Easter, con't.

I was deliberate in making sure that Westley's first Easter basket was adorable. I had waited so many years for that opportunity and loved doing it. It included locally made chocolates, some sweet bunny books (and, in the case of "Guess How Much I Love You," an accompanying stuffed bunny) and a knitted chocolate bunny I purchased from a colleague of mine. (I like how it looked kind of timeless and old-fashioned.)

The Easter Bunny even brought the pups special doggy carrot treats:

We had brunch with my in-laws and spent some time taking photos outside, one of the things I treasure about that day.

Brian and I laughed later at our attempts to keep Easter as non-commercial as possible for Westley. He received baskets at our house, from my sister and my mother-in-law. It was all very sweet and thoughtful. He won't remember anyway, I guess. I do imagine we'll want to try again in 2012.

April 2011

It's time to play some MAJOR catchup on Life is Golden. I intend to do so roughly by calendar months. Let's get started!

Here are some photos from April 2011. I was doing my best balancing a full-time job and my first spring with a kiddo, which included breastfeeding, sleepless nights, working out (to keep my Fight For Air Climb endurance) and trying like crazy to cherish every minute with my almost-one-year-old.

Here's Westley and me at a Cookie Bookie event through the Maize Early Childhood Center. Events like this helped me to share with him my love of books and music. I love to see how little he is, how red his hair is and remember him when he was shier and quieter. Such a sweetheart.

We loved getting outdoors whenever we could and were so happy that Westley was big enough to be a passenger in a jogging stroller. Here he is on a walk (or run? ) with Daddy:

Westley started getting his own little social calender going. I loved watching him make friends at daycare, church and in other circles. Here he is at Kira's first birthday party. Her parents met Brian and me at parenting classes through Wesley BirthCare Center when we were all expecting.

(Kira's family has two goldens, too!)

The party guests liked how the balloons made Westley's hair full of static electricity:

Cutie pie. Look at those locks! We were still holding out to have his first haircut until after his first birthday.

Wagon trail

We seized the moment on a 60-plus early-March evening to take Westley and the pups on a stroll through the neighborhood. To keep the little one warm, I tied a blanket around his shoulders like a cape. He was cracking us up because he opened his arms and spread the blanket out behind him like a superhero a couple of times during our walk. That's how he rolls.

I love witnessing his sweet, fun, amazing personality emerge.

Puffs!

Westley's daily menu now includes a couple of snacks, usually consisting of easy-to-eat baby puffs. (They're actually pretty tasty. I sampled the carrot and sweet potato variety I bought for him. My favorite, though, is apple cinnamon. They remind me of rice cakes.)

We love how it sounds when he chews them, making a sweet little crunching noise.

In addition to filling up his tummy, they're also helping with eye-hand coordination and (hopefully!) will help him develop his "pincher" grasp, which is when you use your index finger and thumb to pick things up.


For now, more of them land on the floor than in West's mouth ...



... but the dogs don't mind that at all.


Can you tell they're just plain fun?

Snow: The pups

A death in the family has left me emotionally raw and uninspired to blog for the past 10 days or so, but I think I'm feeling up to it this weekend. I'm going to ease back in and pick up from where I left off chronologically a couple of weeks ago. Remembering a brief romp in the beautiful snow seems a pretty great place to revisit.

Before

During

After

Brrrrr!

The -6 degree low temps nearly set a record last week. Schools canceled classes, banks and medical clinics shut down. I wore hiking socks and boots to work all week and snapped this photo from the newsroom downtown:

OldTown? Try ColdTown!

Brian and I stayed home in the evenings as much as possible. And I enjoyed a couple of mugs of my new favorite hot chocolate, Archer Farms Dark Chocolate.


I had to snap the above photo of our thermometer to contrast this picture from last summer:


The next morning, the thermometer read -2 degrees. But I was too cold to pad across the tile floor to snap a new picture.

This snowstorm has not been as much fun as January's. My car got stuck in snowdrifts, my windshield cracked (and needs to be replaced) after being exposed to the extreme cold temps. And Westley wasn't feeling well enough for us to bundle him up and go out and play. And now all the snow is melting and causing the yard to become a giant mud pie. Is it too early to wish for spring?

Why do we even buy beds?!

Here is the cat bed. Where is the cat?


Here is the cat, but where is the baby?


Here is the dog bed, but where is the dog?


Here is the dog, but where is the baby?


The baby is in Daddy's arms, right where he belongs.

Toys at rest

This is how we do still life art these days.

Santa must have thought that Westley was a very, very good boy this year. I've been joking with my friends that it's amazing how one Christmas can turn a perfectly respectable couple's family room into a playroom. The last two weeks have taught us the importance of evening pickups, especially when you include Dakota and Lilly's toys in the mix.

We wouldn't have it any other way.

On Shutterbug Rebels: A more artistic look at one of Westley's new favorite toys.

Puppy checkup

Brian and I took Dakota, Lilly & Meow Meow in for their annual vet checkup. It's always a fun -- and expensive -- January task.

Lucky for us, they were healthy -- and well-behaved. We also didn't have to remove the mattress and box spring from our bed frame to chase down Meow Meow and fight her to get her in the cat taxi. That happened last year, and we actually had to call the vet and let them know we'd be late to our appointment because of it. This year, though, we did have to get Westley to a sitter so we could handle the three pets without having to worry about him, too.

At 99 pounds, Dakota is about 15 pounds heavier this year. More runs and fewer treats will be in store in 2011. (Sorry, Snoders.) We've been through this before with our sweet, lazy Kodysaurus.

On Shutterbug Rebels: Mister Snoders is ready for his close-up.

Best photos of 2010

The year 2010 has been my most blessed yet. It's the year I became a mother, met my sweet Westley James and fell in love even more with my darling husband.

Here, for the fourth consecutive year on Life is Golden, I give you my 12 best photos of the year. May God bless us all in 2011.

Lilly the chilly dog during a January snowstorm.

A stunning Wichita sky about two weeks before Westley James was born.

Westley's great-grandmother admiring his tiny pink foot days after his birth.

Brian and Westley on an Assaria, Kan., farm in July, our first day trip as a threesome.

Lilly soaking up a summer day during an August neighborhood block party.

Brian, Westley and Eric during an August Royals baseball game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. It was West's first trip out of state.

Westley's first picnic in the park on a beautiful September day.

Westley, fast asleep in his nursery on a September afternoon.

Admiring a fabulous October rainbow from our backyard.

A Wichita church steeple, which I photographed in late November with a very thankful heart.

The Christmas tree at Bradley Fair, which I photographed when Brian joined me for a work-related charitable event that we attended together as an early holiday date.

Squeaky clean and happy during a December bath.

Here are my best-photos-of-the-year posts from previous years:

• Photos of 2009

• Photos of 2008

• Photos of 2007