The birthday boy

It's amazing how much work goes into a party and how quickly it is all over! I will say that I loved every minute of planning, preparing and decorating for Arlee's party. I have known since last year that I would do the Lil Man Mustache theme. I have been Pintresting away for a year (okay maybe longer). I have known since his birth the theme for his first 5 birthday parties. I'm just crazy like that.  I found his cake,  invitations,chalkboard art and his shirt all on pintrest. Then I had local friends take it from there. I was so pleased how everything turned out! 
For fun I did a photo booth and it was a great idea! 
Arlee is blessed to have family who loves him. He was spoiled to death and got lots of goodies. Some of his favorites were: Thomas the train track, A tent filled with balls, a firetruck, police car, a John Deer tractor, a pickup truck with a tailor and we got him a pirate water table!  Boy what a splash. The day was perfect so after  eating bbq nachos and Arlee playing with his gifts we had cake and ice cream out side. Arlee played till he was a drowned little rat! We had the pool and sprinkle all ready for him. 
We had a wonderful day celebrating in our sweet 2 year old miracle!

A busy birthday week

My week was full of preparing for my babies 2 yr old birthday. His birthday was on Sunday and since we were not having his party until the  next Saturday, I wanted to make the day special. I had a shirt made for his party but had totally forgotten about what he v would wear to church. I had been at a yard sale all day Saturday and didn't think of it till last that night.  Luckily,  I had left over material, a patch and 2-sided tape (the answer to a non sowing girls prayer! ).
And this is what I came up with. .
Picture below.
I thought it was pretty cute. Thank you Lord for helping me!
I decorated his door the morning before with steamer and "boons"
So it was the first vthing he would see. He was tickled to death. Then he had a breakfast feast of pop tarts and chocolate milk. It was his first time trying chocolate milk and I'm not sure he liked it,  but he loved the pop tart!
We quickly got dressed and headed to church to meet the hubs. He had brother hood that morning. 
At church they sang happy bday and he wore the special hat.
Then back home we went for his special lunch. Hot dogs and Cheeto Puffs. Yep,  I'm fancy. This is his favorite food,  so why not!
Then cupcake time (I did this since he would get cake on his party.) And then gifts, he got a train,  noise making puzzle,  helicopter and plane...then play time... And nap time!
It was a sweet and special day that went by so fast. My baby is 2, just like that!
He also got a new do. I took him to get a big boy hair cut.  Bye bye sweet little curls and my previous baby.  Now he is officially a big boy!.... note,  I did not cry!

Family Pics

Oh those blasted perfect Pintrest family pic. I spent hours pinning the cutest poses and dreamed of cute shots  for our yearly family pictures. I had set my expectations high and dreamed of the final results. I coordinated  outfits and laid out all the props we could possibly need. I scouted out my backyard for all of our potintial  settings. We were going to kill a couple of birds with one stone. Do family pics, 2 year old pics for the soon-to-be birthday boy and do new business card pics. My sweet, patient sister n law was coming to take the pictures at our house. Everything was set,  but I did not count on my camera not working. Yep, my nice camera went to photo land heaven, the day of our session.  Okay,  no problem!  I'll use my back up. Session back in order and everyone is dressed and ready.  The first set went fine,  but then my Lil man noticed all of his toys. The swing and slide were calling his name. When, I busted his bubble and didn't let him run to that calling,  he was mad. Oh he was not happy and he let all of us know.  So goodbye pintrest poses. Goodbye hours of creative ideas that I had I dreamed up. The reality is,  there are NO perfect poses, just awesome shots telling a story. And most of ours are saying,  I'm not happy,  I want to play....lol.  So please, Enjoy our story!

The mommy meltdown

When my Lil feller was just learning  to crawl  around the house and explore,  I noticed my stress level was at an all time high. Worry and fret took on an all new meaning. I could not put my gard down for one second.
This first time mommy was constantly terrified he would get into something that would harm him. 
My first mommy meltdowns was when I caught my 6 month old baby sitting on a puppy potty pad eating poo. I began to scream,  I began to cry.  I grabbed his  chubby little hand hoping he would let ho of his new found snack. He was holding on to that puppy poo so tight it began to ooze between his small fingers. He was not giving it up. So, I slung his arm back and forth in hopes he might drop it but that only caused the warm poo to fly about in the air. Some landing on me and some landing on the walls. The poor baby went into shock as I continued to scream out of control.  I desperately grabbed him running as fast as I could down our long,  never ending hallway, to the bathroom. As I held him as far away from me as possible, the smell of fresh warm poo made it's way to my nose. I gagged and cried harder, running faster. The louder I cried the louder he cried!  Poo smeared all over his pitiful,  scared face and dripped from his mouth. Another gag and another cry!! I finally made it to the bathtub and frantically turned the water on. "Get it off, get it off"  I sobbed. I could not think of anything else.  Never mind the fact I only turned the cold water on sending the confused crawler into hysterics! All that was on my mind was the smell must go away. Oh the poor baby. When it was all said and done, poo was everywhere. You see the harder I tried to get it the  harder he held on. The louder I screamed the harder he cried.The hard lesson lesson I learned that day was to remain calm, and keep your brain in tact.
A few months later when he figured out how to take his diaper off during nap time, I had the opportunity to test my new found knowledge. He started crying, so I checked his monitor. You can imagine my confusment when I saw a bare booty sticking up in the air.  My chuckle was quickly silenced when I opened the door and was suffocated with the strong aroma of poo. Uh oh....no diaper and the smell of poo is not a good combination.  I quickly turned the light on and felt my heart hit the floor. His pitiful face peeked up from the crib with a cry for help. His face was covered in nasty stinky poo. It had made its way into his tear- streaked eyes. It was shoved up his nose,  and painted all over his naked little body. As I came closer,  I remembered to stay calm. I picked him up took a mental note of the situation.  Yes, poo was everywhere. It was smeared on his pillow, decorated on the walls and colored into his blanket. Yes,  everything would have to be cleaned,  sterilized, washed and dried before he could come back intro his room. True,  the room needed to be aired out and he needed a bath. But a meltdown would not make any of these cold hard facts better. So,  I reassured   him it would be okay,  I think I needed the pep talk more than he did.  I put him in a nice warm bath but not before I took a pic. Oh yes,  I took a pic, and laughed. Wow!  I found my laugh during this crazy moment.
With each little challenge I have had the opportunity to grow and try to make a memory over a mommy meltdown. More times I fail,  but I'm trying to grow.
So, today when I opened the closed door to the bathroom where the screams were coming from.  I turned the lights on to my little potty training toddler sitting inside the toilet ( yes I typed that right,  he was sitting in not on the toilet) He began to cry "poo poo, poo poo".Here is my growth opportunity. It is my choice. I looked into those pleading little eyes needing help from a calm, loving, gentle mommy.He did not need a mommy having a meltdown due to the disgusting potty germs,  the soaked clothes or a floor covered in toilet water. He did not care about any of that.  He just wanted his mommy to pick him up and rescue him while whispering in his little ears that it would be okay. So, I  took a deep breath, laughed,grabbed my phone and took a pic. (Then came to the rescue)
We all have moments when we feel like we have reached the end of the straw and we can't take one more crazy day. Let's try our best to  find our laughter and make a memory and not a mommy meltdown. It is something I beg God daily to help me with.  But with His help,I will choose to laugh.  Besides, laughter truly is good for the soul and the best medicine to a wild amazing life.
,