Sidewalk Chalk/Paint

A huge trend this summer has been sidewalk paint.  Homemade sidewalk chalk thanks to Pinterest.  Or maybe everyone's always used sidewalk paint and I'm just now starting to notice it since all of the babies in my life are now old enough to play with sidewalk paint.  Elyse has always had sidewalk chalk at our house and every time she's here she fills up the back patio, front porch, and driveway with her art.  When she's gone it's always a sweet reminder of my baby girl and I hate to see it start fading away.  So this summer I just HAD to jump on the bandwagon with the sidewalk paint.

I originally wanted to make my own paint.  But after looking at the recipee and being too lazy to go buy cornstarch- I rememberd that back in November I had bought Elyse some sidewalk paint for Christmas but forgot to put it under the tree. 

One night as we were coming back from dinner, I told Tim to pull onto the side of the house instead of in the driveway so we could paint and color our driveway.  Elyse was THRILLED.  She is so easy to please.  Jakey sat in his carseat the majority of the time because he was sleeping.  Ryan tried running away down the sidewalk.  Elyse & Daddy spent their time creating art.  & Momma spent most of the time chasing Ryan.

I wish I took a picture of the finished product, but I didn't.

What made this day so special was that Elyse had so much fun just because Daddy & I were both spending time with her together.



Ryan's 2nd Birthday & Party

I have had ideas of Ryan's second birthday party in my head for months.  Thank you Pinterest for all of your wonderful ideas and helping me with my party planning!  I immediately knew that I wanted Ryan's party to be monster themed and I ordered his birthday shirts 2 months prior to his party.  They came out perfect, thank you Etsy!

2 1/2 weeks before Ryan's party we went to Yuma for 4 days and my mom and niece, Haley, helped with some of the party decorations.  My mom & I made a poster board "2" out of buttons (and burned our fingers with the glue gun many times.)  Awesome?  Yes! 

My mom, Haley, and I also made bean bags for the party.  I wanted a bean bag toss.  I told my dad what I wanted and it was his job to create a bean bag toss board for the kids.  He didn't make the board when I was there so I had to wait until Ryan's birthday to see the finish product.

Two days before Ryan's party we went shopping for all the food for the guests.  The day before his party my parents & grandparents came into town to help with everything that still needed to get done.  By this time I was panicing just a little that everything wouldn't be done in time.  We still had SO much to do!  A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped me prepare for Ryan's party.  A lot of work goes into having a birthday party- I totally understand why some people go the Chuck E Cheese route for their kids or have pizza at a park.  We were up til pretty late the night before and spend all morning/afternoon of Ryan's birthday party preparing.

The morning of Ryan's birthday Tim, Elyse, and I woke up before Ryan and we were all anxiously waiting for him to wake up.  He woke up playing peek-a-boo and gave us lots of hugs when we took him out of his crib :)

Now back to party mode.

My mom and grandma helped me make oreo pops for Ryan's party.  Oh, and grandpa who helped pull all the oreos a part & Haley & Elyse who ate all the "bad" oreos.

Marshmallow pops.

The delicious food!  We had chicken burritos, we cooked chicken in crock pots with salsa and taco seasoning.  Tim's mom made refried beans and rice pilaf.  & my best friend Rebecca helped me put carrots, celery, and ranch into cups.

My mom put all the icing on the cupcakes.  I had originally wanted to make these monster cupcakes out of mini marshmallows and chocolate chips- howerever, we didn't have enough time.  I love the way they turned out though! 

& Lastly, the monster cake!  Tim spent some time into making it look awesome.  He had a big black moth and chicklet teeth.  He also had a bunch of warts all over his face (marshmallows dipped into green dye.)  The cake was perfect.  Until, it melted in the car on the way to the party!  Ahh.  It's too bad I didn't get a picture of what it looked like before.  This is what it looks like after when my mom fixed it the best she could.

Ryan's party started at 3:30 and guests started showing up.  I'll be honest, I was a little nervous to be hosting my first kid party.  But in the end, everything turned out perfect, and most importantly, my little dude had an awesome day :)

My handsome little 2 year old!!

Didn't my dad do an amazing job making this monster?  I was so excited when I saw it for the first time!  Oh hey, I still love looking at it and Ryan still loves playing with it.  My dad and Elyse helped all the kids with the bean bags.

After some running around and playing bean bag toss it was time to eat some birthday dinner.  The kids sat at the kids table and I couldn't get over how cute they were just sitting together.  Party tip for toddlers:  Take & Toss cups for all the little ones!

It started raining.  All the kids got dirty and filthy but were having fun running around in the rain.

Tim made me this "Pin The Eye On The Monster."  All the kids names were printed on the eyeballs. The winner of the game won bubble bath.  What little kid doesn't love bubble bath?

Singing "Happy Birthday" to your baby is a little overwhelming.  Ryan had no idea how to blow out the candles.  He blows on his food all the time when he knows it hot.  A birthday cake is definitely not hot, so he probably felt no need to blow on the candles.  He had some help from his friends.

Birthday Presents!

At the end of Ryan's party, there were 41 of his family and friends who came to celebrate.  Lots of junk food, lots of presents, laughing, running in the rain, and playing.  I would say it was a success.

When we got home, we put together all of Ryan's new toys and went for a walk in his new wagon.  The boys love it.

Ryan snuck in an oreo pop...

& played with his new toys for an hour past bedtime...

& momma got to eat the last piece of cake.

Birthday Stats:

22.5lbs & 33 inches tall

Size 3 diapers, 18m shirts, 12m shorts

Can't keep up with your new words anymore, there are new words everyday!

Happy Birthday Baby :)

My baby is TWO!

This post is dedicated to my baby, Ryan Michael.

Today you are two. It is so bittersweet. It's so incredible how your much your life has changed ours. I have had mixed emotions for the few days preparing for your birthday. I am excited to celebrate a new year of life with you. I am so proud of you, so amazed at your life and how in just two short years, you have changed the lives of many. How everyone who meets you falls in love with you. How your sweet little face can make so many lives happier, just because you are apart of it.

Before I had you, I knew I would love you. What I guess I didn't know, is how madly in love with you I would be.  Both your daddy and I.   You are a little ball of perfection wrapped into a two year old body.

 

I remember the feeling I felt at 4:55pm on June 16, 2010 when the doctor placed you into my arms.  How you were just so beautiful.   Your little face pulled at my heart strings and I knew that I would do anything for you.  I would love you, teach you, guide you through life, and protect you.  I was no longer living for myself, I was living for you.

We brought you home just two days later, and I will admit, I was terrified.  I didn't know how to take care of you.  I was afraid to change your diaper, to bathe you, to let you sleep too long, to drive in a car with you, the list just goes on and on.

In just a few short days, I learned quickly how to take care of you.  I learned all about you while you learned all about your momma.  We spent so much of our time snuggled up on the couch together.  I never wanted to put you down.  I cooked dinner holding you, I cleaned the house holding you, I did everything with you.  I didn't want to leave your side (and two years later, I still hate leaving you.)

The first year of your life was incredible.  You did so many things.  You rolled over, said a few words, crawled, laughed, played for hours a day.  I wanted to soak everything in.  I wanted to remember everything so I created this blog so I could document our lives with you.  One day, I hope you can look at this story of our lives and know how much you mean to us.

When you were brand new, Daddy used to get home from work late and scoop you out of your crib to wake you up and play because he missed you.  There are days when we do that now, wake you up just to get in an extra kiss.

This picture sums up your first few months of life.  We laid together all the time just looking at each other.  I couldn't get enough of you.

You quickly turned into a little person instead of a tiny baby. 

Last summer you turned one & we celebrated your first year of life.  Mommy finally let you have cake and ice cream for the first time.  We celebrated your birthday with family.  You weren't walking around yet.  You were still crawling and all you wanted was momma. 

Year one was the best year of my life.

...Until year two came along.

You started walking.  You started talking more.  You started running around and laughing.   You loved playing with your blocks and your cars.  You started loving to read books.  You wanted to spend more time outside, at the park or going on walks.

We took you to get your hair cut.  And you've had many more sice your first one. You have the best light brown hair.   We took you to your first circus where you just sat on our laps and enjoyed the show for a few hours.  We took road trips to Yuma. 

You became more independent, always wanting to feed yourself.  Even throwing a fit sometimes when I tried to feed you myself.  You were a big boy now and didn't always need my help.  You were capable of playing for hours on end.  We took you trick or treating at Grandma R's house and you wanted to walk up to the houses all by yourself.

When you were 18 months and 2 weeks old, you became a big brother.  You and Jake soon became best buddies.  You don't always like sharing your toys or your momma with him.  But you do love sitting with him, giving him hugs and kisses.  You love helping out with him, bringing us diapers, blankets, or pacifiers.  You love when Jake wakes up from his nap. 

You run around like crazy with your cousins.  It's one of my favorite things to watch you play with Aiden and Rian.  I look forward to watching all 4 of you play together for many, many years to come.

This past year I fell more in love with you than I ever thought possible.  You are sweet and funny.  You love to make people laugh.  You're affectionate and love to give hugs and kisses.  I love holding your hand walking down the street.

Some of your favorite things are:

-Your blankets, you give them to us every morning when we take you out of your crib.

-You still love watching Barney and will more than likey stop whatever you're doing as soon as you hear the theme song.

-Taking walks.  I ask if you want to go outside and you run over and open the closet door and sit in your cop car.

-You love your milk.

-Counting!  We count everything.  I can trick you into almost anything just by counting.  You let me brush your hair if I start counting the strokes and you even clean up when I count how many toys you've put away.

-  Your favorite foods are rice, beans, and applesauce.

-You love drinking out of straws and especially love when we get sodas from Circle K.

Some things I love about you:

-I love the way you fake laugh and scrunch up your nose when everyone around you is laughing

-The way you bend your arms in front of you and wiggle your butt when you walk.

-The way you will stop crying and say "up" when you want us to hold you.

-Watching you steal Jakey's blanket in the car, makes me laugh every time.

-How putting on shoes when I put on your pajamas has become bedtime routine.

-The way you point to the animals in your "Baa Baa" book and make animal sounds.

- The way you always sneak peeks at your food when we wash your hands before eating.

-After brushing your teeth you scoop water in your hands and put it in your mouth.

- Everything.

We had an incredible year with you, watching you learn and grow.  I am so excited to watch you grow even more this year.  I can't believe you are two.  It's hard to believe that my life has been blessed with you for two years now.  I hope you always know how amazing you are.

Happy second birthday to the love of my life.

Love,

Mommy

And I thought I loved you then...

 

Yuma

I seem to be behind a lot on this thing lately and I can't get ahead.  We spent 5 days in Yuma at the end of May (5/25-5/30.)  I'm not really in the blogging mood so this may be a little boring!  I'm just trying to catch up!

Spent a lot of time with my parents, Grandparents, & Rebecca, Aiden & Rian!

My parents went to Vegas the week prior.  They bought all of their grandbabies m&m shirts and pajamas.  & boy were they cute in them!  I couldn't get a good picture of Ryan & Jakey in their matching pajamas, but I will next time they wear them.  The kids were running all over Grandma & Grandpa's house, I think they love how spacious it is.

We went to My Grandparent's house for dinner.  My grandparents kept fighing over who got to hold Jake!  They love having babies around.

I watched the kids go swimming.

Ryan took a little nap and he woke up so whiney.  I put him on the couch next to Aiden and he just put his head down on his shoulder.  It was so sweet.

Being the little monkies that they are...

Aiden was hungry and he asked his momma for a snack.  She told him that he couldn't have any candy.  We looked in the pantry, I asked him if he wanted cheese-its, nope!  Goldfish?  Nope.  Animal crackers? Nope.  Peas?  Yes, I want peas.  So Uncle Tim made him a plate of peas!

Swimming with Papa.

When Jake woke up from his nap I took him swimming for the first time.  He liked the water, & Ryan did too!  I hope we get to do a  lot more swimming this summer.

My dad is ridiculous with these little babies.  They get whatever they want from Grandpa!  Ryan didn't even have to finish eating his whole taco before he got ice cream!

How was that for a boring and unorganized post?  I got to show off pictures of my favorite people.  I need to take a shower and go to bed.  I'm sleepy.  Good night world...