We had Chanley's 2nd Birthday Party on Sunday at Thornhill pool in Sherwood. Last year when we had her birthday at the park and it was 101 degrees I thought..."next year we are definitely having a pool party." Who would have known it would be 72 degrees in August! The kids swam their hearts out but had some blue lips afterwards. It was a luau theme with primarily hot pink and lime green as the colors. Her cake was made by Cakery Affairs and it was amazing. I also got some cupcakes for the kiddos from Sam's. The colors were not exactly what I had asked for but they were yummy too. The goody bags were filled with Chanley's favorite snack...GOLDFISH, a lei, and some crazy looking cookies with tiny snowballs on top. Colby picked them out on the latino food isle at WalMart. I have no idea what their called and could never pronounce the name but they were super cute and the kids thought they were great! I attached a special thank you to each bag from Chanley as well. We had pizza, cake, and opened some amazing gifts. Just to name a few she got: pj's, fall clothes, a puzzle, Elmo hands, a baby stroller, money, gift cards, a baby doll with diaper bag, and lots more. She had a great time and has asked me to sing her the "party" song every night since as she is going to sleep. I finally had to throw the remaining cake/cupcakes out today....I literally took a bite everytime I walked into the kitchen. I'm sure my thighs will show the proof. Thank you to everyone who came to the party. We love you all!
Colby started Kindergarten at Hurricane Creek Elemetary last week. He absolutely loves school and is doing extremely well. His teacher says his is "Mr. Social" and talks to everyone in the class. I love that about him! We are just having to work on when talking is allowed. He gets up very easily in the morning and has given us no problems about going to bed earlier. He is exhausted and I think this is why he doesn't put up a fight. I did very well on the first day and held it together for the most part. It is still so surreal to me that I have a baby in school. Chanley and I are keeping ourselves very busy while he is gone and getting some quality mommmy/daughter time in. She cannot wait to pick him up in the afternoon and squeals so loudly when he gets in the car. It is precious! Here are some pictures of his first day of school.
Here is Chanley's 2nd Birthday invitation...Kalina you are amazing, thank you so very much for all your hard work and talent!! I know sometimes my crazy ideas are a little much but you made it more than perfect. Thanks again for all your help!!
And here is the thank you card she made to match....ADORABLE!
After church on Sunday we went swimming at Jereomy's cousins house. She has two boys that Colby just adores and cannot get enough playtime with. They swam for hours and Chanley impressed us all by doggie paddling all over the pool. She has no fear...which scares me to death! Thanks Jeannie and Tracy for having us over...we had a blast!
Last Saturday Jereomy's cousin Billy got married. Jereomy was a groomsman and Colby was a ring bearer, and I must say they were two of the most handsome boys I have ever seen. Megan was a beautiful bride and the wedding was beautiful. Thanks to both of you for choosing Colby and Jereomy to be in your wedding party...it was an honor to them both!
Here is a sneak peak at some of the pictures I plan to use for Chanley's birthday invitations. I am no professional photographer but I think they turned out pretty good! Thanks Nat for the tutu....it looked great!
I hope all of you had a wonderful/safe 4th of July weekend. I had to work, as usual, so Jereomy and the kids went to his cousin Jeannie's house for a cookout/pool party. They all had an amazing time. They swam, ate great food, and watched an enormous amount of fireworks!! Unfortunately my inlaws weren't there because my MIL had to be placed in the hospital for respiratory distress. She suffers from pulmonary fibrosis and has been sick for sometime and took a turn for the worst. They transfered her to CCU on Sunday morning where she has continued to make improvements. She is scheduled to have a lung biopsy in the morning and those results will determine further plans for her care. Please lift her up in prayer! And Happy "belated" Independence Day!
We took Chanley to ACH on June 24th for an renal ultrasound and VCUG (xray with fluro contrast). This was a not so fun to say the least experience. They attempted three different times to catheterize her before it was finally successful. She was strapped to a board with her arms up next to her head and fought with all her tiny might. It took three nurses/techs plus myself to hold her still. Once the catheter was in and the contrast had filled her bladder, they removed the catheter and watched her bladder empty to check for any reflux into her kidneys. Yes the experience was traumatic for she and I both but the results were wonderful. No reflux noted!! So hopefully she will never have to endure this procedure again. God is good!
We had a playdate recently with Aundrea and Connor and went swimming. We only got to swim for a short amount of time but the kids had a great time and so did we. It was Chanley's first time to go down a big pool slide and she loved it! She has no fear when it comes to water which terrifies me! Connor is so super sweet and I just kiss all over him when I see him! Thanks Auni for inviting us!
Last Sunday we went to Kylee's 3rd birthday party at Jump Zone. The kids had a blast jumping and playing with all their cousins. Kylee's Barbie themed party was adorable as usual....Sam always goes above and beyond to make her partys precious. Her Barbie cake was amazing....yes I ate it and don't tell my bootcamp instructor! :) We got her a Barbie movie, Barbie placemat, bowl, plate, and cup set. I think she got a ton of toys to add to her collection. We had a great time! Happy Birthday Kylee!
Colby: Oh my darling baby boy! You are very insistent on me not calling you a baby anymore but since you can't read this yet I'm going to do it!! My how you are growing up. You will be starting kindergarten in the fall and I am sure this will push me right over the edge. I am enjoying every minute of our summer together and trying to make it memorable for you. I just don't know what Chan and I will do when you are gone all day! You make me so proud and are growing up to be the sweetest little boy. You are so polite and always say "yes ma'am/sir, please, thank you, excuse me, etc.". You are learning about the importance of telling the truth and will be quick to catch someone up in a "story lie" as you call it. You are starting to read a little and it is amazing. We are working on a few of your lowercase letters and writing your last name over the summer. I know you will do great in school and will be the teacher's shining star. We are having a lot of fun this summer so far. We have been to Wild River Country several times and you and Chanley love it. You also love swimming at Mrs. Racheal's house too. You can swim short distances without your floaties. You are so fair complected and are almost always a little red on your shoulders and under your eyes no matter how much sunscreen we slather on. Your sister definitely has your Daddy's coloring and never burns. You are still into superheros and love TV/movies. You also love to play your Wii but usually only when someone can play with you. You ask all the time when we are going back to Disney and if can go "after this tomorrow". You are learning the value of a dollar and that things aren't cheap! This makes it so much easier on me when I have to tell you no about something you want. You are my pride and joy....and will ALWAYS be my BABY BOY! Here are some of your favorite things!
Favorite TV shows: Spongebob, ICarly, Hannah Montana, Suite Life of Zack and Cody Favorite movies: Spiderman (all 3), Transformers, XMen, Hulk, VeggieTales, and many more Favorite Food: anything that won't eat you first-j/k Chicken nuggets, fries, pizza, taco soup with Fritos, corn, baked/mashed potatoes, ice cream, brocolli, cereal, PopTarts, pancakes, cheesy potatoes (hashbrown casserole), and much more! Favorite Drink: Sprite zero, Strawberry milk, Capri Sun Roaring Water, and Sunny D Favorite Book: Pirates Don't Change Diapers Favorite Game: Candy Land Favorite Color: depends on the day but usually red
Chanley Hope: Well, well, well...where do I begin. There is so much to write about with you these days. You are a great big ball of energy and sweetness (most of the time). You never cease to amaze your Daddy and I everyday. You are always surprising us with something new and making us giggle. Just when I thought you were behind other kids your age in the "vocabulary" department you went and pulled out all the stops and showed me that you knew EXACTLY what to say. We were in the kitchen one night recently and you were whinning for your cup...I asked you to tell me "cup", you did and I praised you. I then proceeded to explain that you needed to tell Mommy what you wanted instead of whinning for it. You ever so seriouly turned to me and said "NO! I a baby!" and that I quote! Needless to say your Daddy, brother, and I laughed until we cried. That is just one for instance of your personality. You are a socialite and never meet a stranger. You will walk up to any and everyone and tell them "hi/bye". You like to do your own thing and despise being made to do differntly. This is where we begin to see some not-so-sweetness! You rarely cry, however, and are usually in happy spirits. You long to be exactly like Colby in everyway. You want to eat with him, lay with him, watch any kind of superhero show with him, and imitate him in everyway. He has taught you how to spit and say "HULK SMAAAAASSSSHHHH!!" Sometimes I wonder if you will ever be a girly-girl. Then you find my high heels and prove to me that girly girls can be superheros too. Sometimes I think you can walk better in those 4inches than I can! I cannot believe how quickly your 2nd birthday is approching...I am already making plans if you can believe that :) We are going to ACH on Wednesday for your renal ultrasound and xray...I am praying with all my might that you do well through this and that we get a good report. Here are a few of your favs and stat updates:
Weight: 25lbs Height: not sure Sleep: usually 10pm-10am with about a 2hour nap, you still have to have your silky/minky blanket and Sassy (pacifier) Hair: dirty blonde with tons of curls Clothes: varies, anywhere from 12-2T, usually smaller in pants Shoes: 5-6 Diaper: 4, hoping we will start potty training soon but so far you are not interested Fav Food: Fry Fries, Nuggeys, mand. oranges, grapes, nanas, fafles (waffles), toast, mac and cheese, and anything you can dip in RANCH! I swear you would eat dirt as long as you could dip it in ranch! Thanks Bubba for starting that! Fav Drink: Berry MoMo (Strawberry milk) Fav Snack: Sish (goldfish), mellos(marshmellows)
I love you with all my heart baby girl and am so grateful to be your Mommy! Thank you for being my sunshine!
This past weekend was great for us! Colby was finaly able to play tball on Saturday and he did amazing. Then I was able to take a scheduled absence from work on Saturday night that was much needed. I am feeling the two-job burn out coming on strong! We went to dinner at Sakura and then to see UP! Chanley has started watching some TV and movies so I thought she would like it....she and I spent the last hour in the truck because she got to loud! But Jereomy and Colby tell me it was a good movie. Chanley fell outside just before we went in and scraped the side of her face and eye...her first real boo-boo! The next morning we went to church and then decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and to Wild River Country. We let Chanley go to Ya Ya's house since it was so hot and around her nap time. We were wiped out to say the least by the time we got home. I know that weekends are the best option for us right now but I sure did enjoy this time with my family!
Here are pictures from the rest of our Disney trip....I have given up on trying to blog about the events of the entire trip...it is just too exhausting. Enjoy!
I promise I haven't forgotten to finish posting all our Disney details. This has been an extremely busy week for us and I am completely overwhelmed. To be honest this is the first time I have turned on my computer since my last post. Chanley has a strep and bladder infection and hasn't slept without being right next to me in over a week. I registered Colby for Kindergarten today and that was so hard. We definitely have some work to do with him this summer to get him on the same level as all the kids who have went to preschool. So long story short as soon as our household resumes some type of normal behavior I will finish my story! Thanks for being patient and please pray for Chanley and that she gets better soon!!
I am not McMamma, Kelly's Korner, Steece's Pieces, or any other famous blogger but if there is a chance that someone out there cares to hear about our many adventures as a family of four I will blog on! No I don't have 2,000 comments per post nor are we known world wide but I have some wonderful friends and family that I absolutely love and want to keep up to date on our lives. So if your ready for quite possibly the longest post ever I will give you the low down on our Disney adventures. We had an absolutely amazing time and cannot wait to go back. We were ready to get back to the comforts of our own home and beds but were sad to leave the "magic" behind. I am going to try and post one day at at time so you can "relive" our vaccation with me! So if your ready...here it goes! 4-19-09 Day 1 Our plane left our of Little Rock at 6:55am, we had a stop in Houston, and then arrived in Orlando at about 2:00pm their time. We then boarded the Disney's Magical Express Bus and headed to our hotel. We stayed in a family suite at the All Star Music Resort. It wasn't a 5 star hotel but for what we were in the room and at the hotel it was perfect. There were two rooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchenette with a microwave and refridgerator. Once we checked in we had a little time to kill while waiting on our luggage to arrive so we went to our food court and bought our refillable mugs and a snack. Once our luggage arrived we changed clothes and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. It litteraly took my breath away to see the castle and to think we were actually finally there! We rode It's A Small World first thing and loved it! We didn't ride any more rides that night because we were just too overwhelmed and amazed to try and figure out where everything was. We ate dinner at The Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. The food was not the best but Colby loved seeing the characters and getting their autographs. Chanley...not so much. She was terrified to say the least and even had nightmares that night where she woke up trembling. We then went and watched the Spectromagic Parade, which was absolutely amazing. After it was over we headed back to the hotel for the night to rest up for our first full day at Walt Disney World! Here are some pictures from Day 1:
Animal Kingdom was the plan for Day 2. We had breakfast scheduled at The Tusker House with Donald, Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy. I was really thinking about cancelling this due to Chanley's reaction at dinner the night before but we decided to go ahead. Glad we did! The food was amazing and she did a little better. After breakfast we got a FastPass for the Kali River Rapids and went on the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride. This was awesome!! It was probably one of our favorite rides in this park. We also loved It's Tough to be a Bug and met several characters including Pochahantas, Jiminey Cricket, and Rafiki. It started raining about halfway through the day and continued for the remainder. We had dinner for Jereomy's birthday at Rainforest Cafe and then headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. The pool was heated but with no Florida sun it was cold so our swim was short. Jereomy and Colby and I then headed back to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks and eat dinner while Chanley and YaYa stayed back at the hotel and rested. We had a great time at Animal Kingdome but it was probably our least favorite park just because it felt super crowded, it was raining, and we didn't get to ride all the rides we had planned...oh well there's always next time!! Here are pics from Day 2:
Okay I will be back with the second part of this post later...brain is on overload trying to remember details and make slideshows :)
