Ethan's Birthday/Halloween Party

So Ethan's party was a little late this year. Sue me. We were so busy that it got delayed, but I don't think Ethan minded. He thought it was awesome that his birthday party was also a Halloween party. We had all the kids come in their costumes, which was super cute ofcourse. Blake wouldn't wear his so this is the only pic of him in it.

Mom and I made Ethan's bald eagle costume out of felt and a sweat outfit. Thank goodness for Lacey. She gave us the inspiration for it all. Ethan asked me a while ago if he could be a bald eagle for Halloween.

I was like, "Ummm honey, mommy can't buy that and I don't know how to sew."

Ethan's response, "You'll do great mommy. I know you can do it."

Great. Now I have to do it.

He then said, "Just ask Miss Lacey to help you. She can do it."

True.

Miss Lacey is way more talented than I am but I don't think she's going to want to make your costume on top of the other three she's doing for her own kids.

So my mom and I went to work using Miss Lacey's parrot costume as our template. For anyone that doesn't know Lacey, she is my amazing friend and Ethan's best friend's mom.

I was surprised by how well it turned out. I cut out all of the feathers and my mom sewed it all together. Thank goodness for Nana. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And if you're wondering why Ethan wanted to be a bald eagle, it's because of the eagle sanctuary that we saw at Dollywood in Tennessee on our vacation. He's kind of obsessed with eagles.

This is what it looks like during gift opening. A mass amount of kids all running around and trying to see what he's opening. Definitely not organized chaos. I haven't figured out how to slow down the process or make it more organized yet but who really cares right? Ethan's last present was from his brilliant Aunt Sarah and cousins. His very first pets. Dwarf frogs. They are acutally really cool and come in their own, almost maintenance free, tank. All the kids crowded around to see this one. Their names are Hopper and Good Swimmer. I know, real creative, but that's how Ethan names his stuffed animals. By what they do and look like. He absolutely LOVES them.

Ofcourse it wouldn't be a party without a cake. Blake thought this cake was spoooooky!



We had fun decorating for this party too. Super simple and stuff we already had. Can't get better than that. Thanks to everyone who came. It wouldn't be as special without all of you.

As for my Ethan, here are 5 of the reasons we love you so much

You're so silly and make us laugh every day

You're so loving and cuddly. I love your constant hugs and kisses. Blake will learn to love them too, eventually.

You love to learn and because of that you are soooo smart.

You love adventures as much as we do and are always ready for a new one.

You're always so positive and you lift us up. Thank you!

We love you so, so, so much!

Happy Belated Birthday Baby, I mean Big Boy.

P.S. For all of those non regular bloggers, you can click on the pics to enlarge them and then hit the back arrow to get back to the blog.
Love you

Blake's 2nd Bday party

I had all these plans for a grand party and then quickly let those go, because I was way too busy and he's two. Really? Does he need a big party? He's never going to remember it anyway. I was actually really glad that we kept it really simple. We ordered pizza, got juice boxes for the kids, water bottles for the P's, played outside, and ate cake. No games, no elaborate menu and most importantly, no crazy mom that hasn't slept in a week getting ready for this party. I was kind of sad that the kids couldn't play the rock star video game that I wanted to set up but honestly most of them were too young to play it anyway. So here are some pics of my super relaxed bday party for Blake. I wish I had a pic of me in here so you could see the pure joy on my face that I didn't have a big party.

Blake's cupcakes and cake. The cake was confetti cake with strawberry buttercream. Yumm!!!!!

It was humid and warm so the color mist I used was sweating off the cake. Oh well. At least I tested it on my own cake and not a clients.

Blake blowing out the candles. I had to help him to save everyone from eating his spit. It was so cute though.

Blake having a great time on the trampoline. It is probably his favorite thing to do outside.

These are our friends Cassie and Myles. Myles is only 6 weeks older than Blake and ridiculously cute.

Nana and Poppop Patterson. We love them so much! I can't believe I don't have pics of my own parents. Oh well.

Some of the friends. We are so blessed to have really great friends. Even some of our friends with no kids absolutely love our kids and always come to their parties.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come. We had a great time!

My baby's 2!

Blake was 2 on Thursday. Crazy, I know. It's very hard for me to believe. I feel like I just had him. Doug came home early so we could take him to a park but unfortunately our trip had to be rescheduled. We were on our way to the park and Ethan threw up all over the car. He's had the flu since Tuesday but he hadn't been sick on Wednesday at all, so we thought he was all better. Obviously not. So we spent the afternoon cleaning out the car and took a nice walk. So here are a few things that I want to remember about my Blake on his 2nd birthday.

1. His favorite foods are yogurt, french fries and shakes.
2. He loves to play with my hair. Which I have to admit that I love too.
3. He's a great cuddler in the morning.
4. He's talking so much! You all might need a translator but we understand.
5. He's an adrenaline junky. He loves to be thrown around.
6. He loves rides at amusement parks. He can't wait to ride the big coasters. He always says "Whoa" when he sees them. He rode a ride at Sea World that goes up then drops you down and bounces up and down again. It's kind of like the Giant Drop but for kids. He LOVED it! Older kids were screaming and he was giggling the whole time.
7. He loves Spiderman and Batman. He got to meet Spiderman at Universal studios last week. He talked his ear off.
8. He's breaking 4 teeth in all at the same time right now. Ouch! As of today he has 7 teeth. Three molars and four front teeth.
9. He has the most beautiful blond curly hair.
10. He LOVES the beach. He totally looks like a surfer baby.
11. He loves the water too. Pools, lakes, the ocean. Doesn't matter how cold it is, he just loves it.
12. His best friend is Ethan, ofcourse. Ethan makes him laugh all the time.
13. He's very independent as long as I'm around. He'll play by himself for as long as I let him, but if I leave he gets really upset.
14. He loves his nanas and papas.
15. His favorite cousin is Abbie. He loves to say her name. One night he was yelling it at the dinner table for at least 30 min.
16. He's a great traveler and adapts well to change.
17. Most importantly he's a lover and really likes when the whole family is together. He cries when Doug or I have to leave. :( But it's so nice to know how much he loves us.

Happy Birthday Blake! We love you so much and we know that our lives would not be complete without you.

He blew out his candles all by himself. It's a good thing it was a cupcake because, you know how 2 year olds blow out candles. It was covered in spit.




The week before his birthday he got to meet some of his favorite characters. Mickey and Minnie. He even gave Minnie a kiss. My little Cassanova.