ELLE'S FOURTH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Last week we pretty much spent the entire week celebrating Elle's fourth birthday.  Wednesday I brought cupcakes to her class.  Then Thursday was her actual birthday.  We had a very big surprise for her being delivered to the house so we planned a little Tupelo getaway to one of her favorite places, Chucky Cheese!

 This was my collage that I posted on Instagram.  Sweet girl, my how she has grown.  I say this all the time but there are no more traces of the baby she once was.  She is a real little girl now. Even just seeing how much she has changed from her birthday last year to this year.

I did not take a whole lot of pictures from Chucky Cheese but she was so excited to go and we all had a good time.  Walker even seemed to enjoy all the bright colors and energetic music.

Daddy and Elle playing a game that I am sure in a few years will look even 

more prehistoric than it already does.

So like I said before while we were at Chucky Cheese we had a company deliver and assemble Elle a new swing set.  We are so excited but it was so sad.  The entire week of Elle's birthday we had the most beautiful weather where we played outside and took walks.  It was so pretty.  Then we finally get our swing set delivered and this freezing cold rainy weather moved it.  Elle wanted to play on her swing set so bad and we had to make her come inside because the weather was just too yuck. It broke all of our hearts.  But we know nice weather is just around the corner and by that time Walker will be big enough to enjoy a nice baby swing too!

Enjoying her swing set for five minutes before the weather was just unbearable.

Friday night my sister and Kenny's parents got into town late afternoon (my mom came in town that night) and we all went out for an early Hibachi dinner.  Elle loves to go and "watch the man cook." Then it was home and bedtime.

 Daddy and Elle.

Then Saturday morning it was birthday party time. We had Elle's birthday party at the gymnastic gym she attends.  It is an extremely popular birthday party venue for Starkville but in January it is not like you have a lot of options.  The kids absolutely love it.  It is also a no frills kind of place which makes for easy planning and set up. When I was planning the party I sat down with Elle on Oriental Trading's website and showed her all the different plates and napkins and she chose Frozen.  Done and done!

 The table all ready for the kids.  I did paper crowns with the Frozen plates and napkins.

 Fun Olaf balloon for the birthday girl's chair.

Party favor table.  Elle's little friend and classmate's mother does these amazing sugar cookies.  They taste wonderful and are always o beautiful.  So everyone got a big decorated 4 cookie and a magic wand along with the crowns.

 Walker felt a bow tie was necessary for Elle's celebration.

 Elle posing with her fluorescent pink cake.  It blends in with the table cloth picture.  The bakery copied one of the pink cakes on her invitation.  It was strawberry and delicious.

Elle sliding down one of the jumps with friends.

 Jumping in the foam pit.

 Walking the balance beam with Daddy.

Look at that pouty face. She was worried she was going to fall!

Getting ready for chicken nuggets and Cheetos and cake!  Elle was so excited to have a birthday party so she could have Cheetos at her party.  I don't know where she gets these things!

 Blowing out the candles. My sweet four year old baby girl.

 And I had to include this picture because this is the only picture I am in.  Just absolutely kicking myself for not taking a family picture at the very least. Oh well.  I hope she knows despite me not being in any of the pictures that I enjoyed planning this simple birthday party for her and I was delighted to get to see her enjoy celebrating with friends and family. Love you Elle!

Birthday party success.  She was totally wiped out.  

The rest of the weekend we spent opening Elle's gifts playing with new toys, cooking out with family and just hanging out.  I know Elle felt loved with all of her people around her.  It was a fantastic birthday celebration!

WALKER MONTH 2

Month two! Here we are.  Things are getting easier and more fun.  We are snagging a little more sleep which makes everyone feel a little more sane and Walker is becoming more interactive.  I know they are sweet when they are newborns but the interaction is what makes start to feel closer to our babies.  When they start turning towards your voice and smiling occasionally and the coos!  They are starting to give back a little and I just love that!

He is still not sleeping through the night and I am trying hard to accept that.  I think he is just a hungry boy.  Doesn't want to miss a meal.  And don't worry he is not!! I weighed him here at the house the other day and I got that he weighed around 12.4 lbs! Holy smokes! Elle didn't weigh that much for a long long time!! He is staying a wake a lot more during the day and we have started playing on our play mat and getting tummy time in when we can.

So here are some pictures from the last month! Sweet boy is growing and Elle continues to be a wonderful sister.  She just is so sweet and loving to him.  I will say these second babies have to be tougher to weather the love of the older sibling.

One morning I tried to lay down with him after we dropped Elle off at PDO.  I managed to get a short nap.

Starting to wake up.

And sacked out!

I try to make myself sit-down and snuggle with him which results in me taking a selfie ha!

My little burrito!

By the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

The amazing boys in my family.

Real life.  Can't remember why she didn't have clothes on but he was fussy and she offered to hold him! This is when having a larger age difference is a total life saver! He was so happy to stare at her and he stopped fussing!

Walker and I both had colds that lingered for a couple weeks.  We were over it!

Getting ready for the Orange Bowl!

NEW YEAR'S EVE IN FAIRHOPE

Like I said in the previous post Mrs. Ann offered to keep Walker the entire night (all the feedings!) So Kenny and were pretty excited to be able to relax a little bit and on New Year's Eve to boot! I cannot remember the last time I actually went out for New Years or was even awake at midnight.  Our good friends Jay and Margaret came down to Fairhope to stay at the Grand for a little vacay so we met up with them at a bar to watch the Orange Bowl.  State was playing Georgia Tech in Miami.

The bar wasn't too crowded during the game and they were giving out fun New Year's accessories which we had to take advantage of photo wise.  The game ended up not so great.  We didn't win but we still had so much fun! The bar got more crowded as it got closer to midnight. Fairhope has bands that play downtown and the businesses all set up kind of a tailgate situation and then they have a ball drop.  When it was close to midnight we walked over to the main street to countdown and watch the ball drop.  And of course get our New Year's kiss in!

Beginning of the night. Still hopeful for our Bulldogs.

Enjoying some of the props the establishment was providing.

Girl pic!

A group shot.  We tailgated every weekend of this football season with Jay and Margaret so it was only appropriate that we watch our Bowl game with them!

Getting ready to watch the ball drop.  You can see it in the background back there.

So we watched the ball drop, gave each other big kisses and headed home.  We were home by 12:30 AM and it was perfect.  New Year's Eve is not one of my favorite holidays but this year it was tons of fun!  A great way to start 2015!

CHRISTMAS IN FAIRHOPE 2014

A few days after Christmas we headed to Fairhope to celebrate Christmas with Kenny's parents and also celebrate New Years.  This was our first time to travel with Walker.  I realized as I was packing that this was the first time that I have traveled since Kenny and I went to Ross Bridge to celebrate his birthday in October.  

Elle likes to play in my closet.  Particularly with my shoes.  

I got this picture while I was taking Lena to the boarder. Silly girl!

Getting to Fairhope took a lot longer this time.  We stopped in Meridian to give Walker a bottle and let Kenny run into an account.  Always working our way through the south when we travel.  

While we waited on Daddy we took some car selfies.

Once we got there we tried to do Kenny's family Christmas but all Elle wanted to do was play with Gramma. So we ended up stopping the present opening and letting Elle spend some time with Gramma.  Later we let Elle open up her presents and then the grown ups opened gifts after all the babies were in bed.

The Christmas set up.

Elle trying on some new cute monster slippers.

Elsa with her long ponytail braid. Maybe Elle's favorite gift from the grand parents.

Elle hanging out with her daddy on New Years Eve morning.  Also sporting her new Frozen nightgown.  Gramma is responsible for buying Elle all the fun cartoon clothes! Elle loves cartoon pajamas!

Walker sporting his Bulldog gear in anticipation of the Orange Bowl. 

Kenny's parents got lots of good snuggle time with Walker.  They had not seen him since Thanksgiving so he had grown a good bit.  Mrs. Ann even gave us the greatest gift by offering to do a whole night of feedings on New Years Eve so we were able to meet some friends who were in town for some New Year's Eve festivities.  It is so much easier to enjoy a few drinks when you don't have a two o clock feeding looming over your head.  Post on our fun night to come!

I took this picture of Walker and Ann right before I left for New Years Eve and looked at it all night. I love his little sleepy smirk and how happy he looks.

Pop Pop got in on the cuddles too.

Apart from getting out for New Year's Eve, we spent most of the rest of our time relaxing and watching college football games.  Kenny and I took Elle to see the new Annie movie which she enjoyed and I thought it was all messed up.  It was a great holiday visit to Fairhope.  Always low key and relaxing.  

Post on New Years Eve to come next!