Turning 1 Is So Much Fun!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet 1 year old!

How time flies! It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant and couldn't WAIT to have our little baby.

And then we had him and we couldn't believe that Heavenly Father had entrusted us to be the parents to such a perfect little angel.

He has grown up so much and he's turning out to be the sweetest, funniest, and most handsome baby EVER! 

My baby turned 1 last Tuesday, February 22. It was bittersweet for me... part of me was super excited that he was growing up and developing into such a cute boy and that I had been a parent for a whole year, but there was a part of me that was sad that a WHOLE YEAR had gone by and that he is no longer {technically} a baby, but a toddler. WhAt?!?! The joys of parenthood, I guess. Every parent goes through this, I suppose, but it doesn't make it any easier. :) 

However, as I've said many, many times before, I absolutely LOVE being a mom. Especially to this amazingly cute kid:

 

 I planned a party for him... and as we all know, the first party for any new parent is just that... a party for the new parent{s}, especially the mom. I had so much fun planning it and even more fun the day of. We had approximately 45 people there-- friends AND family-- so the party was a lot of fun! And the kid seriously got hooked up with presents... it's been like Christmas around here since Saturday and I'm sure that the excitement of all of his new toys will be around for a while still. Even I'm having fun playing with some of them! Kids' toys nowadays are so much cooler than the toys that I had growing up! :)

Anyway, here are a few pictures from his actual birthday:

 We got him a couch, and as you can see, he kind of loves it! It takes TV watching to a whole new level. :)

And here are some pictures from his {my} party:

For all of you first-time mothers, and mothers-to-be, out there, cherish the first year because it goes by so fast! I know the rest of his life will go by just as fast, but that first year is so precious and so much fun.

I love you, Rusty. With all of my heart.

And Away We GO!!!

That's right! Rusty is finally walking at 11 1/2 months! 2 weeks before his 1st birthday and we couldn't be more proud! It's definitely one of those defining moments for first-time parents... we've been giddy and excited all night! Russ decided to stay home from school tonight, something that he never does, and I'm so glad he did! I'm so glad he didn't miss out on this!

Rusty has been taking a few steps here and there-- in between the couch and the coffee table, between the coffee table and his toys, between me and Russ, etc-- but tonight he surprised us by walking MUCH more than that. We were in his room playing and all of a sudden he just got up and walked! We were stunned and for the rest of the night we had him walking between the two of us... and he did more than that... he just walked EVERYWHERE! He'd follow me around, he'd walk to the TV and just stand there watching TV, and all without provocation. He's such a little genius. ;)

As I said before, Russ and I are such proud parents of this little boy and can't seem to stop being amazed at how quickly he's developing and growing. He continues to amaze us and is always just doing something new... all of a sudden... it's awesome! We sure LOVE our happy, spunky baby and can't get enough of him!



I just love how proud of himself he is! Just clapping away! ha ha! Gotta love him!

Christmas, Beach, and Anniversary!

Merry Christmas! We have had one awesome Christmas this year! We got to go to the annual O'Reilly Christmas Party up in Salt Lake at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building's Empire Room and spend time with family, and then we had a pre-Christmas party with my family before we left for California to have Christmas with Russ' family at the beach in Morro Bay! Phew! It's been a super busy month, but it was well worth it. We all had a blast! And Russ and I found out, as every parent does, that Christmas is SO MUCH MORE FUN with a kid!! We spent WAY more on him and had so much fun picking out his presents and watching him "open" them! He turned 10 months old on the 22nd, right before Christmas, and I feel like this is a really good age. Every age is better than the next (I know... I'm referring to months as an "age", but hey...), but he was so fun and we really enjoyed having him around this year. :)

I know I always have a picture overload, but I'm kind of obsessed with taking pictures now that Rusty's here, and I want to document EVERYTHING, so if you get tired of it... sorry. LOL I'm even cutting back on this post, but here a "few" pictures from this month. Enjoy!

O'Reilly Christmas Party:

Not so sure about this guy....

Now that he's given him a candy cane to suck on, he's okay. Candy really does the trick!

My family's pre-Christmas party:

Grandma and Grandpa John

Grandma and Grandpa got him a Jazz outfit,

a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal,

(which he loves to kiss and snuggle!)

and a tractor!!

Russ got a new tool kit, which he LOVES! His old one was stolen about a month ago, so he was super excited about it.

I got a pair of black riding boots from Nordstrom that I was coveting, but no one thought it was important to take any pictures of that. :)

Our 4-Year Anniversary:
These last 4 years have been amazing. I really am one lucky girl! I married the nicest, most selfless and genuine person in the world and I couldn't ask for more. I've never been so loved in my life, nor have I loved someone more than I love Russ. I'm so fortunate and blessed to have him as my eternal companion. We've had a wonderful marriage thus far and I know that it will keep getting better. He's my soul mate, my best friend, the father of my son (and future kids) and I love him more than I can even say.

Rusty's clapping for us! Thanks, Rusty!

Dinner wouldn't be complete without some chocolate melting cake with raspberry drizzle and vanilla ice cream! Our favorite! Delish!!!

This place was right on the water... the food was great and it was so romantic!

Christmas Eve at the beach:

I love little baby footprints!

"Are you sure I can do this on my own?"

What a big boy! He stood on his own for a long time... it apparently helped to observe some sand in his hand. :)

Uh oh!

Oh, man! Sand in the face is NOT very fun, but it makes for some funny pictures! LOL

Russ and his awesome surf board. What a pro!

The waves weren't the greatest, but he was still able to get up and ride some of the waves.  Way to go, babe!

Grandpa Rusty sure loves his grandson.

This is one of my favs of the day. He looks like a legit surfer! :)

All of the cousins, minus Baby J (he's only 2 months old). Zoe, Ellie, Rusty and Winnie.

Christmas Eve (Night):
We had SO MUCH FUN this night! Russ' sister, Reilly, had so many fun things planned and we had a blast. We put all of the kids to bed and played "Minute To Win It" and made gingerbread people to decorate the tree. Needless to say there was lots of laughing!

Trying to hook 4 candy canes from one dangling candy cane. NOT as easy as it sounds!

Trying to get an Oreo from our foreheads to our mouths. Good times!

The farthest I made it was to my cheek. 

Don't judge. :) These are mine and Rusty's. Yep. The bling on my left hand symbolizes my wedding ring. Yes, I'm THAT detailed! :)

And this one is Russ'. I'm not sure why he wanted a red tie, but hey... to each their own. 

There were some AWESOME ones up here and they were all made by adults, minus 2. Classic!

Christmas Day:

He can't wait to get to those presents!! Look how eager he is!

Russ and I got him a toy piano, and he is obviously very thrilled about this right now. :)

He got a little worked up and sweaty after playing it so much that he needed to get naked. LOL

Our cache of presents. We did really well this year!

The whole Schafer Clan. 

5 generations! Rusty, Meme, Gramy, Rusty, and Russ.

We went to Selma to have Christmas dinner with Russ' dad's family. I'm so glad we were able to visit with Meme and Gramy, Russ' grandma and great-grandma. They're both amazing women and about the nicest, sweetest people you'll ever meet. Gramy just turned 100 this year, so I'm REALLY glad she was able to meet Rusty. It was important to everyone and even though Rusty wasn't having a good night, I'm so glad I was able to get some pictures of this.

Sunday- Baby J's Blessing Day:

My camera died after these pictures were taken, so I didn't get any of the whole family on this day, but it was a special day for the family and I'm so glad we were able to be there for Baby J's blessing.

There are so many more pictures, but I wanted to at least document the most important parts of our experiences this month... notice that ALL of them have Rusty in it! :) I know I say this all the time, but I sure love that kid and am so grateful to be his Mom. He makes our lives so fun and so much more fulfilled. He's such a great asset to our family and we're definitely better people because of him. I am constantly in awe of him and am always amazed at how quickly he's growing and developing! He's such a smart kid!

Well, there's our month in a nutshell. We're going up to our friend's cabin again this year for New Year's, so I'll definitely be posting about that soon. :) Hope you all had a great Christmas, too!