Planting Flowers with Grandmother

Grandmother has been with us a little over a week since Nathan's birthday party, and we have had so much fun together! Nathan can even say Grandmother now! I love it when she comes to visit because she pretty much takes care of Nathan while I run errands, shop, meet friends for dinner, movies, go out with Wayne, sleep late...whatever I want to do is fine with her. She just wants to spend time with Nathan, and I am more than willing to let them do just that while I pamper myself :)

A few days ago, Helen surprised me by bringing home several plants to plant in my two hanging baskets (I've been meaning to plant something in them for a year now). So she and Nathan worked together. Nathan wants to do everything himself now. "Nay Nay do'd it" and "Nay Nay's turn" are common phrases that we hear over and over and over.


"Hi Grandmother! What are you doing?"


"That's a big bag of dirt! I'd love to stick my hands in it!"


"I had to take a break to get my juice."


"Nathan's turn!"



"Sorry I poured dirt all over the patio...Grandmother's turn now...you're doing a great job!"


"I love you Grandmother. Now, let's go sit on the front steps and look for worms like we always do!"

Mother's Day Out Open House

Nathan will be starting Mother's Day Out next week. He's only going one day a week, but I've been really nervous about him going. What if he doesn't like it? What if his teachers aren't sweet? What if he misses me too much? What if, what if, what if. Well, on Tuesday, we went to Open House so that Nathan and I could see his room, meet his teachers, and meet the other kids and their families. After going to open house, I'm not worried anymore! Nathan had so much fun and did not want to leave! Granted, I was there with him, but I really do think it will be good for him and that he'll have fun.

Nathan walked in and made himself right at home. There are 3 teachers and 13 kids in the room. He loved each of the teachers, and wasn't shy at all. They had several tables set up with toys on each of them. The table that was Nathan's favorite had rubber snakes and reptiles on them. He ran over, grabbed a snake, and said, "Look Mommy! Lellow snake!" He then pretended like the snake was getting me and then went up to two of the other dads there and did the same to them! He acted like he's known all of these people his whole life! He was so cute!

Nathan also helped himself to two cookies sitting on a table :) After Nathan ate his cookies, he explored the "family living" center. There was a baby doll, a crib, and a sink. Nathan pretended to rock the baby and then lay it down to go "night night." He kept dragging this baby around while he played at the other centers. After a while, I could tell that another little girl wanted to hold the baby so I told Nathan it was her turn now. Sometimes Nathan can get a little possessive over his toys so I was praying that he wouldn't have a fit in front of everyone. Luckily, he gave the baby up very easily and went about his business. A little while later I saw him walk over to this little girl, and I thought "Oh no, he's going to try to steal it back!" I told Nathan that she was still playing with it, and that he needed to play with something else. Then he walked up to her and stuck one finger out and put it on the baby doll and said, "Nay Nay touch baby." He just wanted to touch it, not steal it :)

"Mommy, let me down so I can play some more!"

Nathan really did have a good time, and I pretty much had to bribe him to get him to leave. He loves this play area in the church so I told him he could play here for a while once we left. I guess that's a good sign that I had to drag him out. He yelled a big "BYE!" to his teachers and off we went. Nathan starts MDO on Tuesday so I'll post pictures of his first day next week.

Happy Birthday Nathan...AGAIN!

This was our final birthday celebration! This party was with our family and "couple" friends and their kids. The theme was still a safari theme, and since I already had one party with Nathan's playgroup friends, it was a little easier to plan and get ready for. Nathan had snake cupcakes for his first party and an elephant cake for his 2nd!

How cute is this cake?! I was so excited when I picked it up! Can you believe it is from the Kroger by my house? When I was talking to the lady in the bakery, I told her I wanted some kind of safari animal for his cake, and she told me she did a great elephant...she was right!

My mom and Grandma

Mama and Grandma were Nathan's first guests to arrive.

Grandma, Mom, and Helen (Wayne's mom)

Nathan's two favorite women (other than Mommy) Mama and Grandmother. These are the two that spoil him rotten :)

Auntie Carrie is pretty good at spoiling Nathan too!

Once Nathan's friends started to arrive, he got so excited and couldn't wait to play so we headed outside to cool off in the water.

Jack, Nathan, Lauren, and Kelly

Heath was totally happy playing with this push toy! He's very easily pleased :)

Willow and Nathan

It was REALLY hot! The kids didn't notice because they had the water to play in. The grandmothers were troopers!

Angela, Jennifer (Jack's mommy), April and Heath

Papa, Grandmother, Auntie Carrie, Uncle Chris, and Josh (Heath's daddy)

After playing in the water, the kids finally worked up an appetite and were ready for snacks.


Nathan was the first to take a snack break, but once the other kids saw Teddy Grahams, they quickly joined him :)

"Daddy, look, I have girlfriends!"

This is the closest I got to getting all of the kids together but we're still missing a few. Andrew was getting his swimsuit on, Reece was running around, and Heath had to leave early.

After swimming for a while, Wayne cooked hamburgers and hot dogs that were so good! I was running around trying to help Wayne, playing with Nathan, getting drinks, etc... so I have no pictures from dinner, but I think everyone dug in :)

And after dinner, it was time to break open the lion pinata.

Nathan took the first swing and then all of the other kids took a turn. While they were hitting the lion and everyone was cheering them on, I started thinking, I hope the kids know this is just a game and not to go around hitting things or people with a bat...oh well!

After everyone took a turn whacking the lion, the daddies stepped in and helped tear it open.

I put gummy snacks inside, and I'm pretty sure Nathan ate 3 bags :)

Nathan even shared with Daddy.

Sorry Mr. Lion

"I'm sorry too, but are there any more gummy snacks in there?"

I also don't have any pictures of Nathan blowing out his candle, only a video. But I'm hoping Carrie took some. Everyone ate some cake, and then the group started to thin out. Jack and Reece stayed a little bit longer and decided to have a second go at the cake.

Nathan tried to re-create the moment by putting on his hat, but when the strap snapped against his neck, he threw it on the ground and wanted nothing more to do with it.

Nathan kept saying, "Lick cake." So after everyone had their piece, Jack and Nathan crawled up into this chair together and we pushed the cake in front of them and just watched. At first, all they did was gently stick their fingers in the icing and lick them.

And then Nathan went for the big bite!

He got a mouthful of icing and was in Heaven!

Jack wasn't about to let Nathan get all of the good bites. He dug in too!

"I think we might throw up Mommy."

So Daddy and Dan give into the temptation and shoved cake into their mouths too! I guess we had 4 two year olds left at the party!

Not only did we beat the lion, we mutilated the elephant too...

The party was so much fun! Nathan was in the best mood and has talked about it every day since. We are all so lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful family members and friends. I love that Nathan had a great party, that all of his friends were there and had fun, that the weather was nice, and that we have such a wonderful little boy. Happy 2nd Birthday Nathan! We love you!

I'm thinking that Wayne and Chris might have gone a bit overboard on the adult beverages. What do you think? Here are a couple of pictures I took of the two of them listening (and dancing) to music after everyone left. Draw your own conclusions...