Toph Turned Two: A Celebration

My Toph turned two on Monday, March 19.  We threw him a party Saturday, March 17.  We did this because we wanted people to pinch him for growing up too fast.

No one pinched him though; instead, they gave him lots of gifts and kisses. Go figure.

Here is the lowdown on the party:

We had food:

1.  Fruit kabobs (inspiration found here.)

2.  Veggie cups with ranch dip (inspiration found here)

3.  Chicken salad sandwiches (my own recipe...comment for the recipe) and tortilla rollups (found here).

We had desserts:

1.  Top tier: dark chocolate cake balls,

second tier: strawberry cake balls (found here)

bottom tier: green velvet cake balls in honor of St. Patty's Day

(recipe found here).

2.  Ice cream cone cupcakes (found here)

rice krispie treats with 2s on them 

We had beverages:

1.  Apple juice, milk, water and cranberry punch (given to me by a friend...comment for the recipe)

2.  Coffee punch  (found here)

We had kid games:

Bubble table, mural painting, sidewalk chalk and sandbox treasure hunt

We had grown up games:

Bean bag toss

We had goodie bags:

Contents:

Kool aid play dough ...I even put it in eggs! (inspiration found here)

Bubbles

Sidewalk chalk

Fruit snack

All sealed with a special Toph sticker from Snapfish!

We had so much fun!

(Read about Toph's first birthday here and see if you can spot the similarities...I say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!)

Happy Birthday, Topherboy!

Dear Toph,

Two years ago, I was holding a brand new baby boy.  Today, I watched as you and your daddy played pretend Lego salesmen.  You acted your part and offered to sell me some brand new Legos.

Two years ago, I held a tiny squalling baby on the couch.  Today, I held a still two year old who just wanted "to get comfy," as you say when you want to cuddle.

Two years ago, I breastfed a little bitty baby.  Today, I watched as my two year old shoved pizza and blueberries in his mouth and washed it down with milk (from a cow).

Two years ago, I woke up all hours of the night to quiet a crying newborn.  Tonight, I will kiss you on the cheek and won't hear from you again until 6am.

Two years ago, I would read to a placid newborn, just wanting to hear his mama's voice.  Today, I read to a two year old who has many of his books memorized

Two years ago, I would sing to placate you.  Today, you sang your ABCs to me and I thought the clouds were parting.
Two years ago, I would shake a rattle in my newborn's face.  Today, I watched as you slam dunked a basketball.

Two years and a day ago, I thought I knew what miracles were but I wasn't sure if any real ones had occurred for me.  Today, I am living my miracle.  You are it.

You will never know the difference you have made in my world, my son.  These past two years have been so very precious.  You are my treasure.


Happy birthday, my son.  I love you without end.
Love
mama

LIttle Preview of Toph's Birfday Outfit

We found this little set on Etsy and ordered it for Toph:

So excited to see it on!

Let Them Eat (Couture?) (Short?) Cake!

We're in full on party planning mode around here and I am in need of opinions as far as the "cake" goes at Toph's party.

Originally, I thought I had my mind made up on the cake issue, then I saw a picture that caught my eye.  First, let me explain my original idea.

Instead of an ordinary cake on Toph's birthday, I was going to create a shortcake bar.  Matt's Grandma Funk gave me the idea because she loves strawberry shortcake.  I was going to buy several of those mini-shortcakes, make three different fruit compotes (strawberry, blueberry and peach) and make some homemade whipped cream (no Cool Whip, thank you very much).  Then, guests could create their own mini-shortcake.

That was until I saw a picture of an assortment of delicious looking cupcakes.  Not just your average HEB bakery cupcakes, these babies were from Cupcake Couture; specializing in delicious flavors and beautiful presentation.  I would buy a few dozen different flavored cupcakes and guests would choose the kind they'd like.  I have a really cool little tiered serving tree that I would use to present them.

All along, I've planned for Toph to have an organic carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting as his birthday cake.  I am going to make it because I'd like to control the amount of processed sugar he takes in.  I got to thinking it might be weird if he's the only one with a cupcake at the party and everyone else has shortcake...but then I realized he's one, not twenty one, and really won't know the difference.

I call on you, faithful readers (all four of you), to give me your opinion and answer the poll.

What would you rather have, shortcake bar or Cupcake Couture? (And pretend you're all invited to the party...)

Happy Birthday Matt!

Happy 31st birthday babe!  Your 22nd birthday was the first one we shared (remember? :)) and each year I walk through memory lane, going through all our fun birthdays together (fondue, Colorado trips, romantic dates, weekend getaways...).  You and Toph have richly blessed my life; it's true that we are better together.

PS
I had a ton of cute pics that I wanted to post here, however Blogger is being weird and won't let me post them. Boo.

I love you babe!

Six Months.

Dear Toph,
Today you are six months old. For the first time in my life, I know what it feels like for time to speed up and slow down at the same time; for six months feels like a long time ago but I know it was just yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital.

Half a year, bud. That's how old you are today. Your smile lights up our day, your laugh melts our heart and your easy-going nature is such a joy.

You have turned us into this really awesome trio; a new family unit. I won't lie, at times it was hard for our duo to adjust to being a trio, but you make it all worth it. We think you are amazing, and you became our center of gravity the minute you were born. Rest assured, everything we do is for you. You are never far from our thoughts and you drive every action and decision we make.

You are a busy guy these days; you love to jump in your bouncer.

And you equally love your doorway jumper.

You are trying like crazy to crawl:

You have the most kissable cheeks in the world.

You grab at everything.

You sit up so well.  You rarely cry.  You love to look at books.  Your favorite foods are squash, peas and breastmilk.  You hate rice cereal.  You wear size three diapers and have about a month before you outgrow your 6-9 month clothes.  You nurse like a champ, except when your non-existent teeth hurt you.  You only take a pacifier in your crib and we think we can talk you out of that pretty soon.  You are popular at day care.  You can hold your own bottle.  You are trying to pull up on the ottoman.  You think the cat is fascinating and want him so badly.  The cat does not share the sentiment.  You light up when your daddy comes home.  You don't like it when daddy makes scary faces in an attempt to be funny.  You just learned to sleep on your tummy and at times have a hard time adjusting to the new position.  You hair sticks straight up and you have the sweetest cowlick on the top of your forehead.  Your eyes are brown like your daddy's.  In fact, almost everything about you, right down to your personality, is just like your daddy.  We got lucky because if you were anything like your mama when she was a baby, I'd have to delete the "rarely cries" part.  You can be put on a pallet on the floor with a few toys and be fine there for an extended period.  You love your rattles and you love your bear Uncle Kris gave you.  You love to practice standing on mama's lap.  You are in a great mood when you wake up in the morning.  You look precious in footie pajamas.  At night when you wake from teething I'll rock you back to sleep and I try to memorize exactly the way you feel in my arms.  You fit perfectly against my chest and in my arms.  No matter how big you get (and your pedi predicts you'll be a big boy) you will always fit perfectly in my arms.  They were made for you, my boy.

You are my baby, my six month old baby. You've brought so much joy to our lives.  I love you so fiercely.
Love
mama

Happy Birfday Aunt Mollye!

Today is Aunt Mollye's birfday!  We sure do miss her around here and hope she has an awesome day!

Looooveeee yoooooo Moooooolooooooo!

A Pair of Birthdays

Today, this baby turned 28 years old.

 

Today, this baby turned 5 months old.

They're a very happy pair.

(

(They're also a sick pair, but that didn't stop the two of them from celebrating!)