Dino Party

Jude turned two about two weeks ago. I threw together this little birthday party for he and his cousin, Lincoln. His cousin was born almost exactly the year before. They love to play together and Lincoln was excited to celebrate his birthday party with Jude. Jude, on the other hand, doesn't know the difference.

In the last 6 months or so Jude started to give a good "ROAR" anytime he sees a dino or something similar. Uncle Cory originally taught him this skill and he hasn't given it up. I love it, so I decided to use it as our theme.

When I originally showed him these invitations he looked carefully, paused and let out a good "ROAR". It was so perfectly timed I wish I could have caught it on video.

I derived the front of the invitation from an etsy seller, but I can't seem to locate them again. It's simple and easy. I added the red and white stripes to the back to match a tablecloth I already had on hand.

Three balloons for Lincoln and two for Jude. I ran across these little dino sippy cups at Menards of all places. They worked perfectly with the theme so I couldn't resist!

The party hats and the cupcakes were ideas from this gal. Her party was WAY cuter than mine. Great ideas over there.  You can't really see Lincoln's hat very well, but it has spikes along the back. He really wanted to "smile" for me and wouldn't turn around completely for me to see his hat. Funny boy. Anyway, they turned out pretty cute.

I think the cupcakes were my favorite. I picked up the mini dinos at the dollar store and then just made cupcakes from box mix. It's funny how piping frosting on the top makes them look like I worked hours on them! I didn't.

The boys enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The party was a bit chaotic, but we had a good time.

Happy birthday to you, Mr. Jude. You make us SO happy!

Look Who's Two

How old are you? Two

What did you get for your birthday? A John Deere tractor, tractor flashlight, cool Puma outfit, handmade drawings from Marshall and Jane, a basketball hoop, a water table, a tricycle, a baseball tee, a lawn mower, a sleeping bag and a new coat.

What is your favorite thing to do? Play with Daddy's iPad. Read books.

What is your favorite thing to eat? Bananas, yogurt and pizza.

What makes you happy? Playing outside. Playing with your cousins.

What makes you sad? An episode of Sesame Street where a character gets a pie in the face. Every time you immediately burst into tears.

What is your favorite show? You don't have a specific favorite, but we watch Curious George, Super Why and Cat in the Hat a lot.

What is your favorite song? Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You've been singing it over and over again for 6 months.

What do you and mom do together? Play outside. Color. Cook.

What do you and dad do together? Wrestle. Tickle. Eat goldfish crackers.

P.S. Auntie Em made that coat. It's the Baby in the Hood Coat from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings. It's killing me how cute it is. More pictures to come. Also, pictures of the birthday party coming soon too.

Where Have I Been?

Wow. You can tell when my life is going 100 mph because I suddenly vacate this little bloggy space and give no inkling as to if and when I will return. Well, I'm back. And, watch out, because winter is upon us in Iowa and with extended time inside I might be back with force! I've got a lot of catching up to do!

Over the Thanksgiving week we were lucky to host my sister Emily and her husband Cory AND my parents! It was really really lovely, life-giving and, I'll admit, somewhat exhausting. But, I loved it! It was especially fun to show off our new house and have our guests stay right here with us.

In preparation for their arrival my awesome mother-in-law helped me paint my guest room, bathroom and master bedroom. I'll be updating you with pictures of those rooms. They're finally at that "I think this is pretty well done for now" stage, so I'm ready to show off some pictures. In fact, I don't think I've shown any pictures of the new house here yet, so I'll do what I can to show you some snippets here and there.

For now, though, here's a little bit of our Thanksgiving . . .

Em & Cory with Jude.
When we get together we can't help but match our clothes occasionally. Our husbands shake their heads at us, but we think it's really funny (and awesome).

I made my first turkey! This one I made on Monday for a feast at the local Boys & Girls club. I used this recipe both that day and on Thanksgiving. The turkey for Thanksgiving wasn't nearly as pretty. Luckily I had my dad on hand to carve it. I'm not sure if I could have rescued that one quite as well. Tasted good though.

Table set for 11. Emily and I had fun digging through my storage bins of home decor items to put the whole thing together the day before. It's a mash up of random stuff, but it worked!


Here's the Thanksgiving turkey after it was carved. A "before" picture just wasn't worth it.

After dinner and before dark a few of us went on a walk around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful evening!

Here's my mother-in-law, my mom, Jude and me. What fun to all be together!

And last, but not least, a darling picture of my dad and Jude. Plus, a sneak peek of the hat and coat my mom made! Yep, I said that right. She made it! You'll be amazed. More on that to come after I take a couple more pictures of it.

One Year Old

Two days ago our little munchkin turned one. We celebrated at home just the three of us.  Next weekend we'll have the big party with our family and friends.

I got balloons for him earlier in the day.  I love how fascinating those are for children!  He stared at them and played with them all the way home.  We opened cards during dinner and then we brought out the cake.

I love that face for some reason.  He is so entranced by that candle.

Then, we started to sing and he threw a little mini fit.  This picture makes me laugh a lot.  Isn't it just classic?

And, just as quickly as the fit came on it was over.  Appeased by frosting, I guess.  I made a carrot cake that I got from the wholesome foods website.  It was so stinkin healthy that it just wasn't very good.  Jude ate it fine, but Jesse and I could only do a bite or two.  Tasted like a bran muffin with frosting on it.  Sometimes I try too hard and this was a perfect example.  At least we got a good laugh out of it!

This is the face of the Jude that we know and love.  It's like he always has a thousand things he would communicate if only he could talk!  He's been that way from the beginning.

And, just as we predicted, he meticulously picked at his cake - using the pincer grasp for every single bite.  He does this with all of his meals.  He eats a lot, but very very slowly.

Last but not least we opened the gift that Nana and Papa sent. 

He was immediately engaged in it.  Isn't that train so cute?

All in all, we had a very happy birthday.  Preparations have started for next weekend, and I'm looking forward to showing you what I've been up to.  Happy Birthday to Jude!