Birthdays Galore

We been in serious birthday mode for the past 5 weeks and have several more to go before the end of the summer including daddy's and Brock's in the next two months.

Here are a few photos from Brock and Avery's friend Caleigh's 2nd birthday party at this great place called PLAY in Crabapple.

Summer Fun

We've been having a fun summer and are trying to do new things with the kids each weekend. We've gotten together with friends and had some BBQs. Here's a few photos from our get to together recently at the Shaws. Avery and Charlie had fun and as always Brock and Kailey were best buddies!

Since Avery is finally more than 20 lbs, we decided it was time to move her to the big girl car seat, which means Brock graduated to a booster. He was so excited about his new carseat that after it arrived in the mail he wanted to sit in it all night.

Last night we took the kids to see the laser show at Stone Mountain for the first time. Travis and I hadn't been in 8 or so years, not since we first started dating. We had a great time and the kids loved it. We stopped and got some yummy BBQ for our picnic and brought the glow sticks for pre-show entertainment. Brock fell asleep toward the end of the show and Avery surprisingly stayed up for the whole thing.

Happy Belated Father's Day

Happy Belated Father's Day to my wonderful husband and the best dad I know (except for mine of course). We spent a fun day together as a family that started with breakfast for daddy. Brock helped me make muffins, eggs, hashbrowns and fruit for everyone to enjoy. We then headed off to church and spent the afternoon with the Hackers. Brock and Avery later saw Momo and Papa and ended up spending the night there. But, wow do we pay for it when we run our kids all day with no naps.

Travis and I had the great pleasure of doing something together on a Sunday night (after 8:30 p.m.) so we took advantage of the time away from the kiddies. We went to the river and went rollerblading, something we haven't done since before we had Brock. It was so nice to spend some time together doing something we used to love doing - just the two of us.

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Father's Day.

First major accident

So we had our first major accident that required medical care yesterday morning. Brock was bouncing around on the bed and fell and hit his chin on Travis' knee. He managed to hit it just right and pushed two of his bottom teeth forward and gushing with blood. A great way to start a Thursday morning when I was trying to get ready to go to work.

We rushed to find a pediatric dentist that would take an emergency new patient and luckily we found a great one at Imagix.

Dr. Andy and his team were so great with Brock and made the whole process painless. Brock was such a trooper the whole morning and handled it so well. The whole way there he kept telling me that his teeth fell out and that they were missing - LOL. I can imagine he thought so since they were pushed forward and he kept playing with them with his tongue.

The x-rays showed that his permanent teeth are fine - THE GOOD NEWS, but in the meantime he'll enjoy two crooked and now dead bottom teeth for the next six or so years.

I guess we're not doing too bad if this is the first major accident we've had in almost three years.

Avery's Sweet Shop

The party was a huge success and I somehow found the time and energy to make everything that I wanted to for her "Sweet Shop" spread and then some. I was so happy with how everything turned out.

It started with an idea to do something with cupcakes and took off from there. As Travis says, I have a tendancy to go a little nuts when it comes to party planning, but what can I say - I love every minute of it. I am by far my own worst enemy.
Every detail was account for from the tablescape to the homemade treats. I even had a dress made for Avery, a better picture of that to come later.

All in all, it was a great way to celebrate Avery's first birthday. I think she'll enjoy these pictures in the years to come.

The cupcake tower is a great find, I was so excited to finally find it after seeing it on someone's blog. I lined it with scrapbook paper and ribbon and added Avery's tutu to the bottom of it. Expect to see this at the all the parties to come, it is so versatile and I can change out the ribbon and paper each time.

Mini sugared strawberry and vanilla cupcakes

Me and the birthday girl. Also, cupcake lollipops - thanks to Bakerella for the great recipe, www.bakerella.com

Avery's smash cake

The birthday girl and Momo

The birthday girl taking a breather before the guest arrive in her special birthday dress.

The birthday girl in her new favorite chair - a gift from Momo and Papa

She was so cute and methodically ate the icing on the cake without making too big of a mess of course.

Homemade treats - candy coated pretzel rods for all the grown-up party guests.

Goodies for all the kiddies - metal tins from Target's Easter stuff, cupcake magnets, stickers, candy watches and BUBBLES

I'll post the video of Avery eating her smash cake soon.