A Grand Finale.

Well, the adventure of Uncle O'Neal and SunShine on The Biggest Loser was capped off perfectly by a fabulous weekend of celebration, accolades and a beautiful finale.

John and I went to L.A. to be in the audience and cheer on team yellow at the finale, and it was seriously an awesome experience. We all got decked out in our team colors of black and yellow, and julie and stacie made awesome signs to hold when they cheered. The seats for our family were amazing..... but maybe not as amazing as front and center?? ;-) Oh yes, that's right. I was able to sit as up close as possible due to many thanks to a little connection I have.... hee hee.

And I maaaay have had a little chit-chat with Curtis Stone as we sat in our seats before the taping started....

Ok, we only said 'Hi" and spoke for a brief moment, but I'd like to think he will always remember it just as I do :-)

And how gorgeous did Sunny look??? Like a model! And Uncle O'Neal did not disappoint, looking suave and dapper in his suit and signature hat :-) Both of them are incredibly amazing, and we will forever remember this experience with them. And really, it's more than just filming of a tv show... they have truly transformed into these healthy, positive, confident, beautiful people- and that's the real prize.

And since my camera is the size of a small country, I sadly decided to leave it back at the hotel and just enjoy the night without pictures (which is very hard for me to do!) But lucky for me, lots of other people had teeny tiny cameras that they brought with them, and I was able to snag a few of their pictures to share.

Here are a few highlights of our night-

Congratulations again Sunny and Uncle O'Neal.

We love you so much and are bursting with pride!!

Notice Anything Wrong Here?

Proof that you can literally never turn your back and stop supervising them...even for a second.

Bella thought he needed a haircut, and apparently, Tyler sat very still for what was probably quite a while! I don't even want to imagine the scene in my head.... its a miracle she didn't cut his poor scalp somewhere.

But I suppose its like a right of passage for a younger sibling. At some point the older sibling will either cut your hair or try to convince you that you were adopted.

Back in the day, I did the latter:-)

So Long Diapers!! We are DONE with you!

This is a monumental moment in the Anderson household.

We are officially done with....

...wait for it......

Diapers!!!

Tyler has joined the leagues of "big boys" and has crossed the threshold of potty-training. I don't really know how we did it {it's all still a blur to me} but after what seemed like hundreds of accidents on the floor, and weeks.... no- months, of him running around naked, he has finally caught on to using the toilet like a "big boy".

The final "aha!" moment that told me he was ready, was when we were at Macy's just me and him, and he starting frantically telling me "mommy I have to go potty!" So I hesitated for a minute as I considered whether or not he was really ready to go, and then decided to put down the clothes and find a bathroom. And sure enough- the boy peed for like 5 minutes straight. He really had to go...and better yet, he held it until we had found a bathroom!

And lately, when john and I check on him before going to bed at night, we often find that he has taken his night-time pull-up off and is sleeping naked! We were worried he'd have an accident at first, but we let him stay undressed, and he has never had any accidents!! He gets up in the morning and goes potty just like a big boy!

** So proud! **

So now that John and I have passed through the right-of-passage as parents known as the dreaded potty-training, what's next?

Baby teeth falling out?

T-Ball leagues?

Learning to ride a two-wheeler?

Whatever it is, bring it on!

We are patting our backs {and holding back a slight tear} as we have officially watched our two babies move on into the next phases of childhood. Although it kills me to see them becoming older so quickly, our family is moving on to new and exciting things, and I plan on savoring every moment :-)

** { Ty ponders his next move as a big boy } **

May Birthdays Unite! :-)

Apparently, May was a popular month to give birth!

My own sweet wonderful husband celebrated his birthday last week, and we had a celebration for a whole group of friends who were also celebrating May birthdays.

We found this deal with Benihana's restaurant, that you if sign up for their rewards group (or whatever) you get a free meal during the month of your birthday....so we all went! And by all, I mean we celebrated the birthdays of John, Emily, Kerri, Alison & Amanda! Each couple in the group had one person celebrating a birthday :-) I'm sure our server loved that.

And in true birthday-dinner form, we got a jolly round of "happy birthday" along with some free desserts and a lovely picture as our memento for the night.....

Notice someone tickling Blake's ear as the picture was being taken...

Was it is wife? Was it Amanda? Was it John?......

We laughed and laughed at the mysterious hand, which still makes me giggle to myself as I look at the picture :-)

Happy Birthday all you May Birthday's!!