THE BIG ONE!

I can't believe I am already writing this post but it's true...Tanner is one! He's so much fun and he's turned into such a little boy already. We're pretty much done with all of the baby stuff. He's using the sippy cup almost completely (one bottle before bed) and he'll be going to all milk as soon as our last jar of formula is gone. He's so happy! He smiles and his whole face lights up and it makes us so happy. We fall in love with him all over again every time we look at his beautiful face!

He has 6 teeth and he's eating all normal foods. He eats whatever we are eating and pretty much likes everything. He doesn't like green beans, mashed potatoes or hamburger. He loves fruits, waffles, puffs and cheerios. He's wearing 12 month clothes and we're searching for shoes that fit his wide little feet :) He loves to play, but he gets pretty upset when Izabel takes his toys away! I think he really enjoys the times when he gets to play by himself for a little bit. He also loves the bath! He gets in with Izabel and they play for as long as we will let them.

Today for his birthday we went to the zoo. Tanner and Izzy both loved looking at all of the animals. Tanner would point to them and smile. I think he liked the elephants the most. We went with my friend Candace and her son Drew. After the zoo we went to Friendly's for lunch. Tanner had his favorite - grilled cheese - and then we all had some ice cream. Needless to say, he loved it! After lunch we headed home and then I took Tanner to get his first birthday pictures taken. We used a real cake and he did great. He did not like having icing all over his face and every time he tried to wipe it off it only got worse. It was so funny! Below are a few of my favorites.

I have a bunch of posts to catch up on so stay tuned the next few days!

Happy Easter!

I know it is a couple days early, but we will be in Massanutten for Easter and I'm not sure if we will have internet so I thought I'd go ahead and post our family Easter pictures. We had them taken last night and I am so excited to finally have a great family portrait to go on the wall! The kids did great for the pictures so we went down to have dinner and see the Easter bunny. Izabel was so excited the whole time, but then when it was our turn she refused to even go near the Easter bunny (big surprise!) so we only got a picture of Tanner with him. That will have to go in a later post since I haven't downloaded the pictures yet! I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Easter weekend and spring break. Take some time to be with your family and don't forget what Easter is all about - God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for us so we can spend eternity in Heaven! It's a wonderful and amazing thing :)

My new wall portrait!
Our Easter gift! (Loving the new basket by the way :)
Izzy and Tanner
Sibling Love
I loved this one too!

Birthday Celebration

Last night we had a birthday celebration for all of the March and April birthdays in my immediate family. If you don't know my family, that is practically everyone! We exchanged gifts, had a yummy eclair cake and enjoyed each others company. I don't have any pictures but I do have some pictures for this post. A while back we had ODU pictures of the kids taken but I didn't post them because they were for my Dad for his birthday! Well he got his present last night so enjoy the pics!

Birthday Spread:

Matthew - March 9
Keith - March 20
Mom - March 25
Whitney - March 29
Dad - April 4
Tanner - April 8
Josh - April 19
Grandma - April 20

Go Monarchs!

Outside...Finally!

The past week or so the weather has finally gotten nice and we are starting to see spring! We felt so trapped in the house for so long this winter that we didn't think it would ever end, but now we are getting outside. I was gone for most of the nice weather last week but the kids still got outside plenty with Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa. Yesterday I was actually home to play outside with them and got to take a few pictures. We took the tent and tunnel out in the front yard. Tanner stayed on the blanket the whole time. He would start to crawl off and then move right back. I guess he doesn't like the feeling of grass quite yet! It was fun and very relaxing. Hopefully there will be lots more afternoons like this in the coming weeks!

Happy Boy

Playing in the tunnelHop on Pop!

Peek-a-boo

Just like Daddy

Fashion Marketing New York Trip

Every year I take a group of fashion students to New York. This year we went March 17-20th. We stayed at the Eastgate Tower Hotel and visited many different parts of The Big Apple! Students received guided tours of Macy's and Henri Bendel, we went to the top of the Empire State Building, took an NBC Studio Tour, completed a scavenger hunt down 5th avenue and visited central park. We also spent time in times square and ate at Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock and Bubba Gump. We saw Memphis (which was amazing) and Phantom of the Opera. We visited Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum and China Town. Everyone had a great time and the trip was a great success. Here are just a few of the pictures!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I know this is a day early but I will be in New York the rest of the week so I wanted to go ahead and post!

My little Leprechaun!

This is Tanner's last first holiday before he turns 1! It's exciting but sad at the same time :) In his 11 month pictures we used a St. Patrick's day theme. I hope you all enjoy this fun holiday and don't forget to wear green!

A DECA Weekend

This past weekend I took 14 students to Norfolk for State DECA competition. I had students in a variety of competitive events as well as two students who were running for State Office. We had the majority of our competitive events in the Marriott and Sheraton hotels and then our general sessions and awards were held in Chrysler Hall. Virginia DECA is the largest state association with over 14,000 members so this is a very big conference!

Practicing for Presentations!

My students did very well! I had four students who were finalists in their category. This means they were at least in the top ten. Then I had two student winners in the Financial Literacy Promotion Plan. This means they will compete at the national level next month. Finally, BOTH of my state officer candidates won the election! I am so proud of both of them and looking forward to a busy year of helping them serve their term.

State Winners Sam and Eric in the
Financial Literacy Promotion Category

New State Officers Evan and Travis

Our school store also received Gold Level certification with national DECA and our chapter of DECA received the Fortune 500 award. I will be taking 6 students to the International Career Development Conference next month in Louisville, KY! Congratulations Kecoughtan DECA!