Celebrating Grady, the two year old!

This year, we decided to take Grady's birthday party out of the house.  He is one busy boy and he needed one active party to celebrate turning two.  We headed to a little gym for the party with a few friends.  I liked this party because it fit Grady's personality but it felt a little funny to keep it so simple on my end.  BUT I loved not having the house preparation and I really got to enjoy the party with Grady and Layla!! 

And Grady had a blast so that was great.  He was one busy and happy boy.  Perfect!

 Lunch bags! 

Favors (Dollar Tree!)

 

  Present time!  This fun latch board was made by my friend Stephanie and her husband Adam.

My favorite part of the day, parachute time!

 

A lot of times when Grady plays with the bigger kids, he ends up being "assigned" to play the lion or bear in pretend play games.  I think it is so funny when he embraces this role :)

Grady's shirt was simple to make, just a bit time-consuming to sew around the letters and number.  Hobby Lobby actually had little shirts without pockets on the front.  Those plain white shirts are tough to find for little boys.  The front of Grady's shirt said, "T-W-O."

Grady was pretty cute with his birthday cupcake.  He smiled and looked around at everyone singing during the happy birthday song and then he blew out both candles at once.  And he didn't touch the candles!  Sweet!

More birthday fun!

 

Choo choo restaurant

 

 

How old are you!?!

Preschool...out!

From the second I stepped into Layla's preschool last year, I knew leaving preschool and going to kindergarten would be hard.  I honestly had trouble leaving Layla for five hours a week last year.  It is sure to be an interesting transition in the fall!   

But Layla and Ryan are pumped for kindergarten and I will get there....eventually!!

 

Layla loves picking out different flowers for the teachers.

 

Layla's wonderful teachers.  We could not have picked a better group for Layla.

Layla and her beloved "My Little Ponies" in the classroom.

Watermelon party to end the year!!

 

 And one last round at the preschool park!  What a great couple of years!  Now onto a great summer!

T-W-O

 

We cannot believe Grady is two.  He is a fun little boy.  He cracks us up.  A lot.  He loves to be included.  He loves to tag along with Layla.  He is obsessed with Ryan to the point that he will no longer let me put him to sleep at night.  He has the sweetest smile.  He loves to run free.  He has little fear of hurting himself.  He keeps me on my toes.  I run after him.  Often.  He is getting faster and smarter :)  He is suddenly fascinated by trains.  He still loves balls, especially basketballs.  He is very intrigued by Thomas the Train.   He was made to be a mover. 

 

Grady is such a blessing to our family.  

We are excited to watch him grow.  But boy, what a fun little guy to experience right now. 

 

 

Preschool Graduation

Layla had a great preschool experience.  I am so thankful she ended up where she did and that her first experience with school was so positive.  We loved the teachers and the music class and all of the art projects that came home. I am crossing my fingers that the same teachers are still there when Grady goes through preschool.  

 

The school was a perfect fit for Layla and I am so sad to see it come to an end.  Graduation is a bit before the end of the year (not sure why) but we are excited to have a few days left.   And then we are moving on...to kindergarten!  I hope Layla loves her new school just the same.

 

We are very proud of Layla and how much she has grown while in preschool.  She has of course grown taller, but she has also found confidence, socializing skills and happiness while outside of the mommy bubble :)

At first, I thought the graduation gowns might be a bit over the top. 

It probably was, but the ceremony was also really cute. 

We will have a cute side by side picture one day!

Layla and her teacher, Mrs. C!  I feel lucky Layla got to experience her for a year!

Grady loves to watch videos of himself!  This was our way to keep him calm while we were waiting for graduation to begin.  Grady did pretty good for the ceremony and he got very excited seeing Layla up on stage.

Every good school event ends with an ice cream run, right? :)