Happy Heart Day!

Monday was Valentine's Day and the kids had such a fun day. Maddie had a party at school and came home with lots of treats and Turner partied it up at Ney Ney's and came home with stuff as well. I was a good mom and made treat bags for Maddie's class and she gave out valentine cards to all her friends and teachers. I was a bad mom and sent Turner to Ney Ney's with chocolates for her and nothing for the kids. They exchanged cards and Ney Ney put them on a placemat for the kiddo's to bring home. I felt Horrible!!! You better believe I will have my act together for next year:)

We had a few happys for the kids when they got home that afternoon. We gave them both sunglasses and a few items from the dollar aisle at Target. Maddie also got a Toy Story game and Turner got yet another cooking set. They also received cards in the mail from Mimi and Boo Boo that had some "dollars" in it and the kids racing to their piggy banks. Fun Stuff!

Kevin and I have had so many bills unexpectedly come up that we didn't do anything for each other this year. Loving on our kiddo's is good enough for us and there is always next year, right? I want to mention an unexpected gift we received last week from Nonna and Da. They came to Turner's party and left us with a thousand dollars!!!!! We have been spending quite a bit of money at the doctor lately and that money was a God send-literally. We put it up and thought all week (or I did atleast) on what we were going to do with it. I am dying to pull up the carpet in our house and put down wood floors. We have some credit card debt that needs to be paid off, the list is endless on what we could have done with it. Thursday afternoon, Kevin gets a flat tire. He goes and gets if plugged up. That night it is flat again.....we have been told several times that it won't be long and his tires will have to be replaced. Can you guess where the money went? Almost $800 later, Kev's truck has 4 new tires. That money was a blessing, and though there are a million things I WANTED to use it for, it was used on something we NEEDED. Thank you Nonna and Da for your generosity and getting us through what would have been difficult otherwise. God met our needs again-he is so faithful and I am so grateful!!!!

Barney Live!

For one final birthday surprise, we took the kids to see Barney's Birthday Celebration last Sunday. It was a perfect way to end Turner's birthday week!! It was Turner's first time to see a live show and both kids loved it! Maddie was a little pouty because I got both of them a snocone and let her pick which one she wanted-red or blue. She chose blue, but in the end wanted Turner's! I don't know when I am going to learn-they always want what the other has. We would do much better getting the same for both of them.

It was a cute show-not too long and held both of their attentions the whole time. Turner sat so still in my lap and clapped along to the music. It is always fun watching their expressions and seeing things through their eyes. It is nice that they are both at the age where we can do these kind of things as a family. Thank you Mimi and Boo Boo for buying us tickets to go!!

Bye Bye Snow, Hello Sunshine!!!

Yesterday was beautiful outside!!! I just realized how much we had been stuck in the house over the past few months. Maddie LOVES playing outside and yesterday was a perfect day to do just that. We all put on our jackets and got their john deere truck out that Nonna and Da gave them for Christmas. They rode that in the backyard for a while and they we pulled all the bikes and scooter down for them to play in the front. Turner is still a little too short to ride his new bike but he gave Maddie's old pink one a try:) It was so nice to see the fun and let the kids burn up some of their energy. They were both asleep by 7!!!

We also made some valentine treats while Turner was napping-he would be so mad if he knew he missed out on a cooking adventure:) We made chocolate covered strawberries which lasted about 5 minutes and chocolate covered ritz crackers with gummies on top. Those weren't as big of a hit but still tasted good. It was a nice Saturday, where we didn't have any plans, and just enjoyed family time. It has me looking very forward to Spring weather and outside play time!!

We are going to be heading to see Barney's Birthday Celebration Live soon and I am sure I will have lots of pictures to post! Both kids are really excited! Thank you Mimi and Boo Boo for buying the tickets for us to go! We can't wait:)

Turner turned 2-during a snowstorm!

Turner's birthday was Wednesday-he is officially a 2 year old! He was a sick 2 year old, not sure how much he really enjoyed his day. I had scheduled his 2 year well check for Wednesday and ended up having Kevin take him on Tuesday for his cough and runny nose. He is on a 20 day antibiotic and was given a prescription cough medicine that has worked wonders! I am so glad we took him early because he did get a shot and his finger pricked!! (I was told no shots at two, which is the only reason I had scheduled on his actual bday!)

We gave him a Cars ball pit, which I think Maddie enjoys more than he does. I made him a cinnamon swirl cake and we spent the day at home. It started snowing around lunch and Maddie and Kevin got out of school early. We let Maddie play outside for a little bit but kept Turner in since he was sick. Once she came in, we fixed hot chocolate and got cozy in our pj's. All in all, it was a good day, I just wish little man had felt a little better.

I can't believe he is already 2! He is the biggest cooker I have ever seen and prefers his momma over anyone!! He still goes through phases with sleeping in his bed through the night but has gotten much better. He goes to sleep on his own between 7:30 and 8 and is usually ready to go by 5:30 or 6 in the morning. I will highlight a few of Turner's happenings:

-His favorite phrases are "I want to hold you for a minute" (pick me up now), "guess what", "come here", and "I want to watch Super Why"

-He can count to 10 and sing some of the ABC's

-He loves to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, I love you (barney song), and Jesus loves me.

-He likes when daddy gets his nose and throws his back at him.

-He loves to take a bath and run around naked afterwards while I run after him to put a diaper on.

-His favorite foods are spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and pizza.

-He insists on watching me cook and cooks himself throughout the day. He knows his daddy doesn't like mustard and enjoys getting his mustard bottle and giving it to him.

-He still has a hard time being dropped off at the nursery at church. He does ok on Sunday's but we have a terrible time leaving him on Wednesdays.

-He is just the most lovable huggable little guy ever!!

-He likes routine. He is quite capable of throwing a huge fit if things don't go how we wants them to. They are not fun and leave me quite exhausted once they are over.

-He likes books and being read to with Maddie.

-He loves his sister....most of the time. They usually play really well together.

We love him....to pieces....and can't believe that he is now 2!!!

Countdown to Disney!

Ney Ney and crew came to Turner's birthday party and she brought Maddie a little happy! It is a red bucket with Mickey stickers all over it and filled to the top with Smarties!!!! There is one in there for everyday until we leave for Disneyworld! Ney Ney told Maddie that she and Turner can share ONE everyday and once they are gone, it will be time for us to leave. Great idea-super thoughtful-just like Ney Ney.......already failed on our end. I am pretty sure Maddie and Turner BOTH had a pack of smarties yesterday, and that was day one:) Ney Ney went to a lot of trouble to count the days till we leave and then to count the amount of smarties that went into the bucket. The least we can do is ONLY eat ONE pack of smarties a day. We are going to try...really hard. Thank you Ney Ney-we all love you so very much!!!!!

Turner's Chef Party

We had a great day celebrating Turner's 2nd Birthday!!! All the work and planning was well worth it and I think everyone had a good time. We had a full house and the kids made pizza's, although I don't think very many of them actually ate them when they were done:) They decorated their chef hats, though few actually wore them, and they made their own sundaes which I do think were eaten once finished. Turner participated in everything and ran around with his little buddies the rest of the time. Maddie enjoyed herself, and I feel like I was actually able to visit a little bit as well. Turner received lots of great gifts and we have been playing hard the past 24 hours! Maddie also received happy's from Kelly and Ney Ney. It made her feel special as well and I love my friends thoughtfulness!!

We had Little Ceasar's for the adults, fruit, buffalo chicken dip, drinks, and cupcakes galore. I think I made 4 dozen cupcakes and we had four or five left after everyone left. I made some hamburger cupcakes (thanks to Ney Ney for telling me how) and was excited with how they turned out. We kept it pretty simple, just decorating the food table and using the mantle to hang all the aprons. Each child went home with their apron, decorated hat, and a balloon if we thought about it as they were leaving:)

Thank you family, thank you friends for coming to help us celebrate Turner's birthday. I can't believe Turner will be two on Wednesday! He has his 2 year check up on Wednesday and I will let you know how it goes. I do know that little man is quite the heavy man and I can't wait to see what percentile he is in with height and weight. I plan on taking some kind of treat for him to share with his friends that day to Ney Ney's. We also have a gift to give him on Wednesday, so I will be sure to take pictures of that. It has been a busy tiring weekend, so I will be heading to bed shortly. I do have one more post to add though:)

My pictures are a little out of order, but I don't know how to fix it without starting over, so this will have to do:)

Party Sneak Peak!

Little man is turning 2 next week!!! Very hard to believe! We are having his party in the morning and decided to do his favorite thing-we are having a cooking party....at our house.....which has caused me unbelievable amounts of stress!

Let me start by saying this has been a crazy, very out of the ordinary week. My last post was about Maddie and her asthma attack last weekend. Well, Monday night, which was month end and means I have to work till close, Maddie broke out in hives. Kevin called me about 7:30 and we decided to take her to Lebonheur urgent care to get her checked out. By the time we got there, the benadryl had kicked in and most of rash was gone. It came back at 2 am, then again at 6 am, then again at 6 pm, and on and on for a few days. We went to our pediatrician to be checked out again and think it was a reaction to the steroid she was taking. Maddie missed school both days this week and stayed home from Ney Ney's on Tuesday. Mimi was a HUGE help this week and watched Maddie everyday. The end/beginning of the month is a hard time for me to miss work.

Another difference in our week was that instead of going to work, Kevin had jury duty, EVERY single day. He was selected to be a juror for a case that just ended at 6 pm tonight. So...our schedule has been off, Maddie has been sick, and we are giving our special boy a birthday party at our house in the morning. Which meant that a lot of cleaning and decorating had to be done. I have been such a wreck about it, I actually took Thursday off from work and took the kids both yesterday and today to Ney Ney's. Mimi and Boo Boo are also keeping the kids tonight so that they don't have a chance to destroy everything. As I am reading this, it sounds pitiful that it is so much work for me to get the house ready for a party. But it is, judge me if you want, house keeping is definately not one of my stronger points:)

Back to the birthday party-there will be pizza making, chef hat decorating, ice cream sundaes made with the kiddo's favorite treats, and hopefully fun for everyone. I plan on taking a bunch of pictures and posting more tomorrow. I do have a picture to share of our mantle and his invite. We can't wait to celebrate our little man turning 2!!!