Spring Recap - March

So as my last ditch attempt to try to catch up my blog, I decided to just throw a bunch of pics in a post showing a little of what we have been up to the last several months.

I can honestly say this has probably been one of the busiest years for us as a family - and I'm pretty sure its only going to get worse as the kids get older and want to participate in more and more things.  We have had a lot of fun trying out a bunch of new things this year....but I am ready for summer break and a break from the go-go-go lifestyles we have taken on.  We are definitely not committing to much this summer...just going to enjoy ourselves :)

Anyway...onto the pics.  I'll start back in March.  Brooklynn started playing soccer and actually ended up really loving it and improving so much in such a short time.  She was so excited to get to play.

Of course Cannon had to get right there with her and pose with the soccer ball....hahahaha

First practice listening to their coaches....

More quiet time with their coaches.....and yes - Andy was one of the coaches of their team, and Brooklynn's BFF, Olivia's dad was the other - we aren't sure that was the smartest idea for these 2 girls...hahahaha.

Brooklynn & Olivia....these 2 are so funny together - they are inseperable, but wow...they have a love/hate relationship with each other...definitely act more like sisters.....and they are all T.R.O.U.B.L.E. together....never a dull moment when they go off missing somewhere together - ha!

Brooklynn's 1st goal ever....she did awesome!

Well Cannon finally got his wish - they started a "mini soccer league" for ages 2 years and up so we jumped at the chance for Cannon to get to enjoy soccer too.  And saying he was so excited when his big day came is the understatement of the year....I told him to go by the front door to take his soccer pic - and this is what we got - he took it upon himself to pose just like Brookie had several weeks before - he cracks me up!

Well needless to say....we were probably a little over ambitious....he started off pretty good...participating for the most part here and there....and then he decided he was DONE...and he let me know it. So he just sat out on the side and watched the rest of the practice.  And that was the last time Cannon went to soccer...hahahaha.   Maybe next year we will have more luck :)

Party Like A 2 Year Old

Well like I mentioned, we threw Cannon's 2nd birthday bash a few weeks after his actual birthday.  I just had so much going on from February through the beginning of April, that I just sort of lost track of time and realized I could never get the party to come together the way I wanted in such a short time.  So instead of stressing myself out over it, I decided to just do it a few weeks after - no biggie since Cannon really didn't have a clue anyway it was even his birthday and definitely has no concept of time - ha!

Anyway...despite having tons on my plate, I did have fun getting ready for the party.  We chose a Mickey Mouse Theme - this boy is OBSESSED!  So really there was no question about it.  I did a vintage Mickey party - just red, black & white - sooooo easy to coordinate things without having to buy too much actual  Mickey stuff.  And oh my...the ideas I kept finding on Pinterest...my head was spinning....I was having so much fun looking through it all and planning what I would do. Too bad I couldn't get my act together and make my mind up with what I wanted to do - ha!

At first, we figured we would just do a friends party one day and then celebrate with the family the next day, but we eventually changed our mind and did one big party.  It turned out really well and Cannon was surrounded by lots of friends and family that love him.

Be prepared for picture overload - just wanted to make sure I documented his party since you only turn 2 once :)

So as I mentioned above....there were a few months that were pretty packed with things going on so that really determined just how much I was actually going to do to get ready for the party.  I found the cutest invite on Pinterest and had every intention to re-create them myself - they were definitely easy enough, but very time consuming.  I even went as far as buying the right cardstock and scrapbook paper to make it happen.  Well I quickly realized I was going to have to give up a little control of things if I wanted to keep my sanity.  So from the pic of the invite that I pinned onto my Pinterest, I ended up ordering my invites from the lady on Etsy.  Let me just say....it was worth every.penny!  With the click of a button and a few emails back and forth, the invites were done!  Except that they weren't b/c I ended up deciding a little later on to just do one big joint party with friends and family after I sent them out.  So I ended up just getting some store bought ones and trying to add a little personalization to them.....it was too late by that point to place another order...so I just had let it go as hard as it was :(

Another idea courtesy of Pinterest was the Mickey Mouse Wreath.  When I saw it, I knew I HAD to make it.....it looked easy enough for me to tackle it.  I added the #2 to it as well just to finish it off.  Lucky for me my good friend and neighbor used to own her own floral shop so she rescued me when I was having a tough time making the ears stay on the face - ha!

Walking through the front door, I set up the kid's favor bags full of Mickey stuff of course :)

Also on hand to greet Cannon's guests was Mickey Mouse himself - well a balloon anyway :)  This thing was huge and would actually "walk" around the room.  Cannon loved it - and thought it was the funniest thing ever when he treated it as a punching bag...poor Mickey1

Cannon and his good ol' pal Mickey Mouse.

Just did a simple fireplace mantle display.  The banner was another idea courtesy of Pinterest.  Of course, my initial idea was to do a banner that read Happy 2nd Birthday but as I quickly ran out of time and realized the night before the party that I hadn't even started on the banner, I opted for the shorter banner of just "Cannon".  That and the fact that the circle cutter I splurged on to make my life easier, didn't exactly live up to the hype and did anything but :(

The dessert table with lots of yummy treats.

Another view of the dessert/cake table - hard to get a decent shot with the lighting against the back window.  The Mickey Mouse head balloon table decorations were another idea I borrowed from Pinterest - and I can actually claim I made those completely on my own with no help.  The dollar store was my best friend for creating these cuties.

Another view into the kitchen with some of the yummy snacks

Another kitchen shot.  Yes - I might have went overboard with the balloons, but to me nothing says birthday party like balllons!  And plus, I wasn't sure how much I was actually going to accomplish as far as decorating and I figured if nothing else, at least it will be festive with all the balloons :)

Mickey Mouse cake....

Cannon's personalized subway art that I was inspired by....Pinterest of course!  I had a quick crash course on using photoshop elements...didn't think I would be able to pull it off....but I managed to get it the way I liked.

And present time of course.  Cannon would open a few gifts and then get distracted by something so I would end up opening them for him.  Oh the life of a 2 year old - hahahahaha!

Look....a ball!!!  He would be set for life with any kind of ball...lol...that and bubbles - such a simple kid - ha!

Checking out his new loot with his bud Parker

Finally it was time to sing Happy Birthday.....

And blow out the candles....

And I just had to include this pic of Cannon - this is my view of him 99% of the time - running towards me!  We had a such a great time celebrating this sweet boy.  Still can't believe my baby is 2 - what a crazy 2 years it has been :) 

TWO

My baby boy turned 2 years old today.  Not exactly sure how that is even possible.  I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday.  I can remember his 1st birthday party like it was yesterday.  But yet its been another whole year.  Wow!

When Cannon woke up this morning, he was surprised with his birthday present from Andy & me.

He had the HUGEST smile when he realized what he got...Brookie was pretty excited too :) 

Then we moved onto his presents from Grandma....This kid is OBSESSED with Grandma's iPAD.  He knows how to get himself around and get to the apps he wants to play - its pretty scary how in tune with electronics kids are these days - its like a second language to them for sure.  Anyway....Grandma got him a VTech Innotab - its basically an iPAD style toy with a touch screen that he can play with.  We are hoping this will curb his appetite for the real thing - ha!

We had a blast celebrating our sweet boy today. His official party festivities aren't for a couple more weeks (this momma just couldn't get her act together this year) but we definitely made sure to make his day special. We spent most of the day with our good friends who also are our neighbors across the street and kept the kids busy, busy busy. Although I think I am more worn out then the kids - ha! I only wish I could have half of their energy. We started off the day going to a bouncy place. I wasn't sure how Cannon would do - I hadn't taken him since he was 18 months old - and lets just say he did NOT enjoy it that last time - he completely freaked out and he screamed like I was trying to cut off his legs. But I guess 6 months made all the difference b/c today he took off as soon as we walked in the place - he loved every second of it. He looks a little scared in this pic, but it more was of a concentration thing - this huge giant air pillow is hard work to climb up with everyone jumping around on it.

He loved going down ALL the slides this time (what a difference from 6 months ago when he was terrified of even the smallest ones).  He mostly wanted to go down the biggest ones there - in his mind - the bigger the better!  I definitely had quite the workout there climbing up all theses inflatables while carrying him - ha!

After bouncing around for a few hours, we came home for lunch and naps.  After waking up - we headed back outside for a few hours in the nice weather (it was actually almost getting too warm already - its only March!) to play with friends.

Then we got to celebrate with another Grandma...Andy's mom came over to see the birthday boy too and give him a fun new present - a 2 ft tall Fisher Price Ramp for cars.  (He was having so much fun with it before bed tonight - I had to take it out of his room b/c it was causing a huge meltdown - such torture to see a new toy and not be able to play with it until morning...hahahaha) We had a delicious dinner as part of the celebration..my mom made us all yummy prime rib roast with potatoes and veggies....soooo good!

Then we got to dig into yummy birthday cake and ice cream



 
Of course we sang Happy Birthday to the big 2 year old....lol - this pic looks like he is covering his ears.....but really he wasn't...he was just so excited knowing he was about to get some cake :)

He didn't quite get the idea about blowing out the candle.....he was more interested in trying to touch the flame....glad we caught him before that happened.

Finally got the candle out...with a little help from Daddy :)

And again - what a difference a year makes - he LOVED his cake this year - ate every last drop.

 These 2 pics of him covered in icing look like he is in a sugar daze.....sooo funny!

 He was a mess by the time he was done.....but it was oh so good!

 Then since he was pumped full of all that sugar - he took off running to go play with his new dump truck LOL!