A weekend of parties

Last weekend we had two joint parties for the kids.  Since there are so many people we did one party for my side of the family and one party for B's side of the family.  I was so thankful that our floor were installed, and our laundry room was finished before the party.  It feels so nice to have my house put back together!  On Saturday, for the Prazeau's, I made Paula Deen's ham mac and cheese, Mexican tortilla roll-ups, veggies with spinach dip, and fruit, chips, etc.  Sunday per Peyton's request, I made chicken cordon bleu, salad and garlic bread for the Springer's.  Here are a slew of pictures...

Olivia's bunny cake I made her

So happy about his Ninjago cake


 

Last minute Dollar store decor

I tried to get a good pic of the two birthday kids together, but didn't get a one.

Steph giving me the boom

Showing off her dollhouse from mom and dad.

Excited about his new Ninjago lego from mom and dad

Lots of loot!

Basketball from Grandpa!

I think the shopping cart and play food from Steph and RJ was one of  her favorite gifts of the night.

Playing with her doll house

Steph playing ball with Austin and Peyt

She loved her ice cream cone kit from Cousins Brandon and Kate

 Springer party!

Grammy helping Liv open

My sweet 6-year-old

This pic cracks me up.  They had a gift to open that was for the both of them and Olivia wasn't thrilled about that...

Then she was better when Peyt let her do most of the opening.  He's really good with her most of the time.

Practicing some chest passes with Uncle A. 

She's going to be a baller, I can already tell!!

Pancho and Tootsie relaxing...party poopers

Grammy and Paoa got Peyt a fireman costume. 

More cake!!!

 

We had a fun but busy weekend celebrating! I think this will be the last year that the kids would be willing to have joint parties... :)

SIXER

My baby boy is 6.  It is so true that time flies after you have kids. 

Peyton has grown physically and intellectually a lot this past year.  He doesn't have a well-check until next year so I measured him and weighed him at home so we can have some 6-year stats.
Height: 49 inches (up 3 inches from last year)
Weight: 47 lbs (up 3.5 lbs from last year)

I can't even begin to explain how much Peyton has learned so far in Kindergarten.  He's started to read and write sentences.  He continues to thrive in school.  We had a mid-year conference with his teacher Mrs. Brocka and she said he is a very eager and bright kid.  His only downfall is him rushing.  Rushing to finish his work FIRST.  Everything is a competition to him, and he feels if he finishes coloring his picture before all the kids, he wins.  We explained to him about quality vs quantity and I think he gets it. Mrs. Brocka has noticed improvement on this just in the past few weeks.  She encourages us to challenge him, especially at home.
When he slows down, takes his time, he colors almost better than I do. 

Peyton is a very independent and stubborn boy.  There are pros and cons to this.  Cons...we battle with him a lot...he only wants to do things if he's in control and if it's his idea.  Pros...he's very self-sufficient.  B and I joke that he could totally survive on his own if he really needed to.  We are working with him to be a little more easy going.  He's always worried about other people doing the right thing, and will call people (other kids, especially his sister) out on things if he feels they aren't doing the 'right' thing.  We constantly are telling him to worry about himself.  On the other hand, Peyt is a very loving, affectionate and sweet boy.  He is a great big brother-so protective and loving towards Olivia...they are growing into the best of friends.  He loves his family and is always excited to get together for family nights, especially with his cousin Austin.

He has amazing fine motor skills.  He puts together Lego sets out of his age-range all on his own, button, snaps, ties with ease.  He's very good with his hands.

Things Peyt loves: Legos, playing with his DS, riding his bike/green machine, shooting hoops, playing catch outside, crafts, drawing/coloring.

Peyton is still a good eater.  He goes through phases where he doesn't want to eat very much, but he likes a variety of food.  I've been so lucky to have two awesome eaters.  He has SO much energy and by the time 8pm rolls around he's ready for bed and is asleep literally within a couple minutes. 

He's lost two teeth and has another hanging by a thread.

Here's his yearly questionnaire...

My favorite toy: Nintendo DS
My favorite sport: Baseball
The best show on TV: Ninjago
The coolest person on Earth: a ninja
My favorite thing to do in school: doing crafts
If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go: Slappy Cakes
My favorite colors: Green, blue and orange
When I grow up, I'm going to be: a police officer
My favorite song: Bob Marley
The book I'm loving right now: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?
Two words to describe me are: Tall and good
My favorite season: Summer
The best thing about camping is: Roasting marshmallows
My favorite food: Salad
One food I really dislike: Green beans
My best friend: Ethan
If I had one wish, it would be: For Grandma to be back :(
My best memory: Swimming at Wickiup last summer

Last night for his actual birthday we met up at Yaw's Top Notch after I got off work for dinner.  It was really good. 

Liv loved her hat



Peyt and Ethan showing off their missing teeth.



Can't believe my baby boy is now.....

THIS!

Happy Birthday Peytster....we love you SO much!!!

TWO

On Tuesday I took Olivia in for her 2-year check up.  She did well and was a champ for her one shot.  I was expecting the usual blood curdling scream she usually gives, but she just laid there and whispered "Ow." 

Olivia's  2-year stats:
Weight: 30.5 lbs (90%)
Height: 38 inches (Over 100%)

~Olivia is talking up a storm!  She is talking in sentences more and more and is talking non stop. 
~We are in the beginning stages of potty training.  I was hoping to be gung-ho potty training this week while I'm off work, but we have contractors here every day and no washer or dryer until Friday!  But while we are home, I have been putting big girl underwear on her and she does pretty well.  She does better with #2 than #1 so far.  I'm ready for no more diapers!
~I see little glimpses of the terrible 2's but its usually only when she's overtired or hungry.  I'm finding that boys are SO different than girls! Peyton was in full-on tantrum mode at this age.  She is easy going and just goes with the flow when we are out and about, it's nice.
~She is still a really good eater.  She has phases where she only wants certain things, but is usually willing to eat whatever I give her.  We think she may not be big on sweets.  She would rather have oatmeal than pancakes, or salad over anything else.  We usually have salad with dinner and she will always eat that first.  It's crazy.  Don't get me wrong, she loves to have the occasional treat! Her favorites right now are cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, raisins, yogurt, oatmeal, anything with peanut butter, almond milk, pineapple, peaches...to name a few.  She still isn't a fan of eggs or avocado and suddenly doesn't want potatoes. 
~Olivia knows most of the ABC song and is starting to recognize letters.  She knows O of course, P, A, and Q.  She can count to ten really well..she was skipping seven for the longest time, but finally got it down (See video below).  We are working on colors, she knows yellow and pink. We are doing some flashcards with her which she is getting good at. 
~Her favorite activities are coloring, playing with playdoh, building her legos (or Peyts legos), drawing the letter O over and over again, playing with her babies, playing with Peyton's hot wheels,  making us coffee and soup in her play kitchen and most of all, doing whatever her big brother is doing
~She is sleeping well at night and takes one 2-3 hour nap.  She is getting her 2-year molars now..she's got two popping through right now. 

Here's a video of her counting.  She has a cold so she sounds stuffed up :)

 

Here's a video of her chatting in the bath:

 

We love our big TWO-year-old!!!

 

 

Valentine Makin'

Tonight Peyt and I made Valentines for his class.  We did lip and mustache Tootsie Pops with a little note attached.  He's so excited for his class party tomorrow! Happy Love Day!

 

Making sure he doesn't miss anyone from his class list.

Lips for the girls to wear...

And mustaches for the boys to wear....

Our girl is TWO!

Yesterday our little girl turned two! I got the day off, so first thing we headed off to church and then out to breakfast with our little family of four.  Then we went to Build-a-Bear so Olivia could create her own stuffed friend!  It was superbowl sunday, so B headed over to his parent's house mid-game with Peyton while I took Liv to her swimming lesson.  She still loves swimming every Sunday and begs ALL week to go the the pool.  I hear this all week: "MOMMY! I go to pool peeeeease?"  We are going to have a couple joint b-day parties with her and Peyt in a couple weeks, so more celebrating is coming up!  She has her 2-year check up next week, so I'll have a more detailed post on what our girl is doing at TWO-years old. :)

Peyton helping her pick out a friend





She chose a heart puppy and her name is Roxy....after our late Roxy girl.

Stuffing her up!



Putting her heart inside.



She loved carrying her big box through the mall

She has been toting around Roxy all day and is her new sleeping buddy, along with her bunny of course.

After we came home from swimming/B's parents we sang Liv happy birthday, she blew her two candles out, and had a couple bites of cake.



I can't believe she is two...she's getting so big it's crazy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVIA SANDRA!