Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Would You, Could You, Believe it??? Mills is TWO!

As you know, my Millsy turned two on January 4th, and we had his birthday party this past Saturday.  We went with a Green Eggs & Ham Brunch theme because I wanted to do a breakfast/brunch party {which is good timing for Mills' nap schedule}, Mills does love books, and also because I'm sure this is the last year he won't care about a "theme" of Thomas the Train, Roary the Racecar, etc...
He loved all of the decorations {and so did Nicholas, since he's a Miami Hurricane fan, ha!}!
Setting up the beverage stations...we did a mimosa bar, bloody marys, and of course apple juice/orange juice/organic milk boxes for the kiddos!
The serving table {donut holes were still missing at this point!}
We had this amazing Creme Brulee French Toast...thanks to Katie! :)
Fresh fruit and applesauce squeezies for the kids.
Deviled green eggs, which my mom made for me when she got here, and I piped the green egg filling in for a decorative touch...plus added pieces of bacon to make it more breakfast-like!
Ham sliders next to the green eggs...for the theme, of course! :)  I used the age-old recipe for these babies, that's been around forever, but I followed the one here {but I left off the Miracle Whip and used the King Hawaiian rolls}...although I forgot to sprinkle the poppy seeds on! :)
Thanks to pinterest, for the egg casserole I was trying to decide between this spinach one, and this green chile one...and I went with the spinach one, which was delicious (and surprisingly healthy...I was actually a little worried that it didn't have any butter in it, ha)!  Since I already had the ham sliders and sausage balls, I wanted a meatless egg casserole.
And of course you can't go wrong with sausage balls...especially this recipe!  I've made them three times in the past month and they've been a hit every time.  I just mix all of the ingredients in a big bowl with my {very clean, just washed} hands, and roll them out.  One GIANT tip - if you have a pizza stone/stoneware baking sheet, bake them on that...they stick like crazy to a cookie sheet, whether it's greased, ungreased, or lined with parchment paper...if you don't have one, it's worth it to go buy one! :)
We did cupcakes for favors, since the party was until noon...I realize that some people don't eat cupcakes in the morning {crazy fools}!  ;)
 Between the activity table,
 toddler ball pit,
and playing outside {although CHILLY!}, the kiddos seemed to have fun together!
 Even the sweet little ones!
Precious little Charlotte!
My MIL and I...
and Betsy!
The birthday boy's 2nd year banner!
 This little guy was READY to open some presents...and eat his cupcake!
...And for everyone to sing, "Happy Mees!"
 With Pappy and LuLu
And GaGa and BaBa
And great-MaMa
 This little guy was a present-opening pro!  And thankfully, he also had a lot of help from the other kids!
He wanted to play with his toys and put on his clothes, haha!
 Birthday bear and a football...sweet and athletic??? Maybe the next Tim Tebow, haha! ;)
 After the party, Mills had a lot of fun playing with our out-of-town friends.  We were so thankful to have friends and family from near and far come to celebrate with us!
Cute girls!
With the Schreiners...just found out they're gonna be moving from Charleston to Ohio after Andrew finishes his chief year of residency this summer! :(
family pics {mommy ran out of time getting things ready for the party, and didn't get to straighten her hair, thus the disgustingness that ensued}
 Fun with the Schonfelds!
who knows!
beautiful babies
Mills got lots of birthday love from the ladies!
even mommy! ;)
The Schonfelds decided to stay the night {woohoo!} so Mills and Callahan got even more time to hang out together!
And then while I was taking pictures, Mills decided to make his modeling debut, posing up a storm...silly boy! :)
This is what he does when he says, "Mees strong!"
 ...and blowing kisses!
Haha, this poor two-year-old gets no attention, or love...can you tell?!? :)
We had a great time celebrating these two years of Mills' life and are so thankful - again - for everyone who came to the party to celebrate with us.  We can't imagine our lives without this sweet, sweet boy!

Monday, January 16, 2012

Update

So I majorly owe you guys a pregnancy update...and an update on life in general!  We had Mills' 2nd birthday party over the weekend, so things have been hectic leading up to Saturday with all of the festivity preparation.  But, after catching up with everyone {and being told how I've totally abandoned my little blog here, ha!}, I'm really going to try to get back in to the swing of things around here...I know, I know, you've heard that before!  :)
So to start I'll give you the pregnancy update, and I double-pinky-promise to be back tomorrow with the bday party pics!
You'll have to ignore the fact that I took this pic with my iphone right after I got out of the shower...and before putting on any makeup or drying my hair - YUCK!  But hey, beggars can't be choosers...it's a baby bump pic, right?!?
31 weeks and 4 days!
So far I've gained 21 pounds...whew!  Of course this is another sweet baby boy, as you already know, and we've decided to name him Hayes Hiram Wallace.  Hayes was my great-grandmother's maiden name, and Hiram was my dad's middle name - he'll go by Hayes!  As far as pregnancy symptoms, things are going VERY similarly to how they went with Mills {and I'm praying labor/delivery will be the same as well!}...no major complaints, just lower back pain and some sciatica every couple of days...usually if I'm up on my feet for too long in one day (not that that's happened recently at all...*haha*).  Time is flying by, especially since I already have one sweet little guy to chase around this time around!  I admit that I haven't checked my BabyCenter updates as avidly this time around...let me look...okay, so this baby boy should be weighing about as much as four naval oranges (3.3lbs) at this point, and over 16 inches long.  According to my OB appointments I'm measuring to schedule, and I've started going every two weeks now, so I'll have more to update on next Monday.  I really like my doctor here, but boy do I miss my doctor in Charleston...and the facilities (...and the health insurance I had when I was working!)!   :(  Here, the 3D/4D ultrasound isn't included in the 20-week scan, AND it's about $200 extra, plus I got to have ultrasounds pretty regularly last time around...I miss that!  Thankfully, though, one of the other doctor's wives in Nicholas' practice works in radiology at the hospital and let us slide in for a quick ultrasound last week.
Unfortunately the little guy had his hand up shielding his face, which made his features look a little distorted because the signal couldn't get completely through (or something like that), but from what we could tell he looks a LOT like his big brother's ultrasound pictures (although those were 10 weeks earlier with Mills so this little one was a little more filled out...I mean look at those LIPS, haha)! 
And we have finally decided on some bedding for the nursery/guest room {this room will stay a combo room since we only have three bedrooms right now} and I can't wait to share it with you once we get things together in there!  I can't believe in less than two months we'll have another baby boy around here!  We're excited!

Oh, and I can't finish my post today without wishing my sweet friend, Katie, a happy 30th birthday!!!
This was from our Katie+Calee birthday lunch last year...ahhh, miss you girls like crazy!!!
And this was from a couple days later - dinner at Taco Boy!  Katie and I moved from Charleston at the same time (she's in Memphis now), and I think we both miss it - and our group of friends - equally as much!  It was sure nice having the Heards just three houses down!!! :(  Okay, I'm stopping now before I start sobbing!!!
Happy Birthday, Katie!!! Hope you have a day of celebration just as wonderful as YOU are!  We love and miss you!  CHEERS to 30, girlfriend!!!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My sweet baby boy is TWO!!!

I can't believe Mills turned two years old today...time is flying by with this sweet little guy in our lives!
We started out by making some blueberry pancakes this morning...
This two-year-old boy was such a big helper! :)
Yum!
Unfortunately the birthday boy has a little ear infection, and after running a high fever last night, plus the cold weather, we decided to have a "stay in your pajamas" kind of birthday.  :)  So we just played inside all day long, Mills took a really long nap, and he enjoyed getting lots of phone calls from family and friends.  By the time the evening rolled around he was very into having "Happy Birthday" sung to him...he wanted Nicholas and I to keep singing to him when he ate his birthday cupcake, haha!

My birthday boy on January 4th, 2010:

And January 4, 2011:
 {last year we played at the children's museum and met sweet friends for lunch at rue de jean, complete with a cupcake, of course - we thought of you guys today, too!!!}

Even though we stayed inside today, we will make up for it in celebrating at Mills' party next Saturday! :)
 I did, however, freeze a cupcake from our fave cupcake bakery for Mills to have today!
"I'm a pro this year, Mom!"
Then he asked me for a spoon.  So proper, that boy!  :)
 {we were decked out in our Clemson orange for the Orange Bowl tonight...let's just not even go there}
 Love my birthday boy!
Oooh, good thing this boy got his teeth brushed before bed!!! :)
Mills also enjoyed a special delivery from GaGa and BaBa - complete with all of his favorite fruit and a car! :)
...And Mills relaxed before bedtime by watching a little football with Mommy and Daddy on the couch.

So my sweet Millsy, what are you up to at TWO YEARS OLD?!?
-Well, considering I haven't done a big update since 18 months or so, A LOT has changed!!! Since about 20 months your vocabulary has taken off!!!  You seriously talk all.the.time.  We can carry on serious conversations now, you and I!  {It helps that I know pretty much what you mean when you say things}  You attempt to say just about everything now...some things are closer than others, but overall you're doing SO well!  You love to say "Lul-loo" - love you, "Daddy see-see" - Daddy silly (insert any name here - anyone who is silly or does something funny...you even say it about yourself), you ask for any food or any toy that you want.  You're still calling grapes "blueberries" (along with blueberries), but just about every other fruit you can name accurately.  Of course you still speak your own little language sometimes and put your own versions of words into your speaking, but it's really cute that way.  You can name Mommy, Daddy, "Baby Bubber," Harley, GaGa, BaBa, Pappy, Lulu, Jess, "Jeh-jers" (Jesser), Gray, Reese, KiKi (Kelley), "Aah-Aah" (Adam), "BeBe" (Betsy), "Toto" (Alto), "DeeDee" (Dylan), "Mah-mas" (Madison), "Char-chy" (Charlie), MaMa, "My-My" (Myra), and "Pay-Pay" (Peyton).  And that's just the beginning...you can name PLENTY of other family members and friends, too - these are just some of the ones you say on a super regular basis.
-You call your paci, "papis," and still have it for nap time and bedtime, but you throw it back in the crib and say "weeee" every time you wake up.  Still sleeping 12 hour nights...from about 8:45 to 9:30 at night to about 8:45 or 9:30 in the morning.  You were going down for naps at 1:00, then 1:30, and for the past couple of months it's been 2:00, and you usually sleep 2-3 hours.
-Back to talking, you also put tons of phrases together on a regular basis.  When we were at the beach for New Year's, you one time darted into a wave at the edge of the water and lost your balance (although it was 76 degrees, the water was still chilly so you weren't supposed to be swimming).  You were swooped right up and changed into dry clothes, but the whole weekend - and since then - you've been reenacting it for everyone...you say "Mees fall hau-her" - "Mills fall water" and you act it out like you're about to fall...haha, it's too funny.  You tell Harley to do things like "Harley, hush!" or "Sit, Harley, sit!" You really put tons of phrases together on a regular basis.
-Your manners!!! Holy moly, they're amazing! :) No, really.  You say "Peas" all the time, and "Tonk ewe, Mommy" after just about everything I give you.  You like to thank random people for random things, too - it's cute.
-You've started to really get the concept of "time out."  You will sit there until I come and get you and you say, "Sawy, Mommy."  Now that doesn't mean that you always take it in and actually don't do it again, but it's still early on... :)  At the beach this past weekend you got in trouble for swatting at Gray when y'all were both trying to open the door at the same time, so you went to time out.  Aunt Kelley didn't know you were in time out when she came in the door so she went over to you and said, "Come here, Mills!!"  You said "No..." She asked you if you were in time out and you said, "Uh-huh..." She asked you why and you said, "Grayyyyyy!"  Haha, and then you stayed until I came back to get you!
-You still love to be outside and LOVE your new swing set - you call it your "set" and ask to play out there all the time.  You also love the golf cart, which you ask to ride on a lot, too.  You always say, "Sout-side, Mommy???"  You also love your "choo-choo" and "Tonnis" (Thomas) and "Jack."  You love cars, trucks, tractors, planes, books, balls, play tools, and any toys that you can push/ride.  You say "cars" at least 15 times a day.  
-You like to watch The Wiggles and Thomas the Train.  You also like to watch football and you yell, "Go...Go...GOOOOOOO!"  You have a couple of Elmo videos that you like to watch on the computer, too, and you always ask for specific videos that you want to watch on my phone or on the computer.  You love to watch videos of yourself on my phone and you can accurately scroll through the pictures and videos and select the ones you want to watch by yourself.
-You're a great eater and you like to sit in your "big boy seat," especially to eat yogurt, which you are really well at but sometimes like to be really messy towards the end with... You like about everything, "tot-togs" (hotdogs), "pop-pops" (poptarts), you still call a lot of things "cookies," and you love green beans, and every kind of fruit...you cry if we don't have blueberries, grapes, apples, or bananas in the house, ha! You like poppyseed chicken a lot, too, as well as pizza, salsa & chips, spinach dip (or any kind of dip, for that matter), waffles, broccoli, cheese, bread, strawberries (did I mention FRUIT???), and spaghetti.  You basically will eat whatever we're eating, too.  You're pretty easy to please and will try about anything (most of the time).  You like milk, juice (1/2 juice, 1/2 water, of course), and water - you drink a lot during the day.  
-You're wearing mainly 24 month clothes, but can wear some 18 month and some 2T - it just depends.  Wearing anywhere from a size 6 to size 7 shoe.  You love your Ugg boots and your favorite wardrobe around the house is a hat, shirt, diaper, and boots.  You actually like putting on a "jaj-et" (jacket) and hat to go outside...probably because it means you just get to go outside! :)
-We may be a tad bit partial...but we think you're really smart. :)  You seriously pick up on ideas and thoughts and processes soooo quickly.  You like to figure out how things work and you're really good at it.  I can tell you something randomly one time and you'll repeat it back to me at a later time, but when it makes perfect sense in that situation.
-You like to include everyone, so if you're giving out high-fives you'll go around to everyone at a party...tell everyone "bye-bye," everyone "night-night," and you always say "hi," "hey," or "hello" to people...even random people...and you'll keep saying it until they respond to you.  
Tonight, on our way up to bed, you said "Night-night, Harley.  Night-night, choo-choo.  Night-night, cupcake.  Night-night "happy Mees" (that means Happy Birthday Mills).""  You were telling your birthday goodnight...so cute.
Seriously, you're the sweetest, most precious thing in the whole wide world.  Our whole day revolves around you and we can't imagine it any other way.  You are such a priceless gift and we thank God for you every single day - multiple times!  :)  These two years have been the most wonderful two years - ever! We love you SO stinkin' much..."dis much...and to da moon!" (as you would say!)
Mommy and Daddy