Quit monkeyin' around...

...and 'swing' on into Sterling's 3rd birthday party!

Wow, it's finally over! Months of planning, stressing, spending and it's finally over! I think I can relax a little now!

The party went so good! Almost all of his friends (and all his family) showed up and he just had an absolute blast with every single one of them. I am so glad that everyone was able to come and make it such a special day for him.

I was a little worried if these were going to turn out, but I thought they did! sorry so blurry. my camera s.u.c.k.s!! That's our only Christmas wish this year!

Can you see the 6' monkey hangin out the top...yeah, he didn't last long until he got several holes put in his side by some of the kids! Oh well See all the monkey's everywhere! pre-craziness!

We set up a big bounce house for them to play in as well "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" devouring his cupcake

Ok, this was hysterical.

We let him see this first....didn't quite catch on.

Then he unwrapped this... (pre-fish brain injury) this was taken right after he dropped the poor fish because it moved!!! You can see in his face that he wasn't quite sure of it. Oh my, it was so funny! (guess you had to be there =) ) Daddy had to tell him where it goes. Later on that night Heath asked him what he wanted to name his fish and Sterling says,"Beer!" Guess who was holding a beer while he was asking a three year old that question!! Um, new name please! Pinata time! After everyone tried to bust this thing many times, little miss Claire finally got if for us! Thanks Claire!

Goofy look, but there's the birthday boy in all his glory!

As soon as everyone was gone (about 3:30) Sterling was finally able to go down for a MUCH needed nap! What a big day/week! :)

business matters

Well the news some of you have been waiting for...

Heath does not have the job yet.

The man still has not been paid, therefore, Heath can't start until that happens. The guy told Heath he really wants him to come work for him, but just has to wait until then. So....

Our hopes are still high. Heath has been swamped with side jobs his own jobs so at least there is money coming in.

But here's how we are starting to look at this whole thing.

Since this is the only job opportunity that has presented itself in almost two weeks, and has fallen through on more than one occasion (I am referring to the guy not calling/Heath not being able to get ahold of him for a few days) we are starting to take it as our "sign". You see, the ultimate goal that Heath has had since he started in the electrical field 7 years ago, was to eventually start his own company. We just didn't think it was going to be right now/this soon! But that just goes to show you that nothing is in"our timing", but it's all God's timing!

So, we shall wait and see. As I'm sure most of you know, there is a WHOLE LOT that goes along with owning your own business and it's almost is a scary thought to just go out on your own, just like that. (snap fingers here) But if this is what God's will is, then that is what we must do. We will figure it out with His help and He will put people/things in our lives that will guide us along that journey. Because this, after all, is going to be a HUGE step in that journey! So our prayers still remain for the Lord to show us the way we are to be going. If Heath is supposed to pursue looking for a job, or continue the adventures of starting his own business.

We just want to say thank you to each and every one of you who have prayed for our family. You will never understand how much that means to us. When I say that we have felt each one of them, I truly mean just that. We have felt such a sense of peace the past two weeks. It's amazing how the power of prayer works! God is good! :)

~ On a side note~

The big party is tomorrow and I am so ready for it to be over with already! I have to share this though! I was telling Sterling who all was coming to his party (who all RSVP ed) and he was getting so excited.

He then proceeds to tell me,"Mommy, you know who else is coming to my birthday party!?!"

Me,"Who?"

S,"JESUS!!"

I'm tellin' ya, Jesus is this kid's best friend! :) Hey, I can't argue with that!

M.I.A.

Slacker!!!

I am sure that is what some of you dear, loyal, blogging buddies are thinking! Let me apologize! I have not intended to keep you all in suspense for so long. I have some good news (we hope at least!) to share, but first you must bare through my post! ha :) (and again I want to thank all of you who have been continually praying for our family, it means soooo much. You have no idea!)

So the excuses, as to why I have been a slacker, are as follows:

Excuse #1~ I have been fighting some fierce allergies! I feel like my nose is going to explode, my eyeballs are going to bug out of their sockets, and I could scratch the back of my throat with a fork and it wouldn't solve my problem! So even if I could have found at least one second to get on here, I didn't really feel like it! But I will say this, if you are suffering like me, I totally recommend these:

Oh. my. goodness. They are like heaven to a nasty nose! Go get some, I know you'll love 'em!

Excuse #2~ Sterling's birthday. I wanted to devote that day to him. So here are some pictures of his fun, fantastic day!

Starting the day out like many...the play doh king! (in a happy mood) flash forward about 10 min...the "I'm three now and I am going to be terrible" mood. I told him he could have anything for breakfast and he chose waffles...go figure! (he didn't want me taking a picture of him eating breakfast. He would shake his hand while protesting, "NOOOO mommy, not take my picture." Gotta love it!) Then he made a mad dash to the, finally finished, swing set! So we played... and played...

until it was time to eat lunch! Ya think we made the right decision for his birthday gift!?! Then Daddy drug the drum set out...sometimes I question why he does the things he does! haha So that, of course, attracted some of the neighbor kids over. Which Sterling doesn't mind because he loves playing with his friends. (oh, those were not a birthday gift...we've had that for a while now! I got it at a garage sale for a $1!!! Yes, you read right! That's what happens when the husbands are left in charge of doing the garage sales!) "I'm a big boy!!!"

Then it was dinner time and we asked him what he wanted for a special birthday dinner. Get ready for it..."SONIC grilled cheese sandwich!" So we loaded up on our bikes and road to Sonic to eat.

"What's taking so long!?!"

His "special" birthday dinner! LOL! That just cracks me up! Only Sterling!

Ok, so I know that Sonic doesn't do anything for birthday's, but I told the guy it was Sterling's birthday and so he got a free ice cream cone! WHOO HOO!!! (except he brought it out before we even started eating our dinner...um it melted just a tad! But that's ok, it's his birthday, desert before dinner is just fine!)

I made some yummy chocolate chip cookies with a secret ingredient (the recipe I stole from Kristy)

Oh my, they are sooo good!! Sterling gobbled them up! Thanks Kristy for the yummy recipe!

Present time!!! (Ok, before you click to enlarge this picture, let me just tell you so you can save yourself the time! YES, that is Christmas paper for his September birthday...I thought I had regular wrapping paper. Obviously I didn't! Don't judge...I bet you've had to do something like that! :) hehe)

Excuse #3~ And, last but not least, I have had the daunting task of putting his goodie bags together for his party. I make it sound like it was awful, but it really wasn't! Ok, I am so disappointed because the bags were supposed to be little monkey face tote bags, but when I ordered them, they were out of stock and not getting anymore in...just my luck! So I guess these will have to do.

left to right: banana candies, pencils, monkey squirt faces, monkey tattoos, and mini lollipop suckers

Everyone will get a "one of a kind" pencil when they leave! haha

Yet another one crossed off my list! YAY!! I'm just about ready for this to be over!

Ok, and now for the news all of you I'm sure have skipped down to when you first started reading!....

I didn't really want to post yet until we knew something for certain, but some have been asking for an update and I totally understand. I told you that Heath had an interview with that guy. It went well. Here's the thing, he is working on this big job and hasn't been paid yet, so he is waiting until Thursday when he is supposed to get paid, to let Heath start working for him. So, our prayer is that he will actually get paid on Thursday so Heath can start work on Friday. If he doesn't get paid, then I don't know if he will still get to start or not. So, that is why I didn't want to post yet until we were certain, but it is looking good so far! He really liked Heath and wants him on, so we'll see. Tomorrow is the big day!

Happy Birthday Sterling!!!

**Just so you know this is going to be an extremely long post, (I'm talkin probably an entire page long...don't judge! I'm very sentimental) but only because of pictures. See this post will probably only be fun for me, Heath, our parents, and grandparents. I could have done a slide show, but I didn't want to. I could have made them smaller but I didn't want to. I wish I could have done the side-by-side, but don't know how. So...consider yourself warned!**

I can hardly believe that yet another year has come and gone. I am not going to make this all mushy but I just want to remember you at this age. I am not good with words, so I will use pictures to remind myself (and you all) of how much I love you, sweet child of mine, and how much fun we have with you.

You have such a sweet personality and it shows. Your facial expressions are off the hook! You'll see! You have always been a very expressive child, in the way you talk and also in your facial expressions. I have picked out some of my most favorite pictures from your birth to now. Try not to fall asleep. And now for your viewing pleasure...

I took pictures each week of pregnancy, but I was induced 3 weeks early because you were already measuring over 9 lbs at 35 weeks prego, and not to mention "weighing" mommy down just a tad!! At my 37 week picture I measured what a 45 week pregnant person would measure. (if you don't know what that means, you are supposed to measure a centimeter from the top of the belly to the bottom, for each week you are pregnant. So 37 weeks prego =37 cm. I was 37=45 cm. Can you say OUCH and MISERABLE!! Oh, and women don't even go 45 weeks!)

All 9 lbs. 6 oz. of perfection!

You were the biggest baby in the nursery.

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures of you and Daddy. You can tell Daddy has been cryin his eyes out and you are looking up at your Daddy for the first time...sweetness. New parents on the road, everyone watch out!! (you was born during hurricane Rita, so the aftermath was hitting us right when we were being released to go home. Talk about driving like a couple of grannies! haha)

just 2 weeks old and so alert

Just had to stick this on here in case you ever get to wondering why you always had a bib on at all times...it's called acid reflux! YUCK! This was your first New Years. mommy is so mean!

Just look at these next three faces below. these were taken one right after another. There were about 4 more different faces, but these were the best!

You've got some big shoes to fill there Buddy! It's crazy to think one day you will actually be able to wear those. sniff Always such a happy baby! I couldn't decide between these two. I think these are two of my favorite pictures of you. Such sweet expressions!

Your first "owie". Look at those eyes! Oh my! Your first spaghetti experience...what were we thinking!?!

Ok, Daddy threatened me with a half inch of my life to not post these two pics...LOL!! "Too pretty to be a little boy" is what we always heard. Just wanted to see what you would look like with some piggy tails! haha Two years ago today...on his first birthday. Look at those sweet, soft, blonde wings! Oh, and of course, that face!

Showing us you are "ONE"! Those wings were cut a few days later... sad. Couldn't resist! This was your reaction when you came around the corner on Christmas morning to see what Santa got you= priceless!! (you were 15 months old)

First time to be a ring bearer...so cute! Always wanting to be just like your Daddy. First day of pre-school at Sonshine School. (07)

Your second birthday party! Elmo anyone? First time to sleep without your passy!! Yay! Let it go and never turned back! First time to use your big boy seat...no more high chair! YAY! I still wonder why we let you have spaghetti for your first meal in it! My pair of Mr. Fix-it's!

You being goofy like your Daddy was...you guys were imitating "glamour shots" pictures from the 80's...like you had any idea what that was!

Do we have a future model on our hands!?! hehe Mr. Grumpy on Christmas morning last year. (07) Showin mommy some lovin'! My sweet boy Your first snowball.

Silly boy All about makin funny faces! Classic! PRICELESS!

Favorite word, phrase, food...CHEESE!! At his "gym"!

Hittin that gym pretty hard there buddy!

Gangsta!

first "pageant"...hehe :)

first time to go roller skating by yourself! What a big boy! Another classic "boy" moment! Priceless face!

First time at the dentist. Ugh! Here's to better luck next time bud!

Mommy and Daddy love you so much little man. You bring us so much joy and can't even remember what life was like before you came along. Here are a few statistics on your growth so far at three years old. (I can't believe you're three!!!)

~ You weigh 40 lbs

~You are left-handed and always have been since a baby.

~Know your full name and the city and state you live in.

~ ABC's: can say all of the alphabet and recognize every single one. Can write an "O" and "S". Know that "Lane" starts with "L" and "Sterling" starts with "S". Able to trace all letters.

~ Recognize your name in writing.

~123's: Counts to 14 in English and 6 in Spanish. Can recognize numbers 1-11 in writing.

~Recognize almost all shapes.

~knows all basic colors. (actually knew that in your early twos) You say your favorite color is black!

~Love to do your "school work"! If you only knew! :)

~can tell us the first name of everyone in both families (including grandparents)

~Can fully understand everything you say. You have been talking in complete sentences a few months after turning two.

~pee pee potty trained, but not poo poo...ugh!

~starting to get picky on what foods you eat...you have never had a problem with this until now!

~Reading books are your favorite past time.

~I know I am a little biased, but you are one of the most well behaved kids I know and am told that quite often from people. I usually only have to tell you once not to/to do something and you do it. You also have very good manors

~You are also one of the goofiest kids I know! :)

There are much more things about you (look in your baby book, I wrote the rest there) but to spare the people who are actually still reading (which I can't imagine anyone doing) the very long saga will end here.

!!HAPPY BIRTHDAY STERLING!!