Friday FunDay

This week of getting back in the grind of real life has been a little rough.  With each day it has gotten a little better, but still a little blah.  I decided yesterday that I wanted to do something fun, and out of the house with the kiddos today, so we ventured once again to Otterville. I swear this establishment is a life saver during these long winter months (even though today was unusually gorgeous for January). 

Mornings when I know we are leaving the house are a little different than normal.  I am a mama that thrives on a schedule and in turn so do my children. However, on mornings when we are venturing out our schedule is a little more than hectic.  I make sure that both E and Mckinlee have a clean diaper and are dressed, and then I put them both down for their morning nap 30 minutes early.  I do this so they will be ready, but inevitably one always ends up pooping and I have to take time to change them before we leave.  While they are napping I rush to get myself fed, ready, bags packed and Caleb dressed.  Once all that is complete we are ready to head out. 

The boys were so excited about going to Otterville this morning. They kept talking about the choo choo's all the way there.  Once we arrived they had a blast. Train tables first, grocery store second, back to train tables, face painting, vet room etc.  They had so much fun. Caleb also decided he needed to pee potty and so I took 3 kids into public restroom by myself, only for my 2 year old to decide he no longer needed to pee potty :).  I had 3 wonderful kids for our lunch break, and Caleb even helped me drag the highchairs over.  After lunch it was ball pit and play land time and all 3 kids had a blast. I do not know what I am going to do with this 11 MONTH OLD girly...she thinks she is big stuff.  She loved climbing through the play place and she definitely kept me on my toes. She even got to enjoy the ball pit for a few minutes with Caleb and E when no other kids were in there. 

I do not shoe favoritism to my daughter even though there are more pictures of her. This little flash of lightening will not hold still for a second, and this is literally the best shot of him I got.

I used to think I would never be able to make it out of the house with 2 kids, and now I look back on that and think pshh that was a piece of cake :).  I just hope people out in public do not think that all 3 kids belong to me :). 

I'm in Denial....but it is Time to Plan

So, my baby girl will be a year old in a MONTH!! I am hanging onto the fact that she is still 10 months until tomorrow because that makes me feel as though she is still little. However, all of us second time moms know how fast the 11th month zooms by, and quite frankly I am in a little denial.  It literally does not seem possible that we are here already, but we are and it is time to start planning her big first bday party.  The party that is actually one month from YESTERDAY!! eeekkk. There is no turning back now because the invites have already been mailed.

I am a huge birthday lover.  I LOVE to plan, execute and participate in over the top parties.  I especially love to plan them for my little ones. I know that they have no idea how much effort, time, and thought I put into their parties. I know they would be happy with just a cardboard box, a cupcake and one on one time, but I love to make their big days extra special.  I mean after all it is a huge celebration.  I mean their birthdays signify the day that our lives changed for the better, and the day in which the loves of my life entered the world.  That is a cause for celebration for any mama. 

I have been tossing ideas for Mckinlee's first birthday back and forth, and I have debated various themes and ideas.  However, I have narrowed it down to one idea, and I am super excited to execute it.  We are going to do a "shabby chic"ish first birthday. I say ish, because unlike Caleb's 2 birthday celebrations this one is not completely themed, but I have drawn tons of inspiration from other shabby chic events. 

I had her birthday outfit custom made through a seller on etsy. I basically took 3 different designs that she had in her shop and combined them. She was a great seller to work with, and her turn around time was 2-3 days. The outfit is already on its way, and I am so excited to receive it. She is priced very reasonably, and I would highly recommend her.

This was my first inspiration.  I loved the strawberries and cream color, but I thought Mckinlee might get a little chilly in February.

At first I was just going to add lace leg warmers, but then I discovered this little beauty. 

I contacted the seller to see if she could make it in the 2 tone colors like the first picture and she said yes.  I also had her add straps so it will not be a hassle pulling it up as she is passed around at the party. 

I am also going to add the pearls and hopefully a big bow, but my daughter is still on strike over the bows. During the smash cake she will just have pearls and a diaper on (too cute).

I am still in a debate within my own head of how to decorate the front entrance. I have loved how both front entrances turned out at Caleb's parties, and I want hers to be equally as great.  Here are my 3 choices.Which one do you like best?

I am loving the simplicity of mason jars, lace and baby's breath.  I think simple vases and flowers will be all throughout the party for the decor.

I am in love with both of these cakes. My sister has already researched how to make them and has assured me they will be super simple. I am so excited. 

 Smash cake

 I love the decor under the highchair

I love both of these ideas of displaying pictures from throughout the year. I will also have her 3 big frames from her nursery throughout the party as well. 

I really want to recreate this table. It may just be for gifts because the food will be served along the bar at my in laws house, but I love this look. This was actually my first inspiration for colors and decor.

I have various photos that I want to make sure I get.  Here are a few ideas. Of course there are tons more that must be taken, but I like these photos of Mckinlee before. 

I still have a ton to make, plan, pick up and get ready. Menu has to be planned, food has to be prepared, and the list goes on.  I am not excited about my baby girl turning one at all, but since it has to happen we might as well do it in style!

Back in the Grind

Today was the first day back to reality since the new year began.  Nick was back to work, and the little boy I nanny returned today after a 3 week break.  I was anticipating a little chaos today, a little trouble getting back into the groove, and my anticipation was correct.  The day has not been anything too chaotic, but it has been an adjustment.  I had to adjust my morning schedule back to "work" time, and that was a little rough. My beautiful, wonderful children have been sleeping until 9 am over Christmas break, and I have become a little spoiled by that.  Waking up at 8 am this morning was a little rough, and I greeted my employer with runny under eye make up,  nappy hair, and a non showered body.  I am sure that she was just thrilled to leave her child with the walking zombie that was myself :). 

My children both slept in until 9 again this morning, 9:30 for Caleb. I actually checked on him because I thought he was not breathing or someone had kidnapped him (I'm not overly paranoid I promise).  He was contently sleeping away.  However, when he awoke he had peed the bed, and I had a huge mess to clean up. I knew I would kick myself for not placing another diaper on him after his 3 am "pee potty" incident.  I guess I thought he would be good until morning. I was wrong.  So, I gave Caleb a bath with a 10 month old and a one year old "helping" from outside the tub.  I then got him dressed, fed, and I stripped and disinfected his bed, washed his bedding, made his bed, and finally breathed a sigh of relief for that task being complete.  The little ones were put down for a nap, I had some breakfast and cuddled with my little man.  He was wiping away my kisses and laughing so I only kissed him about a billion times.  Melt my heart. I was then greeted with the most awful poopy diaper from E known to man. I was literally gagging, and praying to God to help me through that one. I do not think my house will ever smell normal again.

Caleb has had a bit of a hard adjustment "sharing" his new toys.  He is usually great with sharing, but in his defense he has had 3 weeks of not having to share with anyone other than Mckinlee, and she is not hard to distract away from his "toy of interest".  I may have thrown too much at him with E being back at the house and Pres girl coming to visit.  He was just a little overwhelmed and cranky today, and I think I heard "MINE" a million more times that I would have liked.  However, once given some lunch and his beloved binky he was a happy camper for the rest of Pres's visit, and the kids played great until it was time for their nap (which was an hour 1/2 later than normal).

It was an interesting morning getting back in the grind.  Dirty diapers, wet beds, tantrums, fights over toys, snuggles and all.  A day in our normal life is not always exciting, picture perfect, or happy, but I am so grateful for the days I have with my little ones...even the not so pleasant ones. 

First Snow of the Year

We awoke this morning to FREEZING temperatures. It was soo cold.  The kids and I had plans to go meet baby Mila and take dinner to her mama and dada, and so we ventured out into the freezing weather.  It was flurrying a little on our drive, but I really did not expect it to stick.  We visited with Lauren for a while, held baby Mila, and then we started home.  It was still just flurrying a little and cold.

Once we arrived home I put the kids down for their nap, and started to eat lunch.  That is when it really started snowing.  The snow was coming down so fast, and the ground was quickly becoming covered.  I took a short nap after lunch and then we all awoke to a winter wonderland.  Mckinlee loved looking out the window at it, and Caleb had mixed emotions. When he first woke up I told him to look out his window at the snow. At first he was mad at the snow for being on "his car"...he is a little OCD at times.  However, a minute later he was saying "play snow"  and flapping his arms in a snow angel making motion.  It is still up in the air where he learned how to make a snowman. My guess is Frosty. 

I quickly bundled Caleb and Mckinlee both up to go play in the snow.  I was loving Caleb in his snow outfit this year.  I can not believe it still fits.  After everyone was dressed we headed outside.  It was FREEZING. I quickly decided it was too cold for Mckinlee so she stayed inside with Auntie K.  However, Caleb LOVED it. He made footprints, handprints, snow angels, jumped, and brushed the snow with the car snow scraper.  He would just giggle and run around. He was soo cute. 

Hit and Run

On Thursday night my family and I were in a hit and run accident. Thankfully it was not a serious accident, no one was injured and the car was not severely damaged.  However, it was an interesting turn of events to say the least.

After Nick got off work Thursday night we had plans to pick up take out and head to a friends house for a game night.  We loaded the kids in the car and started on our way. We were stopped at a red light at an intersection and Nick and I were just talking and Caleb and Mckinlee were content in the backseat. All of a sudden Nick swerves the car to the right and screams out and then next thing I knew there was a shake and a loud bang.  A man who was turning right had come into our lane and side swiped us. Nick realized immediately that the man was going to keep going and not pull over so he turned our car around and went after the car.  Of course throughout this process he was getting a lecture from me to "Be careful" "call the cops" "our babies are in the car so be careful" "be careful" (you get the picture).  He got behind the car that had hit us and started honking and flashing his lights. The guy driving the car just proceeded to flip us off.  The car turned into a trailer park and we started to follow when we saw blue lights behind us.  We were being pulled over ughh.  Nick reluctantly pulled over while the car that hit us sped away. We were sure that he was just going to pull through the trailer park and back onto the main road and we would loose him...

The cop came to our window and Nick explained to the cop what had happened. The cop then told us to drive through the park looking for the car and he would follow us.  We started looking expecting not to find anything, but to our dismay we found the car, driver mirror hanging off and all, parked in front of a trailer.  The cop went to the door and a lady answered. She said that she did not know who the car belonged to.  She was trying to make us and the cop think that the driver had parked and ran.  However, the cop asked to enter her home, she allowed him, and inside he found the guy hiding. 
Once he found the driver he brought him outside, checked his car, checked him for DUI and drugs, and arrested him for a hit and run.  We just had to give a statement and get a report from the cop for our insurance and after we went on with our night.

Honestly reflecting on the situation I realized how different it could have turned out. Obviously first thought is my babies could have been hurt, but THANK GOD they were not.  The car could have been a lot more damaged than a mirror hanging off and a small dent, and the guy could have avoided going to jail if he would not have acted so irrationally.  I know justice was served, and I am grateful because I truly think the guy was on something.  There was really no other explanation for why he took the turn as wide as he did.  It was a crazy turn of events on a otherwise peaceful Thursday night.