Birthday BBQ!

So I have a little bit of "Mommy Guilt" because I didn't throw a full on birthday party for L's second birthday. There were several reasons we decided against this, the first being that we really don't know that many other kids. We only have a few friends that have kids yet, and L isn't in school or anything. The second, and probably biggest, reason is that I just plain didn't have it in me. At 8.5 months pregnant I just didn't have the energy or the patience to pull off anything that involved more that  fruit tray and a BBQ. There was no way I was going to be able to do the whole decorations/party bags/games thing. So the guilt is there a little, but it is fading. We did just a simply BBQ with a handful of family and friends. L had a blast, we had fun, and I didn't have to do too much!

So we had basic food: fruit, veggies, chips, hamburgers, hot dogs and, of course, cake!

And more importantly, we had family (my father-in-law came in from California) and good friends who are a big part of both L's and our lives.

We had two separate cakes (neither of which I baked). One for everyone, and a small one that my friend Erin made especially for L. The thought was that he would have his own cake that he could dive into and make a mess out of, but since he is being so picky with food lately he only barely tasted it!

And when he did taste it, he wasn't totally sure what to think. My weird child, he turns up his nose at sugar and treats, but can eat grapes and other fruit by the pound!

And of course there were presents. L got a ton of new clothes for the colder weather months, which he really needed, and toys and books.

And his big present from Mommy and Daddy was a huge hit. It brought tears to my eyes to see him on this because he just looks so big! But he is in love with his new tricycle!

So, it was a simple and small affair, but memorable and special at the same time. There will be plenty of time for huge and extravagant birthday parties as he gets older, so I think I"m actually pretty glad we did it this way for his second!

TWO!!!!!

L is two!!!!!

How is this even possible? How can I have a two year old.... a toddler? It seems impossible how fast the time has gone. But two years ago today at 2:45 P.M. they placed a screaming, wrinkly, cone headed and beautiful baby boy in my arms and the pain and discomfort of the previous nine months (not to mention the 17 hours of labor!) disappeared. And I didn't think I could ever love him more then I did at that moment.

I was so, so so very wrong.

Every single day he amazes me. Every day he melts my heart with a hug or a kiss, he breaks my heart when he cries, and he makes me laugh with his funny and sweet personality. Everyday I love him even more.

OK, this post could get really sentimental and sappy, but I"m going to try and control myself!

First "big boy" change we made? Front facing car seat.

I'm not going to lie, this makes me nervous. I hate having him on the side instead of safe in the middle, but it's just the reality of having two car seats soon. Really, I wish I could just package him in bubble wrap every time we left the house, or could possibly upgrade to a tank for a family car.... but I guess that's out of the question!

So since Daddy had to work today, it was just me and L all day. I decided to take him out to a "birthday breakfast" instead of our usual cheerios routine. I took him to a place called "My Daddy's Bakery", which is (unfortunately) one of the only locally owned places we have out where we live. It is tucked into a dingy little shopping center on a busy stretch of road. The shopping center also houses such gems as a drapery store, western/cowboy clothing store and a butcher. Oh, and sometimes there is a guy selling either cat condos or knives (depending on the day) out in the parking lot. Trust me, it is not a place you would ever think, "Oh, we should stop there!".  But S and I discovered it a few years ago, and despite being not much to look at on the outside, the inside is cozy and cute, with cases and cases of fresh made pastries, cookies, breads and desserts.

I order us a cherry and cheese danish and a blueberry danish, figuring that L loves blueberries, so it would be a hit.

Um, wrong. He is going through a stage right now where he does not want to eat anything except for the few things he already knows that he likes. He won't even try new stuff. Seriously, I tried to make him taste the danish and you would have though I was trying to feed the kid liver and brussel sprouts.

So he got cheerios and Graham crackers and mommy ate both pastries. We were both satisfied. (Hey, lay of my, I"m eating for two!)

Next we stopped at Barnes and Nobles. It's still too hot to really do anything outside here (although it has cooled down to a chilly 98 degrees this week!)  But L loves running around the kids section and playing at the tables and looking at all the train books.

After that it was home to play, have lunch and then a much needed nap!

(Poor kid, he obviously doesn't have enough toys. Hopefully he gets some for his birthday!)



Finally Daddy got home and he brought him a BALLOON! He was in love with this balloon. Seriously, he wouldn't let it go the entire night until it was time for shower and bed.

(I snapped this pic about 2 seconds before Charlie decided he was scared of the balloon and bolted. Unfortunately he caught the string on his paw, freaking him out even more. The result was a toddler getting pulled rather roughly to the ground since he refused to let go of the balloon. There were tears, but were quickly forgotten.)

And of course a cupcake and a candle for the birthday boy. He was fascinated by the candle, he kept trying to reach out and touch it! And notice, he still has the balloon!

And last, but not least, presents. We gave him a few small presents tonight, he will get his big present on Saturday when we have a BBQ for him. I"m not sure if a big present will even top these though. He got a Thomas the Train book and two sets of hot wheels, both of which seems to be his most favorite things in the world right now. It was so fun to buy for him this year and see him open them, because he got really excited and was so much more aware that there was a celebration going on and that it was for him.

So there you have it. My baby is two. It makes me want to smile and cry at the same time. But, the bottom line it, even when he is 40, he will always be my baby.

And this face, will always make me smile!

Happy birthday Monkey! Mommy loves you more than you will ever know!

Baby #2 Nursery

Baby #2 is going to be here in 7 weeks and he now has a place to live! (OK, he will actually be with us in our bedroom for awhile, but still, it feels good to have his nursery done!) It took me awhile to decide on a "theme" for this one. If he had been a she, I had a girls nursery theme all picked out.... think purple and Paris! L's nursery we did in blues and an "Ocean/Surfer" theme, so I didn't want to get too close to that, and I hate Character theme like Disney or Winnie the Pooh. Eventually I decided on greens, yellow and browns and a jungle/animal theme, and I love it!

I actually think I enjoyed decorating this nursery more then I did  L's, mostly because I felt more like I knew what I was doing. With L I was so stressed about getting the right kind of crib, and rocker, and diaper genie and trying to figure out what exactly he was going to need! With this one I felt comfortable with what basics we needed, and we already had the furniture, so feel like I got to focus more on the fun stuff, like paint color and blankets and toys

 

So there you have it! A room for Baby! We still need to get a a few little things, and also some art work for the walls, but besides that it is move in ready. I have even washed and put away all the baby clothes.... hmmmm, nesting maybe?

Before I close this post, I have a dilemma I want to throw out there. As you know, I only use initials in my blog at the request of my hubby. (I'm not sure who all he thinks actually reads this blog, but he apparently wants to protect our privacy. I think it's silly, but whatever!) The problem is that Baby #2 is also going to have an L name.... so I need to figure out how to differentiate between the two brothers. I can't call our second child Baby #2 forever! So I'm thinking L for big brother and L2 for little brother, or I could just go with Big L and Little L.... what do you think? Any other ideas are welcome!

Never Forget

I was eighteen years old, and a senior in high school. I vividly remember standing in my pink bathroom and doing my hair, getting ready for school. My Dad was out of town on business, so it was just me and Mom. And then I remember hearing something that you didn't hear in our house in the mornings. The TV. And I remember thinking how strange that was, and why was my Mom watching TV? I walked into our family room and she was sitting on our ottoman, pulled up right in front of the television. I heard something about a plane crash, and my first though was about my Dad. I asked her what was going on and she looked straight at me and just said:

"We are being attacked."

After that it's blurry, the details have faded with time. I know she told me what was going on and we watched the news for awhile. I know she made me go to school, even though I wanted to stay home. I know we did nothing at school that day except watch the news. I remember the footage that actually showed people jumping/falling out of building, footage that since then has been eradicated from most of the documentaries. I remember hearing about the other planes, I remember tears and horror.

I was eighteen. I was sad and scared and horrified..... but at the same time I almost couldn't comprehend it. I know my heart ached as we watched people cry and beg and search for their loved ones; for husbands and children and wives. I was sad, but at that point in my life I could never fully, deeply understand the pain and grief all those people were going through.

Ten years later I have a husband. I have a two year old son who is so much a part of me that when he so much as bumps his head, it hurts me. I have another baby coming in seven short weeks who, even as I write this, is nudging and kicking and rolling; letting me know that he is there.

Ten years late, as I watched the footage and the documentaries and the remembrance memorials, my heart twist and I feel sick and it cuts so much deeper because I quite literally cannot even fathom the pain of losing what so many people did that day. Even at the thought of it my mind switches gears, shuts down, not letting me even imagine that horror. And suddenly I have a better understanding, because if even the thought of it can pierce so deeply, what must the reality of it be?

I want to shield L from all this. Even though he is to far to young to understand right now, part of me wants him never to have to see and know that this kind of evil, and this kind of pain, exists in the world. And the other part of me knows he has to know, and that this event will be apart of his history, albeit an abstract one. I want him to see how people came together that day, and in the days after, so he knows that we can overcome anything. I want him to be proud of this country, and he will be.

As a Mother, we want to shield our children from all of the pain of life. From the little things like a bully on a playground, to the unfathomable evils that unfortunately exist. But we can't. All we can do is teach them today. Teach them to love and to respect and to be kind. And we teach them by showing them. And hopefully, if we all teach our children these things, if we all teach them tolerance and acceptance and just to be nice to everyone around them, well, then maybe the world will be a much better place to live in as they grow up.

Do you remember where you were?

Crafty-Mc-Crafterson!

Just call me the "New Martha Stewart"!

OK, no, seriously..... I am not, by nature, a crafty person. I don't have the patience for them, or the free-thinking, go with the flow, creative mindset. When I was in my sorority in college I shuddered at the thought of having to make those darn flower pens for new members, and I much preferred to go to a party then attend "craft night".

But I am trying to expand my horizons. First, now that I am home, I like having different projects to keep me busy, and I like finding crafty-type things I can do with L, because he loves it. Also, I feel like as long as I'm diving headfirst into this new chapter of my life (Wife, mommy, SAHM..... as opposed to Sorority Girl, girlfriend, college student, etc.) I might as well explore other things that, up until this point in my life, I have mostly avoided. (This also included cooking, but that's another story).

Anyway, I completed a pretty cool craft, and I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty proud of myself.

**Disclaimer: I take no credit for coming up with this craft on my own. Someone else posted it on Pinterest (Are you on Pintesrest? You should be, it rocks!) and I followed it to this website to find all the instructions.

So here's what you need:

 -A Cricut Machine or some other sort of letter cutter (I"m not sure what this one is called, I borrowed it from a friend) If you don't have a machine of your own, or crafty friends who can borrow one from, you can use stencils.

-Contact Paper

-An exacto knife

-Blank Canvas (Any Size)



-Fabric (Enough to cover your canvas)



-Spray Paint (Trying to buy this stuff is like trying to get a Green Card, so make sure you look wholesome and not suspicious when you go in to buy it!)

And here is what you do:



-Using your machine, or stencils, trace and cut out the letters to the saying or quote of your choosing on your contact paper. 

-Cover your canvas with your fabric and secure it the a staple gun.

-Lay the letters out on top of the canvas to make sure you have the spacing correct.

-Once everything looks good, peel of the paper backing on the contact paper and stick the letters the canvas.

-Spray a thick and even coat of spray paint over the whole thing and let dry

-Once it is dry, peel of the letters

-And here is the end result! The fabric shows through the spray paint, making an awesome contrast, and you have super cute art to hang in your house!

Here are a few optional steps in this process:

-Refrain from yelling at lady in Michael's who tells you they don't sell fabric, even though you specifically called that morning and the guy on the phone told you they did.

-Cry and possibly utter a few swear words when you realize you cut your letters on the wrong side of the contact paper and they are all backwards

-Get tutorial from husband on how to use staple gun

-Make sure spray paint can is not pointed at you when you spray it

**Again, these steps are optional!

**Take that, you stupid flower pens!