Special Present

I'm so excited about this new project I'm working on. My dad built this dollhouse when I was little and my mom decorated it. I played with and loved this thing for years! We gave it to Ty's sister for her kids to use quite a few years ago, as I had no use for it at that time. Well, now that I have a little girl at the perfect age for this and our nieces are teens, I'm working on a remodel for Hailee for Christmas! It was a little outdated! :)


My mom and I tore out all the old wallpaper and curtains and Ty sanded the whole thing down. I started on the paint and will just be working on it throughout the month. I have all the paint remnants leftover from painting the rooms in my house, so I'm planning on doing this dollhouse exactly the same as our real house. That way, even if we move, Hailee will always have a mini replica of her first home. The outside of it was stark white and I started replacing it with this dark tan color. I'll post pictures of my progress!

Toy Story Birthday

My little Jake turned 3 and we threw him an everything Toy Story birthday party. He LOVES Toy Story, so I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate his day. He loved the party and being the center of attention for all of the family and friends that came to spoil him. He's one lucky kid!

I wanted to try to make his cake myself and I've never made my own cake with fondant before. I definitely learned a few things to improve on for next time, but I was really happy with how it turned out. I can't take credit for the idea, I just copied it from a picture I found out in blogland and made some minor modifications.

My mom partnered with me in pulling this whole thing off and we had a blast with our fun Toy Story themed treats. We were pretty proud of our dessert table. First, Mr. Potato Head and Hamm cake balls (idea from Bakerella). I think they are the cutest!

My mom made these alien cupcakes, which were as delicious as they are cute.

Jessie Hat & Sherriff Badge cookies?? Get out! My mom made these too. So freaking cute!

I love this picture of Jake. This is the face he was making the entire time everyone sang "Happy Birthday", like he was poised and ready to blow out those candles!


Lots of delicious food!

A few games for the kids to play.

BFF's!

Big sister helping open presents.


Jake had lots of friends and family there to show him how loved he is!

What a fun birthday and what a sweet boy! I love that kid!

Happy 3rd!

My sweet little Jake turned three on Friday! This means a lot of changes for him. He’s moving into a new class at school on Tuesday (he LOVES his teacher, so he will miss her a lot), he had to give up his binky, he’ll be getting a big boy bed (yes, he’s three and is still in his crib), I’m taking away the option of the pull-ups (we’ll see how that goes), and he’s just really not a baby anymore. I think I’ve been noticing that lately, but not wanting to admit to it. Well, I think now it’s official. Especially since he corrects me every time I call him my baby. “I’m a BIG kid, mom!” I thought it would be fun to share a few of his little quirks. Things that just make Jake, Jake.

1) This kid does NOT like candy, or really many sweet things at all. At the parade on the 4^th, he wouldn’t even bend over to pick up a piece of candy if it hit his foot! At a recent birthday party, he refused to participate in the piñata when he heard it involved candy. He won’t drink Kool-Aid or even juice of any kind. Ty recently brought him to the gas station to allow him to pick anything he wanted. He picked…bottled water. Ty made sure he understood what he was picking and he was full aware of his selection. That’s what he wanted! I’m not complaining. I LOVE it! On his birthday I told him he could pick anything he wanted for lunch, even from a restaurant. He chose a bag full of sugar snap peas. And he pretty much ate the whole bag. Vegetables are always the first thing he eats from his plate. This is genetic because I’m the same way. It’s just funny to see it coming from a 2-year old.

2) He always has to be held. It has eased up a bit as he’s gotten older, but not much. If we are walking and we say no when he asks to be held, he’ll run up in front of us and stand in our path again and again until we decide it’s easier to just hold him than to trip over him. This method works very well for him! When he was younger, he wouldn’t even let his feet touch the floor…ever. I had to hold him while I was trying to make dinner, do my makeup or hair or while pushing a grocery cart. Sitting him on the counter near me or in the grocery cart seat was not an acceptable substitution. I’m saying all this in past tense because it’s not as often now, but he did some of these things to me today, so it’s still happening. I try to soak it up because someday, he probably won’t want me to hold him anymore.

3) He has this little “nest” he has to create when he goes to bed. This includes all of the following items: His 3 stuffed animals (a hot pink care bear, a red dinosaur and bolt), blankie, binky, pillow pet and water. All must be arranged just so. I guess now that his binky’s gone, he has a few other crutches to lean on during sleep time. :)

4) He always has to “rock it” before bed. Lots of kids like to be rocked before they go to bed, but the quirky part about it is that it’s more of an OCD thing for him. If he’s stayed up really late and is so tired and ready to go to sleep, he’ll ask us to “rock it” and as soon as we hit the chair he whispers into our ear “I’m ready to go in my crib”. There is no substitution for this. No standing hug or standing rock…we must sit on the chair even if it’s for ½ second. His whisper is the best. He always whispers that into our ear when he’s ready and sometimes it’s so quiet I can barely hear it.

5)When he wants to get our attention, he’ll take both his hands and put them on each side of our face and turn our face right to his to talk. He’s been doing that since he was under a year old. I guess it’s the only way he can ensure we are listening to whatever important thing he has to say.

I love my sweet Jake. He really is such a well-behaved kid. He’s such a boy and loves balls, sports, cars, trains and the usual boy stuff. He’s obsessed with Toy Story. He talks a LOT. He loves to show off and be the center of attention. Happy Birthday to my little buddy.

My Little Kindergartener

On the first day of Kindergarten, Hailee's school invited the parents to be there during their orientation. First they painted their school bags.



Then they had the kids do this really cute treasure hunt with a list of clues that led them to several different locations throughout the school. It taught them where everything is and it was fun too. When they found everything, they got to bring the checklist to the front desk to get a prize.


Hailee was really nervous on her first day of school because she didn't know anyone. After they were done painting their bags, I turned around for a moment and heard some squealing. Hailee had found one of her friends from her daycare! Neither of them knew they'd be going to the same school, let alone the same class. She was pretty excited. I've, of course, encouraged her to still try to make new friends.


See? Same girl:) Small world.


Hailee is doing really well in Kindergarten. On that first day, she told me within the first 5 minutes, "mom, I'm already getting used to this place". It seems mom's anticipation of the challenges for my children are much worse than the actual challenges. She has been fine with the change. She says she likes it. Love that little girl!

Happy Birthday Jake!