Good Thing Sushi is Soft

Last week Reese had an appliance installed in her mouth to help expand her jaw and to break her of her thumb sucking habit. 

The poor thing has been in pain since then.  They warned us that it would take a few weeks to get used to it but it I still feel awful.  She's been a trooper and realizes that it's for the best.  She's still working to get used to it so for now she's got a little lisp and is having a lot of trouble with food.  For now I've stocked up on soft foods to get her through the hard days. 

Good thing sushi is soft because that's what we had for our special Valentine's Day dinner last night.  They were able to wrap her rolls in a soy paper and make them bite sized so she was thrilled. 

And today she has something new to be thrilled about....her best friend, Emma, is coming into town from Seattle.  Along with her is her mom, Meilina, so we'll both have our bests in town for the next few days.  Last week we found out that Eddie will be flying in from Florida as well.  We'll have a house full of friends and we could not be more excited. 

Parties, Parties, and More Parties

I have had an incredibly busy month.  A friend of a friend contacted me a month ago and asked me if I'd be interested in planning a 40th birthday party for her husband.  Uh, heck yes!  Planning parties is one of my favorite things.  When she offered to pay me I couldn't have been more excited.  So in addition to planning Talan's birthday party and our upcoming Mardi Gras party I took on this job as well.  I spent most of last week prepping for the big day.  It was all desserts.  I'm not a huge fan of baking but I gave it my best.

On Friday I went over with my loads and loads of food and started setting up.  She was really, really pleased with the end result and said that the guests raved about the food.  I'm really grateful to have had the opportunity to do this and hope it's a trend.  Here's a few photos of the set up:

Aside from the cookie cake I did it all myself.  He's a big Michigan State fan so I planned around the school colors, green and white.  I had the guests send me quotes and did a "Top 40 Things We Love About Jason" display in various places (helps keep people moving through the house), had a picture made and guests signed the border, and set up a Jack Daniel's bar because that's his drink of choice. 

I got rave reviews so I'm really excited.  And the following day I worked on cake pops for a close friend of mine.  Her daughter loves a show called Monster High so with a little research I was able to come up with cake pops that matched her theme.  And again, I got paid for them!  Loving it.

And I'm officially exhausted.  Too bad being that I have a HUGE party to host in three days.  Red Bull please!

Open Hizzy

Last week was open house at Reese's school.  It's always funny to me to see how Reese acts as though we've never been to the school before when we go to these functions.  "Mom, Dad, this is the library", "Oh, and here's the lunchroom".....the same lunchroom I was at earlier that same day to drop off her lunch.  The reason being she had an expander installed in her mouth to prevent her from sucking her thumb and to reshape her jaw.  It's causing her a lot of pain and she wasn't able to eat much of anything after they put it in.  I brought her smoothies and soup on Thursday and Friday so that she'd have something in her system. 

The kids are always really excited about showing off their hard work.  We had fun admiring everything

I was super impressed by her PowerPoint presentation on penguins.  Talan was, too:

Her self portrait:

And one with her teacher, Mrs. Eischen:

I spent most of yesterday working on homemade Valentine's for the kids to bring to school this week.  I'm so addicted to Pinterest.  I've found a ton of great and easy ideas - everything from food to crafts to home improvement to fashion.  Loving it.  The schools won't allow candy anymore (boo!) so I had to be a little creative.  We went with pencils and homemade bookmarks instead:

So much fun!

3 Year Stats

I took Talan in for his 3 year well check yesterday.  It's a good thing we went in because it turns out he has a double ear infection.  I just took him in last Friday because he's been sick off and on for two months now and they sent us home with the usual "it's just a cold" diagnosis.  I'm glad he's finally on some antibiotics and will be able to fight whatever has had a hold on him.

I was shocked to find out that he has grown just short of FIVE inches this year.  Insanity.  He's gained just three pounds over the course of the year but that was exactly what she expected.  Here are his stats:
2012 - 27 pounds, 38 inches
2011 - 24 pounds, 33.25 inches
2010 - 17 pounds, 28.5 inches

I told Talan that when you turn three years old, diapers go away.  So, on Monday morning we started the dreaded potty training.  Fortunately I had my parents here to help out on day one.  He only had one small accident (didn't even soak through his underwear) on the way to the bathroom.  Yesterday I was concerned because I knew we'd be in the car for an hour and a half when we had to take my parents to the airport.  Even so, he stayed dry.  The only accident he had yesterday wasn't really an accident.  He isn't a fan of pooping on the toilet so instead he pooped in his underwear.  Cleaning that up was an absolute blast.  Loved every minute.  Today he has been in underwear all day....including the 4 hours he was at school....and hasn't had a single accident!  I'm really, really pleasantly surprised at how easy this has been so far.  I guess he was just ready. 

Here are a couple of cute videos from his birthday party:
Singing happy birthday


Opening his gift from Grandma & Granddad


They know the way to his heart.....cheeseburgers!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Talan!

Last night I just had to take a picture of my sweet little man.....that last one before he would turn three.

When I had him tucked into bed I went to work on decorating so that he could wake up to birthday fun.

I couldn't wait to see his sweet little face the next morning.  I love my sleep but I was up very early in anticipation of greeting him at his door and walking him down the stairs.  He didn't disappoint with his animated reactions to everything.

After a birthday donut breakfast it was already time to start getting ready for his birthday party.  He has been talking about this day for over a month now.  We arrived at Bounce Town and I got to work setting everything up.

The guests began to arrive and the kids had a blast in the bouncy houses.

Next up was pizza, cake, and gifts.

He had such a fantastic day thanks to all of his great friends who showed up and helped him to celebrate it.  Happy third birthday to you, Talan August.  We love you so much! 

Disney On Ice

Yesterday Talan had a fabulous pre-birthday celebration.  My parents are here visiting and took the kids to see Disney on Ice.  He dressed up for the big occasion.

It was his first big show so he was in awe.  I wish I could have been there to witness his reaction.  He's so expressive that I'm sure it was cute to see him.  There are a couple of videos that I'll have to transfer off of my Dad's camera when I have more time. 

Birthday Boy

Talan's birthday is fast approaching.  He's been so excited for the last few weeks.  I wasn't going to do a big party for him but in looking back, Reese has been having parties since she was two.  I guess it's time.  And seeing as how he's in school now, he has a few kids to invite whereas before now it would have been a room full of Reese's friends. 

He decided on a bouncy house party so I've been in party planning mode.  He loves trucks and cars so I'll be making him a truck cake and the theme will be around that. 

His invitation:

gift bags:

Today was his birthday celebration at school so I made the kids some "big red car" themed cake pops (per Talan's request).  As you can see, he was very excited about them.

They turned out really cute and from what his teachers say, the kids loved them. 

He was so excited when I went to pick him up and told me all about how they gave him a special crown and how the kids sat in a circle and sang to him.  Unfortunately he has been fighting a cold so he was really run down when I went to pick him up but he had a fun day nonetheless. 

He has an exciting weekend to look forward to.  My parents arrive tomorrow and are taking the kids to Disney on Ice on Saturday.  And Sunday, on his actual birthday, is his big party.  So hard to believe that my little man will need three fingers to show me how old he is in 4 short days.