My Sweet Boy is 1

We celebrated Dylan's first birthday with friends and family on Saturday.  We had a full house and he is so very loved.  Our circus themed party had chili dogs, a nacho bar, funfetti dip with animal crackers, peanuts, cupcakes, ice cream and other goodies.  I hope no one went home hungry.

Our little Ring Master

Sunday was Dylan's actual birthday.  I told him the story of stopping at McDonald's before we went to the hospital and his quick arrival into the world.  I can't believe how fast a year went by.  I thought time moved quickly after Marissa, but wow has it moved even faster with two!

He loves to point and points at everything now!

Opening presents with Daddy, love my boys!

Smash Cake & Cupcakes

**Dylan's 1**

He didn't dig into his cake like I was expecting him to.  He did enjoy a little icing and ice cream, though.

Sissa liked the icing, too!

Dylan isn't walking yet, but I'm in no rush for him to.  He gets around just fine by crawling and walking around furniture.  He is such a sweet guy and loves to snuggle.  He smiles whenever anyone looks at him and is just the happiest baby I've ever met.

He was our good luck cutie on Sunday, as the Redskins won and are now moving on to the play offs!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!  We love you!

Christmas 2012

Christmas has come and gone, the tree is packed away and we are in full on birthday mode for Dylan's party this Saturday.  We had a great Christmas as a family.  My parents came to visit and we had a Christmas Eve gathering with my two uncles and some of my cousins.  We left cookies and milk for Santa and filled our stockings and put presents under the tree once the kids went to bed.

Christmas morning we had coffee and opened presents.  Surprisingly, Marissa was not that into opening presents.  She is so dainty and careful when she opens a present and has to hand every.single.piece of wrapping paper to me as she opens the present.  I'm not sure where she got that from. :)

After opening presents we had a Christmas casserole and I started preparing for our big Christmas dinner of ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes and dessert!  We reconfigured the house and moved the kitchen table to the common area so that we would all have room to eat and not be cramped in our small dining room.

I think we all had a nice Christmas.  Danny is too good to me, he definitely spoiled me this year.  I got a robot vacuum cleaner called a Neato, a double stroller (hopefully for our Disney trip next September) and a camera upgrade to a Nikon D7000!  I was SHOCKED that he got that for me.  I was not expecting it at all.  And I'm in love with it.  I can't wait to really break it in.

Marissa looked thrilled, as usual. 

Danny got most of his Christmas presents early, so I felt like he didn't get much.  As early presents he got a 24 gun/fire safe and a "Judge" hand gun.  Christmas morning he got some Redskins memorabilia, some shirts, special computer glasses, a new wallet, some new house shoes and some other goodies.

Marissa got her very own Nabi Tablet.  Danny was tired of her always using ours, so we got her one that she can play with.  She loves it so far.  She also got some clothes, dolls, puzzles, Go Fish and the Hungry Hippos game.  Both of the games have been big hits so far!  She also got Minnie Mouse house slippers that she has not taken off since she got them.  She even slept with them on last night.  Silly girl!

Dylan got a mega blocks dump truck, a metal Tonka dump truck, some clothes, bath toys and some little cars and trucks.  He also got an early Christmas present on Christmas Eve...his very first tooth!  While cleaning up down stairs yesterday I found another gift that we forgot to give him, a Little People's airplane.  He really likes that as well. Marissa likes most of his toys and seems to think that everything is hers.  We're still working on sharing!

They both also received money for their savings accounts which was really nice.  We have so many toys as it is, so it's nice to have money to put into their accounts for when they are older.  They will have long forgotten about the toys when they are older and I am sure they will appreciate the money in their accounts for college.

As a joint gift they also received a white wooden table and chairs set.  I had originally decided to not get them a small table but since Dylan is now done with the swing and almost done with the jumperoo, we have more room for the table and chairs.  We've also set up a small play area in the basement where we can take some extra toys.  And anything that hasn't been used in months is going to Goodwill.

Playing Hungry Hippos on her new table with Daddy, PupPup and Uncle Fuzz.

All in all, we had a fantastic Christmas spent with family and friends.  Danny's brother and sister are coming into town on Friday so we will do round 2 of Christmas then!  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Photo Shoot

I attempted to get some pictures of the kids dressed up in their Christmas outfits.  It was mostly a fail but I did get a few that were Christmas card worthy. Well, they were Christmas card worthy for us...maybe not for others.  These two, along with a family photo were on our Christmas cards this year.

This was as close to a smile as we were going to get that day.

Dylan usually hams it up for the camera, but I guess he was feeling all serious in his man suit. 

And this is what a typical photo shoot at our house looks like...

Marissa looked so pretty in her dress.  She kept saying she was a Princess. 

Toddlers walking in the camera view...

They kept fighting over the chair, so I tried putting them in it together. Fail!

Mr. Lashes. He looked so handsome in his suit.

Attempting a photo shoot with Danny helping is hard enough so I'm not sure why I decided to try it by myself.  Oh wait, that's what two cups of coffee before lunch will do to me.  I get all hyped up and have these elaborate photo shoots in my head of gorgeous photos, kids that cooperate and the perfect Christmas card of our family.  Then I realize I haven't eaten, I start to get shaky, sweaty, feeling sick to my stomach and throw in the towel.  Live and learn.

BFP

Don't worry...I am not pregnant.  Today marks the third anniversary of my big fat positive (BFP) of when I peed on a stick and saw two lines that would change my world forever.  Today...three years later, I am so thankful and blessed for the two children and wonderful husband that brought my world to life. They are my everything and I am nothing without them. I can barely remember the girl I was before I saw those two lines, but I can't imagine never being "Mommy."

"Where's My Teddy?"

We had a situation the other day.

Teddy went missing.

There were lots of tears.

It was traumatic for all involved.

For anyone that doesn't know "Teddy" he is Marissa's pink teddy bear lovey.  He has made appearances in our family Christmas cards, he is a requirement for bed time and he makes the world a better place.

Saturday night he went missing.  I knew he was at home during nap time and we left the house that day to go to the parade around 3:00.   So we lost Teddy in about an hour span of Marissa waking up from her nap and us leaving the house.  I knew that Teddy didn't come with us because Marissa was asking for him in the car on the way to town.  We arrived back home past bedtime and we couldn't find him...anywhere.

So we tried to put her to bed without Teddy.

Never.again.

She cried, and not just little I want my Teddy cries.  They were big, sad, I need my Teddy tears.  Heart.breaking.  Danny ran over to his parent's house to get a replacement teddy that they have at their house.  He's not pink, he has arms that Teddy doesn't have, but he has a rattle in his head.  I thought for sure, if I keep the lights off, she would fall for it.  I walked in her room, gave him a little shake and her cries stopped.  "My Teddddy!" she exclaimed.  She grabbed him from me, stuck her thumb in her mouth and put teddy up to her face like she always does.  Yes!  It worked, I thought to myself.  Then, she quickly pulled him away and as clear as day said "Not my Teddy!"

Listen folks...you can't out smart a 2 year old and her lovey.

So at 10:00 PM Marissa got out of bed and we searched for Teddy some more.  With no luck.  I was finally able to get her to go to sleep after many tears and asking "Where's my Teddy?"

After she dozed off, I got on ebay to look for a new Teddy.  This Teddy that was once bought from Target for $7.99 new was being sold for $30+ on ebay.  Can you believe that people are actually buying baby lovey's knowing that one day a desperate mom will need a replacement in a pinch?  Well, that's my theory, at least.

Fortunately, I was able to find a like new but used replacement for much, much less!  And an August Mom friend has been so kind to also send another Teddy replacement.  We will never, ever run into this debacle again.

I woke up Sunday morning a bit sad that Marissa's beloved Teddy that she has had since birth was gone.  I was bound and determined to find him.  I searched and searched and finally I found him behind a box of cloth diapers in Dylan's closet.  I'm not even sure how she got him in there, but alas, Teddy was found and all was right in the world.  She was so happy to be reunited with him and kept thanking me for finding her Teddy.

See, there still are happy endings in the world!  This is the life of being a mom and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Hail to the Redskins

Danny was supposed to go to the Skins vs Giants Monday night football game with a friend.  He got a call around 11:00 Monday morning saying he would have to find someone else to go with him.  Lucky for me, I got to go to the game with him! 

Since I am off on Monday's I scrambled around to find a baby sitter for the kids and get everthing straight for the game.  Our regular babysitter was kind enough to keep the kids for us Monday night, so I dropped them off around 4:00 and then we headed to the game for some tailgating.

The game was so much fun and it was even better that the Skins won!  We saw a Giant's fan get escorted out of the game for picking a fight with a Redskin's fan.  We saw a guy puke in the middle of FedEx stadium.  And we cheered for a victory, 17-16!  It was a blast.

Unfortunately, we didn't get home until almost 2:00 in the morning and I had a meeting at 9:30 the next day.  So I didn't get much sleep, but I made it to work on time.  Nothing a little coffee won't fix. We don't get the opportunity to be spontaneous that often, so it was a fun date night together!

Christmas Parade 2012

For the past three years we have gone to the local Christmas parade with Jeremy and Mickey.  It's a fun little tradition where we grab dinner before and watch the parade together.  It started with no kids, now there's 4 kids under 3 between us.  Last year Mickey and I were both pregnant, and this year Dylan and Peyton enjoyed their first Christmas parade with us.

Miss Rosy cheeks, it was a little cold out

Marissa & Dylan

Our little family

Of course both kids can't look at the camera at the same time.  

Here's a fun comparison of last year's parade 2011 (below)

Hunter and Marissa play so well together, but she did not want him hugging on her while she was trying to hug on Daddy.  Hunter and Marissa 2012

Hunter and Marissa 2011 (below)

They both had so much fun running around and playing together.  These pictures make me realize how quickly time goes by.  

Dylan looked so adorable all bundled up!

Watching the parade

Dylan slept through sirens, marching bands, honking horns and lots of floats.  Can you believe those lashes, though?  He's going to be a total heart breaker. 

I love having fun holiday traditions.  I love that our kids will get to grow up together and be friends.  I love that we have friends we can count on and I love making memories with my family.

Here's to many more years of Christmas parades and good friends!