Camping at Red Top Mountain 2013

My blogging as of late has no organizational sense except which pictures I feel like editing first. I haven't even blogged about Christmas! Yes, that was four months ago. Oh well. I'm not too worried about it. One thing at a time. Since I had a lot of picture-taking fun on our recent camping trip, that was what got tweaked in Lightroom first and that's what is going on the blog...

My aspiration for an extended family camping trip became reality last week. We were supposed to leave a day earlier, but bad weather (rain ALL day and in the 40s, no thank you!) required us to postpone one day. Thankfully, we just added that night to the end of our trip, rounding out a 3 night stay. The extended family (as you'll see in pictures) included Amy, Tim, and Matthan (my nephew); Christy, Jason, Sadie (4 and 1/2) and Titus (2 and 1/2); Grandpa Jim; and our family of four. Camping - particularly tent camping- is a lot of work, and we knew that with 5 kids under 5 it was gonna be CAAAARAAAAAZY! It did not disappoint. But a lot of the craziness came from unanticipated situations: the temperature getting into the 30s the first night (NOT in the weather forecast), Christy getting a stomach virus the first morning, and oh, did I mention 5 kids under 5? Right. Talk about an adventure. But nonetheless, it has not discouraged me from wanting to go camping again.

Sadie and Lailey

One of the best parts of the trip for Lailey was this HUGE bunch of boulders between our campsite and Amy's. Unfortunately, as I was weeding out pictures I realized I did not get a shot to show how high they were when they were on top. I would guess the rocks were 9 to 10 feet high. Lailey, always the adventurous climber, made us nervous several times as she scaled them fearlessly.

Amy, Matthan, and Tim

Titus enjoying a biscuit

Another highlight of the trip was all the kids (at least the four mobile ones) playing together and hanging out around the campfire at night. Unfortunately, this only happened one night since Amy headed home early since Matthan wasn't sleeping well, and Christy did the same since she was sick. But it was still fun while it lasted.

Crazy cousins

And thank goodness for Grandpa! He helped watch the kids while we were cooking or washing dishes, or anything else. That was a huge help.

Matthan and Grandpa

If it wasn't for Tim snapping this one shot, I wouldn't have been in any pics all weekend!
 Gotta get Davey behind my camera!!!

Maddox

Jason and Titus

Sunday, our third day, was Lailey's birthday! To celebrate, she had a Pop-Tart with a 4 candle in it at breakfast. She loved that! After lunch we walked down to the lake and she got to play around the water a bit on Lake Allatoona.

Lake Allatoona

Always in the mud

That evening, Grandpa said goodbye since he had to work Monday, and we were the only ones left for the last night. We walked down to the lake again and this time enjoyed the sunset.

My loves

Getting shoes off

Where'd Lailey go? (comes out: "Weh Nay-nee doh?)

My dirty hobo child

Monday we came home with a lot of dirt! I had to mentally release any obsession over thinking I was going to keep Maddox clean. At all. He was filthy, and since he HATES getting his face, hands, anything wiped or cleaned whatsoever, I had to pick my battles. The kids soaked in the bath for probably an hour. They were then given the most thorough washing ever. 

Hopefully next time we go camping it will be a little more relaxing. And hopefully we can pack less! I'm tired of dragging a pack 'n' play and a high chair!

Lailey's Rainbow 4th Birthday Party

My baby girl is FOUR! Phew. Time flies. That should be the name of this blog. I'll be honest (I usually am), I start thinking about Lailey's birthday party right after Christmas? Am I obsessive...or do I really love party planning. I'll pick the latter, but you can decide for yourself. This year, I let her come up with the theme. Don't know where the inspiration came from, but it was definitely going to be a rainbow party. Awesome! Colorful, fun, vibrant, and bright - fitting for Lailey. So the brainstorming begins...and where do I go? Pinterest of course! This is how I do parties:

1. Pick a theme (done)

2. Go on Pinterest for inspiration

3. Check out pictures of other parties that are WAAAAAAY too expensive for us.

(Since when did a child party need to be $500 and up? Seriously.)

4. Find ways to do an awesome party on the cheap

5. Start making DIY decorations well ahead of time

6. Make lists, shop, decorate

7. Enjoy it! It goes way to fast.

I admit: I went overboard with this party. I don't mean I spent way to much, it was just the most involved party I've planned. But one fun rainbow idea led to another, then Lailey saw a picture of rainbow cake pops and asked for them, and before I knew it I was up to my elbows in rainbow stuff! But that's okay. Like I said before, I find cheaper ways to do stuff. Except the tutu...

These tutus can be easily made for under $5 or $10...if you have one or two colors of tulle. Yeah well, a rainbow tutu necessitates 7 colors of tulle. I should really be making these and selling them with all the tulle I have leftover. Geez.

When it came to food, I was SO EXCITED when I realized how easy it is to have rainbow food! Fresh fruits and veggies! Despite my terrible sweet tooth, we usually don't do a ton of sweets at parties. This was the perfect way to have yummy, healthy, AND pretty food. Davey helped with the fruit kabobs. The party bags had some rainbow stickers, Skittles, and crayons (a rainbow of colors), and I decorated them with Lailey's dot art markers. I told myself once I'd never decorate water bottles, but I did. I had enough paper after cutting letters for "Happy Birthday Lailey" and it just made them so pretty on the table. Never say never.

And now to the cake pops. Of course, I saw these on Pinterest and showed them to Lailey before I thought about it. Big mistake. She loved them. And asked me to make them. What have I gotten myself into?

 Here's the short version of how I made these (for the full instructions, go to Munchkin Munchies):

1. Make cake mix

2. Separate batter into SIX different bowls and color them

3. Bake cupcakes

4. Crumble, add icing, knead until mixed.

5. Repeat FIVE MORE TIMES FOR EACH COLOR

6. Seriously wonder "What have I gotten myself into?"

7. Roll each color of "dough" into tiny balls (this equals over 150 balls)

8. Smoosh one ball of each color together to make a rainbow ball

9. Dip in candy coating, add mini M&M's and halved, smooshed mini marshmallows

10. Sigh in relief that you never have to do this again...

until your child wants cake pops again next year!

It was not too bad because I paced myself and started two days early. I wasn't up half the night like last year with Ladybug Pops since I now knew how much time it can take for these. They were yummy though! And of course the birthday girl loved them.

 In addition to the tutu, I sewed felt flowers on a shirt as well. When I showed the shirt to her the morning after I had made it, she calmly said "Mommy, there's not a pink flower. Pink is my favorite color." Oooooookay, you can have a pink flower. That didn't get done until 10 minutes before the party! But she got a pink flower.

 For a fun activity, I bought 3 $1 packs of multi colored beads and separated them by color to make rainbow bracelets or necklaces. A cheap and fun activity, and also a GREAT sorting and fine motor activity for Lailey prior to the party since I had her help me separate all the colors.

 We had quite a crowd in our little backyard! Thankfully the weather was nice and the rain held off.

Cousins Sadie and Lailey - I was tying on her bracelet that I made her
since she was having too much fun to sit still and make one.

Ready for presents!

Time to sing!

Opening presents - thanks, Dad (Grandpa Jim), for taking some photos
so I can actually be in one for once!

We were definitely at capacity.

I had a blast doing this birthday party, which is hopefully evident by this post. I felt like it flew by! I didn't even get all the pictures I wanted but we were having so much fun enjoying the party. Oh well. Can't have it all!

A Snapshot of Maddox

Maddox is almost a year and a half. I don't think I've really posted about him specifically in a long time, but I'll hit some of the highlights of the last few months. He started walking at 15 months. He was very cautious about the whole thing and when he finally took the first few steps, I realized why it had taken him so long: he wanted to be careful not to fall! He was very deliberate about it. Now he enjoys trying to keep up with Lailey and giggling as she flies past him.

 He shares a room with big sister now.  We made the transition in the fall, and while there were a few nap times when I thought "What were we thinking?!?" they have both adjusted to it well.

Maddox is the sweetest boy I know. Of course, I'm biased, but he really is. He's so snuggly and lovey. He loves Mommy and Daddy and usually Lailey, when she's not getting in his space. He loves to be outside.

That irresistibly long hair to pull

Maddox is saying a lot of words. He says: (many of these are used with a sign)

Mommy (and Mama)

Daddy (and Dada)

Lah-lee, or La-la for Lailey

ball

doggy

puppy

Elmo

up

bye bye

hi and hey

help

snack ("'nack")

eat

'nana for banana

cheese

shoes

socks

outside

"wassat?" for "what's that?"

down

bath

bubble

poopoo

me

shirt

moon

dirty (I think he says it more like dir-dir)

all done

toot

hand 

please

more

baby

yes (doesn't say "no" but will shake his head)

Amy

Paw-paw (sometimes for Davey's PawPaw, sometimes for Grandpa, I think)

Addy

one (repeats this, doesn't actually count yet)

two (says it after one)

eight (will say it after seven, which really surprised me)

night-night

Words he signs but doesn't say:

water

drink

He is very smiley! (14 months)

Since Lailey was such an early talker, I expected him to the opposite. But he is surprising us all the time with all the things he can say and what he understands. It is a wonderful gift to be able to communicate. 

13 months

Giving Sissy kisses

Loving the outdoors

He loves to swing too!

Things I don't want to forget about Maddy at this age:

The way he snuggles on my shoulder. He often sucks his left index finger, so whenever I pick him up, he's got that finger in his mouth, and he pushes his right hand down and tucks it under my arm. He only lays his head on my right shoulder so his left hand can be out for that finger.

He loves dogs. The other day at the grocery store, he started yelling "doddie! doddie!" and I looked around and realized there was an end display full of Milk Bones, and sure enough, a large golden retriever on the box.

His favorite book is "Dear Zoo." He loves lifting all the flaps to see the animals, and he loves that it ends with a doggie. He is just starting to sit still for a few books, so I'm trying to sit down and read to him more instead of just Lailey.

He has the best laugh. It just bubbles up and explodes when he gets tickled, when we chase him, and when Lailey does silly things like pretend to fall down.

His legs quit working when he's getting chased! I can get down on all fours and growl playfully and he just cackles and falls over! Then he laughs some more. It's adorable! Sometimes he'll run straight at me and wrap his arms around my neck to catch me.

He is a Mama's boy and a Daddy's boy. He really adores both of us, which is nice, since Lailey has always favored me, sometimes to the extreme.

He is a little shy, but warms up if given the chance. In a new situation, he really likes for me to hold him for 10 minutes or so, but before long he's the life of the party.

He loves to dance. He's still rather wobbly since he's only been walking a few months, but he tries his best to dance. It's precious.

He gets very excited at the mention of the word "bath."

He does NOT like his diaper changed, his nose cleaned, or his face wiped.

He goes to bed at 7:30 pm. He takes one nap most days, occasionally asking to go night-night for a morning nap.

He eats a lot of different things, but as is typical of a toddler, his preferences change frequently. He'll like spaghetti one day, and spit it out the next. I just keep on trying and don't worry about it.

He loves his CamelBak Kid water bottle. He loved Lailey's so much and stole it that I finally just got him one for Christmas.

He is on the small side, at about 21.5 lbs. This is very good though because I don't think I could carry him as much if he were much bigger.

My little man is growing up so fast. Davey and I adore him to pieces and find such joy in taking care of him. Having a second child has changed me as a mom in a good way, mainly that I don't stress about things as much (I didn't say I don't stress at all, just not as much!). Sometimes I think about us being a family of four, and I can barely believe it.

A Spot of Tea

I might be done with my temporary vacation from blogging. Maybe not. But I figured I'd get my feet wet with a mini post and then go backwards, before Christmas, and catch up later.

Lailey and I have many conversations. Constant conversations. Sometimes she lets me talk, other times I just listen. Last night I may have mentioned something about a tea party in the morning, with muffins. Well, a Lailey never forgets, and after a sweet "good morning, mommy" she said, "can we have a tea party now?" Baking time! We made blueberry muffins (thank you, Betty Crocker) and then boiled some water for tea (the loose leaf kind, honeybush chocolate flavor, mmmm...). Then I washed my china cups (haven't been used in awhile), spread out our "picnic blanket," invited our guests - Buddy, Teddy, and Santa Dog - and poured our tea. Oh, and we did not forget to use our goofy British accents and put our pinkies up. It was as delightful as it sounds. Every age is fun, but the closer she gets to 4 the more fun we're having doing "big girl" things. 

She ate not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 muffins

muffins and tea still brewing

our guests

Mmm...tea in real china

Teddy, can you pour me some tea?

Dear Nephew Matthan

Dear Matthan,

Sorry I'm just now posting these pictures of you. Or rather, pictures of your cousins since you're kind of little and hard to photograph since you don't know what a camera is yet and you don't look and smile for me. You are very cute and I'm sure you'll learn about all that soon enough.

You arrived a little later than you were supposed to, making your Mommy and Daddy wait a long time to meet you! (41 wks, 6 days). And you didn't make it very easy on your Mommy either, but she did a really good job and now you are here and perfectly healthy.  I'm glad I got to see you come into the world. You were a big guy at 8 lbs 4 oz!

Your cousins, Lailey and Maddox, already love you and I know they are going to have so much fun when you're big enough to play.

 Lailey especially just wants to touch and hold you.

 Maddox is interested in you too but more because you are an interesting little doll that lays on the ground, and that's his usual territory. We don't want him wrestling with you quite yet.

Uncle Davey, Aunt Sarah, and Lailey and Maddox are so glad you are here and we are looking forward to lots of fun times together.