help. He is using his walking wagon more. He is also standing up on his own without holding on to things. It is only for like 15 seconds, but it is something.