You Know You're a Mom When...

11. You have been using an empty bottle of mascara for 2 weeks, and you never noticed
10. You have been wearing your workout clothes for 8 hours
9. You have an audience every time you pee
8. You have been touching food- all day!
7. You can be so mad and annoyed then one second later, singing and dancing
6. You have a sudden appreciation for baskets (to hide all the junk)
5. You know there is backwash in your drink, but you still drink it
4. You eat french fries in your closet
3. You dread the, once beloved, 5:00 hour
2. You can always find a way to feel guilty
1. When a simple "I love you Momma" are the best words you have ever heard!

Dear Trent, (Love Hunter)

This post is based on the questions that I asked Hunter, and I am writing down his responses. I am just letting him talk about sweet baby Trent! Here is the letter that he wrote:

Baby Trent,
You are MY baby. I'm your big brother. Happy birthday, you a big boy now. You ate cupcake, with yellow on it. I said I love you when you came home, I do love you. Mommy loves daddy. I hold your bottle and I like kissing your head. I have fun and we play catch with balloons. I tell you 'be careful' when you get off your bum-bum in the bathtub. I laugh when you dance. You laugh when I put all the pillows on you. I climb in your bed after nap. You wake up and I say "Good morning baby Trent." You do not like when I pull you. But I pat-pat your back and you smile. Love you, baby Trent.
Love,
Hunter

Trent, your brother loved you the second we brought you home. He innately protects you, and always makes sure you are okay. He is so proud of you, he genuinely wants you to do good. I love being in the other room, and I can hear you two laughing and playing. You truly complete each other, and you rely on each other. Hunter gives you the most spontaneous hugs and kisses throughout the day, everyday!

You just move along like you expect your brother protect your trail, and he does! The other day at Hunter's gymnastics class- I was watching Hunter on the balance beam. He stops walking across the beam, points and yells "Momma, danger baby Trent!" I turned around, and sure enough you scooted your way to an outlet, but of course, your brother is always watching you! It was so cute to know that Hunter will always have your back, even when it is his time to shine!

 Hunter will ask me "can baby Trent have a bite of this?" If I say yes, he will tear it up in a tiny piece and give it to you. Then, he watches you eat and tells me that he is 'making sure baby Trent doesn't choke!' Hunter is so loving, tender and unconditionally cares about you!

You look up to your brother, and you two are always with each other. You follow behind Hunter and try to do the things he does. The other day, Hunter pulled out his chair and sat down. Then, you did your funny crab crawl to the kid table, pulled out a chair and tried your hardest to get your leg on the chair to sit. Hunter, so gently, gets up and holds the chair stable for you and with the other hand he pulls you up on the chair. He tucked your chair in, kissed your head, then stood by the chair and told me "I'm gonna stand right here in case baby Trent falls." Oh my, Melt. My. Heart!! The love between you is admirable.

Your relationship will only grow through the years. It will have it's ups and downs, but always remember that the foundation of your relationship is love! Even when you argue in the future, know that your brother has been there for you from day one...watching, protecting, and loving you! We all adore you, Trent. You are surrounded with love!

Dear Trent, (Love Daddy)

Dear Trent,

Wow! What a year it has been. Mom and I have been so blessed to have such an amazing child. I was so excited when we found out we were going to have another boy. What I failed to realize is the true level of emotions I felt when you came into this world and have remained with me over this past year. I feel so lucky to have another little buddy to play with, to teach life lessons, and I hope to always be there to help you grow through life. You opened up a new part of my heart, and I love you more and more every day. In many ways, you remind me of myself. Mommy always tells me that we both "sail" through life and never seem to get upset or bothered. I love that about you, our personalities totally click.

You have such a special presence that nobody else in this world has. You light up any room and you are such a very happy baby. You seem to always just go with the flow, and you exude a special spirit that I hope you will always keep and cherish. Your spirit is so light, genuine and carefree. You are going to grace many people with your one of a kind spirit. One of my favorite things about you is to see how excited you get to see me walk in the door when I get home from work. You always have such a big smile, and I love how you smile “with your eyes”. I love how you scoot across the floor to me and look up and throw up your arms for me to pick you up. That is a memory that will last with me forever.  No matter how stressful or how bad a day I had at work, I always feel calm when I hold you. It is like nothing else matters and you make me remember what the important things are in life. It is you, Hunter, and mommy – not the little things that I deal with at work. Thank you for always making feel calm and relaxed. Again, that is part of the special spirit that you always exude. Keep that!

 It has been so fun to watch you grow up over the past year. You and Hunter have become such great friends that it is hard to separate you at home. You are always together. Hunter thinks the world of you, and you have a big brother that loves you so much. You have grown into your own person over this past year and it is fun to see you grow into your personality. I would not change one thing about you. You have such a great personality, laugh, and persona that make you who you are. I love everything about you. I pray that you hold onto your gentle roots and your kind heart stays the foundation of your being. One thing that I love most about you is how much you love your momma. You gravitate to her, she is your comfort zone and I find comfort in knowing that you appreciate your mom. Always show appreciation to mommy, she lives for you boys!

I can only hope and pray that we will continue to create many great memories together as we grow through life together. I want so much for you! You are going to be successful what whatever you put your mind to. I can already tell that you are driven, focused, observant, and aware of the world around you. I promise to always be there for you when you need me. Even when you don’t need me, I will be there for you. We will both make mistakes, and I promise to help you learn from your mistakes. I promise to forgive, I promise to help you achieve your goals, I promise to always be proud of you, and I promise to always try my hardest to be the best role model I can be.

You are everything I have ever wanted in a son. You are my precious baby boy, and you will always be precious in my eyes.

I love you so much,

Dad.

 

Dear Trent, (Love Mommy)

Baby Trent, you leave me speechless. I feel like I repeat myself a million times when I talk about you! There is just nothing else to say...you are my serenity, you are my breath of fresh air, you are my calm in a storm, you are the steady rock that keeps me grounded! I can get so caught up in the daily grind, but you always bring me back to this calm, loving place that I need in my life! I always feel weight come off my shoulders the second I hold you. You have this gift that God handpicked just for you....a gift to calm people's souls! God knew I needed that, He knew I needed you! I love you!!

When I found out I was pregnant with another boy, I pictured you to be just like Hunter. Your brother has filled our lives with joy and laughter! Hunter's personality reminds me of my mom, Zsa Zsa, so I was excited to think that I could have two spunky boys! Then you came along..... totally different than your brother, but the balance between the two of you is only something that God could have crafted!! I am serious, I know it sounds cheesy- but I will never forget the moment I first held you! You curled up on my chest with your face in my neck- I put my cheek on the top of your head and I MELTED! You immediately calmed me, and I knew in that moment that you were going to change my life- you were a blessing that God pieced just for me, for our family! I remember it so well, your daddy looked at us with a sincere smile and said, "uh oh, we got a momma's boy!" He could even feel it, our immediate bond filled the room! A moment that I will never forget!

 You were born on our 7th wedding anniversary. I was also born on my parents anniversary. Coincidence...I think not! God had that planned the whole time! As you know, I am extremely close to my parents, and I admire my mom and aspire to be like her. Mom used to tell me that I was the best anniversary present, and now I understand! Baby Trent, you are the best anniversary present! I kind of feel like mom wrapped you in a bow and was part of sending you to me on our anniversary, as a way for her to remind me that she will always be part of my children's life! She loves you more than you will ever know!

You are the perfect puzzle piece to our family! You are so cool, calm and collected- yet you have just a bit of edge to you! I like to call you and Hunter my "ying and yang!" A ying/yang is a symbol that basically means 'completion.' You are the ying to Hunter's yang! Sounds weird, but it makes total sense to me!  You boys complete me!! I am so proud to watch you grow into your own person. We are all so proud of the person you are shaping into! Hunter thinks the world of you, he will always be your biggest fan! Your friendship deepens everyday. Hunter protects you and always has his eye on you. Just today, we were at an indoor playground and a baby got too close to you so Hunter came running from the other side of the gym- got in the middle of you and the baby- he put his hand on your back and said 'don't get too close to my baby brother!' Then he kissed your head, patted your back and slowly walked away to make sure that baby didn't hurt you! Hunter will always 'go to bat for you!' I pray that you both continue to love each other unconditionally- from day one, your souls connected!

You are just as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside, which says a lot because you are gorgeous! Your aura is my favorite thing about you. You give off this vibe, like no other. You are so gentle, loving, quiet, patient, genuine, even tempered. You are getting a little more edge to you as you age. You have a little sneaky smile. My mom used to always tell me to 'watch out for those quiet ones!' She may be right! You may end up a handful- or not. Either way, I have enjoyed your first year of smooth sailin'! You are so accepting of the things and people around you! I admire this about you. You accept the quietness when its quiet, the chaos when its chaotic...you just take life as it comes! You are such a special fella, and you will always hold a special place in my heart! I love you, I adore you and my love for you will only grow!

1st Birthday Party

We had a backyard birthday party for Trent's special day. It was a 'summer' theme with lots of colors, water activities and yummy food. I made brisket for sandwiches, fruit kabobs, pretzels, juice, water, and mimosas! Macy brought over her snow cone machine, which was a big hit! For party favors, I made green rice kripsy pops, and of course we had cupcakes! I kept it pretty simple and just brought out all of my yard activities, and it turned out great!

We have a large family, so I kept it just family and a handful of friends that have babies Trent's age. It was a perfect morning, and everyone truly had fun! My nephew, Jim, told me as he was leaving "best party, ever!" So sweet!! I used the same bandanna banner from Hunter's first birthday party. Each bandanna had a picture from each month of their first year. As I was taking off Hunter's pictures- I compared Hunter and Trent's monthly pictures in the first 12 months. I see very little physical resemblance, and it was so fun to see Hunter's personality exuding from his baby pictures and Trent's calm spirit was exuding from his pictures! I love my boys, and it was a treat to reflect back on Hunter's first year as I was preparing for Trent's party! The party was fun, festive, simple and totally laid back!

Trent had a great time, and he just went along for the ride. He was so independent as he scooted between activities....pool to cozy coupe to bounce house to sprinkler ball! He just did what he wanted to do, and everyone enjoyed watching him explore! Hunter kept running up to him and screaming "happy birthday baby Trent!"

It was the perfect 1st birthday party, I couldn't have been happier with the outcome. Scott and I loved watching Trent play with his friends and enjoyed watching Hunter, so graciously, letting Trent have his special day!! Hunter played hard, but he kept the focus on baby Trent- he is such a special big brother! Here are a ton of pictures to remember this day! Great party for a great year!