Ava's Fall Harvest

One of Ava's preschools hosted a hayride and fall festival where the kids and their parent(s) could eat snacks, play games, and pick out a pumpkin. Sean was able to attend along with Ava, and here are some of the fun things they did...

Ava played "pin-the-nose-on-the-scarecrow":
Played with pumpkin play-dough:

Ava and Daddy on the hayride:

Little Miss:

Aidan's Friends Party

For Aidan's friends party, we decided to host an Elmo-themed party complete with custom Elmo cupcakes made by a very reputable baker...me!

It was my first (and probably last) attempt at decorating cupcakes, but I thought they came out pretty cute regardless of the trouble they were! Next time, definitely leaving this job to the professionals. As far as the favors go, I decided to make them kind of funny. Since Halloween is one week after Aidan's birthday, I didn't want to give the kids any more candy than they needed. And since flu season is in full-effect, I decided to provide each kid with a treat bag that included a bottle of hand-sanitizer, tissues, Pla-Doh, and stickers. If one of my kids got that at a party, I'd appreciate it!:
The tricycle Sean and I bought Aidan (it converts from a rocking toy to a pushable trike to a peddling trike):

Aidan downing his cupcakes - yes, that's right: I said CUPCAKES (as in, two):

Mommy and her birthday boy:

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Another year has flown by! I can't believe you are the same little baby all swaddled tightly and fitting perfectly in my arms. You have grown so much in so many ways, and it is such a joy and privilege to get to experience it. But no matter what, you will always fit perfectly in my arms.

You have definitely developed your voice, and are battling with those infamous "terrible twos" - or as Mommy likes to call it "terrible year-and-a-half to threes". As hard as it can be at times, I would not give any of it back. Because just as naughty / angry / frustrating you can be, you are equally - if not more - sweet when you are happy. You are a bruiser and like to be rough, but no little boy gives better hugs than you.

The other day when I was driving to work, I started to cry when I thought about the first day we met. I still remember that immense feeling of happiness and kept thinking I would totally do it all over again.

We love you so much and can't wait to see what's next for you - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Aidan and Mommy at his 1st Birthday last year:

"Off to the pumpkin patch we go!"

That's what Ava said as we were getting in the car for one of our favorite fall traditions. We made the annual trip to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkins (and gourds for the pets).

This year, we thought for sure that Aidan would totally dig it. However, every time we tried to get him to do something, he refused - sometimes screamed (notice none of those pictures made the blog...)

It was a VERY chilly morning, but all things considered, it was a very successful trip. We got to watch the kids - mostly Ava - do some fun things, and found some great pumpkins.

Our attempt at getting a picture of them together:
Aidan was walking around the patch kissing the pumpkins. He finally settled on the one that had dried mud stuck on it that he insisted on cleaning off:

Ava would pick up a pumpkin and say, "This one's too heavy" and set it down until she found the one that wasn't too heavy:

Aidan "puttin' out the vibe":

Our happy family on the hay ride to the patch:

Big Boy Bed

The time finally came (about a month ago...) to convert Aidan's crib to a toddler bed. The reason we decided to just go for it was because he literally wasn't fitting in his pack-n-play. We wanted to get him used to sleeping in a normal bed so when we stay overnight somewhere, it wouldn't be such a shock to his little system.

After roughly a month, he is (thankfully) sleeping perfectly in his new big boy bed. As soon as we got him proper toddler bedding - thanks to my friend Jenna - he has loved his bed ever since.

Here are my two handymen making the conversion:
Success!! The first morning after sleeping in his big bed, he was still in it:

The second night...not so much:

Julie's 30th Birthday

My dear friend Jenny and I recently celebrated our 30th birthdays. To mark the occasion, a big group of our friends headed downtown for an adults' night out.

The birthday weekend festivities actually started on Friday. Sean booked me some spa treatments - which I graciously accepted. The next morning, he cooked me a custom omelet. In the afternoon, I got to take a trip to the salon and get "my hair did". I came home to freshly baked Cherry Chip cupcakes made by Sean and the kids. Later that day, my parents came over (they had come to watch the kids while we were out), and I got to open presents from them.

We started with some pre-partying in our room. The hotel gave us a complimentary bottle of champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and bottled water to make up for the fact that they gave away our non-smoking / king-sized room to guests staying longer than promised and lied to us about it (VERY long story):
Ross and Ashley joined us for a few cocktails before heading to dinner:

Sean and The Birthday Girl:

The day after:

It was a wonderful weekend! Thank you to all who helped me celebrate :)