The Mother Goose Birthday Party

We had Hayes' 2nd birthday party last week and celebrated with Mother Goose. The music teacher from my school dresses up for parties so she suggested Mother Goose for 2 year olds. It ended up being SO precious and entertaining for the kids! She sang nursery rhymes and did the motions-Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jack be Nimble and lots of others.




Hayes was so excited the morning of the party, singing happy birthday to herself, running around screaming and playing with her balloons, but you would have never known that once the party started! She immediately clammed up when everyone got there and would not take her thumb out of her mouth or play! Oh well, that is a 2 year old, very unpredictable!

the invitation


the cupcakes


party favors for her friends


all ready for the party!


I have so many pictures to share-just a warning for non-family readers! I just don't want to leave any out because they're all so sweet and I want to document everything since this is our scrapbook.I tried really hard to get a picture of all the guests, but then I got sidetracked and I know I missed some people. We're so thankful for all the little ones who came to help celebrate the BIG TWO!

catherine ellis and megann


chris, harrison and chambers


wyatt and ryan


camilla


anna leigh


emma kate and kara


ashley and parker


tate and caroline-good helpers for mother goose b/c they were the oldest!


collier


Then look who showed up, Mother Goose!




She was super entertaining and loud which surprisingly kept their attention really well.








Caroline jumping over the candlestick


Cupcake Time!!
Hayes had her eye on that purple cupcake from the time she saw me putting them out!







Hayes and her boyfriend (aka Daddy)


christine, jack and lillie


jennifer, chris, and little ones


lindsey and anna leigh, allison and lily, ashley and parker


ryan and wyatt, megann and CE


collier and shannon


Thanks Mother Goose for coming to play with me and my friends!


Family pic with the birthday girl. She was really busy with her chocolate cupcake here!


It was a really sweet and special day for her. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate-and we really missed those who couldn't be here. Her actual birthday is not until Monday, so we still have some celebrating left to do! Only 1 more day as a 1 year old!

My (almost) 2 year old

In less than a week my little BABY is going to be TWO years old. It has really been the fastest 2 years of my life. She changes so much, on a daily basis, always saying new words, phrases, etc. It's amazing how a child's vocabulary grows without you knowing it.



It is so funny the things that come out of her mouth everyday. She loves to sweep the kitchen. She loves Miss Pattycake and her Cedarmont Kids cd's and is always asking for music when we get in the car. She climbs everything and has crawled out of her bed twice in the last 3 days. She loves Mickey Mouse but only likes to hear him in the background, forget about sitting down to watch him. She sings Twinkle, twinkle constantly. She sings half of Rain, rain go away but always stops in the middle b/c she can't remember the rest. She LOVES to color but only if she has a partner. She will pull your chair out for you to sit down at her little table.



She always wants a snack, and then another snack, and then another. Crackers are her favorite. She likes to feed herself applesauce and yogurt and she all of a sudden she doesn't mind wearing a bib again. She's turned into a pretty good little eater lately and will eat most anything we give her for meals.



She loves to read her books and to read to her babies. She likes her school and smiles when you say her friends' names in her class-especially Luke! She is scared to death of the dustbuster and hair dryer. She loves puzzles and playdough. She sucks her thumb all the time and it's so cute (except for the germ factor.) Washing her hands or using sanitizer is not her thing right now (hope that will come soon.) She always nods her head yes when she's sucking her thumb. If she doesn't like something or doesn't want it she says "no mam" and it sounds so sweet. She likes to pick out her own diapers.



She loves her daddy and loves for him to hold her. She loves all of her cousins beyond words. She lights up when you say their names. I'm pretty sure she loves me too. She will melt your heart in a second. She is my firstborn baby and I love her with all my heart. It's already been an emotional week just thinking about her and how things are about to change, in a good way, but still a change with a new baby coming to live with us.


So now we are getting ready for her 2nd birthday party this week. I tossed around different ideas and then ended up going w/the hardest one-having it at home. Would not be a big deal if I wasn't so pregnant and uncomfortable already! But it will be fun and I know she'll love it-if she understands it's her party!



Happy early Birthday to my sweet baby girl Hayesie Daisy. I love you SO much and I am so proud to be your mommy. Thank you Lord for my sweet baby's life and for Your perfect plan for her. What an incredible gift for the privilege to be her parents.
"I thank my God every time I remember you." Phil. 1:3

This makes it real...

For Christmas, my mom gave Watson a new slipcover for the boppy pillow with his sweet name on it. It was really about the first time I've seen it written out and I love it even more now. I'm pretty sure he will be sporting a few pink things in his young years thanks to big sis, but at least he'll have a touch of blue here and there. Thank you Nana!!



Also, last week Hayes brought home a big white envelope in her bag from school. I was surely thinking it was her registration packet for next year for 2 year old preschool. But oh no, it had this little man's name on it!!! I thought, What in the world-he has mail?!! It was so funny to see his name typed out. He's not even here yet but he's already signed up for Mother's Day Out in September!! And I later learned it was a joke from my friend Kelly who works in the nursery at Covenant-so thank you Kelly-it really had not even crossed my mind about needing to register him!



And, a teeny tiny preview of his room...because a teeny tiny bit is all we have done in there! Hopefully it will all fall into place soon with his bedding and such.



Lastly, we finally got our blinds on our windows today-thank you Lowe's! I'm pretty sure our neighbors were starting to get tired of looking right through our windows at night. The new house is getting cozier by the day and now it feels like our home and not just like we're on vacation in someone else's house. It's a good feeling!

Warm Recipe for Cold Days

We are suffering from some serious cabin fever at our house! It's so cold and messy outside and we've been inside since we got home from church on Sunday. It really has been a lot of fun, especially having Nathan home with us, but I'm really hoping for some sunshine tomorrow to warm things up. I've got things to do and my toddler has energy to burn. Everytime I look out the window there is either more rain/sleet or little snow flurries. Come back sun!!



We took Hayes outside yesterday morning to play, but quickly realized it was not all snow, but mainly ice. Slippery ice! She still had fun kicking and chopping at it with her boots, but it was so cold that we didn't last long.

I asked Hayes to go find some winter clothes (hahah!)so we could go outside and this is what she looked like-diaper and squeaky red shoes-All ready for the snow!!








We've done rounds and rounds and more rounds of coloring, playdough, puzzles, tunnel/tent time, reading, snacks galore (like every 30 minutes), and constantly climbing on beds, chairs, sofa, anything. This is Hayes' new favorite activity unfortunately. Today has been a little more productive. I decided to go ahead and start washing some little blue clothes for our new baby coming soon. I'm slowly getting used to all the blue stuff and it's really sweet to see it in his closet-all the little laundry I normally do is all PINK! I'm hoping to get his nursery put together soon, but Hayes is still occupying the crib in there. I thought briefly that I would move her to her big girl bed once we moved in, but quickly tossed that craziness out the window-she is NOT ready for that and neither am I with a newborn on the way!



New favorite way to color-sitting in a chair and leaning all the way down to color on the floor-this cannot be comfortable at all but she does it all the time now.


Playing

Playing and playing


Now for the recipe-I've been craving SOUP for a while now, all kinds, just about every day. Panera has my favorite right now-Chicken and Wild Rice-and it is sooooo good.
My sister gave me her recipe last week for her soup that is similar and we absolutely loved it. It's a mix between chicken and rice and broccoli and cheese soup. And since she is not planning on sharing it I will share it for her! Really take notes, you will want to make this!!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup-by Alyssa

2 (12.5 oz) cans of chicken (don't be scared of canned chicken, I used to be!)
1 small onion
1 cup shredded carrots
2 tbsp olive oil
6.2 oz. pkg wild rice (you can use Uncle Ben's or Zatarain's)
10 oz. pkg broccoli, cooked
8 oz. velveeta, cubed
cream of chicken soup
5 cups water

1. Saute carrots and onion in olive oil in large stock pot
2. Cook rice and broccoli according to pkg. directions
3. Add drained chicken, rice, broccoli, and water to pot and boil for about 5 minutes.
4. Then add soup and cheese-let melt-not boil-or wait until you're almost ready to eat to add the soup and cheese. It's really, really good.

Stay warm!

Home Sweet Home and Christmas 2010 Picture Post

We are finally all moved and settled in! The past 8 days have been a complete whirlwind with moving, unpacking, organizing, cleaning, doing endless projects (poor Nathan), and keeping up with and entertaining a busy toddler in the process. We have had lots of help from the workhorses in our family, and we are way beyond thankful for the way they have selflessly served us. It would have taken months to do everything if we had not had their help with every little task. A HUGE THANK YOU to all of the GRANDPARENTS, although that hardly seems adequate. Everyone used their different talents to help in different ways. Moving is a huge job and we hope to never do it again anytime soon! But we are LOVING the "new house" as Hayes calls it, and so thankful for how God has provided us with this new home.

I still have so much to post about our Christmas! It was really a wonderful Christmas. We loved being with our families over the holidays and of course the time flew by. Hayes loved every second of being with grandparents and all of her cousins. She has been showered/SPOILED with constant attention and playtime from her grandparents for the past TWELVE days, and I am thankful for that.

CHRISTMAS EVE DAY and NIGHT






Hayes went to her 1st Christmas Eve service and sat through almost the whole thing-she made it a good 50 minutes thanks to her crackers, fruit snacks, and pencils and paper. It also helps that her cousins are such good role models for her and know how to behave really well in church!










We celebrated Hayes' 2nd birthday a little early w/the cousins and sang happy birthday to her. She loves the happy birthday song and can sing the whole thing. I took a video too of her clapping for herself!






CHRISTMAS MORNING-a little unsure of everything because she thought Santa was still in the house






CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON and NIGHT-lots of fun playing with Baker and unwrapping gifts-she got way too much stuff of course and really enjoyed getting all the paper off. Thanks Shug and Grandaddy, Honey, Brent and Lindsey for everything!










Hope your Christmas and New Years was full and meaningful!

Moving Day

I woke up way too early this morning, which is getting to be a trend for me, because we are finally moving today! And on the coldest day of the year! I am feeling way more UNorganized for this move than I did when we moved into our apartment 7 months ago-probably because we just started packing last night and now everything is a wreck. I was going to do a Christmas post this morning before all technology gets cut off for a few days and things get too chaotic, but really there are way, way too many pictures to filter through so I'll just share a few for now. We had a really wonderful Christmas being with our families this year and celebrating and eating and playing, always a fun time! It's hard to believe it's already over. Here is your pump you up, encouraging verse of the day-Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever-Hebrews 13:8-He wants us to celebrate Him not just at Christmas on his birthday, but every day, every moment/second, every circumstance.





I am big time missing my baby this morning. She is in Dothan with her grandparents while we move, which is a really good thing, but we already can't wait to get her back. We know she is having a ball being with everybody down there, and I'm sure she's getting her fill of chocolate cookies if her Grandaddy has anything to do with it-hahaha! But it's strange going to bed and waking up without your little one in the house. She'll be back with us and in full force before we know it though, and we're looking forward to some extended help through this week with both sets of g'parents coming up here to help organize/unpack/babysit. Which hopefully translates into a date night every night this week if we are still awake past Hayes' bedtime!



Be back later with a Christmas post. Happy Monday!

Counting Down to Christmas

So far my afternoon has been unusually productive. Normally I do not get much done around the house during naptime, but today my baby decided she wanted to take a good nap unlike the last few days! So I'm on load 3 of laundry and just finished ordering some birthday invitations-Yay! 2 big projects done on Christmas week!

(Yes Mommy, I do like naps, I just forgot about them!)


This week we have really enjoyed running around town and getting last minute things done for Christmas this weekend. But today, we have stayed home all day long, partly because I was on the phone all morning and by the time we both got ready for the day it was naptime. But it's been so nice because I love lazy days at home. The other 2 busy days this week made up for today. I had a drs. appointment yesterday, which I took Hayes with me to-and she did really good thanks to a whole sleeve of saltine crackers-I was so proud of her. Little Watson looked great and is getting bigger by the minute, literally. Time is just moving too quickly for me. We still have lots to do before he gets here, including a move, getting both babies rooms ready, and Miss Prissy Pot's 2nd birthday party in about 5 weeks. But I still have plenty of time thankfully, no hopefully!



In other news, we are MOVING next week on Monday to our new house! The renovation turned out to be much more of an extensive project that I had envisioned. It's gone very smoothly so far, praise God, and we can't wait to be settled and get all of our stuff out of storage and into the new house. We're just feeling SUPER thankful for this gift of a new (to us) home. And so far, I have not packed the first thing into a box and we are leaving tomorrow for Christmas weekend! Despite my excitement about moving, I just wanted to think about Christmas this week and not have everything turned upside down. Nathan and I will just have a late night packing when we get back on Sunday night!

Hope all of you have a very merry time celebrating CHRISTMAS with your families-what a great time of year to stop and prioritize. We're looking forward to spending time with our family-even though it will be short this year! Merry Christmas!