a month of celebrations

June is one of our busiest months since we have lots of reasons to celebrate all throughout the month.

We started the month off with National Donut Day!   Did you get yours?

My better half turned the big 3-0!  I made this cake/pie for him since we're making it an annual tradition to have it on his birthday.

Our little man hit 18 months!  He is babbling non stop and can say up to 19 words (and counting).  Although he is a lot of fun these days, we're also dealing with a lot of fits and tantrums lately.  No one told me the terrible twos start a lot earlier!  I pray for patience every. single. day!

Our Father's Day celebration was very low key.  Poor Paul.  H was in the worst moods that day.  I wish we can have a do-over.  There is always next year.

Celebrated our fourth anniversary on the 19th.  I'm thankful I get to share the rest of my life with this wonderful man.

Bailey turned 7 and has entered her "golden years."  She's a little plumper, a little older, but she is more fabulous than ever!

And of course, summer has officially started!  What are your plans this summer?

i'm back with some BIG NEWS...

I'm so sorry for the three-month hiatus.  It's gotten busy around here.  Keeping up with a toddler is hard work!  Little H is now a walking machine and loves to babble about who knows what.  He's got quite a personality and Paul and I are enjoying these moments with him.  We're so proud of the little man that he's become, that we've promoted him to...

a mickey mouse clubhouse party

I've been planning a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday party for Little H for months.  He has been a huge fan of the show since, well, since he was just a few months old.  We decided to keep it small with just our family.  I was a little bummed that we had to cancel it and turned out to be an even smaller gathering on his actual birthday.  But the important part was that we were able to celebrate his day of birth.  Here are some pictures from his party.

I used this recipe to make his smash cake.  And for the bunting, I used fancy straws and washi tape from Target.  I also wrote his name in Disney fonts.  #intoit.  And I'm in love with this milk glass cake stand.

I made party favors Toodles' mouseketools for our special guests.  I filled the bags with stuff from the dollar section at Target.  That place is dangerous!

I made simple labels for all the items on our spread.  The menu included Pluto's Pizza, Daisy's Dip, Minnie's Frilly Fries and Mickey shaped chicken nuggets.  

I bought these ginormous balloons at Party City.  They're so much fun, I think I'm going to do this every year for everyone's birthdays.  Here is H getting ready to eat breakfast early that morning.  And look at that wave!  What a good sport!

As for the smash cake.  I have been waiting for this moment for a year, and my little boy just pushed the cake away and didn't want to have anything to do with it.  Not going to lie, my feelings were hurt.  I was thinking, "who is this child?"  We did have Round 2 this weekend in Houston with Paul's family and it made up for the first one.  He smashed that cake all over his hands, face and the floor!

Poor guy.  He had such a long, eventful day.  But I think he had fun.  I sure did!  Maybe next year he'll be more aware that all of this was for him. 

We love our little man!

H is ONE!

As of yesterday, we officially have a one year old!  Our lives changed completely since he joined our little family last year.  He makes us so happy and we're so proud of the little man that he has become.  Time really does fly when you're having fun!  We are so in love with you, H!  

We had a very small birthday party for him last night with just my family.  We were supposed to have a party last Sunday but had to cancel it because North Dallas was iced over for almost four days!  Anyway, all is well, and I will hopefully post details of his birthday party as soon as I get through the pictures.  Maybe tomorrow, if you're lucky!

And since it's Thursday, it's time for a #tbt (Throwback Thursday for you newbs).  My sister made this collage for me this morning.  I knew all these monthly pics would come in handy one day.

What a difference a year makes! 

H at 11 months

Well, I really had no news to report on this little guy's progress this month, until this Tuesday happened.  I gave him Cheerios to try for breakfast, then next thing you know, he started itching his eyes until they were swollen.  I froze and didn't know what to do.  I grabbed the Cheerios box from the pantry and there, in the tiniest font read, "peanut butter" *insert swear word of choice here*.  I was thinking, "I don't remember reading stuff about allergies."  Paul and my sister had to tell me to give him Benadryl.  DUH!  I made an appointment with his pediatrician just to make sure he was ok.  Aside from his eyes looking all beat up, he was happy and healthy.  I took him to get his blood work done yesterday and just got the confirmation that he IS allergic to peanuts.  We'll find out more on how extensive his allergy is tomorrow.  Our hearts sank.  It's yet another thing to worry about along with a gazillion other things.  He'll be deprived of so many delicious treats, like PB&J, pecan pies, Reese's pieces, and possibly Nutella.  Not Nutella!  Poor baby!  So lesson learned:  read food packages carefully!

H's first birthday is just around the corner and I'm already getting emotional.  One time, we were "slow dancing" to one of his songs on his playlist and for some reason, I started crying because I was imagining our mother/son dance on his wedding day.  I AM GOING CRAZY!  Time, slow down, will you? 

And if you're due for a good cry, watch this.  I will warn you now that you will ugly cry but it is so worth it.  This video is just beautiful.  I feel like I took those long, sleepless nights for granted after watching this.  How lucky was I to have been able to take my healthy son home after just a few days' stay at the hospital?  Some mothers have to wait for months to hold their child and bring them home (I'll stop here because I'll start crying again).  Babies truly are miracles and a blessing.  I will definitely hold my little guy extra tight when he wakes up in the morning! 

baby of steel

I'm loving all the costumes on my IG feed.  H has no idea that he even has a cape on his back, but he is just the cutest Superman I've ever laid my eyes on.  Watch out, Henry Cavill!  My baby of steel and I will be strolling the streets of our downtown square this afternoon and handing out candy later on tonight.  We may try knocking on a house or two.  We'll see.  I hope you all have a SUPERb Halloween!

our little pumpkin at 10 months

Earlier this month, we celebrated our little pumpkin turning 10 months old by going to a local pumpkin patch.

H didn't really know what to make of the pumpkins.  And he made a grimace every time he touched the hay.  He was too young for all the fun stuff, but we did go on a wagon ride through the "ghost town."  He wasn't really amused either and had a worried look the whole time.  Hopefully he'll appreciate it more next year when he's a bit older.  Visiting a pumpkin patch has officially been added to our yearly fall to-do list! 

I can't believe it's already Halloween tomorrow.  What are you dressing up as?

H at 9 months

{I meant to post this yesterday, on the last day of September but I had the case of the Mondays.  Forgive me}

At 9 months old, this little guy is becoming more and more rambunctious every day.  He loves morning walks, especially when we stop and play on the swings.  I hope he grows up to love roller coasters just like his Mama!  He crawls everywhere now.  I like to think of him as a human Swiffer, picking up Bailey's hair and all the dust on the floor.

Lately, he's also been giving cheesy smiles.  They're the best! 

I can't get enough of this guy!

H at 8 months

About a week before he turned 8 months old, Baby H had his first fever.  He woke up from his nap and started burning up.  Since it was his first fever (and as new parents, we were freaking out just a tad), I took him to the doctor just to make sure we knew what to do and what to expect.  His fever lasted for about two to three days, and just when I thought we were in the clear, he started getting rashes all over his body.  Our pediatrician warned us about this, and my sister even "diagnosed" him herself.  Sure enough, they were right.  He had roseola.  This might be way TMI, but thought I'd share for new parents out there.

On a happier note, he's been very talkative lately.  H was saying "mama" and "dada" for a while.  He also likes to wave "hi" and "bye."  We're currently learning how to clap our hands. 

Baby H has also started crawling!  He's getting faster and faster each day.  We need to baby proof the house pretty soon.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

H at 7 months

This was quite an exciting month not only for this guy, but for his parents too!  It was (again) a month of many firsts...

 His first Canada Day.

Our first Fourth of July together as a family of four.  Little H tried his baby pool for the first time.  It was epic!

Our little jet-setter went on his first flight a few weeks ago.  I think he likes traveling!  More on our vacation in future posts.

Just a few days before our trip, H decided to sit up on his own.  This has made things a little easier for us and makes playtime a lot more fun and interactive.  And his hair!  It's finally growing in nicely.  He really looks like a little boy now and not so much a baby.  Where did the time go? 

june highlights

Hello, friends!  Sorry for the month long absence.  I've been trying to survive live life day by day and these summer months sure are flying by fast.  Let's get caught up, shall we?

Our little man turned a half a year old!  The biggest milestone this month?  If you look closely you'll see them.  Give up?  

Our baby's got some chops!  Currently, he's sporting four baby teeth and they have completely changed his smile. 

Here's a great pic of three generations on Father's Day.

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary by going out to Rick's in downtown McKinney.  This was our second time there. Over dinner, we decided on making it a tradition to celebrate future anniversaries there.

And speaking of weddings, we went dress shopping with my sister and future sister-in-law.  After visiting several places, my sister finally said yes to the dress!

This little lady turned 6 years old!

I've got a few more to update you on, but thought I'd break it down into a few posts to get things rolling again on this sad and neglected blog.  See you very soon, I promise!