Vivian's cupcake party

We had Vivi's cupcake party at the house. We invited a few other babies from church and family. Kept it pretty small because I'm sure she will have all kinds of ideas for big, expensive parties in the future. I had a really good time decorating for a girls party. I definitely see myself getting into the party planning business but don't think I would enjoy it as much if it wasn't for my own kiddos. She of course loved her cupcakes...dark purple and hot pink icing was definitely not a smart choice. The purple was supposed to be lavender anyways. She got a nice bath after her cake eating and was all cleaned up to open her presents or shall I say mom open her presents. Austin has played and played with her Little People doll house we got her. He helps them go potty, feeds them, puts them to bed, etc. She enjoys playing with his cars more than the house :) We had to sing happy birthday twice cause the camcorder wasn't on!! Our friend, Jay, made a video of her first year for us. It was sooo awesome! I'm sure I will cry every time I watch it. I included several sappy songs and a few fun, upbeat ones. God has truly blessed us with two amazing, beautiful kids.

A cupcake party must have cupcakes...I ordered these toppers on Etsy, printed them and then cut them with a 2 inch puncher...they turned out so cute!




BEFORE


AFTER



This cupcake play set was a present from Christmas and was a hit with the older kiddos at the party


Austin with his cupcake


The food...the menu consisted of fruit, meatballs, tortilla roll ups, chicken nuggets (Chick fil a), chips and dip, pink m&m's, strawberry lemonade and of course cupcakes!












all cleaned up opening presents

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Vivian!

Austin's party

Here it is 4 days later and I am just now getting to sit down and blog about the kids birthday parties. It was a busy day needless to say but I definitely enjoyed seeing the kids enjoy their day. I have to admit I don't think I will ever schedule their parties on the same day again unless it is one big party. Way too much work for the mama. :) Here are some pics from Austin's party. We had it at a Party place in Broken Arrow. It was smaller than most party places so it wasn't chaotic and too noisy. We had the place to ourselves and they were super clean. :)





I swear he had a good time at his party



Party favors...this is as crafty as I get

Papa and Uncle Matt being silly


Nick cut and served the cake...I was pretty shocked when he started doing this


Friends and Fam

Austin is 4!

I can't believe my baby is four today. He is getting so tall and big. He went from a 24 month to a 4T so fast....barely wore a 3T. We made batman brownies for his school party tomorrow and then he has a Batman party this weekend with friends and family.


He is such a fun loving little boy. And a mamas boy and I love every bit of it. He is all boy for sure. Loves all the super hero stuff and is obsessed with the word fart! A few weeks ago he was finally confident enough to start saying the prayer with our meals. We were so happy. He has been saying he can't do it and finally one day he just did it. So cute and such a great memory to remember.

The above collage I cannot take credit for...our friend did it using Picasa. Austin is so darn photogenic, doesn't get it from me.

Happy Birthday Austin! We love you!

Vivian is One!

Our baby girl is one!! Vivian has brought such joy and happiness to us this past year. She is such a sweet and happy baby and I can't imagine my life without her.
We didn't have big plans for today other than just having some girl time at the house. Austin was in OKC and Nick had to work. I pretty much just played with her as much as I could and of course sang to her with my beautiful voice, lol. Both kids parties are on Saturday so we are looking forward to that.

I pray everyday that she will know Christ, understand His will for her life, be happy and safe. I know that she will grow into a beautiful woman. It won't be like this for long and I cherish every moment. We love you baby Vivian! XOXO



I really wanted to put her in her birthday tee today but I feared it would get stained before her party...I hate only getting once use out of it but she will look so cute in it on Saturday :) Plus, what female doesn't like a little leopard?

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

Spring time is here which means lots of trips to the zoo. As mentioned in my prior post, I didn't have my camera to post pics of the zoo trip, so here they are. I always take pictures of the animals but never do anything with them. Not sure why, but I always feel the need to take that picture of the tiger sleeping and then never look at it again. Nick's gotee is getting a little furry but that is all the fur in these pics! Vivian strutted her black bear onesie and Austin had to wear his monkey shirt. He is such a monkey and there have been times where Vivi acted like a bear but not too many. :)

Spring Break Day 4& 5....who was I kidding?

I knew there was no way that I would actually blog 5 days in a row. Yesterday I was just completely exhausted after I got home from dinner with the girls and today the camera was left in my car and Nick took my car to a March Madness tournament at church! Technically I am blogging today though. No pics which is no fun and boring but I blogged.

We went to the Tulsa Zoo today. Nick took off so he could go! The memberships were $11 off this week so it ends up only being $54 for the whole year! So glad we went early because by the time we left around 12:30 there was a line just to park! I was worried Vivian would be cranky since she missed her morning nap but Austin was the one who threw several fits. All in all we had a good time. We listened to this song yesterday and today on the way to the zoo. The entire CD is awesome. Zoo pics to come next week :)



Going to the zoo by Raffi

Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Look at all the monkeys swingin' in the trees
Swingin' in the trees, swingin' in the trees
Look at all the monkeys swingin' in the trees
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Look at all the crocodiles swimmin' in the water
Swimmin' in the water, swimmin' in the water
Look at all the crocodiles swimmin' in the water
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Yes, Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
Zoo tomorrow, zoo tomorrow
Mommy’s takin’ us to the zoo tomorrow
We can stay all day

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too
We’re goin’ to the zoo, zoo, zoo

Keeps it surprising I guess. We leave for OKC/Dallas tomorrow. Just going to see some friends and family.

Spring Break Day 3

So much for sleep! I was up till my usual bedtime...11-12ish. Vivian got up at 4am and the boys (Austin had a friend stay the night) were up at 5:15.

I just got my week 51 e-mail from babycenter on Monday saying to expect more fussiness and night awakening with Vivian. It said this is mainly due to separation anxiety. She has started clinging on to me more when I drop her off at the gym. I hope this phase doesn't last too long. Austin was always really good when it came to leaving him somewhere but no two kids are the same.

I thought about making some green eggs and ham for St. Patty's Day but opted for green chocolate chip pancakes instead. Looked gross but was pretty good. Reminded me of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Told ya they looked weird


Ryan helping make breakfast

Austin making pancakes


Vivian had her own play date with her mommy's tampons. Why must every baby find and play with tampons? I have never seen a female look so happy with one of these in her hand or should I say mouth?



Nick and I went to dinner, Dave & Busters and a movie(She's Out of Your League) tonight. We hired a babysitter for the kids. Vivian goes to sleep around 7 but she took advantage of a sitter being here and stayed up late. Austin went to a friends to stay the night. I am thinking of skipping the gym in the morning so I can sleep in...I made a childcare reservation for 9...what was I thinking?

Spring Break Day 2

Day 2 and I am still a bloggin. Doing good so far. Just so you know, I am only blogging Spring Break stuff until Friday. We leave on Saturday for OKC and Dallas. :)I am guessing that tomorrow blog will be uneventful because I am exhausted from today!

This morning we went to the bowling alley with friends. Nick loves Tony's pizza and on the back of the box you can get a coupon for a free game. We spent a total of $2.99 and that was just for shoes. Pretty good deal. It is worth buying the pizza just to get the coupon!


Austin bowled a 92...that was with the help of bumpers of course. Whoever invented bumpers is a genius!




We then went to lunch at McDonald's. I know, eating out for lunch two days in a row is a real treat for us. Like I said, Spring Break is a great reason to do all kinds of things.
Vivian experienced bowling and McDonald's nuggets and fries for the first time on the same day. What a milestone to reach today. I gave her some fruits and veggies tonight after getting spoiled at lunch.

Austin and Ryan


Vivi and Brookelyn


Vivi and Owen...they helped feed each other and raced to see who could grab the food the fastest!


After naps Gabe and Gavin came over for a play date...I got a quick pic of Gavin and Austin wearing their rain boots! Took with my phone so the quality stinks!



Austin had a slumber party tonight with Ryan. Boys are so fun! There is a new family video that has free kids movies :) We rented 5 movies and gummie bears for a little over $2!



I also got 2 movies for me and Nick. I watched Precious this afternoon. Definitely a dark movie, with the F word mentioned a lot but as a social worker I appreciated the storyline. The boys watched much lighter movies like Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I always liked TMNT because there was a chick named April. So cool.