Luke's Cousin turns 3!

Today, we went to the San Lucas Park in Marana to help celebrate Gabriel's 3rd Birthday Party. It was quite the spectacle for Luke- there was both a jumping castle AND a train! Although he had a great time with the jumping castle, the train was by far his favorite and he rode it 7 times. I really thought he'd cry when it left, but he took it like a (little) man and held it together. He was a little confused by the pinata, which was odd because he had such a great time with our Shrek pinata at his party. I think it was because the "bat" was a long broomstick and he didn't know how to hold it? Who knows. The weather was perfect, and there was plenty of room for the kids to run around. The food was delicious- who can go wrong with barbeque and Eegee's? Vicki, Brittany, Frankie, and Dominic drove down from Ahwatukee and everyone had a great time! Happy Birthday, Gabe!

Luke and Shelby

In my haste to get pics up of Luke's birthday, I never had time to post anything about the two days leading up to the party. Auntie Angie and cousin Shelby came down to visit! We went to Pump It Up, one of Luke's favorite places, and hung out around the house hanging decorations and stuff. The kids got along really well and it was a great little photo op for the mommies!

How Luke Spent his 2nd Birthday...

I can't believe my little boy is two years old today! The time goes by so fast, and yet so much happened, that it seems like Luke has been with us for much longer. I guess everyone feels that way about their lovely little kiddos.

The day began with Luke sleeping in until almost EIGHT, which allowed me time to get the house ready for his birthday playdate. At 8:29am, we called Phil at work, because it was the exact time that Luke was born- Phil calls it his "birth-moment," instead of his "birthday." We sang to Luke on speakerphone.

At 9am, Luke had five of his girlfriends come over to play, hit the "Shrek 2" pinata (I made another one for the playdate...) and free the yummy fruit snacks inside. We played some more, sang the Happy Birthday song, and ate cake! The kids played for a solid four hours, and Luke had the best time, even if I did have to keep reminding him that his friends don't always want to be hugged/kissed/body-slammed. We're working on that. The girls were really nice about it, though, I think it helped that they are all bigger than him.

I had a nice time, too. I really enjoy playdates because they are great socialization opportunities for Luke, and I get some "adult" conversation also! The kids are "older" now (2-3 years old) so they play really well together, so we can spend more time chatting and having real conversations, as opposed to just chasing them around and making sure they don't break anything! Its a little scary to think I'll be starting all over with a newborn in less than a month!

After Luke's friends left, we cleaned up a bit, and Luke went down for a nap. He was READY- it was an hour late and he was crashing from his overly nutritious lunch of pigs in a blanket, cake, juice, fruit snacks and crackers. I know, I know- but it was his Birthday! We'll jump back on the nutrition wagon tomorrow- I have to- I get weighed at my 36 week appt on Thursday! :P

Luke woke up from his nap when daddy got home, and they played for a long time. Then we opened more presents (Thanks everyone! He loved it ALL!) and grilled some burgers and taters, Luke's fave. Then we took a bath and settled down to watch Cars for the umpteenth time and play with his new bulldozer.

A day well spent, I would say. :)

Luke's Birthday Party!

Today, Luke's family came over for a lovely little house party celebrating his 2nd birthday (which is actually Monday).He was in a great mood and loved seeing all his grandparents and aunts/uncles/cousins. The weather was perfect and we celebrated with Luke's favorite foods: Eegee's subs and frozen drinks, Costco carrot cake (which is really Phil and my favorite- Luke likes ALL cake), Oreo Truffles, and pigs in a blanket. I also made a Shrek pinata and filled it with fruit snacks and little packs of cookies/crackers (hey- the oldest kid was THREE!) It was funny watching the kids take turns trying to break it- I accidentally made it too strong (the third layer of paper mache was obviously unnecessary) and so we had to "weaken" it with a pocket knife and finally Phil had to break it open. I decided not to feel bad about that, though. We can't all be perfect pinata makers! When we sang Happy Birthday, Luke was absolutely amazed that other people knew the words to the song we had been practicing for weeks, AND that they all sang it together! I wonder what he will think when we sing it for his cousin Gabe in two weeks, and put Gabe's name in the song, instead of his?! While eating cake, we watched a compilation of video clips from 2008 (Luke's "second year"). It was amazing to see how Luke had changed over the past year. He isn't a baby anymore- he's all boy! The party wound down with the kiddos playing in the sandbox while we sat around and watched the UA Basketball game and chatted. Luke had a great time and was the perfect host, playing well with his cousins, staying in a great mood the entire time, and giving hugs and kisses to everyone who asked.When everyone was gone, Luke kept asking where everyone went! This made me feel good, and that the stress/work/expense of planning the party was really worth it because, although he won't remember it years from now, he was old enough to "appreciate" it today!

Bedding Dilemma Solved

So I realize that in the grand scheme of things, deciding what kind of curtains to hang in a nursery is NOT a big deal- but it was still annoying to me that I couldn't find anything I deemed worthy. And believe me, I looked. And looked. And looked. But today, fueled by the impending visit of family for Luke's b-day next weekend, I resolved to FINALLY finish the nursery. And, if that meant driving to Babies-r-Us (which I did) and not leaving until I had picked a "theme" (which I did), then that was what I was prepared to do. Yes, the long suffering perfectionist was deciding to settle- for the sake of her sanity. I don't know why I was making it so hard. I had already decided I wanted yellow walls (yeah! Progress!) but couldn't decide on yellow/purple, yellow/green or yellow/pink. And then I decided I was overthinking it and just picked out something I thought was cute. Its pink. And I like it! The pale yellow walls (I already have the paint color chosen. Woo hoo! Lowe's here i come!) and sage green packnplay she'll live in until Luke relinquishes the crib will "soften" it quite a bit. We could only afford the window valance and throw blanket for right now, but there really isn't any point in buying the entire crib set right now anyways, as, like I said, she'll be in the bassinet for 5 months. Hopefully, they don't clearance it out in the meantime... that seems to be my luck. :P

Happy New Year!

Phil, Luke, and I spent a quiet night in last night. We had a picnic in our living room of "In'n'Out" Animal Style double-doubles, french fries, and sparkling cider. Healthy AND classy! Then we put on our PJ's and watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which Phil had a screening of. It was good, but Lonnnnnnnnnng. We were all asleep by 10:30pm, which was just fine with me. I had a hard time styaing up THAT long... The next morning, Luke and I went to the Meetup Moms New Years Picnic, where we saw our friends, played on the playground equipment, and ate yummy pizza and potluck food. Yeah for 2009!