Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season. May your days be merry and bright, your stockings heavy and your hearts full. I'm going to take some time to relax and spend with my family, but I will be back in the new year.
Thank you all for the great year.
Kerby
Hi everyone, and welcome back. This is the second last picture I will be sharing, because my baby girl will be one in two days! Can I just stop time now? Please? Pretty please?
My little baby is getting so big and bright. There is no stopping her when she sets her mind to something, and I love watching her think things through. She's our little tornado, and is a joy to watch grow up. And is it ever getting hard to take these pictures with her laying down, she just shoots up and runs away.
She makes us laugh continuously while at the same time so frustrated! I cannot believe the things that she gets into, every day it's something new. And it seems that she is continuously learning and finding ways around our blockades and baby proofing. Braxton was never a problem with this, and is always a practice in patience.
I forgot to include it on the picture, but Kaley had her first Halloween this month! She was too cute when dressed up, and completely willing to ham it up for the camera.
Kaley will eat and eat and eat. She is always willing to try new foods and will actually drink from a sippy cup. This is such a blessing after our picky eater (Braxton, I'm looking at you).
Well, that's all for this month. I'm finding it hard to write about Kaley so late after the picture was taken because I start confusing the months. Good thing there's only one left.
Kerby
Hi everyone, this is a little late but I can't believe Braxton is already three! It's so crazy to think that he was just a little baby in my arms. Now I can barely fit him in my arms at all! He is literally over half as tall as me, and that makes me so sad!!!!!
Braxton was a tough cookie this year when it came to a birthday party theme, I think I went through about five before we settled on an alphabet party. He would love a show for about a month and then hate it forever, usually right after I had the party all planned out. In fact, I managed to get almost all of the decorations complete for a Yo Gabba Gabba party before he decided that he hates that show with a passion. Sigh.
But the one thing that has never wavered is his love of the alphabet. Anything with the alphabet on it is a winner in his book, so having this theme to fall back on was great. Though planning a party in less than a month is not what I am used to and I panicked quite a bit over getting everything accomplished. It wasn't my finest planning or decorating, but it definitely got the job done.
Behind the table I made some paper rosettes and pinwheels in a variety of colours, with red, green and blue being the main colours. Just like the ABC book by Dr. Seuss, which is a favourite book of Braxton's. Not so much for Mommy or Daddy though, and has been assigned to the car for road trips. And a quick birthday sign using printed letters on card stock finished the table area off.
These were easy once you got a system down, but there was a little trial and error. Mostly because I did them over the course of about 10 nights and would completely forgot what I did the day before. And the pinwheels used alphabet scrapbook paper and some present scrapbook paper to add some fun pop of colour.
The food, which I forgot to take pictures of, was marked with fun little cards that used the alphabet. This was a little tough to think of foods that didn't all start with the same letters!
We served sandwiches, pizza rolls, vegetables, meatballs and of course cake! And as usual we had way too much food leftover, so guess who didn't have to cook dinner for a few days? That's right, me.
I also made an alphabet banner that was originally to go over the table, but i ended up miscalculating it's length and it ended up being about three feet to long. So instead, I decided to put it over our large front window. I usually decorate this area anyway, so it worked out.
A cute little sign for the treat bags, mimicking the same signs that were on the table completed the decor for the party. Like I said, not a lot of decorations but it still looked great.
The birthday boy was tough to get pictures of this year because he kept trying to run away with everything, but we managed to get a few. Kaley thought it was her birthday and kept trying to open the presents, but we managed to get her occupied with a few envelopes.
It was such a fun day, and Braxton got spoiled as usual. And my silly boy started to love Elmo about a week before his birthday, so his attention was caught with the cards and gift bags. What a sweetheart, he kept thinking the cards were the gifts.
We feel bad when December rolls around because both kids have to wait all year for their birthdays, and then Christmas is right around the corner (especially for Kaley). So they can literally have all their gifts in a 3 week period. But our families are so supportive and loving, and help make this easier by showering our kids with love and attention.
Well, that's all I've got for you guys. It has been so crazy trying to get both parties ready as well as Christmas ready, I can't believe I even remembered to take these pictures!
If you want to see Braxton's previous birthday party themes, you can find them here: A Winter One-Derland, A Wiggly Second Birthday.
Thanks again for reading along with my kids, hopefully I will be able to get back to crafting and household updates again soon.
Kerby
