Wow! A year has gone by! One whole year with my little man! I am so ecstatic about him and the happiness he has brought to our family.  He is truly a ray of sunshine, so happy and full of energy.  He is very contemplative and rather quiet. He babbles non-stop, walk around and is perhaps the worlds best climber. Before he could even walk he was climbing. He is a very thoughtful boy. He takes his time deciding on people, he watches them, watches the world around him, just takes it all in. He is in all shapes and forms of the word – a boy! He likes to bang on things and nothing is safe from his curious hands.

A year ago this morning our good friend Charisee had spent the night to be there for Ella when she woke up. I wrote a long letter to Ella about how much I loved and adored her and how excited I was for her to become a big sister. She is an AMAZING big sister – we couldn’t have lucked out more on that respect! Bruce and I drove to teh hospital for my scheduled C-section and by 8:30am I was holding my little man. He was born looking like the cutest old man I had ever seen!

Bastion, I am so proud of you! I am in awe of you every day and so grateful for the love you have brought to this family. Thank you son! Happy birthday!

Bastion on day one:

Bastion on day 364:

Bruce and I have been doing a lot of work on the house and yard. Somehow, this year, we just got more inspired then ever before and have been doing project after project! Well, yesterday I was lounging on our new outdoor chaise that our neighbor gave us (which we then sanded down and stained), while the kids played in the sand box. I snapped this magical picture:

Then, just after I snapped this shot, I heard a little screech, then a cry! Ella came running over to me and at first I couldn’t quite tell what had happened. Did she fall? slip? get scared? Then, I took a look at her cute little thigh… oh poor poor thing! There was a pretty little red dot, then it was all white around that, then about 3″ x 3″ it was all blotchy and red… MY BABY WAS STUNG BY A BEE!! I was ready to go Chuck Norris on that bee… but he was long gone.

Ella did really well I must say. She cried for a while, needed snuggles and a glass of milk, but she is now super proud of her “bandage” and wants to show it off. It also appears, at least as of now, that she is not allergic to bees like her mommy. Lucky girl!