A Relaxing Birthday

Today my little man is officially two years old. It is still crazy to think that two years ago today we were just welcoming him to the world {and trying to adjust to the instant change that happens when you have your first child} He has changed my life in so many ways, yet I cannot picture my life without him! Since Max already had his big celebration I didn't have much planned for today. I decided to skip the gym since he is still not a huge fan of the childcare {I couldn't make my pumpkin cry on his Birthday!} So instead we made cinnamon rolls {Now I have to go to the gym tomorrow.} and watched some cartoons. We then went to play in the bouncy castle that has not left our backyard. Max loves it so much that we decided to leave it outside until their is snow in the forecast, then it has to be packed up {they give you the smallest bag in the world in which to squeeze a huge jumpy castle, can't they just accept that we do not have the "packing" skills that they do and give us bigger bags?} After all of our jumping we made a gourmet Mac and Cheese lunch {I was good and had a salad} I haven't decided if we will go anywhere before work, it is really hit or miss, even if I take Max to a place for him he still may have a break down. And I am trying to avoid break downs today. Even though we work tonight we will still have fun, we are planning to go out to dinner with the little girl I watch and my hubby will even tag along. One nice thing about my job is that we have the flexibility to do what we want to on some days, and today worked out well since the lady I work for needed us out of the house anyway. Last night, on Birthday eve we decided to get Max's picture taken with Santa.... well Max didn't like that idea, so I had to sit next to Santa with him on my lap {Santa was a little strange, he just kept repeating a line from the Rudolf song and never moved his head...} The good thing is we went to a little picture studio, so they will do their best to edit me out, thank god. Since we were at the mall I decided to stop into Banana Republic to try on the dress that my soon to be sister in law picked for her Bridesmaid dresses. I asked the lady if they had the dress and they didn't, so I decided to try on a similar dress. She said "so....you are a size 6?" WHAT??? I look like a 6??? NO way lady. I said very politely that I usually wear a 2, unconvinced she puts a 6 and a 4 in the dressing room {okay lady, I'll put it on and show you} I slip into the size 4 and open the door to show her the dress, she looks very surprised and says "is that the 4??" Yes it is, and as you can see it is too big. She finally gets me the size 2 that I originally asked for and it fits, as expected. She looks at me in the dress and tries to fix her mistake by saying it must have been my coat that made her think I was a 6, and that I looked great, too late lady. I leave feeling large. The whole way back to the car I ask my hubby if I look like a 6, he has no idea what a "6" looks like, and assures me that I look fine. I am still a little upset that I looked 4 sizes bigger than I am, maybe I need a new coat. So for any sales ladies out there, don't guess sizes, if you are wrong{especially if you guess too high} you will make someone feel bad about their body for.... well so far just one day, but we'll see. Back to today, looks like we'll have a nap, and maybe an attempted trip to Target for a new toy for the Birthday boy, we'll see. I will make sure to pick a more slimming coat for our dinner out tonight, and I'll get the salad. Happy Birthday Max, I hope you end up having a great day, even if we relax for most of it.

Kelly Callahan

A Windy Party

When I first started thinking about Max's 2nd Birthday party it was a month away. And somehow it still seemed to sneak up on me. Luckily I was on top of getting the goodie bags done early, and I managed to order the food {yes, it would be possible for me to forget this detail} I even crossed my fingers for a sunny day..... I should've said a sunny, warm, and wind free day. After all my planning and all my searching for the perfect little dinosaurs to hide in the yard it was finally party day. As I went outside to set up the bouncy castle I realized how "breezy" it really was outside. Okay, it was more than breezy, but maybe if I used that term I wouldn't yell at the WIND as much as it threatened to blow over my castle. I finally got the stakes in the ground and was able to move on. I had fun filling the yard with little dinosaurs {lots....I bought 120} My hubby returned home with the food I had ordered and my items I had put on his last minute list. We were also making s'mores, and that wouldn't work very well with no firewood for the fire pit. We seemed to have it all together, the house was clean { which seems a little silly since you know you will have to re-clean after having toddlers over} the food was here, the yard was ready. As the first guests arrived I realized how cold that stupid "breeze" really was. Before I knew it the party had moved inside.....which is okay.....but, I do not have a big house so this could not last long. I talk everyone into venturing outside with promises of lots of dinosaurs and yummy s'mores. Once the kids realized how many dinos they were finding the temperature did not seem to bother them. The warm fire seemed to draw people over to the s'mores building station {which would've been a lot cuter if I could've set it up how I had planned, but the wind was not a fan of my decorating} After s'mores we were back inside to eat our dino cake and open presents. Max's older friends were happy to show him the art of unwrapping gifts. I sat in the middle of the craziness trying to thank people for their gifts as the cards and wrapping paper went flying by. Max had a great time, his friends left happy, and Max had plenty of toys to keep him busy after all his friends were gone. I guess I should just be happy that it didn't rain, wind I can handle {kind of}, but rain would've ruined the day. I feel like I learn more after each party, so when Max is 10 he'll have a pretty awesome party :)

Kelly Callahan

The Switch

Lately we have been dealing with a little man who does not want to go to sleep. He is now big enough to climb out of his crib so to prevent him from falling from his crib we have had to begin the dreaded switch from crib to big boy bed. I was not excited for this day, and now I really know why. I don't think he has been to sleep before midnight in over a week. His new routine is to stay up as late as Mommy and Daddy and go to sleep with us. It is really cute to see him curl up in the middle of our bed, but I sure do miss my nightly showers ALONE. Last night was not a typical Friday night for us. We used to have a nice dinner as a family, have some fun, put Max to bed, and watch a movie and relax. This Friday? Well, we started with fajitas {my favorite} and then a trip to Target, which used to be my favorite store, but when shopping with an almost two year old nothing is a favorite anymore. After dragging Max around to get what we needed I was trapped in the toy section as my hubby went off to look at whatever he needed {lucky} Max may not be old enough to tell me what he wants for Christmas or his Birthday, but stick him in the toy section and you'll have plenty of ideas. Of course I was not going to buy his gifts right then so it was quite a struggle getting away from the toy isles. After spending too much at Target {this hits me hard, since I try so hard to budget all week long, with smart shopping, and my coupons, and then I feel like we blow it with a stop at Target} We stop for some well deserved ice cream and headed home. It should be about bed time for my little man, but he is nowhere near that point. I try once to put him in his bed and lets just say that didn't go well. So at 10pm my baby boy was upstairs watching cartoons as I made and filled the goodie bags for his Birthday Party next weekend. I was proud of my cute little bags and since Max was still wide awake I moved on to cleaning. After cleaning the kitchen, finishing the laundry, and picking up the living room I decide that it is time for bed. I scoop up my little man and we head downstairs. As soon as he is sure both Mommy and Daddy are in bed for good he falls asleep immediately. We were awakened the next morning by the tree trimmers. Our trees really needed some love after the heavy snow. It is a little sad to see how many branches had to come down, but I guess our front yard looks bigger now. One of our trees in the back was almost cut down completely {I think they went a little overboard, but that's okay} I knew they were coming today but was still surprised by the sounds in the morning. After our morning entertainment of watching them trim the trees and put the branches into the "tree eater" {Max loved this part} we had some lunch. Max was playing quietly in his room when I realized maybe this was too much silence, when I went to look he was not in his room, but instead he had climbed on our bed and fell asleep. This is so cute, he had decided he was tired and had gone to his favorite sleeping spot. Now Max is asleep downstairs, Daddy is sleeping on the couch, and I am online wrapped in a blanket. Hopefully after Max's nap he'll be in a good mood for a dinner out and then maybe he'll sleep tonight {ha} I guess I at least know that I will accomplish a lot every evening if he continues his new sleep schedule. Which is good, since I have a list for myself to finish before his party. I am just hoping we have a dry day, since my plan is to have all the kids have fun OUTSIDE, since my house is NOT big enough for everyone....so my fingers are crossed. I plan to wait to get Max's Birthday presents until next Saturday morning, I know this seems like I am cutting it close, but I get paid on Friday and he'll be better off if I wait. I have also decided to order his cake and the food for the party, this may not be in my "thrifty" style, but it sure does fit into my work week quite nicely. Much of what is left is last minute, balloons, last minute cleaning, and setting up the yard for a Dinosaur hunt. Hopefully my plans for a great party at home work out. As long as Max has fun I will be happy and I don't see anyway he wouldn't, so I guess I have already succeeded.

Kelly Callahan