This week the weather has been WONDERFUL and I am so thankful for the arrival of spring/summer.  You see, we have seemed to skip right over to summer, with temps in the mid 80′s all week.  I’m not complaining!  I especially love that I can wear of all my maternity dresses now.  Since the weather has been so great, I have made it a point to get the boys outside after daycare/work almost every night this week.

Day 131- May 11, 2013

Saturday Xander enjoyed his first freeze pop of the season (green for Ninja Turtles of course). I haven’t been able to stop eating them thanks to my new found pregnancy craving!

Day 132- May 12, 2013

I had a fantastic mother’s day with my favorite people! We spent the morning lounging around the house.  In the afternoon, we went out for a late lunch at one of my favorite Italian restaurants for an amazing brunch spread of endless yummy food.

Day 133- May 13, 2013

Xander is really starting to pick up his running pace at tee ball! He also knows all of his teammates names. He has an incredible memory for people’s names, totally not one of my traits.

Day 134- May 14, 2013

The boys decided it would be fun to throw all of their stuffed animals down the stairs this morning, while mommy was in the shower. T-R-O-U-B-L-E!

Day 135- May 15, 2013

Daddy brought Xander to tee ball tonight and I enjoyed some one on one time with Noah, with a walk to the playground.

Day 136- May 16, 2013

This boy could blow bubbles for days.

Day 137- May 17, 2013

We ended a long week with a playdate to the library and frozen yogurt with the Julian’s. Perfect Friday afternoon! (IPhone photo)

Linking up to Life Rearranged, Friday Photo Joural, Favorite Photo Friday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, and Essence of Now.

I haven’t had much free time to blog this week, so am doing a huge catch up tonight. The highlights from the week:

1. Nesting is in full force
2. Hospital bags are packed, newborn cloth diapers are ready, co-sleeper is installed, baby clothes are washed and put away
3. We may be getting a new car! More room for all five of us yay!
4. I’m so ready to be done with work.
5. I need to bring a Magic 8 Ball to the hospital when I finally do go in to labor.

Nearly everyday Xander pats my belly and says, “Mommy your baby is getting so big.” or “Your belly is big.”.   I have enjoyed watching him become excited about the baby, as we get ready  for the arrival of Stavish baby #3.  A few days ago, Xander absolutely caught me off guard.  Our conversation went a little like this..

Xander:  Mommy, how does your baby come down?

Flustered mommy:  Ummm, well mommy will have some stomach pains like a really bad tummy ache and then push it out.  You know how you push hard when you go poop?  Well, that’s how hard I will have to push to get the baby to come out.

(Great, I just compared giving birth to going poop.  Hanging my head.  Not ever getting mom of the year award now.)

Xander:  looks at me and continues on playing

Phew…sort of dodged that bullet….need to work on a better answer

Later that night, I tell Adrian about Xander’s million dollar question.  As I’m telling him I say, “Oh I probably should have told him I will be going to the hospital.”  His response is “Yes and you probably should mention that the doctors will help with the baby.”

Yes, yes that might be a brilliant plan.

The next day as we are getting ready in the morning, I have the conversation with Xander.

Rehearsed mommy:  Xander, remember when you asked how the baby would get here?

Xander: blank stare

Mommy:  Well, mommy will be going to the hospital when it’s time for the baby to come.  The doctors will help get the baby out.  Then I will have to stay for one or two nights and you will sleep over Heather and Mike’s house.

Xander:  Where will daddy be?

Mommy:  He will be at the hospital with mommy, helping her.

Xander:  Ok.  Will the doctor cut the baby out?

Mommy:   (Dumbfounded and silent, I wasn’t expecting that one!)  Hopefully not. Um no.

Mommy walks away defeated.

You just never know what a four-year-old is going to ask next.

Any advice on what to say next time I’m asked about how this baby will get here?  Have you ever been caught off guard about a baby question like this?  

Linking up to Mama Kat’s Writers Workshop and Mandy’s The Mama’s Memoirs.

Last month we celebrated Noah’s second birthday with a Sesame Street Birthday party bash and it was a blast! Ever since the party, life has not slowed down long enough for me to get this post together. Finally here are all the details of the special day. For further party details and sources please visit my Sesame Street birthday party pinterest board.

Sesame Street Birthday Party Invitations

I’m a big believer in homemade birthday party invitations. Since Sesame Street has so many characters and themes, I could have gone in several different directions with the invites. Instead I chose to keep it simple, using the iconic Sesame Street sign as the main theme of the invitation.

I purchased the card stock in 8 x 10 sheets and then cut them to the size of a long envelope, using my paper cutter. I also purchased long blank envelopes and the die cut Sesame Street characters at the craft store.

Sesame Street Birthday Party Decorations

When I begin planning a birthday party, I usually start with the birthday banner. In the past, I have created the party banner’s using card stock, including a first birthday owl banner, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle banner, and a Very Hungry Caterpillar banner. For this party, I wanted to sew a pennant banner, which could be reused as a playroom decoration after the party. Thanks to the very easy to follow fabric banner tutorial by Craftaholics Anonymous, I created a colorful Sesame Street banner in 2 nights.

I mixed Sesame Street patterns with bold and bright colors and patterns for a festive yet eye catching banner. The first banner hung in the dining room, where presents were opened.

I created a second banner for the entry way.

The entry way was also decorated with 8 inch paper lanterns purchased from Luna Bazzar. I decorated each of the lanterns as a different character from Sesame Street, using card stock and a hot glue gun.

On the entry way table, I displayed one of Noah’s favorite Sesame Street characters, Big Bird, with a large letter N (found at Michael’s craft store). I ordered the fantastic Sesame Street party street lamp from Madison Party Boutique.

My favorite simple party decoration in the entry way were the footprints of Big Bird and Cookie Monster. The kids loved walking on the footprints into the party and some even created designs out of them. My original plan was to put the footprints outside, leading to each of the activity stations. Since the wind was pretty rough that day, I moved the prints inside and it worked out just as well.

I placed the Elmo footprints in the kitchen leading to the backyard activities.

Lastly I filled the entryway and kitchen with store bought Sesame Street party decorations from Party City. The large character poster made for a fun backdrop for photos.

Sesame Street Party Activities and Favors

I’m a big fan of combining the party activities with party favors and more importantly making the party favors worth saving. Since the weather actually cooperated with us, I set up two of the activity stations outside.

Blowing Bubbles with Big Bird

I once again ravaged my local craft store for different size bubble contraptions. The kids loved the large bubble wand, which made huge bubbles. Bubbles kept the kids entertained until the bubble solution ran out.

Growing Flowers with Grover

For the second outdoor activity, the adults helped the kids plant marigold flowers in pre-painted terra cotta flower pots. I painted the flower pots using acrylic paints and then sealed them with two coats of acrylic spray sealer.  We set up a large pot of potting soil for the kids to dig in and they were content.

Each guest went home with a planted flower and a duck watering can (dollar bin at Target).

Cookies with the Monster

Once all the bubbles were popped and the flowers planted, we headed inside for the final activity, feeding cookie monster his chocolate chip cookies. I made three cookie monster sock puppets using Alpha Mom’s easy tutorial. I then turned a cardboard box into a cookie jar using wrapping paper and felt. The kids loved this activity and it gave the adults enough time to set up for cake.

Party Food

I went relatively light on the food, since it was right after lunch. The food consisted of homemade chocolate chip and M & M cookies, an elmo fruit platter (inspired from Pinterest) with yogurt dip, my favorite Skinny Taco Dip and chips, and a fruit bowl.

For Noah’s birthday cake, I baked a devil chocolate food cake and topped it with marshmallow fondant. This was my first attempt at fondant and it was a lot easier than I was expecting. A quick search on YouTube led me to this video on How to Wrap a Round Cake with Fondant. The cake was decorated with Cookie Monster from Creamy Speciality Cakes and Noah’s name from Sugar and Stripes Company.

We also special ordered a dozen Sesame Street cupcakes from Wegmans. I just love these little guys and so did the kids!

Overall the party was a success and Noah had a blast.  That wraps up my birthday party adventures for the year.  Next year I’ll have three parties to plan, which will be so much fun!

Do you have a difficult time understanding what your child says?

Does your preschooler’s speech sound robotic and lack pitch variation?

When your child repeats a word, does he or she pronounce the word differently each time?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, your child may have a motor speech disorder called Childhood Apraxia of Speech or CAS. The Childhood Apraxia Association of North America estimates that 3-5% of preschoolers are affected by CAS. CAS is a motor planning problem and not weakness, paresis, or paralysis of the speech muscles.  Please visit my post at EverydayFamily.com to learn more about The 5 Characteristics of Childhood Apraxia.

It rained quite a bit this week.  On the days it rained, I was uninspired to pull out my DSLR. Thank goodness for cell phone pictures!

Day 123- May 4, 2013

I started off the weekend at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I love the texture and colors of this wool.

Day 124- May 5, 2013

Crazy boys- loving the UGGs. They make the outfit! (IPhone)

Day 125- May 6, 2013

Monday before Tee Ball, I picked the boys up from daycare early and we headed to Chick-Fil-A for play and food.

Day 127- May 7, 2013

The boys were excited to see rain on Tuesday morning. They love their umbrellas.

Day 128- May 8, 2013

The boys watched as the rain fell on Wednesday night. (IPhone)

Day 129- May 9, 2013

Our neighborhood looked awfully dark and ominous as another rainstorm moved in (again) on Thursday night.

Day 130- May 10, 2013

I was thrilled to wake up to sun and warm temperatures today. The boys and I took strolled to daycare. These boys are looking so grown up these days!

Linking up to Life Rearranged, Friday Photo Joural, Favorite Photo Friday, Sweet Shot Tuesday, and Essence of Now.

Do you love capturing your life through your lens? Come and link up to Catch the Moment with myself and Sarah from Nurse Loves Farmer for our monthly photo challenge. The purpose of the challenge is to catch the everyday moments of your children and share them with others. We can’t wait to see your favorite moments!

A few of my favorite bloggers, including Mandy of A Sorta Fairytale and Courtney from Braxton Life, participate in a weekly Vlog series called Coffee Date. I love watching their vlogs, because I feel like I’m sitting down with them and chatting. I met both of these girls at blogging conferences, but with the miles between us it’s nice to see and hear them talking.

I’m going to try to participate weekly in the coffee date link up. Lately I have found I just don’t have time to sit down and write for my blog between writing for Everyday Family, work, the boys, and getting ready for baby. When I do sit down to write, I realize I have many photo related posts I want to edit and get up, so writing falls to the wayside. I mentioned in the video that today is very warm and wonderful, so I would ask you to meet up for Italian Ice instead of coffee. Honestly, I’m not even a coffee drinker, but sure do love a good cup of tea in the winter. During the summer, I’m all about ice tea, smoothies and anything cold. So here is my quick update of what we have been up to lately.

Linking up with Rags to Stitches for Coffee Date Friday! Come and join in on the fun!

Last Saturday afternoon, we brought the boys to the Baltimore B & O Train Museum for their annual Day Out with Thomas event. Of course they both had an absolute blast! Since my back has been bothering me quite a bit due to the growing baby, I decided to leave my DSRL at home for once. Shooting with just my IPhone was a new challenge for me. At times, I really wish I had my “good camera”, but am relatively happy with all the photos I ended up getting.

When I was in third grade my mom shipped me away to Camp Susan Curtis, which is a sleep away camp. I was an awkward, shy, introvert, who absolutely despised most everything about camp. As a ten year old, two weeks felt like the longest time in my life. Bugs, wildlife, woods, hiking, swim tests, and canoeing were NOT for this girl. I even tried to go home early, but no such luck. My mom did not drive, so my ride home was set up for two weeks from my drop off date. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

My camp memories aren’t all horrible though. I loved the arts and crafts activities, my camp counselors, and working on the behind the scene sets for the play.  By the end of the two weeks, I even made a couple of really great camp friends.  Looking back, I’m glad my mom did not cave to my pleas of picking me up.  Camp was a learning experience and I’m glad I have these memories.  Even though I didn’t ever attend another sleep away camp, I will always remember sitting around the camp fire, making friendship bracelets and going on scavenger hunts.

With summer vacation just around the corner, parents and kids sare starting to think about their own summer camp plans.  Parents of children who suffer from health and food allergies face a big challenge when it comes to keeping their children safe when away from home.  That’s why  Kiddotags.com created medical alert tags.  With these tags you can customize the text and provide the safety guidelines needed to assist your loved one in an emergency and/or simply to remind those around them.  They are the perfect solution for a child attending camp with a food or health allergy.

I absolutely love these tags.  They are waterproof, washable, and brightly colored.  Kiddo Tags carry a wide range of label tags including pacifier, lunchbox, clothing, bottle, and shoe tags.  Check out my previous post for a full review of the Kiddo Tags!

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April was a full month. Full of birthday celebrations, milestones, tantrums, hugs, and kisses. These boys are growing much too quickly. I love the little conversations I have with Xander. I love how Noah still likes to snuggle with his mama. Even on days when they are frustrating me, I love being their mama. Just a few of my everyday moments from the month of April…

Rare kind brother moments…

Construction moments…

Creative moments..

Athletic moments…

These are the little moment to never forget.

We would love it if you link up to our project! The linky will be open for 10 days and the next one will on be May 6th! Grab a button, start clicking and have some fun.

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