DOWN FOR 5.

it's monday. and i'm at work. and i'm SO happy about it.

the 5 days prior to today, our family was out of commission.the many joys of a working mother. right, there are many. right?  one of those would be daycare. bless our daycare for providing a safe place for banks during the day and for feeding him, teaching him and mentoring him, but oh, em, gee. talk about a germ bank. 

i felt like a 'mom' for the first time this week. well, i mean, i had my first moment where everything wasn't butterflies and rainbows. in fact it was puke. a crib full of puke and a baby covered in it. scared to death. this is the first time banks has ever thrown up and for me to find him like this after i had already taken a shower and gotten half-ready for work was scary. why didn't the monitor pick up this awfulness?! my poor baby! i grabbed him, stripped him down and got him to the bath tub as quick as I could while Garrett cleaned out the crib. saddest. morning. ever. i stayed home that day, and banks was everything he always is - happy, active, crazy - and we went to bed thinking we were on the mend. until i heard a choking noise the next morning while i was in the bathroom getting ready. i ran to his room and found him sitting him gagging. i scooped him up and ran to the bathroom just in time for another vomit episode. saddest day ever #2. and again all day, we had a happy-go-lucky baby. That night we packed for our KC trip and figured he was over everything since nothing had happened in 12+ hours. that was until midnight when i was packing and smelled something funny. AGAIN!  a crib full of puke and a covered baby. by now, we had the routine down and we stripped Banks and the bed and  got everything cleaned up and Banks back to sleep. and about 2 hours later, I woke up with the FLU. and then about 24 hours after that Garrett woke up with the FLU. Evil germs.

it was obviously not a fun 5 days. it was awful.

i've never been so excited to go to work on a monday - just go announce 'We're NOT sick!!'. 

thank god we are all feeling better and we are all well just in time for the holidays. 

having a sick baby is the worst. thing.ever.

what i did learn while we were sick: i like regular chicken noodle soup over double noodle and sierra mist is better than sprite and 7up. Do not leave the seat down while puking and baby cuddles are still the best. thing.ever.

1st BIRTHDAY PARTY

if you're a fellow blogger,  i'm sure you will understand. 

a few weeks ago i ran into the 'out of space' alert. basically, the blog was telling me i'd have to pay to upload any more pictures, so i didn't want to share banks' birthday party post until i got all of that figured out. what's a party post without pictures!?

needless to say, the last year has been by far the best year of my life. banks has brought so much joy and meaning to our lives and i couldn't be happier. being a mom is the best.

i took the day off for banks' birthday to help him celebrate. i was greeted with the happiest birthday boy ever.

we met dad for lunch and banks ate his big boy kids' meal.

that night we met banks' grandpa steve, grandpa wayne and grandma juju, uncle shelby and our best friends for a birthday dinner at texas roadhouse. banks had a great time riding the bull for his birthday!

i'd say he had a pretty good day.

the following saturday, we celebrated his first year with family and friends at his very own mustache bash. i'd have to say the highlight of the party was the homemade 'mustache ride' (inappropriate, i know) that his grandpa steve made him. the kids loved it!

banks' birthday invites (shout out to royal script! ;) )

banks had a blast! we had such a great time. of course, b didn't let us down and went head first into his birthday cake. that kid loves to eat. 

thank you to everyone who came. b has been in love with all of his new toys (and his parents thank you for keeping him entertained!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BANKS. you are the very best boy. ever.

LOVE YOU.

DEAR BANKS,

I've been typing that a lot. especially, lately.

Dear Banks, You're walking!

Dear Banks, You're talking!

Dear Banks, You're ONE!

Dear Banks, You're the best kid ever.

Dear Banks, You'll never know how much I love you.

except I tend to type hundreds of more words per email.

Cliche or not, weird or cool, when Banks was born I created an email account for him, actually I created it before he was even born. Welcome to social media, buddy!

I pray to God that I will be able to tell Banks everything about his childhood in person, but that we are not promised. I also pray that I will remember everything that happened during Banks' childhood, but that is not guaranteed. I also thought I would be super mom and write in Banks' baby book, every other day, with updates on what he was eating when, what he weighed everyday, but the baby book really hasn't come out of his bookshelf since month 2. Let's face it, life is busy. It seems that no matter how busy life gets, there is always time for a quick text or email. Put it together, and you get Mom communicating with Baby Banks via email. Obviously, I still tell him everyday how great I think he is and how much I love him, but I want him to hold onto those words forever and be able to revisit them, even when I'm not here to tell him face-to-face.

Hopefully, Banks will enjoy reading about his childhood as much as I enjoy being his mother through it.

Dear Banks,

Being your Mom is the best.

Love, Mom