Happy Halloween!

While I think that we all would agree the origins of Halloween are a little shady - I have always liked the "fun" side of the holiday. Dressing up in silly costumes with over done makeup, etc. So I am a little anxious to share our creativity for Des. OK, not *so* creative, but cute none-the-less. =) We dressed him up as his dad. Marc and him had matching outfits (as much as an adult and baby can match) BUT Marc ruined his outfit this morning by spilling his breakfast on his pants so we had to settle for just the same color shirt. I think you will find that the resemblance is still good. Everyone that saw them thought it was quite cute. =) Then we went to the community harvest party, put on by the rec center here in town. While all the activities were a bit above Des - he liked watching the colorful clothes and he *loved* the cake walk - he kept trying to walk on the squares with numbers - he even won once! So Marc got a treat - Des, needless to say, did not participate in any sweet eating this year. He was also mesmerized by the gentleman playing the music for cake walk. Des must of stared at him for 10 minutes! Anyway, here are some pics of the boy.

Yes, it is a REAL tie!

Another Countdown.

The birthday has come and gone. The party has come and gone. So now we are on yet another countdown to a big event in our lives: the musical! Marc is still putting many hours in to be the musical director and it will only get worse. He says that the music is coming together fairly nicely and without too much complication, which is a relief after last year's difficulty. But it has come at a price: namely 9 extra weeks of rehearsals for him. I have been determined to have a good attitude about our "split lives" and to support him as well as I can, though, so no complaining! I will, however, be *very* grateful when he will not be gone the majority of nights for musical 'stuff'. My attitude has greatly been helped by Marc's efforts to come home every night for dinner - he is only able to get away for about an hour but it is much appreciated and Des *loves* seeing his daddy. Every night when the door slams Des starts to squeal and looses his balance, its so cute and so neat to watch. =)

We have continued to go to playgroup. Des's nap usually goes till after playgroup starts but we go for whatever time we can to get out of the house and to give Des a chance to socialize. He runs around smiling at all the big boys waiting for his big break but, unfortunately, he is a little too young to actually "play" with the big boys but also too old to play with the "babies." There is a couple of other oneish year olds but they all have only realized that each other exist and don't actually play *together.* Its more of a fascination with each other's presence than anything else. They'll get there though and hopefully have fun together. Des is independent in his walking but is still easily toppled so I get a little nervous having him run around with so many chaotic bodies flying about but so far no injuries. He will travel whatever distance on his own that he previously scoped out with mom. So if we go straight to the benches and sit he will only go in a 5 foot radius. But if we walk around the gym for a little while and then sit - off he goes! To the far reaches of the gym. Kind of bittersweet to see your little one walking away without really looking back....My mother would probably say that was a taste of my own medicine. When the other kids get in trouble, though (which invariably happens with 8 toddler boys running around), he gets upset and needs a hug. He doesn't like people yelling (big or little).

One of the gals from church has offered to watch Des every Sunday night so that Marc and I can go to choir practice together. So every Sunday night we drop him off at her house (about 2 minutes from the church) with her 1 and 6 year old and he plays "with" her little boy while Marc and I go to practice for an hour or so and then I come get him, we go home and Des goes straight to bed. Its not really a big deal but even leaving him that little bit on a regular basis pulls at my heart strings.... I don't think that I will ever be able to put him in daycare..... Lord willing I won't have to. =) Being a stay at home mommy is something I always wanted to do but never ever could have imagined what it actually was like (in good and challenging ways). On the other hand I do miss my job. Such a conundrum this 21st century... 100 years ago it wouldn't have even been an option.

We played for church this last Sunday as we continue to be a part of the worship team at church. Although that is a little trickier to navigate Des-wise. He is so mobile now that we can't corral him for any length of time really and he is also old enough now to not nap well in places that are not his room. But we manage to get rehearsal in and enjoy being a part of the music. Also, practicing at home is difficult because if you play piano, he wants to play and you can't play when he is sleeping so....? Like I said its, difficult. =)

We made a short road trip last week to see G. Marge, A. Corrina and Eunice (a close family friend). We had lunch and Des charmed all the ladies. He has been battling a cold so was not in the best of moods but always breaks out a smile to keep the rep up! =) He is still battling a bit of the cold but I think he is on the mend.

What else? I don't think anything. Marc has been so busy that we just don't do much and I have been keeping to the home fires in the evenings.

Our attempt at fall pictures - if you ignore the drool its a good pic.

Playing the drums that Dad brought home to work on.

Looking at the fish when at lunch in Powell.

The big ball that he likes to push around at playgroup.

Birthday Party!!

Sheesh.... Where to start? We had a great time. We decided to have a party at my parents house in Montana in order to facilitate more people being able to participate and to have more space for Des. His two favorite things right now seem to be balls and cats (animals in general, really). So we decided to decorate in balloons in order to keep it simple yet fun. That and balloons are much easier to decorate with - cats are just to squirmy when you tie a ribbon to them and tape them to a wall. (haha.) Anyway... Des loved the "balls" that materialized overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had family over, played a couple of games that let us recap Des's first year of life, opened presents, ate some dinner and had 'cake.' Marc didn't really want to introduce Des to the intense sugar quite yet and I agreed with the argument he made for that so... I made pumpkin cake, sans icing for Des, cream cheese icing for the rest of us that already have a mouth full of dental work. He liked it and just ate his piece like anything else... no crazy crumbs up nostrils or filled ear canals.... Although for some reason at dinner he thought he would use cantelope juice to get the "just out of bed" look that is so coveted lately - but that's not unusual for a one year old. We blew up about 40-50? balloons total and cascaded them down the stairs for a 'present' for Des. He was a little overwhelmed by that at first, but by the end of the party he was having a *grand* time with all the 'balls.'

A lesson to pass on to all of you: Don't try and save money on helium balloons. We got ten balloons blown up with helium at Wally World to augment the non-floaty type. We decorated the night before so that Des could wake up to a colorful world (a long standing tradition from my family, we always woke up to a 'birthday house' - something I always loved). The next morning we had one casualty and I thought "no big deal" I just taped it up. We literally watched hour by hour as the balloons drifted downward and by noon they were all obviously dead.... So there was a reason they were so much cheaper than other places in town. BUT Grandpa B saved the day and after his usual run to Barnes he surprised us with ten new balloons to replace the failures. Des liked seeing a whole bunch of floaty balls, it was fun.

After a full weekend we headed home. Des got really quiet before we were even ten miles down the road. We have quickly learned in Des's first year to check on quiet situations and sure enough... Somehow Des had gotten his hands on the bag of sugar cookies that we had brought to share and gotten the ziplock open and eaten half a cookie. I *promise* you that not 5 minutes earlier I had checked that nothing was within his grasp in the backseat. I still don't know how he did it but he did!

And now we are counting down to the musical. As the performances get closer Marc gets more busy and has more time constraints. So we are waiting for that to be over and then not too long after that... #2 arrives.... It will be interesting to see where "normal" ends up being after all this. We'll keep you posted - hope you enjoy the pictures.

Birthday decorations (with the non Wally balloons).

Decorating the cakes.

Finished product - 1 with "balloon" cupcakes.

The candle...

Walking like a pro amidst all his balls.

Party boy with his balloons.

Caught redhanded....sneaky, sneaky...

One last thing.... We had a snow storm two weekends ago and so we bundled up Des and took him outside for his first real encounter with snow... Here are a couple pics:

1 Year Old!!!

Seems like a huge day and yet, other than a cookie for Des, it was the same ol' in the Graham household. Here's a picture of our small family celebration. We are throwing a party this weekend so all family that is able can celebrate with us - but for the actual day it was just Marc, I, Des and the bun. The latter two were blissfully unaware of why today was different. While Des didn't really respond to all my reminders that today was a big day - he *did* respond to his sugar cookie (or rather half a sugar cookie). Loved that! Lets hope we haven't started something, although if you've been around Marc when he eats sugar cookies you know that Des's genetics are probably not inclined to cookies in moderation! =)



Other than our big day - its status quo here in Wyoming. I'll post more after the party, I'm sure we'll have stories to tell and pictures (video?) to share. =)

And the countdown begins...

We are rapidly approaching Des's first birthday and with it I have much joy and trepidation. I'm sure any parent can relate and can also sigh with me as you relish in your child's accomplishments while at the same time savor the bittersweetness of days gone by. My father and I used to sing a song in church for special music when I was but a wee tyke (we're talking 4-5 years old) and the lyrics went something like this:

Hold tight to the sounds of the music of living,
Happy songs from the laughter of children at play;
Take my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows,
Making memories of what was today.

Tiny voice, that I hear is my little girl calling.
For daddy to hear just what she has to say
Little son running there by the hillside,
Will never be quite like today.

We have this moment to hold in our hands,
And to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone, and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.

I never truly appreciated those lyrics until I became a mom. To see so much change in a child in such a short time is truly the best way to realize that life is short and passes too quickly. And also the best way to remember to cherish every smile and moment while you have the chance to. God has truly blessed us with Des (and in so many other ways).

Enough sentiment. Its been a full couple of weeks. I meant to post last week in addition to the videos but somehow just never got to it. I went to Montana for a doctor's appointment - the "big one." To get blood drawn and get my shot, etc... I don't like that but I s'pose there are worse things than getting poked a few times in a day. We (Des and I) stayed for an extra day because Marc was busy anyway and we thought maybe we could get some more shopping done and see A. Corrina instead of just being there long enough to get shot. A. Corrina was sick but we did get all our shopping done which eliminated the hurry-up get it done and on the road shopping that I don't really prefer.

Just prior to our trip to the doctor we spent the day in Yellowstone - it was free day - ie you don't have to pay the entrance fee. So we called up grandma and grandpa G. and met them for lunch and buffalo hunting. Des did well despite not getting naps. He was well behaved and tolerated the car ride very well. It was fun to get away, although we were disappointed to not see more fall colors but still very beautiful scenery. Marc spent the majority of the trip taking pictures.

#2 is doing well. My ribs officially don't fit anymore. Anyone who has gone through pregnancy will know what I mean. For those of you that have not, imagine a steel bar placed in your abdomen pushing up on your ribs and down on your pelvis so that when you bend over or even just sit your ribs are displaced enough to hurt. That's what I mean by "my ribs don't fit anymore." Forgive my grievances - despite the discomfort, I am truly grateful that this little one is fit and healthy enough to cause invasive troubles. But I will not lie and say that I don't look forward to breathing easy again: because I do. =) Although, the closer #2's entry approaches the harder it is to give up the panicky feeling of "we are really going to have another?" But day by day: through Christ I can do all things - even care for 2 in diapers! =) Lord, give me patience! Heaven knows I won't be the first person to attempt/accomplish the task. =)

Musical rehearsals are still in full swing at the highschool, adding now the instrumental pit 'band.' So Marc is as busy as usual. He also had to put in extra hours this last week/weekend to help students with All-Northwest auditions. His schedule is just *so* full that we don't usually get to go anywhere or do anything. (This is where you're supposed to remind us that he gets the whole summer off.) I thought that I was getting close to being done with "single parenting" but then I counted last night and there are still 6 weeks left.... We try to make up for it on the short weekends but can you ever get enough time with the love of your life? =) No. =)

I feel like I'm forgetting some events, but in order to avoid babbling I will post a couple pictures and be done. Hope you are all well.


Preferred method of travel through Yellowstone.

Loves to eat on his own...