Soccer Saturday.

We had our third week of soccer last weekend. It's quite comical to watch, but Carter is having fun and taking really good naps on Saturdays ;). The kids started out playing a little game and then the coaches asked how many goals each kid made. All the other kids said they scored one or two goals. Our boy?? "Five." Yep, he's a stud...an over-exaggerator, but a stud.They played some Airplanes & Tankers. And then Carter became part of the Centipede group. These last three photos are a series:

Carter attempting a drop kick...
...ball coming down and smacking him on the head...
...OUCH!! No more drop kicks for this kid today.

Spoiled.

I had a wonderful birthday and feel completely spoiled by all of the cards, flowers and gifts that I received. I started off the day by getting some awesome homemade cards from Carter, Aunt Lou and Grammy. Carter was so proud of his artwork and made sure to tell me to "take them and share them with your friends."Then I started receiving a desk full of flowers at work! This first bouquet came from my very dear friend (and fellow 30-year-old), Sarah, from college. Next came my very first "flowers in a box" from the UPS guy! Are these sunflowers not gorgeous?? Believe it or not, they're even more stunning now, five days later. Thank you to my best girls from high school, Tiff, Jenny & Noelle. And finally, a super colorful arrangement from my hubby. After 8 years of marriage and 12 years of being together, flowers are few and far between, but he sure does good when he sends them. They are awesome!I also got one more vase the next day from our daycare provider...and now my kitchen is brighter and more colorful than it's ever been.

I also found an awesome suprise on my front door...a cute camera strap from my friend/neighbor Jami. Very thoughtful and totally useful...I can't take a picture of it though because it's already being used on my camera! Thanks so much!

Finally, my mother-in-law drove down and surprised me with a delicious homemade cake. I had a few helpers that eagerly assisted me in blowing out the candles and taste-testing. Thank you so much Ernie, it was delicious as usual!!And thank you to everyone else who called, emailed, sent cards, etc. You really know how to make a girl feel loved...I appreciate it so much and you made my 30th a perfect day!

This is me--at 30.

Ready or not, it is here. I realize that it's a relative age, but it feels as though I've been "twenty-something" forever, so 30 just feels and sounds OLD. I had a great 20's decade and experienced some pretty wonderful things. A blogger that I follow is turning 30 soon as well and she recently recapped her 20's on her blog, which inspired me to do the same. Here goes:

At 20 I had completed half of my college education and moved into my first apartment with my wonderful friend Beth. We also took a huge spring break trip to Orlando, FL that year with a bunch of our college friends--even though I was the only one "not quite 21," we had a great time.

At 21 I got engaged to a wonderful guy--he asked me onstage at a concert in front of an auditorium full of people. It was truly a memorable moment.

At 22 I was married to my best friend--we had a beautiful day and a great party afterwards. We were surrounded by hundreds of our closest friends and family members...exactly how I'd always dreamed my wedding day would be. We then spent a week in Jamaica...paradise!!

At 23 I graduated college at FHSU, moved back to Mac and started my first "real" full-time job. With a real job and a rental house came real bills--I realized that perhaps being a kid wasn't so bad after all.

At 24 I traveled with some of my best girlfriends from college to New York City, Boston and Rhode Island. Big city shopping, good food, lots of laughs, and an appearance on the Today Show--what a great trip! This was also the year that Chris and I made the big decision to build a house.

At 25 we moved into our first (owned) home. We would spend countless hours painting, tiling, sheetrocking, building, etc. to make it "ours." Little did we know that we would find some of our greatest friends in this new neighborhood. I got my first dSLR camera (easily taking 8,000+ pictures that first year) and found out we were going to have our first baby.

At 26 we welcomed our first little miracle into the world, Carter Jace. I'm pretty sure this was the first year that I truly became an "adult."

At 27 we took our little guy on his first airplane ride and his first trip to the ocean. We spent 5 days in sunny Florida and enjoyed every minute of our mid-winter vacation.

At 28 I had my 10-year reunion, found out we would be adding another little boy to our family and welcomed the second great love of our lives, Asher Kade.

At 29 I ran my first 5K, started this blog, enjoyed a heavenly spa day with some fabulous friends to celebrate our impending "Big 3-0" and adjusted to life with two kiddos.

Many, many more wonderful things happened in my 20's--those were just a few highlights.
And here I sit today at 30. I'm not gonna lie--I've experienced a little anxiety over this new decade I'm entering. It's not like I can really avoid it though, so I guess I might as well embrace it. Several wise people have told me that the 30's are even better than the 20's. I had a pretty fantastic 20's, so that's a tall order. If the 30's contain more solid friendships (and maintaining the old ones), crazy, wild, happy days with my kids and hubby, sunny vacations and tons of laughs, then bring it on.

Welcome 30, please be good to me.

One.

All About Asher:

Weight: 22 lbs., 11 oz. (50th percentile)

Length: 27 1/2 inches (5th percentile)

Food: The kiddo took off this month and suddenly developed a seemingly endless appetite. We cut out all baby food shortly before his first birthday and he eats almost every meal that we do. He's only got two teeth, but he can chew/gum like a big boy. He really likes pizza, string cheese, corn and all fruits. His favorite thing is to crawl under our table and eat all the "leftovers" that Carter has dropped on the floor...we call him our little puppy.

Misc. update: First of all, I wish I could just find the pause button for this crazy life of ours. How did our little baby suddenly turn one already?!?

Asher is primarily walking/running now. He got really good at walking around 11 1/2 months and hasn't slowed since. He tries hard to keep up with big brother, but sometimes his legs can't keep up with his spunk and he bites the dust. Carter and Asher interact all the time...it's so much fun to watch them and I thank God for giving us these two loud, busy, ornery, adorable boys. Carter is pretty much done being Mr. Nice Guy though...it's not unusual for us to catch him holding on to Asher's legs so he can't get up/crawl away or he'll just walk by Asher and take something away from him for no reason. Asher is learning to play tough though--he fights back and pitches a fit if things aren't shared properly. Oh, boys.

Asher is such a momma's boy. Chris can be home with the boys for hours and Asher will be just fine, but when I walk in the door, Asher immediately runs to me with open arms. From that moment on, he gets really whiney and stays attached to me. It drives mommy and daddy crazy sometimes, but a small part of me enjoys it and I know that this phase won't last long...I've got to enjoy my cuddles while I can get them.

He says "mama" and "dada" very well and knows the difference between the two. He'll sign "all done" regularly and "more" sometimes. He goes to bed without a fuss around 8:30pm and usually sleeps until about 5:30-6am. If we get him a bottle, he'll chug it and go right back to sleep until about 7am. He can't decide whether to drop his morning nap or not. He usually just takes one nap at daycare during the week, but by the weekends, he'll sometimes be so cranky by 10:30am, he'll easily take a morning and afternoon nap. He absolutely loves to be outside. I'll take him in the stroller for a run and he almost always falls asleep. He loves to explore in the yard and chases after Carter on his 4-wheeler or scooter.

He's still wearing size 3 diapers and 12 month clothes. He's such a shorty that all his shorts are more like capri pants! He's wearing a size 3-4 shoes and is getting adjusted to walking in hard tennis shoes now. Trying to change his diaper or get him dressed is like mud wrestling a pig. He is constantly wiggling and trying to roll off his changing table--we're usually sweating (or cussing) by the end of the process.

He's a very vocal little guy and toddles through the house just yelling and babbling for no reason. He's learned how to "click" his tongue and shows off that trick quite often. He LOVES remote controls and magnets and it's a rare occasion if he's not carrying one or the other at all times, all over the house. I found the DVD player remote by the toilet the other day...that could have been ugly. He is living up to his nickname Captain Destruction. Just this week he emptied several trash cans, unrolled the toilet paper three times, threw all the laundry he could reach on the floor of our closet (big brother helped with the rest of the laundry in the basket), threw all of my shoes in the (now empty) laundry basket and pulled all of our puzzles off the shelf onto the floor, pieces strewn everywhere.

He (despite all of his messes) is such a joy to have in our lives. His squinty, ornery little smile is one of the highlights of my day and when he buries his head in my shoulder at night, my heart melts. I never thought I could love another child as much as I loved Carter, and everyone told me my heart would just get bigger with future children. Indeed it has...this second little guy has completely won me over and I'm so glad I'm his mommy. We love you Ashy!

Soccer time!

The 3-4-5 year-old soccer program started last Saturday and Carter was ready for some action. This is his first organized (HA!!!) sport, so we were all excited. Imagine hundreds of little munchkins running around kicking balls...it was quite the sight. They split off into groups of about 10 and spent the first half hour working on skills/drills, then scrimmaged during the second half.

First thing's first--you gotta warm up your muscles!

Listening carefully to instructions (maybe we should have those coaches come to our house for a day?).Working on some dribbling skills.

Everybody racing to "steal the bacon."

A friendly tangle with his buddy Reanna.Keep away from the coaches!

See that tongue sticking out?? That definitely helps you play better.

And you gotta finish off the game with a team huddle.

Go team!

Easter at Grandma & Papa's.

Sunday afternoon we headed to Grandma and Papa's house for more celebrating. After one last egg hunt, the boys were pros!

The boys after the hunt.

Mommy and Asher.

Papa helping Carter dig into his candy.

Daddy let Asher try his first sweet tart...here was his reaction.

Daddy and Ash.

We spent the beautiful afternoon outside playing basketball, taking wagon rides, sipping drinks and soaking up the sun. Ash took a few breaks inside and played hide and seek with daddy.After a great day with family, food and fun, we had two exhausted little boys by the time we got home!

Easter morning.

When the boys woke up Easter morning, they found that the Easter bunny had stopped by our house and filled their baskets with goodies. Once again, Ash was more intrigued by the grass filler than the toys.After church we went outside for a few pictures of the boys in their Easter Sunday best. Carter tried to get Asher to smile......but daddy's tricks ended up getting us the winning photo! I think they're both keepers :).

Ash did a little toddling around the yard before he crashed for a nap. The Easter bunny had also hidden all of the eggs we dyed, so Carter got to head out for another egg hunt!

And once all the eggs were found, we opened up his new game from the bunny, UNO Moo! Daddy explained the rules...this is his "teacher face."
This is a very cute game for 3-4 year olds...Carter loves it!