Harvey's 1st Birthday

My little boy turned one. I can't believe it (even though he's the size of a two year old). To me, he's still a baby. I've realized I always dress him in nothing but pale blue onsies, like a baby, to keep him that way (AND probably because they show off his chubby leg rolls and accentuate his blue eyes). He is my little ray of sunshine, always happy, smiling and cooing at me, with his soft rosy cheeks and striking blue eyes. He brightens up my days. So I decided that was the perfect theme for his little birthday party, "You are my sunshine." It's also the song I sing to him to put him to sleep every night. It turned out to be a perfect sun-shiney day for a pool party and here are the photos to prove it.

 

For weeks, Wendy helped me, slowly, put together the decorations for our "You Are My Sunshine" party. It was a lot of fun to craft with her during Harvey's naps, even though it took twice as long. She was so excited for the party because she helped me make it. It made the party that much more special for the both of us. I made things easier for myself and used the same color scheme as Harvey's nursery, that way I could pull from what I already had in his room, like the fabric bunting I sewed while he was in my tummy and hung up in his nursery.

Our loved ones came out to celebrate with us. It was such a happy day. I love the first birthday. So much happens from the time a child is born to the day they turn 12 months old. It trips me out that only a year ago he wasn't even in our lives yet, and now, how enormous the void would be if he wasn't part of our family.

 Ryan's Grandpa is amazing. He's one of 13 children and he loves his family. He has a little wood shop in his backyard where he makes wooden toys for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren for their first birthday and for Christmas every year. Ryan's Grandma paints all of them. The little wooden toys they makes are so adorable and priceless. I can just picture him in there, devoting hours of his time and putting his love into these toys for my children. For Harvey's 1st birthday he made him a little fire engine. He even had a license plate made with Havey's nickname on it.  I feel so lucky that my children get to know him and have these amazing, hand made toys to pass down to their children one day. 

My little boy LOVED his cake! I mean like, licked the high chair tray clean loved it. (But are we really surprised?) He loved it so much that we had to stick him in the kitchen sink to get all the frosting out of his succulent baby rolls after the party. There's something about a chubby baby splashing around in the kitchen sink that just melts my heart. It was the perfect way to end a great day.

Wendy Lou is FOUR

My baby girl is FOUR years old! There's a part of me that can't believe it, but there's another party that thinks, "Oh, wait... you're only four? I feel like I'm talking to a teenager right now." And can you tell she's a little excited to be four now? She's been checking all the tags on her clothes to make sure they're size 4T... 'cuz, you know, she wouldn't want to be seen walking around in BABY clothes.

 

Her (current) favorite princess, Rapunzel, has been put on hold for a minute to make room for her new obsession... Hello Kitty. "Mom, I just want Hello Kitty everything! (counting on her fingers) Hello Kitty clothes, Hello Kitty bathtub, Hello Kitty make-up, Hello Kitty toothbrush, Hello Kitty kitchen... can you tell the guys (AKA construction workers remodeling our kitchen... more on that later) to make it a Hello Kitty kitchen? Can they make it pink with red polka dots? Can you do that for me?" No sweetheart. I cannot do that for you. But I CAN throw you a Hello Kitty party.

*pin the bow on Hello Kitty

*this girl is not messing around! she wants some candy! she even pulled out the williams under-bite!

Some of the little things I want to remember forever about the 4 year old Wendy:

•  Her favorite game is tag, or "Try to get me." I can chase her in circles around the tree in our front yard, or around the kitchen island all day and she never stops giggling. When I catch her, I pick her up and spin her around until we're both dizzy. Sometimes I get a little tired of this game, but then I realize it won't be long before she wants me to leave her alone and then I'm not so tired of it anymore.
• I've been trying really hard to go on a "Mommy-Wendy Date" on the first weekend of each month. I love it. Her favorite one so far has been our Saturday morning trip to Chuck-E-Cheese. Did you know if you're the first one there in the morning, every single game has tons of tickets hanging out of it from when they re-stocked the night before?? That girl made out like a bandit.
• I still think she's the most brilliant little girl. She just turned four and she can sound out how to spell, do simple addition, subtraction, and remembers every tiny detail about things I've long since forgotten.
• She has an imaginary friend... sort of. It's her imaginary older sister named "Kristen." Kristen is always either 15 years old or  6 years old. I did a little investigating and found out that there is an "older" girl named Kristen on Barney (Wendy has discovered the purple dinosaur on Netflix and cannot get enough).
• She is SO SWEET to her baby brother. She makes him crack up all the time and she likes to hold hands with him in across carseats in the car. When my father-in-law jokingly tells him, "Harvey, you don't do anything! When are you gonna do something?" She gets very defensive and starts listing off his baby tricks, "Yes he does, he can sit up! And he can wave! He can pick up his own food..."
• I really look forward to picking Wendy up from school twice a week. When I get there and wait in line behind the glass door to her classroom, I watch her class walk in from recess in a single file line to sit on the carpet and get ready for their parents to come pick them up. She always looks to see if I'm there, then she always gets a huge smile on her face and gives me a very animated wave. Lately, she's also been holding up her pinky, pointer finger, and thumb to say "I love you!" after the wave. Sometimes she'll try to tell me something, but I can't hear through the glass so I just give her a thumbs up. If any parent is in line in front of me they look back to see who this cute little girl is so excited to see. Then when the door opens she always runs to me with open arms saying, "Mommmmyyyyyy!!" I sigh. She does love me. This is one of my favorite moments every week. Even though I usually have to wake Harvey up early from his morning nap to go pick her up, I wouldn't miss it for anything.

Happy thirty-oneth birthday Ryan!

HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

31 things I love about this man:

1. He's a hard worker (currently working 2 jobs, in school and STILL manages to make time for me and for his kids)
2. He makes me laugh every day
3. He gets the kids off to their grandparents house on Mondays & Wednesday when I work - SUCH a big help
4. He never makes (lets) me drive when we go places together
5.  He does ALL the yard work; I've still never mowed a single lawn in my life
6. He tells me when I look good
7. He holds my hand all the time
8. He's the first to help out a friend
9. HE WENT BACK TO SCHOOL, which is a huge sacrifice that will reap eternal benefits for our little family. He's actually just about getting straight A's & enjoying being a student!! (can you tell I really love this one?)
10. He's an amazing dad 
11. He takes the kids on late afternoon walks so I can get dinner ready in peace
12. He's a super talented drummer
13. He's also a super talented singer
14. Actually, he's just super talented musically all around - he can pick up any instrument and play it
15. He doesn't really care for sports unless we're live at a game (SO nice that we agree on this)
16. He's really close with this family
17. He never forgets a name
18. He's so dependable
19. He puts Wendy to bed almost every night
20. He reads the kids bedtime stories & does all the voices (it's such a cute thing to listen to him doing the voices and hear Wendy laughing with delight) 
21. He takes me to them movies all the time, even though he doesn't really care for the movies and I love them
22. He loves to dance & he's good at it
23. He always takes out the trash
24. He always kisses me when he leaves or comes home
25. He is a superstar at Niel Diamond kareoke
26. He's a great public speaker (as long as he remembers who is audience is and refrains from being inappropriate)
27. Despite being inappropriate all the time, he loves the Lord
28. He always listens to me when I've had a bad day
29. He's the life of the party
30. He puts others first
31. He's my best friend