Tommy's Monster Truck Birthday Party

We threw Tommy his 2nd birthday party a month early as family was in town from ND and Texas! Tommy's official birthday is December 30th so I wanted to throw him a birthday early so it would be seperate from Christmas. We will still celebrate with him on his actual birthday but it will be just our family.

We had a Monster Truck bounce house and served pizza with mud pie for dessert! It was so fun as we have made so many good friends in AZ over the past few years so it was fun to celebrate with family and friends. Tommy loved the bounce house and he had fun with all of his friends and he received some amazing gifts!! Thankfully, my mom was in town so she helped me decorate and she made over 40 cups of mud pie! Mud pie was my favorite version of birthday cake when I was a kid so we had to make it for Tommy and it was a hit.

Our Thanksgiving

My mom and brother Steven flew in from ND for Thanksgiving weekend. We had so much fun with them and Joe's sister Mary and her husband David and daughter Lucy who flew in from Texas! It was a great weekend. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner and it was very easy for me because my husband loves to cook. I woke up on Thanksgiving morning and Joe had one turkey brined and cooking in the roaster and one turkey in the oven. He had everything lined up and labeled and a timeline for all the cooking. He also found time to mow the lawn! He is amazing as the food tasted great! Nana and Pops (Joe's parents) also brought an amazing ham so we had a lot of food and leftovers which I think is the best part!

Tommy and Lily had so much fun playing with their cousin Lucy and Tommy loves his Uncle Steven who he calls "Zena" - Tommy was really sad to see Steven fly home and even said "I luv you Zena" as Steven was heading into the airport. I may or may not have seen a tear coming down from Uncle Zena's face as he walked inside. Tommy also loves playing with his Aunt Mary and Uncle David. David is really good at throwing Tommy up in the there air!

Joe's cooking timeline and set-up

Playing a little ping-pong before dinner

I wish I had gotten a picture of everyone eating

Lily and I in our matching necklace and headband that was made by my friend Heather

Aunt Mary and Tommy playing

The cousins - Lily, Lucy and Tommy (We were missing Jaxson and Wyatt)

Uncle Zena and Tommy enjoying the pool

Saying good-bye - so sad!

Daydreaming

I received an e-mail last night from my cousin Michelle. She is getting married at the end of December and I am her Matron of Honor. I am so honored to be in her wedding as I love her like a sister. Anyways, she wrote me last night to confirm my hair/airbrush make-up/fake eyelashes appointment!! YEAH!! I am going to get my hair and make-up done with her in her room before the wedding along with fake eyelashes! This may not seem like a big deal but when you have been either pregnant or nursing for the past three years being pampered sounds like heaven!! I was daydreaming about flying away to her wedding without the kids. Should we bring them or leave them? My mom bought Joe and I plane tickets and got us our very own hotel room with a king size bed as we will be flying to Texas for her wedding. I cannot even imagine being away from the kids as it makes me scared but hey, I also need a break and Joe and I could use some time away from the kids. The only time I have been away from Tommy for more than 10 hours was when I gave birth to Lily and that was an amazing experience but it was no vacation. So, my dilemma is that Lily refuses to take a bottle even with pumped milk....do I leave the kids with Joe's parents who are amazing or do we bring them along since Lily won't drink out of the bottle? I think I have already made up my mind to leave them as we will only be gone for two days but I am also nervous as I don't want Lily to scream for two days? What do you think? Any advice?

Happy Halloween

We had a fun day yesterday on Halloween! We went to church with Joe's family and then we went out for breakfast before Joe's Grandma flew back to North Dakota. Tommy is still wondering where GG went as he is sad she left.

Joe and I were both so tired from a busy weekend but we spent most of the afternoon in the backyard playing with the kids and carving pumpkins. Joe made real pumpkin masks for the whole family.

We were excited to take Tommy trick or treating this year. He did not really know what was going on at first but he loved it after he realized he was getting all of this free candy! We went over to my friend Kim's house and went trick or treating with her kids and husband Johnathan. Her daughter is a few months older than Tommy and her son is a couple months younger than Lily so we had fun hanging out with them and they have a great neighborhood! There were lots of trick or treaters running around.

Tommy and Lily went as skeletons and Joe went as a Chilean Miner. He was chanting, "Chi Chi Chi Le Le Le... Chile Chile Chile" most of the night.

On our way home we stopped at Nana and Pops house and they had a huge plate of candy, treats, and a movie for Tommy. It was so cute and Tommy loved showing off his costume to Nana and Pops! Joe then transformed into a Pumpkin head Chilean Miner.