Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Jack's 2nd Birthday! - Welcome Race Fans!

I can't believe my little boy is already two! Time sure does fly. I remember soaking up every little moment in our tiny hospital world, then planning his barn yard bash last year, and now planning a super fun race car birthday!


Jack loves cars more than anything else in this world so picking a theme for his birthday was super easy. I've been pinning ideas on Pinterest for months (ok maybe a year 😉) and I officially started buying them a month in advance so I knew everything would be here on time.

Of course I missed some things and I was running around like a crazed woman the day before but such is life.

My parents were in town this year which made it all that much more special and they were a great extra set of hands to help get everything ready. And the decorations came out perfectly! I was probably more excited than anyone else but after so much planning it was fun to see it all come together.

Right when you walked in the door there was a sign that read "Present Parking" and our coffee table was covered in black road play tape. This is the coolest product. It's just tape that sticks to your table or floor and is designed like a road. I was skeptical at first about it peeling the finish off our table but it sticks more like masking tape and not like duct tape so it was super furniture friendly. I HIGHLY recommend to everyone! It's also super affordable.


Then we hung a race banner and put some balloons in our arch way to the kitchen.


On the kitchen bar we put a water cooler that read "fuel station" and hung some cardboard stop lights. There was also some red, yellow, and green fruit and we hung the extra banner along the bottom just to drive home the theme 😉.


On the table we had a race flag table cloth and red, yellow, and green flat ware from the dollar store. I also hung a "Start your engines" sign that was super cute. My mom also came up with some really fun names for all the snacks we had out. The Chex mix was "Nuts and Bolts" and the Tortilla chips were "Traffic Cones".  And for a sweet treat we had rice krispies with red, yellow, and green M&Ms pushed into them to make traffic lights. God we're so adorable 😅




Then outside in our back yard was where the fun really was. We had three stations for kids to play at; though let's be honest it became one giant free for all. And I'm perfectly ok with it!

There was a "Car Wash". Which was Jack's brand spanking new water table, great present from my parents, under a nice large umbrella to keep some of that desert sun off of the kiddos.



Next was a "Speedway". I took some spare wood we had around the house and spare gray stain and had my dad stain it the night before. Then the next day when it was dry we leaned it up against our gazebo and put a bucket of cars at the top. This was the one thing I thought the kids weren't really going to use because it was so simple but it turned out to be the most used! They loved throwing, sliding, pushing, and shooting the cards down the slide. Then it grew into anything they could get their hands on. It was a huge hit! Because the kids were of such varying ages (6-2) I didn't set up prizes or scheduled play time I just let them at it and it worked perfectly.



The last area was a bean bag toss. I bought some inflatable pool floaties that were designed like tires. I bought 4 because they were supposed to go home with each kid as a party favor but at the end of the party I completely forgot. I'm sorry!!! But we had some left over bean bags from last year so I set those outside next to it. Needless to say Jack and his little friend Ellie were too small to play and the bigger kids didn't think it was much fun so the tires got used for other made up games which was way more fun to watch anyway 😊.


Other than that we setup balloons at each "station" and let the kids do what they wanted with them. The wind blew some bunches around popped them and other bunches were used as splash targets and punching bags. All perfect uses for balloons!

After some serious play time we all sat down for dinner and most importantly CAKE! We had burgers, hot dogs, Mac & Cheese and a salad, exactly what I would expect to have at a race track 😉. We ordered the cake from our local grocery store about a week before and picked it up that morning. It was perfect! It was a Disney Cars theme which is the one and only movie Jack will actually sit through, no surprise there.


We quickly made him blow out the candle and cut him a piece before he could smash the whole cake. He was skeptical about getting messy just like last year but after that first taste of frosting he was all in!




And after it was all gone he required some extensive cleaning.



But right after was present time and he couldn't have been happier with everything that he got. Of course the majority of them were car themed but even the ones that weren't he still enjoys playing with.

He's getting to be such a big boy and I'm already so excited for his next birthday and to see him as a big brother but I'm a little sad he's not my cute cuddly new born anymore.

We love you so much Jack! Happy birthday!



Monday, April 10, 2017

12 Weeks - Baby Wilson #2


How far along: 12 weeks
Total weight gain: 1 lb.
Sleep: Still waiting for our new mattress. I can't wait!
Sickness: Feeling a lot better. Food actually sounds delicious though I'm gradually eating bigger and bigger portions.
Cravings: Sweets and chicken
Make me queasy: purple onions and hummus. I'm so sad about hummus, it's my go to healthy snack but after a week of trying I just can't seem to eat it.
General Symptoms: Just some nausea and fatigue.
Miss anything: BLUE CHEESE. All I want is a roast beef sandwich slathered in blue cheese.
Maternity Clothes: I've busted out my maternity bottoms, jeans and shorts. I'm on the verge of a needing a new bra so maybe this weekend I'll go nursing bra shopping. Babies aren't kind on them and the one I kept from jack isn't as nice as I remember :)
Movement: None yet but I can't wait!!!!
Gender Prediction: I think it's a girl.

Ultrasound Update * : Our little nugget isn't a big mover but it's growing big and strong. It's about 2.5" long and has a super fast heart beat. We passed the neck fluid test (can't remember the technical name) so we were so excited about that. They drew blood to test for the other chromosome issues and we should be getting our results back soon. Cross your fingers! But our little baby is looking so good and I'm always so glad when I get to peek inside and double check everything is ok. :)

Old Wives Tales:
Morning Sickness : No / Yes
Cravings : Salt Sweet
Chinese Calendar : Boy / Girl
Heart Beat : Low / High
Belly : Low High - kinda hard to tell right now though
Skin : Better / Worse - no change really
Attitude : Happy Moody

It's all adding up to : GIRL



Names I like at the moment:
       Girl: Molly, Fiona, Grace, Hazel, Violet, Clara, Cora, Mabel, Margot
       Boy: Henry

10 Weeks - Baby Wilson #2


How far along: 10 weeks
Total weight gain: 1 lb.
Sleep: Terrible back and neck pain. Hoping our new mattress will come soon and help!
Sickness: Feeling less nauseous but still uneasy. It gets better every day so hopefully I'll be able to eat full meals again soon.
Cravings: Sweets.
Make me queasy: nothing specific. Some gross sights like carving up a whole chicken makes me a little sick feeling but not really any tastes.
General Symptoms: Just some nausea.
Miss anything: SANDWICHES - roast beef, salami, meat in general
Maternity Clothes: I've busted out my maternity skinny jeans. My boot cut jeans and shorts that I bought right after Jack was born are still roomy enough for my belly.
Movement: None yet but I can't wait!!!!
Gender Prediction: I think it's a girl.



Old Wives Tales:
Morning Sickness : No / Yes
Cravings : Salt Sweet
Chinese Calendar : Boy / Girl
Heart Beat : Low / High
Belly : Low High - kinda hard to tell right now though
Skin : Better / Worse - no change really
Attitude : Happy Moody

It's all adding up to : GIRL



Names I like at the moment:
       Girl: Molly, Fiona, Grace, Hazel, Violet, Clara, Cora, Mabel
       Boy: Henry (we've decided already lol)

8 Weeks - Baby Wilson #2


How far along: 8 weeks
Total weight gain: 1 lb.
Sleep: Uncomfortable already but hopefully our new mattress will help!
Sickness: I feel nauseous a lot more than I did with Jack but so far I've been able to keep it at bay! Cross your fingers that it stays that way!
Cravings: Sweets. Though I'm still a little too sick feeling to eat a whole bunch of anything.
Make me queasy: nothing specific just generally not happy with food.
General Symptoms: Just some nausea.
Miss anything: SANDWICHES - roast beef, salami, meat in general
Maternity Clothes: Nothing yet but I'm getting close to busting out my old maternity jeans. WHAT? This early!
Movement: None yet but I can't wait!!!!
Gender Prediction: I think it's a girl.



Old Wives Tales:
Morning Sickness : No / Yes
Cravings : Salt / Sweet
Chinese Calendar : Boy / Girl
Heart Beat : Low / High
Belly : Low / High - kinda hard to tell right now though
Skin : Better / Worse - no change really
Attitude : Happy / Moody

It's all adding up to : GIRL



Names I like at the moment:
       Girl: Molly, Fiona, Grace, Hazel, Violet, Clara, Cora, Mabel
       Boy: Henry (we've decided already lol)



Baby Wilson #2!


We are so excited to announce that Jack is going to be a BIG BROTHER!


Baby Wilson #2 to arrive October 19th 2017, roughly 😉



He is patiently waiting for a wagon ride partner!