One-year-old Monkey

My little man is growing up so fast. I can't believe it's been over a year since we brought him home from the hospital. What a fantastic year! This little guy has made me grow more in the last year than I think I have in my entire life. Although being a mom isn't as easy as I thought it was going to be, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I am extremely grateful that I am able to have my own children and stay at home to raise them. The Lord has truly blessed the Spear family. I love my baby Talmage! I also love that wherever we go, random people will comment on how handsome our little man is. I shouldn't love it so much, but really, what parent wouldn't be proud of it? I mean, I had a part in this boy's looks, right?

We had a birthday party with my family for all the August birthdays a few weeks ago and we celebrated Talmage's birthday along with revealing the gender of our new baby. It was such a fun night and I've decided that I love watching babies eat their own cake for their first birthday. Here are a few pictures from the event.

Presents! Talmage got a play phone. I was hoping he'd stop wanting to steal mine all the time, but no. He still loves mine over any toy.

Eating cake with cousin Emri

Talmage stuck his face right into the cake. That's my boy!

Before the bath...

After!

 Here are some other random photos I had and decided to post!

Talmage loves my sister's cat, Norman.

I told you he loves playing the piano.

Talmage is walking all the time now. Most parents don't say this, but I'm so grateful he is walking more than crawling! I just thought crawling ruined his clothes faster and he would just get so dirty! Now it's so much better. He's also a pro at throwing tantrums. Man. I didn't know that such a young boy could throw such trantrums. He'll go kamikazi and throw himself on the ground when he doesn't get what he wants. Let's just say I'm not really looking forward to the terrible 2's or 3's. I just have to laugh at him sometimes. He used to be a really good eater until about a week ago. Now every time I put something in his mouth he'll just spit it out without really tasting it, even foods that he loved before. Pretty much the only foods I know he'll always eat are chicken nuggets, bananas, grapes, and green drink/smoothies (thank goodness for the smoothies! Otherwise I'd worry about his nutrition). He just started to shake his head "no" a few days ago, which makes me laugh. He's so good at it, it throws off his balance sometimes. I love this time in Talmage's life! It's a new adventure everyday.

Other than watching our little guy grow up fast, we are anticipating our little girl's arrival! We still haven't chosen a name. We've thrown some around and even called her one for a bit, but nothing seems right to me. Well, except the name that I really want that Daniel doesn't. Ha ha. That's how it is with us. We have a hard time agreeing on names. I feel her kick a lot more lately and I'm glad to be reassured that everything is okay. I have a hard time going into Target without wanting to buy their entire baby girl clothing section. I thought having a boy was fun, but baby girl clothes shopping is way more fun than any boy shopping - and costly! I have to really practice some self control. Good thing we are poor college students so I don't spend tons of money on clothes.

Daniel is loving school. This month has been crazy busy because he has at least 2 or 3 recruiting events a week where he has to put on his best manners and talk up a storm with a bunch of important people at large accounting firms. Finding a job is a lot more involved than I thought it would be. But, if all goes well, we'll know where we are moving by the end of October! Wouldn't that be great?! Other than the fact we might be moving out of state. The future looks bright!