party in pink

a little less than a month ago we had a pink birthday party for our little miss.  this was my "i'm not going to do to much for her party" party.  i think it was a fairly simple party ... rob did not.  he kept telling me over and over to not go overboard.  all i can say in my defence is: dollar store.  it had everything i never knew i needed for her party until i got there.  whatever.  it was totally worth it and i'm pretty sure averie had fun at her party.  she only cried once and hugs from gramma were all it took to make her feel better.  there were balloons, polka dot plates, feather boa's, party hats, food, cake and sherbet punch.  and it was all in pink.  i made her a number one cake, similar to the one i did for liam's first birthday.  once again it was super delicious.  too bad i ran out of pink cake gel.  meh.  it's obvious averie didn't mind, she just smunched cake all over her face anyway.

it was so great to see and hang out with our family and friends.  both of which we don't see often enough.  it's a little depressing just how busy life feels right now.  parties like these always remind me how blessed we are to have such wonderful people in our lives.

happy first pink party moo.

happy first birthday.

 you are loved very much.

today you are one ~ a birthday letter

my beautiful baby girl.  today you are one.  today is the day our lives and family became complete.  today is a day i'll hold special in my heart forever.  before you were born i couldn't imagine that i had so much love to give.  before you were born i didn't know what i was missing.  before you were born ... i slept.  just saying.  you are more special to us than we could ever begin to tell you.  to show you.  you are loved with all our hearts and then some more.

you are amazing everyday.  your happiness brings us so much joy, as does your smile and laughter.  you are in awe of your brother, despite him pushing you around.  he's just teaching you how to be tough.  you are a quick learner and our little copy-cat.  i love how you try to mimic what your dad, liam and i do.  i love that you say uh-oh at everything. that you blow kisses and say mu-wah.  i love that you place "chase me" at bath time and that you love to climb the stairs.  i love that you play with cars and trucks and make noises as you drive them around.  i love that you fight me every time i change your diaper especially because you think its so funny.  i love that you throw your food on the ground when you don't want to eat anymore.  i just wish we had a dog to clean it up.  i love that you give your lambie hugs all the time, it appears she'll be your favourite of your stuffed animals.  i love that you snuggle and that sometimes that's all you need to settle down at night.  i love that we had a whole year to be together all day, every day.   and i love that we are starting a new adventure.  because today you are one.

last night you went to bed my tiny wee babe.  and this morning you woke up my one year old daughter.  i cried a little, because i know these years will go by too quickly and one day you won't be my baby girl anymore and i'll wish all of these years back.  but for now you are still my baby girl.  and you still love to snuggle with you momma.  and today you are one.

i love you averie girl.  more than ever.  happy first birthday.  happy first year.

love mommy
xxx

life {lately} ~ v. 15

another week and a couple days,
another twenty some odd images to capture it.
 here's life {lately}

birthday chalkboard, birthday pancakes, birthday cupcakes, oh my.
a crabby sandwich
sleepy little littles
liam learning to "drive" already
averie learns about spagetti
happy birthday art
patio beers
and a whole lot of landscaping

by the way ...
is it really the last day of july?
what the what.
summer's half over!

heading off for our summer camping road trip on saturday.
can't wait for some lake and ocean fun.

see you in a couple weeks

it's a monster bash ~ liam's third birthday party

a week and a bit ago we celebrated liam's third birthday with a party at our place.  at first i was hoping to have our friends and a bunch of kids over, but with it being summer that was not to happen.  it's sadly one of the down sides of having a summer birthday.  everyone is usually away on vacation.  no worries.  we had a blast celebrating with our friends and family that were still in the city.  there was monster punch, monster cupcakes, pin the eyes on the monster, a monster pinata, and more googly eyes on things than probably necessary.  i may have had a little to much fun putting it together.  but liam loved all of it, which is what matters most.

a few months back i started pinning all things monster party related.  this will most likely be liam's last birthday where mommy decides the theme and i went with monsters.  tons of great ideas floating around on pinterest.  i feel like i owe some sort of promotion or sponsorship ad along the lines of "this third birthday was brought to you by pinterest."  seriously, what did people do before there was pinterest?  anyways, my favourite thing from his party, hands down, has to be the monsters up for adoption.  scored a bunch of ugly dolls on sale and they were perfect.  love each of their names and the stories they come with.  some of which are hilarious.  liam adopted ninja batty shogun, who now goes everywhere with him and i frequently find him talking to in bed at night.  so cute.  oh and i loved the monster punch.  that was freaking delicious, even better with a splash of malibu rum.

monster punch ... with some adult poison on the side.

monster watermelon.

white chocolate chex mix.

googly eye cups.

balloons and a pinata.

the makings of a great party.

all the kids were able to adopt their own monster.

ended up with a few leftover and averie has made fast friends with them.

love these guys.

made a giant monster out of foam board, craft paint, a little glue and some staples.

 for the eyes i used scrapbook paper and my circle punches.

this was a huge hit.

everyone required multiple turns.

i was finally able to use my martha stewart cupcake book.

totally awesome.

homemade devils food cupcakes with swiss meringue butter cream frosting.

dee-lish.

best part was decorating them with all the candy and making the monster faces.

birthday party was a success.

only thing i would change would be to have it outside.

unfortunately the backyard mud pit prevented that this year.

next year.

wonder what the little monster will chose for next year?

first annual

let's just keep the birthday festivities going shall we.  with liam turning three this year, it means it's time to start a new birthday tradition.  one that i've secretly been looking very forward to.  for every birthday, starting now, i hope to ask liam this set of questions and compile his answers in a book to give him on his eighteenth birthday.  averie will get her own as well when she turns three.  it was just such a great idea and i know i'da loved doing something like this when i was little.

so here is liam's first annual birthday questions:

1.  favourite colour?  green
2.  favourite toy?  bobcat
3.  favourite fruit?  blueberries
4.  favourite movie?  wreck it ralph
5.  grade/teacher?  starting preschool in september
6.  favourite song?  ba ba blacksheep
7.  favourite animal?  elephant
8.  favourite book?  wump world and the prince's bedtime
9.  best friend?  emerson
10.  favourite breakfast?  krispies
11.  favourite thing to do outside?  play with emerson
12.  favourite thing we've done as a family? go to hawaii
13.  what do you want for your birthday dinner?  cupcakes
14.  what is one thing you've done that you're proud of?  ride my bike by self
15.  what would you like to learn to do this year?  go to school
16.  what do you want to be when you grow up?  to drive a bobcat

he absolutely loved his birthday presents this year, rad dude truck and fix it felix jr.

what a guy.

one more birthday post is in the works.

we had his monster party today ... it was a hit.

hope to share it early next week.

happy weekend!

today you are three

dear liam,

today you are three.  no more are you my baby, my toddler, my mini bum, or even my farf.  you are now a "big boy."  today is that day that changed my life forever.  today is the day that i became your mom.  today is the day that my life had new meaning.  today is one of the best days of my life ... because you came into this world.  i love you more and more every minute of every day.  i love all your silliness, your craziness, your sense of adventure, your curiosity, and yes even your tantrums (sometimes).  i love that you love to sing to averie when she's crying and that you give her hugs and kisses, even though you were the one who pushed her over.  i love that you talk in voices for all your toy cars.  i love that sometimes you use your fingers as pretend diggers and dump trucks that talk to each other while we are in the car.  i love that you love music and are too shy to dance to it.  i love that you go absolutely nuts when a bobcat is working nearby.  i love that you jump up into daddy's arms when he gets home from work.  every. night.  i love that you still call milk "muck".  i love that you sleep with an old pair of jammies and your puppy.  and that they go everywhere with you.  i love that you love camping and being outside.  and finally, i love how much you love.  and that you aren't afraid to tell or show us.

today you are three.  and on this very special day i love you more than i ever thought possible.  happy happy birthday my farf, my mini bum, my baby, my toddler, my liam.  i can't wait to see what the next three hundred and sixty-five days have in store for you.  happy third.

with all my love
mommy

birthday number two

last tuesday was liam's second birthday.  i swear he woke up and knew he was two.  and had a tantrum just to prove it.  and another.  and another.  by ten in the morning he had had six timeouts and was already in his crib!  believe me, i didn't want it to get to that point, but sometimes the timeouts on the stairs just don't cut it.  and after his mini nap, he woke up a different person all together.  he was in a much better mood ... for awhile at least.  we came downstairs and played with his new digger (from mommy and daddy) all day in the backyard, in the living room, the kitchen, basically everywhere we possibly could.  this kept him very content, until we had to leave it at home and go get his birthday cake.  from that point on he was back in his foul mood.  i seriously believe that he knew it was his birthday and that he was now two.  is this a preview of things to come??  i know it was his party and all, crying i can handle, hitting and tantrums i cannot.

at any rate, tuesday night we threw him a "low key" family birthday party.  we decided to only do a family party this year because me being super preggo, having our house in packing mode and planning birthday parties just wasn't going to happen.  besides, he won't know the difference anyways.  liam had a great time and so did everyone else.  he loved loved loved his mcqueen cake and is still talking about it a week later.

liam got his first bike from grandpa and gramma jan.  he wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but then decided he'd give it a go.  they got him a strider bike.  the best invention of bike for toddlers.  no peddles.  they push with their feet and learn how to balance on a two wheeler so that when the time comes they won't need training wheels.  we've already spent countless hours riding around our backyard patio and liam loves it.  he looks out the window, sees his bike and it's on.  we're forced outside to ride, rain or shine.

after playing with his bike it was time for presents and cake.  i think liam was most interested in the cake part because he went nuts when we told him it was cake time.  really all i think he wanted were the mcqueen and mater toys on the top. 

happy second birthday to our little man.

we look forward to all the new adventures we're going to have.