Happy Birthday, Baby

Happy Birthday to my awesome husband.

We recently celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary and I gushed all about this man. And he deserves all the goopy gushing he can get.  He is my one and only.  And it’s because he puts up with me.  He’s my rock.  He’s also the greatest father.  He has that magic touch to always calm my son’s nerves and to bring down my tantruming 3 year old daughter in a single bound.

So, a big happy birthday to our super hero.  You deserve a day that’s all about you for a change.  Thank you for putting up with all us crazies: the tiny drama queen, the worrier, and the one who can’t even bake a birthday cake without reading the directions out loud.

We love you.

Five

Today my baby boy is five years old.  And to use one of my son’s favorite phrases, “I can’t believe it.”

Five? That’s an entire hand.

The cliche is true.  Time goes so fast.  I can clearly remember bringing him home from the hospital and holding him in my arms.  He made me a Mama.

Now he’s going to a big kid school.  He does math in his head.  He writes his name.  He draws elaborate pictures of cities. He eats salad plates for lunch.  He is a master of puzzles and Legos that are above his age group. He loves to build blocks and race cars. He rides his bike and doesn’t look back.

He loves his family.  He enjoys the comfort of close friends and familiar situations.  He is in a constant state of learning which means a million questions.  There is always a “Why?” or a “How?”  He is silly and goofy and he always gets the punchline.  I often find him telling elaborate stories to no one in particular about his day or his dreams.  He wants to be a truck driver.  He wants to build bridges.  He wants to explore the world.  He wants to live in the house right next door to Mama and Daddy.

There are times when I look at him and see a mature, grown up little dude.  There are times when I look at him and still see the baby who spent his days at home with me playing on the floor and singing lullabies.  But, mostly, I see this amazing boy who makes my heart soar.

Happy Birthday, Daniel.  I love you.

Goody Goody

I wrote about Daniel’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go” birthday celebration HERE, but I needed a new entry to talk about one of the most important party elements: The goody bag!

It’s so funny because I do not remember the goody bag being a critical part of any of my birthday parties growing up.  Now it is a staple. My kiddies know that they will get some sort of treat at the end of a party.  It’s now expected.  So rather than wonder about it and think it’s ridiculous, I decided to embrace it and have fun with it.

Since it’s back-to-school time, I included a small bag of “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go” themed school supplies:

I bought the cellophane treat bags with ties at Hobby Lobby.  The transportation notepads are from Dollar Tree.  The cool transportation erasers are from Amazon.  The pencils and pencil sharpeners are from Oriental Trading.  The pencils were personalized with “Daniel’s 5th Birthday” and they are really inexpensive.

I also included a Truck Pez Dispenser, a transportation puffy sticker sheet, and a Matchbox car.

I bought brown paper gift bags and transportation “Thank You” tags from Etsy’s Stitches by Susan.  I traced each child’s initial on colorful wrapping paper and glued it on the front of each bag.  I stuffed each bag with the same style tissue paper and Voila!

Now I have six months to plan my daughter’s birthday party.  I think I have set the bar a bit high.  Uh oh.

 

“Cars and Trucks and Things That Go” Birthday Celebration

Once we decided on the theme for Daniel’s 5th birthday party, Annabel would walk around talking about Daniel’s “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go Birthday Celebration!”   It was the “celebration” part that always cracked me up.  And she was right.  It was a CELEBRATION.

This was the first time we had a kids party at our house.  Daniel’s August birthday in Florida will always be a challenge.  It’s so hot and it’s (usually!) hurricane season.  (I’m sorry friends and family up north!) Last year we did the Pump it Up gym, so this year we wanted to try something new.  I know five year old boys want to run and play and be outside, so we decided to take our chances and have an outdoor party.  We ordered the bounce house, tent, tables, and chairs and I even found a cool mist fan.  I also planned activities for our enclosed patio and the food stations were inside the house.

The fun for me is always the theme and the details.  I love to plan the decorations, crafts, food, cake, and goody bags. Daniel is obsessed with his cars and trucks, so we knew that was to be incorporated.  He is also obsessed with Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go book.  We were going to do a Richard Scarry theme, but it was easier to make it the generic “Cars and Trucks and Things That Go.”  The colors would be primary.  Red, yellow, green (for a traffic light), and blue (Daniel’s favorite color.)

I found these super cute “Birthday Traffic” invitations on Tiny Prints.  Once the invites were out, it was time to plan the fun!

I found this city directional sign on Oriental Trading.  It was for their camp VBS program, but it worked out great as our front door welcome sign. Hubbie found the glitter letters at Michaels.

I made this birthday wreath with a foam base that I wrapped with colored ribbon and decorated with painted wood cars that I also found at Michaels.

Okay, let me say here that I love coming up with the party ideas more than I love the actual execution.  I got the idea for the door wreath HERE and I loved it because it seemed so simple.  And it WAS simple until the ribbon started unraveling and the wood pieces started falling off five minutes after I hung it on the front door.  It’s my fault because I used double sided tape instead of glue. It looked great as a finished product on the table, but once it hit the hot door and the Florida wind, forget it.  I managed to keep it together with pins for 20 minutes, but once all the guests arrived, I brought it inside.  The same thing happened with the directional sign.  Every five minutes, another glitter letter fell off.  I should have used super glue to adhere the letters instead of relying on the stickers alone.

The rest of the decorations remained intact.  Thank goodness.  Etsy is my new favorite website for party ideas and party orders.   Here is the snack table.  The banner is from Etsy’s Keekers Crafts.  She used our party colors and some really cute cars and truck printed paper.

There were cups of popcorn and pretzels to make it easy for the guests to grab and go.  The red tins were filled with red apples.  I found transportation lollipops from Oriental Trading and the #5 car cookies were from Etsy’s Andrea’s Goodies.

Hubbie is AMAZINGLY creative so he helped me with the displays.  For the lollipops we used small green tin pails, plant foam, and green gift filler from Hobby Lobby.

We stayed with the theme for the dinner buffet.

There were “Peanut Butter and ‘Traffic’ Jam Sandwiches” which I made with white and wheat bread and a car shaped cookie cutter.

Next, some “Vroom! Vroom! Veggies.”

The “Truckin’ Chicken Nuggets” were from Chick-fil-A and displayed in two plastic sand trucks found in Target’s summer clearance aisle.

Here’s the “Stop Light Fruit” and I should have snapped the photo the other way so it actually looks like a stop light.  Ha.  We had red strawberries, yellow pineapple, and green grapes.  The large white pasta bowls are from Target and we used black felt to mimic a stop light.

We had green salad and potato chips to fill in the rest of the main table and on the side island was “Zoom! Zoom! Ziti” which we ordered from our local Italian restaurant.  It was super yummy and a great way to fill up some bellies.

I had three craft stations set up in our enclosed patio area which I decorated with red pennant flags from Amazon and transportation vehicle cut-outs from the Michaels clearance bin.

1. Design-A-Ride. The kids pick out their favorite wooden truck and decorate with markers and stickers. The trucks were, again, 0n-sale at Michaels.

2. Bike License Plate.  The kids pick their favorite plate color.  They personalize with their name using foam letters and decorate with foam stickers.  Everything was from Dollar Tree.  I made the plates with foam rectangles and pipe cleaners.

3. Car Photo Frame.  The kids decorate a car cut-out photo frame.  I found the frames at Dollar Tree.   I was only planning on two crafts, but then I saw these frames and could not resist including them in the party.

We ordered a tent for outside with tables and chairs.  We also ordered a cool mist fan.  It really only cooled down half the tent, so I’m not sure it was worth the money.  I decorated the tables with balloons attached to construction cones (which I found in the Target dollar bin.)

We already had the outdoor play set that we knew all the kids would enjoy and Daniel really wanted a bounce house.  I was concerned that the inside of the bounce house would feel like an oven, but we parked it in a shady spot and it was not bad at all.

We threw every play car and truck we own on the grass and, at the last minute, decided to fill two large metal bins with sand so the kids could play with car and truck sand toys.  It was HUGE hit.

The crafts, however, were not a big hit.  Some of the girls enjoyed them, but the boys just wanted to bounce and play outside.  We were blessed with no rain so the party fun was outdoors.  The kids would just stop for water and a little relief from the mist fan and then it was right back to playing outside.  I was just happy everyone had a good time.

Daniel does not like cake so I found a great idea on-line for a donut “wheel cake.”  We ordered four dozen chocolate donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts and Hubbie created this masterpiece.

Tomorrow I’ll post about the goody bags and everything I learned about hosting my very first kids party at home.  And MAYBE  I’ll tell you how the bounce house deflated halfway through the party or how our lawn sprinklers went on unexpectedly toward the end. But that’s for another day. I’m EXHAUSTED.

Three

My baby turned THREE on February 15th.  I think it’s the hardest transition for me because “2″ still feels like a baby, but “3″ means I have a little girl now.

And my little girl is already in her new “big girl” bed.  Annabel wanted a princess bed so I had a blast picking out the shabby chic comforter and a flower canopy, a special splurge from PBKids.

Nothing is too good for my princess.

Annabel is the definition of a princess and that pretty much defines the year for me.  She knows what she loves and she loves everything girly: Ponies, princesses, Hello Kitty (still), dolls, and lots of pink.  We call her our little “princess diva” because along with the sweet demeanor and smile comes her stubbornness and drama.  She will hide her face when someone wants to say hello but five minutes later she will offer a hug.  She will push her brother away when he wants to join in the fun but then they will sit side by side and color a picture together. She knows her letters and she loves to say her ABCs.  She also loves to sing along with songs on the radio and she has developed her Mama’s love for 80s music.  (Thanks Kidz Bop!)  She loves to dance and will spin around in circles until she is dizzy.  She will also grab my hands unexpectedly so we can dance together in the kitchen after breakfast or lunch.

She is growing like a weed and I finally found a gym program that she likes. We get to have our “Mommy and Me” time once a week so she can work on her strength and flexibility.  She still loves to be lazy and she asks to be carried up the stairs or into bed. But she can cuddle, hug, and kiss with the best of them.  She loves to be loved.

Her head of curls will now reach to her bottom when wet, but I don’t want to dare cut an inch.  I fear the curls may disappear and they are such a part of her personality.

She is a little social butterfly now although she still loves to play alone like her big brother.  She is working on sharing with others and I am so proud of her independence.  She is my neighborhood Mommy Playgroup buddy and I am still surprised when I don’t have to worry about her for an entire hour with the other little girls. She also is the only girl when she plays with her big brother’s friends but she will hold her own.  She is a princess but she will not let the boys push her around.

She had two amazing birthday celebrations this year.  On her actual birthday, Grandma and Grandpa drove down from Maryland to spend the special day with their granddaughter.  Annabel was thrilled.  She loved the special attention and all the extra reading and playtime.  Grandma and Grandpa also took Annabel to the mall for a special Hello Kitty surprise and a train ride.

Daddy made a special birthday dinner and I made Annabel a pink heart cake because that is the cake my Mom made me for my February birthday every year.  I’ve decided this is our new birthday tradition.  She had a wonderful day with her Grandparents, her GG, her brother and her Mama and Daddy.

Then Annabel had another birthday celebration on Saturday with 12 friends at the My Gym.  The princess diva theme continued and she left her tiara on the entire time.  There were pink balloons, lots of bubbles, zip line rides, swings, puppets, a ball pit and I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.  It really was such a blast.

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby girl.  Now stop growing up so fast, okay?

40

So…I turned 40 yesterday.   What’d you do?

I feel fine, actually.  I feel no different.  Last year I had a freak out moment about turning 39 because 39 felt so final.  Like the end of something.  (Bye, bye 30!)  Well, 40 feels new.  40 is the new beginning.

I decided during the holidays that 2011 would be my year to celebrate 40.  I didn’t want to just have this one big day to be 40.  I want, rather I NEED, the year.  Although I did have a really awesome birthday.  I had a day filled with celebratory messages and Facebook wall notes, which was awesome.  I like that only a FEW people mentioned my age.  (My sister is included on that list. She really loves to tease me about “Lordy, lordy, looks who’s 40!!  Ha ha.”  Just you WAIT. Only four more years, Sis.)

But I have some serious plans for this year.  Physically, I want to work on my health and well being and overall appearance.  I just want to nail down my look, if that makes sense.  I need to start with my hair which has been so many different lengths, colors, and styles through the years.  I’ve never stuck with one hairstyle because I honestly feel like I’ve never acheived my greatest “me” look.  I’m going to try again tomorrow with my stylist.  I definitely want to go more classic.

That also means I want to get my wardrobe in check too.  I love my dark jeans.  I love my black tops.  I love my cute flats. My look is really defined by classic pieces and then I like to “fun it up” with accessories.  And, WOW, check out this ultimate cool accessory I got from my amazing hubbie yesterday.  My very first ever Louis Vuitton.  WHEEEEE!

My plan from now on is to only spend money on quality classic wardrobe pieces and I can bargain shop and have fun with the accessories.

As for health, I need to FINALLY get a primary care doctor.  I have so many specialists, which is great, but I need my one go-to doctor who I can talk to about vitamins, heart stuff, you get the idea.  I’m proud that I have a great ob/gyn and dermatologist, but I need to amp it up.  I also need to get my butt back to the dentist.  (My biggest anxiety – ugh.)

I need to eat better.  I’m doing a good job with basic meals but I want to cut soda out for good.  I can’t cut out the coffee.  I just CAN’T.  So soda will be the vice I want to give up this year.  I also need to get back to my daily walking.  It was so awesome.  I just had a lot on my plate over the past few months that I chose to relax at the end of the day by throwing on my PJs and watching TV. But no more. I need to get back to an exercise plan and I’m giving myself until March 1st to get it back in place.

One thing I can cross off the list is my skincare product.  I’ve been using the Cindy Crawford Meaningful Beauty line for over a year now and I really love it.  It’s convenient because the products arrive every few months in a box on my doorstep.  The program includes great moisturizer, eye cream, makeup remover, even a mask and a couple other items I haven’t even used yet.  I recommend it and no one has paid me a penny to say that.

Finally, I want to go on a couple of adventures.   I surprised my hubbie yesterday when he wanted to bring me home a birthday lunch and I said, “Hey, let’s just grab something and go to the beach!”  I mean, we live 20 minutes from the ocean and we NEVER go.  It was a blast.  It was chilly, quiet, calming, everything I wanted.  Everything I needed.  I wanted a moment.

I want more moments this year.  On the list?  Flying to DC this summer to see the NKOTBSB concert with my sis and her best friend; going to an Oprah Winfrey show (long shot, but we’ll see what happens.)  And basically doing a lot more “carpe diem” stuff around my neck of the woods: live shows, charity events, last minute adventures, just being more flexible and fun.  I need to work on that.

I’ve put all this in writing so I stick to it.

Finally, I want to make sure I stick to this blog. I want to continue to write about me and my family and all the things I love – from the crazy reality shows and the movies that made me cry to the funny family moments and my kiddies’ major milestones.

Thanks for sticking with me.  I’m excited for the year ahead.

I REALLY am.

Forty and fabulous, Baby.

Happy Birthday, Baby

My hubbie pointed out that he turned 16 years old yesterday.  Well, TWENTY YEARS AGO. 

I think getting older freaks him out.  Until I remind him that, ahem, I am the older one.  So anything negative he says about his age is even more negative for me.

But this isn’t about me. 

It’s about you, Baby.  Happy, Happy 16 plus 20 years.   You are still the most handsome, smart, funny, sexy (mad)man in town.

Four

Daniel turned four on Monday after a serious two week celebration.

First,  he had a party in Maryland with his grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins.  For this party, he asked for a CARS theme:

Next, he had a Pump It Up party back home with all his friends.  It’s been an amazing year of transition.  Last year we just had family over and now he’s having a party with twelve little boys running around.  (There were some sisters there too, including his own.) It really defined the year for me in terms of how much he has blossomed into this fun, social little boy. 

For his “Pump It Up” party, he wanted an AIRPLANE theme:

Monday was finally Daniel’s birthday.  Our birthday tradition is to ride the train at the mall in the morning and then get a Happy Meal.  He asked for a COOKIE MONSTER cake. (He still loves Sesame Street although we are all anxiously awaiting the new Fall season so we can watch some brand new episodes.)   Daddy made Daniel this awesome cake.  (He’s good like that.)

(Meanwhile, that beautiful Airplane cake?  Mama did that.  Mama picked up the phone and ordered that one from the specialty bakery.  Yes I did.)

Daniel’s big birthday gift was an art table for his room.  

He loves coloring and painting and cutting and stickers so he was thrilled to have his very own space to be creative. But he was also happy that the table came with TWO stools so Annabel can color next to him if she wants.  

He loves his sister and his family so much.  He loves being at home.  He will sit on the floor and play and make up names and scenarios for all his cars and trucks and trains.  He still loves anything that moves.  Another one of his favorite gifts was his brand new car booster seat.   He was so excited to test it out and he talked constantly about how he could see better and how comfortable it was and how he has “Cup holders, Mama!  CUP HOLDERS!”  He is such a big boy now.  He has cup holders.

He really is a big boy now.  He starts back to school next week and he seems really excited.  He loves structure and organization (like his Mama),  but he is also silly and fun (like his Daddy.)  He has this really smart sense of humor and he questions everything.  His new thing is asking me to spell out words that he shouts out.  He will go on and on and on and I hate to stop him but sometimes it’s from sheer exhaustion.  He loves to learn.

The only time he gets frustrated or whiny is when he tries to exert his independence.  Or when he has to clean up his room.

He loves books.  He loves food and is still a great eater.  He’s more independent now and will ask for what he wants rather than being served something blindly. He loves to help cook and bake, especially with his GG. 

He is curious about everything and he has an adventurous spirit.  He loves going on trips.  He loves “new hotels” as he calls them.  He loves all the big rides at the fair.  He always wants to go over the big bridges.  He is OBSESSED with bridges and gets giddy with excitement if we get to cross one.

He is so smart.  I fear the day that he finally outsmarts me is getting closer and the day that he was born and placed in my arms for the first time is getting farther and farther away.

Happy Fourth Birthday, Bean.  I love you.

The Giving Tree

We just got back from a week long road trip to visit my family in Maryland and North Carolina.

We make this trip ALOT.

But there was something very different when I pulled into my parents’ driveway this time.

The tree in the front yard was gone.

The tree was getting old and my parents were worried about the super large branches actually falling on the roof of the house so they had it removed.   Well, everything except the stump.

That’s getting picked up and taken away next week.

It reminded me of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein which, IRONICALLY, Daniel got from his godmother as an early birthday gift.

I love that book.

I love trees.  I think it has to do with my love for old things and shade.  I love a big, old shady tree.

I’m not overly obsessive.  I wouldn’t protest and live in a tree.  But I MIGHT hug one.

My kids know how much I love trees.  We’ll be driving in the car and Daniel will point to trees all the time and say, “Mama, you like that one?  You like that tree?  You love trees, right Mama?”

I do love trees.

My dream is to have a birch tree in my front yard.  They are just so pretty.  I have the “Silver Birch Forest” screen saver photo on my laptop computer.

It makes me happy.

So it’s a little sad that the big old tree in the front yard of my childhood home is gone.  

But it makes sense.  It was a giving tree. 

It gave me and my brother and my sister some great memories.

And now it just gave one to my son.

Thanks, Tree.

The Last First Birthday

Daniel and I flew to Maryland to celebrate my nephew, and Godson, Luke’s 1st Birthday.  It’s a little sad because it’s our family’s last “First Birthday Party,” unless someone surprises us with a new baby.  (And when I say SOMEONE, I definitely do NOT mean me.)

We had such a great time.  The weather was perfect for an outdoor celebration.  It was super cool to watch all the cousins play in the sandbox, ride big wheels, make sidewalk chalk drawings, blow bubbles, and play football and soccer in my sister’s big backyard.  Even Luke got in on the soccer action with the help of his Daddy. 

Luke is such a wonderful, mellow little guy.  He loves to observe and smile at everyone.  But he is minutes away from walking which I’m sure is making my sister a teeny bit nervous. 

He loved all his birthday toys and he especially loved his giant birthday cake.  He dove right in.  It was hilarious.  It was a wonderful last first birthday party celebration for our family. I was so happy Daniel and I were there to be a part of it all.

We’ve always referred to Luke as “Baby Luke.”  But even Daniel said on the airplane flight home, “Mama, we have to call him Big Boy Luke now.” 

Yes, Bean, I guess we do.

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