Art Party

Layla's 2nd birthday party was on Saturday. The theme this year was "arts and crafts." There is no character that Layla is obsessed with and she loves to draw, color, paint and stamp so an arts and crafts party it was!! Enjoy the pictures!

The invites! Layla really did all of the hard work, she happily painted and painted and

painted :-) The front of the invitation is on the left and the back is on the right of the collage. Look at how short Layla's hair was just about six weeks ago!

The sign and the cake, two of my favorite details of the day! Cassie made the sign and one of Cassie's co-workers made the cake. I would love to learn how to make fondant cakes. If you click on the picture and look at the cake there were little balls at the bottom on the layers, Layla loved these and kept asking for one and popping them in her mouth...silly girl!

Details, details....

The tables had drawing paper on them so everyone could color freely. If you call your local newspaper you might be able to score some! These sold for $1 for the end of the roll...Jamie (thank you!) picked up three rolls for me and I only used one. The extra paper will be great for rolling out on the ground and coloring/painting. We had our "guestbook tablecloth" again this year and I wanted to show you the crayon signs I used for the drinks (important to have signs when one drink has alcohol in it!!). These crayon signs came from the Crayola paint samples at Menards...perfect AND free!

Layla was so much fun to watch at the party. She really loved everything and ran around like a little nut. All of her favorite people were surrounding her and her sidekicks were constants by her side (cousins Kelsey and Shea). Here is the "make a colored noodle necklace" station...I don't think many necklaces were made but the kids had fun pouring noodles from bucket to bucket!

Painting...Layla could not wait to crack into the paints! The paint station got moved outside after the weather looked like it really was going to stay nice and our walls inside stayed paint free, yippee!! Do you see Shea's cute tie? Cassie got it special for the party from Etsy, so fun!

So the singing and cake didn't go exactly as planned :-) We had been practicing singing and blowing out a candle but Layla froze in front of the guests. She loved all of the guests separately but in one room at the same time it became a little overwhelming!

Layla went outside to enjoy a cupcake (the cake lady offered to make cupcakes to go with the cake and it worked out perfectly for Shea and Layla) and bounced right back!

I love this picture of daddy and daughter.

Layla's three baby friends, Zander (left), Ryker (top) and Mason (bottom), were at the party. Aren't they all adorable?

More guests! Layla's super aunts and of course Layla's great grandpa...Big Papa is what Layla and Shea call him. Layla really is so lucky to have so many family and friends be such an active part of her life.

Layla had such a fun day and it made Ryan and I so happy to see her bounding around the house and backyard. Present time turned a little more frenetic than last year. Layla really has the whole opening presents thing down now and she likes to do it at a very fast pace :-)

And of course, I love a favor! This year's favor was a crayon roll for the kiddos and chocolate crayons (purchased a crayon mold and made them) for the adults. The inside of the crayon roll has about 14 pockets to stick crayons in and then you just roll up the crayons, tie it with a ribbon and easily stick it into your diaper bag. I used the tutorial from the blog Skip to My Lou to make these crayon rolls.

It was a fun day and I am now left with the fact that my baby is 2. It is a little tough to wrap my head around but even tougher is the fact that after 2 comes 3...that just seems so old to me! Good thing I have a whole year to come around to the idea :-)

And yes it is crazy, but Layla has another birthday party next weekend. It will be another triple celebration with Layla's twin cousins and Ryan's side of the family. It will be much more low key than last year's carnival party and we are hoping it will be a relaxing afternoon with family.

Stay tuned for pictures...!!!

T-W-O

Layla is 2!! She is turning into such a little girl and had a great weekend celebrating her birthday. She seemed to know the party was all about her, but I don't think she had any idea why. In fact, if you ask Layla how old she is...she will tell you six :-)

Layla is a very special little girl and Ryan and I are so lucky to have her in our lives.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Layla!!

Here is Layla on her "Birth" day:

And then on 6.6.09 @ 3:36 p.m. (birth time)

And then on her 2nd birthday (in the car on the way home from the zoo). The background is purple for Layla's current favorite color, a different one should be coming soon so I didn't want to forget!

Here are some pictures of Layla and her mommy and daddy on her 2nd birthday.

Layla had her 2 year well check today and actually did a very nice job at the doctor. Layla has had so many doctors' appointments, tests and blood draws this year that just one look at a rubber glove will understandably send her into hysterics. Today she was a trouper and only cried for two short spurts that lasted seconds, the doctor and I were so proud of Miss Layla! And never fear, Layla was rewarded with a trip to Barnes and Noble to visit her favorite train table.

Layla is healthy and got an excellent report today, what a great way to enter the hopefully terrific 2's...hee hee!!

More birthday pictures to come...I have to round them all up :-)

Wine, anyone??

My very close girlfriend Stephanie is getting married this summer and last Saturday was her bridesmaid wedding shower. We chose a wine theme drawing inspiration from Steph and Adam's engagement trip to wineries in Michigan. Let me walk you through the shower details, because you know I love details!

As guests came in, they were handed a wine glass and directed towards the wine charm making station and the wine tasting. Everyone made a wine charm for themselves and one for Steph and Adam's new home.

The wines in the tasting were paired with cheese. The tasting went over really well, but the wines were really hard to guess. I kept saying, okay maybe this one is white zin? Hee hee!

Here is the appetizer table which was followed by a pasta lunch.

Here are the wine bottle arrangements that were made by the talented bridesmaid, Amy. She did an awesome job with these and you would never ever of guessed that the calla lilies were fake. Even when you touched one, they felt real. So crazy!

We played a couple games and this one was the apron game. Stephanie walked through the shower guests and people got a peek at her apron and accessories. Someone got every single item...I, on the other hand, have a terrible memory under pressure.

And then there was cake! And presents of course!! Steph got lots of wonderful items but I was writing everything down for her thank you note list so I did not capture any present pictures.

Here is the bride-to-be (top row, second from the left) and the party planners, 5 bridesmaids and 1 junior bridesmaid. The junior bridemaid's mom helped us out with the shower, how nice was that??

Don't forget to grab your wine favor on the way out!!

It was a fun afternoon and I am so excited for Stephanie and Adam.

Almost down to one month before the big day :-)

Wedding Season has Begun!

On Saturday, my first cousin Frankie married his new wife Gina.

Gina looked stunning and I just loved her dress.

Frankie looked very handsome too of course!

Here I am at the church with Shea and Layla. They both were enamored when Gina walked down the aisle but Layla had to be taken out after a couple of minutes. She wasn't climbing on the pews or anything, she just talked (at her normal volume) and talked and talked :-) I had visions of the entire video of the wedding being filled with Layla's chatter so Ryan took her for a walk outside.

Here are Frankie's sisters and more first cousins of mine, Shannon and Ashley.

The bridesmaid dresses were beautiful and both girls looked great.

Below are pictures of the mariachi band playing during cocktail hour. It was very fun and festive music and made Cassie really want to dance!

Below is a picture of my favorite detail of the wedding. Frankie and Gina rode into the reception on a tandem bike. They were SO cute! Sorry for the poor quality picture.

I have a little fact fun for you now :-) Did you know? Frankie and I ended up on the same co-ed dorm floor during our freshman year in college. Crazy, huh?? And one of the boys that lived right next door to me was in Frankie's wedding party. Too funny!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

And I LOVE this one of the three of us. I thought my grandpa looked so cute in his tux!

And since Layla wasn't at the reception...

Ryan and I actually got a picture of the two of us together!!!

You might be thinking, where were Layla and Shea? Well our sweet Aunt Joan joined us in Wisconsin to play nanny for Saturday night. She babysat both babies in the various hotel rooms we were occupying and had her flip camera ready to videotape the action (bottom left). Thank you so much Joan for coming and for monitoring Layla's phone calls, hee hee!!! The other pictures are Layla and Shea playing in the hotel pool.

We had such a fun time at the wedding, reception and hotel stay.

We were all sad to see it come to an end on Sunday,

but we have another wedding to look forward to in July that will be here before we know it.

Congratulations Frankie and Gina, we are so happy for the two of you!!

Little Fish

I wanted to share some pictures of Layla in her "Big Kids Swim" class. She is doing really well in the class and it has been so positive for her to be in the trusting hands of another adult other than her family members. I sit in a chair on the side of the pool and watch and then at the end of the class the parents walk the toddlers to the deep end so they can jump into the water right into the coach's arms.

Layla loves the class and of course enjoys her yellow swimsuit :-) This week was big because Layla's normal coach (who she has had since she was three months old!) was on vacation so she was with a new coach. I couldn't believe my eyes when Layla got right into the water like nothing was different. Our little girl is growing up! Enjoy the pictures.

Bubbles

Layla loves this little boy, I think he reminds her of Shea. She giggles and giggles at his dances and talking. Or maybe she remembers him from her very first swim class. Yep, they ended up in the same class again!

That same little boy forgot his swimsuit and had to borrow an extra swim diaper I had for Layla. He looked so cute in the pink ruffles and he was such a good boy about wearing it.

Toy time at the end. I like this time because Layla gets to work on sharing, a very important thing to practice for an almost 2 year old :-)

Clean up time...everything is more fun in the water!

23 Months

Layla has had a big month. Her vocabulary has really taken off and she is starting to become more confident in social settings which is really so much fun to watch. Layla has also been busy...well being Layla :-)

Layla is a happy little girl who still likes her sleep and food (double knock on wood!) and adores her grandparents and any kind of sweet she lays her eyes on. She has become a little bit of a daredevil, climbing on everything. Today when it was time to leave the park, Layla climbed into the stroller in about 2.2 seconds and was ready to go. I guess I need to be more specific with my directions next time! Layla loves to do anything mommy and daddy are doing whether it is planting flowers, working on home improvement projects, cooking, doing laundry, making the bed, etc. We are enjoying her so much right now and we hope the terrible-ness of the 2's stay far, far away!

Enjoy some pictures of Layla this past month:

Layla posing next to her yellow flowers in her playhouse. She initially wanted blue flowers but I told her we didn't have a lot to work with in the Lowe's greenhouse :) Blue and yellow are her two favorite (okay maybe the only two she knows!) colors.

Tending to her yellow flowers that are already in danger of being over-watered.

This girl loves airplanes, she always stops everything to point up in the sky when they fly by.

Layla had her first major spill this month. The poor thing took a spill off our back deck right onto her head. Luckily, Layla calmed down quickly with the help of a Mr. Freeze (note to self, keep freezer stocked for summer) and Ryan and I were able to move in quickly to ice the bump which kept the swelling to a minimum.

Layla is still loving on her babies. She does not mind if they are in the human or doll form, she adores them all. She actually saw all three of her baby boy friends (Mason, Ryker & Zander) last week but I only managed to capture pictures of Layla and Mason. Layla enjoyed him thoroughly and maybe enjoyed all of his baby stuff just as much :-)

Okay, isn't Mason adorable?

Layla pointing and most likely asking, "What's this Momma?"

This is a very common question in our house these days, hee hee!!

Layla is still obsessed with this slide. It has to be the best ten dollar investment ever. We played with it last summer and brought it in for the winter and now have it back outside. And she doesn't seem to mind that her legs are starting to take up the entire slide!

And there you have it, 23 months old.
If at all possible, Layla's second year has flown by even faster than her first....