Birthday!!

Walt's actual birthday was Sunday.

 It was a pretty relaxed day.

 All 3 of us sang him Happy Birthday as we walked into his room and then made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. We opened a few presents before church.

Ellery loved opening his presents.  Most of the gifts she thinks are hers.

When we got home from church we played outside on the play yard for a while while Daddy made hot dogs for lunch.

After naps I took the kids to play in the water fountains at a nearby mall and then we had dinner at Panera. Walt made a B-Line to the water while it took Ellery 15-20 minutes to warm up to the water. I totally understand that, I'm just like that! He ran and played for about 45 minutes straight. He hung with the "BIG boys" at the center of the fountain and was fearless. It was a good day!

Birthday weekend

My little boyfriend turns 1 in 4 hours!!

I vividly remember what I was doing right at this moment 1 year ago.  Sweet memories that fill my heart with anticipation, joy and let's not forget my eyes with tears.

There is NOTHING that compares to labor, delivery and the miracle of birth.  I.  love.  it.

Tonight we celebrated our little man with a cook out and friends who have walked through his 1st year of life.  What a joy it was to have a house full of squealing children and seeing sweaty faces on the play yard.

Walt, Cary & I have been battling a cold this week so to have this party over is a HUGE relief.

We are off to bed with a full heart, several pieces of cake in our bellies and sweet memories of my baby boy's delivery dancing in my head.

Walt's 1st Birthday Party

Okay, I have a TON of pictures posted so enjoy! 

 For Walt's 1st birthday we invited a few friends over for a cook out and some play time. 

 He LOVED it!

Cary found this play yard on craigslist for super cheap and he modified it so we could have a play area for the kids.  I am married to the most amazing man.  He worked TIRELESSLY and ENDLESSLY to prepare for this party.

Meet Ms. Elizabeth, she is such a sweet person in my life. We were texting at 10:30 the night before Walt's party about my sewing issues while I was making his #1 onesie. I love this girl!

The garden and chickens were a hit with the kids.

I found this balloon wall idea on Pinterest.  

HOW FUN?!

Ellery and Walt ran through this like a million times while I was still trying to hang it.  I think the other kids had a good time, the adults probably found it annoying but it was all about the kids.

Love the fact that Walt's birthday is in the Spring and the kids could eat outside with no mess.

Walt took to Ms. Kitty (Cary's great aunt, she lives in our neighborhood) and she took to him as well, letting him eat off her plate. Then again, he is a bit irresistible.

A certain someone else was beyond excited for her brother's birthday.

He was a little confused when we sang to him.

Sister had to help blow out the candle.

Yes.  Walt likes cake.

Me and my boys!

Mimi & Grandad

A friend gave us this Little People Power Wheels and oh my word is it a HIT in our house.

Okay, so here are his 1 year stats:

19 lbs. 6 oz.

29 1/4 " 

Walt is such a sweet boy.

He loves on his lovey and any stuffed animals around the house.  I believe this is a sign of his tender heart.

He has 2 top and 2 bottom teeth, although 2 more are just about to pop through on the top.

He's sleeping through the night, nursing 3x's a day and is just adjusting to cows milk.

He can eat and eat and eat.

One of my most precious and favorite sounds is hearing Walt giggle with Ellery.

With out a doubt at least once a day they will end up chasing each other or playing with the ball and begin giggling and squealing together.  I treasure these moments.

Tonight Ellery and I were rough housing on the floor and Walt was standing right next to my head and not sure what to think of it.  While Ellery was hoping over my torso Walt came over, sat down next to my head and just snuggled up in my neck.  Sweet, sweet thing.

He MUST be held from 5:30 PM until he gets to eat.  Super annoying.  But the boy is hungry and it's either step on him because he is hanging on me or hold him while I make his dinner.

This time around I'm so much more relaxed.  I know how fast this time goes by and I'm trying to treasure every moment.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!

I love you

Backfired Discipline

Last night (at bed time) we had an issue that needed correction.

I chose to remove a privilege, morning TV.

Ellery typically watches a show (or two) in the morning while I'm waking up, feeding Walt and generally getting myself mentally and emotionally geared up for the day.  I need a "soft entry" to parenting.  One could also say I'm simply NOT a morning person.

Well, removing her morning TV totally back fired on me.  I woke up (too early and a bit tired from fighting a cold) to a WIDE EYED chatty girl who was pushing back on almost every instruction.  Ugh...FOR REAL?!

I WAS PUNISHED..not Ellery...Now I know, for next time.

It was mid morning before I was able to get a cup of coffee, that made me feel MUCH better!

Noise

The volume in my house begins to rise at about 5:30 PM and continues until a certain little man goes to bed.

I HAD to get the trash out this afternoon while Cary was working in the back yard and so I put Walt into the pac-n-play to scream "chill" while I cleaned his diaper champ.

As I was walking the trash bags to the driveway I noticed how LOUD my house was compared to the peaceful homes around us. 

WHY could I only hear my own house, Walt screaming, music playing, I'm sure Ellery was talking about something or playing loudly.

My poor neighbors....

When I walked back into the house I made sure to close the front door (hoping that it would muffle the sounds) take a deep breath and get that sad child out of the pac-n-play & into his high chair for some food.

Dinner for Walt = quiet....that is if I ignore Ellery....

Gymnastics Program

Ellery & Cooper were in gymnastics class together this spring.

She LOVED it!

Almost every day she would look for Ms. Elizabeth (our neighbor) to be in her front yard so Ellery could practice her cartwheels, somersaults and basically anything gymnastics related.

So I was really excited to see what she does in class during the parent observation day (a.k.a. last day of class). Well, these back bends are just about the ONLY thing I saw her do. Ellery totally clammed up. Like from this last picture on for the next 45 minutes she did NOTHING, just stood stone cold still and refused to move. Yes, super frustrating. Cooper, however, certainly participated in class and it was fun to see him swing on the parallel bars and jump over the saw horse. Thankfully her instructor told me that Ellery does not normally act like that in class and she is a strong student. I won't let this one day keep me from enrolling her in another class, but this was a learning experience for her & I both.

Random Preschool Pictures

These are actual photos given to me during the Preschool year and I want them on the blog for the book.

Ellery & her teacher, Mrs. Donna

The classic Pony Picture

This was in the first week of school.  She looks so young, and happy!

Random Recipe

Okay, so I'm a self professed peanut butter addict.  NOTHING compares to peanut butter in my opinion.

However, chocolate is a CLOSE second.

Put the two together and I am one happy woman. 

However....recently I ate chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.  Quite delicious, I will say.  I never thought I would enjoy a "fruity" sauce, being my 2 former dessert companions make me very  happy.

So I had an event to attend which I brought a store bought chocolate cake and decided to make raspberry sauce.  Here is the recipe (courtesy of allrecipes.com)

1 pint fresh raspberries (I used 1 bag of frozen raspberries, just left them out on the counter until I was ready to use them)
1/4 C sugar
2 T orange juice (I just cut an orange in half and squeezed...no point in measuring this one)
2 T corn starch
1 C water

Combine the raspberries, sugar & OJ in sauce pan.  Whisk together the corn starch & water (pay attention to this step, if you added MORE OJ than 2 T hold back on the water.  You can always add more water to thin the sauce).

Add the corn starch/water mixture to berries and simmer for about 5 min. until you get it a little thick.  Remember the sauce will thicken as it cools.

Once the sauce has cooled a bit get out a bowl and a fine sieve.  Pour the sauce into the fine sieve to remove the seeds.  And there you have it!  The website recipe calls for blending the sauce before using the sieve.  I did use an immersion blender but didn't think it did anything to help the sauce's texture. 

SO TONIGHT, I was really hungry for some ice cream and noticed the raspberry sauce in the fridge (it will keep for about 2 weeks) so I poured the sauce on my neapolitan ice cream along with the last 1/4 of banana left over from breakfast this morning and the few toasted pecans from dinner and OH.  MY. WORD.  Friends, I have a new dessert love.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Sorry, would have taken pictures but I didn't think to blog about it until AFTER my ice cream was finished.

Ohh, just thought about this....if you have fresh strawberries-make some biscuits, cut up some strawberries and use the raspberry sauce as a little kick for some strawberry shortcake! ;)

Last Day of Preschool

Oh my word. How did she get so big?! 

 Today was the End of Year Preschool Program. 

This girl has changed so much in this school year.  She has become more independent, actually plays with friends now and can have a REAL conversation.

I watched a movie clip last night of her at ohh, I don't know 18 months and she was so chubby and ADORABLE but singing (totally off key) about the sun.

Oh my heart.  And then to go to this program today.  I had to keep myself from choking up.  But then again I guess it would have been okay to get a little teary, I mean our kids grow up too fast.  I want to catch this moment like running water and hold onto it forever.  Ahh, the heart of a Mom.

It had a jungle theme.

I love the excitement on children's faces when they see their parents as they perform.  

There is something about knowing someone is THRILLED to see YOU that speaks to a heart.

She even received a graduation certificate?  She'll be back next year....

THE girls, Ellery, Bella & Ella.

Now....to plan for summer.

Water Hose

I took the kids for a run this afternoon. The weather was perfect.

When we got home I pulled out the hose to water the window boxes and before I knew it the kids were playing in it. I'll admit the water felt GREAT against my hot skin and never once did I consider if it was cold to them. But sometimes spontaneous events are worth a little cold water.

After a few minutes of practically soaking his clothes he was stripped down to the "cute boy" outfit...a diaper.

This boy LOVES the water.  I mean is fearless and can't help himself.

Our neighbor, "Miss Elizabeth" came over to deliver some homemade strawberry jam (sweet thing) and was caught up in the action.

Ellery is a little more hesitant about the water than Walt.  She just likes to run around and squeal.

I PROMISE, Elizabeth had NO intentions of spraying Walt in the face.  He just sort of walked into it.  I was shocked my camera snapped this picture, it was acting a little funny.

I would say the water hose made for a pretty fun afternoon.  

Tomorrow is Ellery's end of the year preschool program.  

I'm excited, nervous and sad all at the same time.

More on that tomorrow.....