First Birthday!

I am about a month late posting this but better late than never. Our baby turned 1 year old October 4th and we went to Salt Lake to my parents' house to celebrate. It was also a good excuse to see all of my siblings. I was so happy my sister Cynthia and her 4 kids could come from Idaho because I planned a big party for a boy who wasn't going to remember it and I wanted some kids there to enjoy it. Nate and I looked around online for party theme ideas. I knew Wesson wasn't going to remember his party and to keep it small and simple but I was so excited to plan my first child's first birthday and I went a little crazy with it.

So we did a Lego themed birthday party. Who doesn't love Legos, right? I found a lot of cute party ideas on blogs and decided that it would be really fun...even though Wes doesn't really play with Legos yet. But he will..some day. And when he does, he will have Legos.

Here are some of the pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

The invitations

A banner I made. Took me forever! Luckily Cynthia's son was having a Lego party a couple weeks later so at least we got some good use out of it. 

Lego candy!

Cake pops!

Lego face plates

It said "Happy" Birthday Wesson. Just in case you were wondering.

             I realize it is not the most beautiful cake but it was fun to do and looked kind of cool...even though it wasn't perfect.

Enjoying his first taste of deliciousness. His daddy decided to keep him in his onesie.

Happy birthday boy!

We bought some huge lego-like blocks for the kids to play with at the party and went to a Lego store in town and got a big bucket of used Lego Duplo blocks for much cheaper than they would have been if they were bought new.




 He won't remember his party but at least we have pictures to show him when he doesn't think we are cool.

Anyway...we are having so much fun with our little toddler. He is walking around like crazy--all over the place! When we say "give me a kiss" he will put his forehead toward our lips. And when we say "give me five" he will do it. He loves teasing us. He is just getting more fun every day and we are so lucky to have him in our lives.

Happiest little boy ever

And big trouble. I guess he IS making good use of his "Lego" blocks.

I finally finished his name in his room. I know....he is 13 months old and I just barely got it done. Pretty lame. But have you ever tried to shape rope into a word. It is so hard! I had to glue a wire on the back and then wrap a clear string around it to keep it all together. It would look better if the wall was darker but, you know...renting.

I am getting SO excited for Christmas. Aren't you? Well, life is good and the babe is good. And we miss you all.

Love,

The Ence's

Simple Pleasures

Simple Pleasure #1: A Walk Down Main Street

We have been in Grand Junction for a couple of months now and have still not seen much of the city. Saturday, we decided to take a short break from Netflix to walk Main Street and have some lunch. It was really fun going into the antique shops, especially since they had a lot of old Western/cowboy things (Wesson is almost 10 months old and we still haven't finished decorating his room, which has a western/cowboy-theme). We saw a lot of old horse shoes, guns, chaps, spurs, etc....and wanted to buy them all...but didn't. We still have a lot of fun projects we want to do for his room, one of which is spelling his name in rope above the crib. 


We also went in a baby boutique and toy store. Wesson was asleep when we went in the toy store but I had fun for him. I saw a Marie Antionette doll which had cleavage...and I'm not sure what kind of parent would buy that for their child. We also saw some fake mustaches which have adhesive on the back. There was a set of mustaches for girls which were pink...I don't get it. ha ha. 

Here are the pink mustaches

Here's Wesson's crib...I would show the whole room, but as I said, we still aren't done decorating. Maybe some day we will actually finish and can post a finished product picture then (like most people post when they are 7 months pregnant). I had always dreamed of having the nursery all ready when he came but with us moving around so much and having all of our things in storage for 6 months, that's just not how it happened. It's kind of hard when things in life don't go as you pictured they would but I can be grateful that we are together and healthy, and that's all that really matters.  By the way, my good friend Sarah Averett made that adorable brown blanket in the front. She is so crafty and talented.

 

 Simple Pleasure #2: Cheesecake

We discovered the most amazing dessert! The recipe came in the mailbox along with a coupon for graham crackers, marshmallows, and Hersheys chocolate bars. I thought it would be good but I didn't think it would be THAT good. I included the recipe but I would definitely use the hersheys bars instead of the chocolate they suggest...but I don't like dark chocolate. We used the hersheys bars and this is now probably one of our favorite recipes. The downers though--expensive and super high in calories, all because of the cream cheese. But doesn't cream cheese just make everything delicious? Mmmm. We will probably try the other recipe that came in the mail, which was the peanut butter smores recipe :)

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/smores-cheesecake-squares-52821.aspx

Simple Pleasure #3: An Overcast/Rainy Day

I LOVE stormy days! Yesterday was one of those days and we took Wes outside to play for a little bit without having to worry about his (and my) pasty white skin getting burned. It was very therapeutic.

And for those of you who haven't seen our place yet, which is pretty much everyone, this is our home. We are renting at the moment, which can be expensive, but we really like this place (minus the huge crazy bush off to the left which has a million spiders and spider webs in it. We are a little unhappy with the way the HOA money is spent. They take pretty good care of the lawn but are horrible at trimming the bushes). Oh, and yes, our house number is 585 1/2. Who uses halves in addresses? We thought it was the weirdest thing when we first came to GJ.

Simple Pleasure #4: Spending Time at Home With My Boys

The child is SO mobile now...but I guess not mobile enough to get out of this predicament.

I love him SO much!

Last night, he actually cuddled with me. Now that he can get around really well, he does not like to sit still. But last night he got his bath and some food and just sat there next to me with his hand on mine. It's little moments like that that make all of the hard work of being a parent SO worth it.

And my other boy. He probably wouldn't love this picture because it is from behind and it is him in the kitchen. ha ha. But I thought I would just get some proof that he was actually in there. Love ya babe! Don't be mad :) Thanks for being such a great dad and hubs!

Birthdays!!!!

For some reason, birthdays are on my mind today :). I love birthdays! My birthday is the one day a year that I really feel special. It is my day...well and the birthday of a few million others..but as far as my family is concerned, it is my day. One reason I love Facebook is that SO many people wish you a happy birthday that probably wouldn't have otherwise and it makes the day that much more special. I have always had fun sharing my birthday with my friend Tori. We are both turning a quarter of a century today! Love you girlie! I feel really old!

Growing up, birthdays were always a huge deal. I got to decide what we would be eating for each meal. In the morning, I would walk into the kitchen and there would be streamers and balloons all over with a nice breakfast on the table. Everyone in the family would wish me a happy birthday very excitingly. I always felt like a princess. At dinner time, I got to choose who would say the prayer for my birthday dinner and I sat at the head of the table. After dinner I would be escorted to the living room and all of the lights were turned out. There I would sit, all alone in the dark. All of the family would go into another room, light the candles on the cake, and then parade down the hall into the living room with the lit up cake and presents in hand, singing happy birthday. All of my siblings are a little embarrassed of the "birthday march" but I think it made birthdays so fun!

This year, since we are in Colorado, my parents decided that around my birthday would be a good time for them to come visit (but mostly to see Wes). They drove over here for two nights this past weekend. They took us to P.F. Chang's and when we went back to the hotel, we had birthday cake #1 and ice cream. The next day they made us a nice breakfast (they had a kitchen in their room). We went miniature golfing then went back to the room for another amazing hotel-cooked meal, my favorite birthday meal--roast beef and mashed potatoes. After that came birthday cake number 2. I am one lucky girl.

New Sunglasses from Grandma and Grandpa

His first time miniature golfing...well, watching miniature golf.

The parentals

Yes, I needed the sun because I am a pasty white person.

The nice thing about both my husband and I being unemployed is that I get to have him all to myself on my birthday. He didn't grow up with birthdays being quite that big of a deal; however, he has been very sweet to try to make my birthdays special.

Today, he brought me breakfast on a tray with fresh flowers (the toaster strudels were my request, not his lack of cooking skills).

And delish Papa Murphy's for lunch

I wanted to put up lots of pictures of me and my birthday cakes over the years but all of my birthday pictures are in storage at the moment :( I guess the only two I have right now are pictures from the last 2 years.

Age 23 with my honey

Age 24

I hope you all will have or have had good birthdays this year!

Health Freak

 I remember back about 5 years ago when I was at college at SUU and I was a health freak. I was in the best shape of my life. I walked to the gym almost every day and I ate 5 small and healthy meals a day (which was easier because I didn't have to cook for anyone else). I felt guilty when I ate unhealthy foods and one of my roommates was completely annoyed by it and forced me to eat junk sometimes. I did fairly often indulge in some chocolate. I can't live without chocolate (and I'm talking the good milk chocolate kind, not the healthier bitter kind. Yuck). I'm not gonna lie, once I got married, things all changed. I know this sounds totally ridiculous but I wanted to spend every moment I had with Nate and that included time I could be at the gym. I probably went from working out 5-6 days a week to 1-3 days a week. I guess nursing school could have played a role in that as well. It also doesn't help that gyms cost money and we were starving college students. Then the baby came and we moved and I really have no gym now...so now I rarely work out. I did just start doing random workouts I found on Pinterest, which aren't too shabby.

So, skinny and healthy me seems like a distant dream. I better get in shape soon though because you can only blame your rolls on your baby for so long. I do still have a deep desire to be in shape and healthy and a passion for feeling good.

Here are some of my healthy fav's:

Almond milk: 
Only 60 calories a serving! I especially like it with Honey Bunches of Oats with almonds (I know...it's no Total cereal but it's also no Fruity Pebbles so give me a break). Almond milk plus cereal with almonds go pretty well together. The downside is that it is more expensive than milk...but I guess all healthy food is more expensive. I still would rather have a glass of cow milk with my brownies, cookies, waffles, etc., but you can reduce quite a few calories using it with your cereal.












Whole grain pasta:
It's really not that different from the enriched flour pasta. I really like the farfalle (bowtie) Barilla Plus. I tend to feel better after having a meal with whole grain pasta than I do when I have the regular pasta. The whole grain spaghetti is pretty good too!



Fruit and yogurt parfaits:
A delish breakfast that Nate likes too! And Nate's not the biggest fan of healthy foods (shhh..don't tell him I told you that). I buy a big container of vanilla yogurt, some granola, and frozen berries. Mix them all together in the morning (after thawing the berries just a little bit) and you have a healthy and tasty breakfast. Sadly, this adds up to quite a bit more money than cereal but it's SO good!



Nordicware microwave popcorn bowl:
I bought this last summer and I LOVE it. You just pour the kernels in the bowl, add a little bit of olive oil and salt, and throw it in the microwave and you have a tasty, healthier version of popcorn. And we are popcorn addicts over here. Too bad it is in storage at the moment :(



The Biggest Loser:
I don't watch every season but any time I do start watching this show again, I get motivated to start living in a healthier way. And it's so fun to watch the transformations on the season finale!

Just a few random healthy thoughts that I had to write down after having a bowl of bedtime cereal...that habit should stop too.

P.S. If anyone wants to sell their Insanity DVD's to me for cheap I will definitely think about it :)