Party Time!

Our celebration continued for Jake passing boards...Monday night was Hideaway with Katelin. Wednesday night was Mickey Mantle, just the two of us. Date night! Then the conclusion was Saturday night- party with friends. I asked Jake what he wanted to do to celebrate and he said "I want to have a big party with all of our friends and their kids...and then I want to go to a late night move with just the dudes". That man loves his dudes movies. So Saturday night came....

Ok, I really have to get better at taking pictures. I don't have any pictures from Jake's Graduation/Passing Boards Party. Oops. I have no pictures to prove it, but it was a good time. So I'm not typically the hostess. I have friends who are amazing hostesses and have perfect kid friendly houses, so we don't have too many parties at our house...ok, let me rephrase, we never have parties at our house...so I have to admit, I was a little nervous about having 30 adults and 12 kids at my house that is definitely not child proofed yet...I wanted everyone to have a good time, and I didn't want the moms to feel stressed about their kids in our potentially dangerous house...but one thing I was not nervous about- oreo cheesecake cookies. They were gonna be awesome. I just knew it. I got the recipe and planned to make 3 batches...I mean, I had to have enough because I knew they were going to be a hit and go fast...well the first batch came out and were a little bit crispy...so I thought, no big deal, I've got two more batches coming...burned again. Final batch I reduced the time just to make sure they didn't burn. Yep, you guessed it...burned again. Bummer. Back up plan- brownies. You can't mess up brownies. Other than the burned cookies and the broken lamp, the night was a success! Jake had a great time and truly felt celebrated. We had a little "Who knows Jake best?" game filled with fun questions about Jake...some highlights-

How many countries has Jake been to since he has been married? 12. Yes 12. Costa Rica, Barbados, Mexico, Haiti, England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, South Africa, and our beloved Mozambique (3 times!). He loves adventure and loves to travel. Now that we have a little one, our traveling will become a little more domestic for the most part...although we would love to find a way to make it to see our dear friends in Africa. We shall see what the Lord has for us.

What Halloween costume does Jake own and plans to wear every year? Batman. Yep. He loves super heros. At one point, he talked about exchanging a piece of his costume with a really nice version each year until his entire costume is legit. Luckily he decided he could live with the plastic gold belt and didn't need the real thing. I absolutely love my husband's childlike heart.

What were Jake's first two jobs when we got married? He was a Nurse Assistant and a waiter at On The Border. Yep. A year into our marriage he had a degree from OU in Communications and was a waiter and a Nurse Assistant with a dream to become a Nurse Practitioner...and so in the next 5 years he went back to school, got his Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and then back again for his Masters in Nursing. My husband is a dreamer and through his hard work, perseverance, and the Lord's grace and provision, his dream came true.

Jake and Kristin look a lot alike now, but they really looked a lot alike in college...because they had the same what? Haircut. Yep, parted down the middle, long and straight. For all of you wishing he would bring it back, sorry...the long hair will not be making another appearance.

Well, after a week of celebrating, we go back to normal life. I'm sitting in our living room all wrapped up in my jammers and robe, looking at the snow on the ground and my daughter asleep in her swing...doesn't get much better than this. I will soak in today with everything I have...for tomorrow brings a new season....back to work!

Some more pics of the little one:

My sweet little bear.

Getting so strong on her tummy...

Loves her swing...thanks to the Benton's for letting us borrow this while we decide if we need one of our own! We call it the secret weapon because to date, no matter how upset she might be, I put her in that swing and she immediately calms down and goes right to sleep...

Never too young to take care of your skin...she loves lotion time. :)