Photo Drop

We are in the final countdown for Daniel's homecoming!!!

I am working my tail off, 

ehem....Jan is working her tail off....

to get the house in tiptop shape for his return.  I help when I have a free moment...

Potatoes has gone through not one, not two, but THREE growth spurts since Daniel left.  I cannot wait for him to see how big this boy is, and how much he talks!

Here are a few of our latest pictures so Daniel is not totally surprised!

From newest to oldest...

He is now truly a Potato Head

Raspberry fingers while singing, "mommy finger, mommy finger, where are you?"  When he gets to the daddy, he uses the funniest deep voice!

Why does he look so big?!?!

Silly string!

There are NO RULES

Two peas in a pod

Snuggle time

This kid parties even in his sleep

We had a crazy storm one Sunday, and everyone in our house was getting cabin fever.  We threw on our rain coats and boots and went to Ferry Park to play in what daddy calls, "doodoo water."  Soon, he began calling his footwear, "doodoo boots."  Classy, I know!

He loved it

Jan and I were the most coordinated.  Both Zoey and Xander took faceplants into the "doodoo water."  They both got baths when we got home!

My dad came for a quick last minute visit

He showed Xander some balancing techniques that were a huge hit

This face!

He was asking me to get off the phone and play soccer with him.  I listened as soon as I could snap the picture (I was talking to Daniel...).  Purely pitiful.

Sunday snuggles

We had a fun day trip to the Gulfarium with our friend, Lucy

These two!

Potatoes's first basketball game

 He asked for me to put the leash on him....so I obliged

We cannot WAIT for Daniel to join our shenanigans!

I am in complete denial that this will also mean saying goodbye to Jan.  We have had a truly amazing time over the past few months.
   
Puppy pictures asked for by her daddy

Showering Leaha and Stella with Love

I had the joy and pleasure of celebrating Leaha and Baby Stella this weekend with the help of Heather and Becky.

These two always make for a great time, and Becky is a killer party planner, so this was by far the smoothest and most relaxed event I have ever had the pleasure of helping to host.  Added benefit- they offered to throw it at their house!

Leaha is not keen on being the center of attention, so we focused the day on games with total participation, a relaxed atmosphere, and great music (courtesy of Heather- all songs had the word 'baby' in them, tricking many into sayignt he word and losing their pink pacifier).

We also played Pin the Poo on the diaper.  There were quite a few blowouts!

Angel, from Leaha's school, was the big winner of the day!  She won multiple games, including wracking it up in the Saran-Wrap Roll.  Leaha took home a $10 lottery ticket winner!

Becky decorated her house fantastically, with areas for signing diapers, addressing thank you cards, guessing games, and a beautiful photo booth.

These two are so fun!

Leaha has wonderful friends.  It was a really great group!

My mom traveled down for the day!

And we put her to work on last minute crafting before guests began to arrive.

I did what I know...I took on the food and beverages.

I was pretty proud of my onesie cake!

It was such a beautiful, fun filled day.

We can't wait to meet you, Baby Stella!

Isn't she beautiful???

Showering Baby Ellis

What a Week!

Between highly aggressive behaviors from Alexander and hosting two events at my house, last week was exhausting.  So exhausting, I started this blog days ago and am finally sitting down to complete it.

On Monday, Potatoes's best friend from school got picked up by his daddy, presumably in uniform.  Xander emphatically told me, "Eric daddy pick him up.  Go to his own house," with exaggerated arms and hand gestures to emphasize.

This clearly led Potatoes to believe that his daddy would be coming soon, too, as we had two of our hardest days behavior wise immediately following.  Hitting, kicking, spitting, and screaming while running away when given any direction filled two days of both school and home.  Through the gift of Applied Behavior Analysis, I was able to reach him, and end the week on a high note.

I went mid day to school to check on him, and when he received a good report, I took him from school and we went straight to the trampoline park.  It pays to make good choices!

We burned a lot of energy and Potatoes continued making good choices through the rest of the week.

This was good timing, as I hosted the spouses dinner at my house on Thursday evening and then a baby shower for Aabett and baby Ellis on Saturday, so I was unable to be all hands on deck with Potatoes.

I did not take any pictures at the spouses dinner, but we had a great time.

The highlight of the week was most certainly Saturday morning getting to cohost a shower for my dear friend Aabett and her due to arrive baby Ellis.

It was an amazing day getting to see many of my friends from ECAC as well as meeting Aabett's friends that I haven't met before.

Not only does Aabett have a pet hedgehog, but she is also just slightly obsessed, ehemm, I mean, enamored by them, so picking a theme for the shower was easy.

Co-Hosting with Courtney was perfect- she took on decorations and knocked it out of the park!

Brunch is always a hit

Taylor easily stepped up to the challenge of hedgehog cupcakes

Could they be cuter?  I don't think so!

Aabett's little man could be here any day.  We were so happy to shower her before he makes his appearance, but now he can come anytime!  I know she is anxious to squeeze her little guy!

With the number of guests we had, we kept the games simple...Don't say baby!

Stephanie won the "baby" game, collecting nearly all the clips!

The beautiful guest list

Waffle bar toppings

Showering Baby Ellis

We love you, Aabett, and you too, Ellis!