Minions

In past years I have spent MONTHS preparing for my little boy's birthday parties. But with moving to a new home, being pregnant, going on vacations etc- I had zero time to plan this party. About a week before I came up with some decoration and food ideas. I all ready had this balloon wreath from last year- so all I did was add the Minion:

I saw so many cute Minion DIY on Pinterest... I came across some Japanese Lantern Minions and thought they were adorable and super easy. So I made my own version:

Found these on Pinterest as well. They are super super easy and I made them even easier by finding little 'eyes' at Gygi's instead of using smarties and frosting. They were a big hit with kids and adults alike. We also did a small candy bar with little baggies for everyone to fill up and take home. We had lemon drops, gum balls, banana taffy, pineapple jelly beans, banana chips, and lemon-chocolate dipped almonds- got all these goodies at Gygi's. 

More Minion lanterns:

I made my favorite Tres Leches cake for those that didn't want the cupcakes. So here is the birthday boy blowing out his 3 candles. He LOVES the birthday song- so we sang it twice. 

I didn't take any pictures during the party! We were busy serving dinner to everyone and opening gifts. He is one spoiled boy. Everyone is so sweet and we appreciate all the love and support we received! These cute pictures courtesy of Aunt Bree:

We FINALLY went and got his 3 yr pictures done about 2 or 3 weeks LATE... I went to Camera Shy in Lehi... I absolutely loved it there. The photographer was so fun and sweet. William was all smiles and giggles and just loved it. The pictures turned out fabulous and I was bawling during the slide show. I am so blessed to have this little man in my life. He is such a sweet, smart, funny and handsome boy. I am so proud of him. 

Happy Birthday my Love. I love you more than life itself and am so proud to be your Mom. 

BIG days

Mother's Day has been kind of weird for me the last 3 ish years... I only think of MY Mom on this day and forget that I am a Mom myself. I know if you are pregnant on Mother's Day you sometimes don't feel like a Mom yet either... but you are! My cute cousin Erin is just a couple weeks behind me this pregnancy and it is so fun to see her and  compare notes. I know she doesn't feel like a Mama yet- but she IS and she is going to be one of the best Mom's around. Such cute belly's...

We had a lovely lunch at Papa's house with all the cousins and family. We gave Meemaw her gifts and just spent time with everyone. William absolutely loves to hold his cousin Ellie. He is going to be the sweetest brother. He is so protective and loving. He is also quite the worrier. He is always looking out for all the kids and making sure they aren't going to get hurt. My heart melts to watch him with the babies. He is going to be my big helper in a few short weeks for sure! 

We drove up to Scott's parents house and wished Grandma Halladay a Happy Mother's Day and dropped off her gifts. Scott's parents are always so thoughtful and giving. They gave me a bunch of gifts as well. I am so blessed to have the Mothe'rs I do. My Mom is my best friend and I am thankful to be so close to her. My mother in law helps me SO much. I love you Mom's.

My William is 3. I seriously can not believe it. Where did my baby go??? On his birthday we woke up and let him open his gifts: a few books, Minion t shirts, Cars, and a couple other small things that I can't remember at the moment. He was pretty happy with it all.

We then ate a waffle breakfast and sang happy birthday (the birthday song is his all time favorite thing. We always have to sing it more than once). I told him he had a surprise downstairs- so he ran downstairs to find his very own trampoline. He has been wanting a tramp for a long time and was really excited to have one in the basement. 

Daddy took the day off from work to play with us. So we decided to try out the new Museum of Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. We spent ALL day there. They have a bunch of different areas and activities and things to do. We spent time at every area as well as the gardens and park. He loved feeding the fish and watching them through the glass:

He also loved the caves and the slides. He had a blast and did not want to leave the museum. I would recommend giving this place a try- although try to find a deal or coupon online because I felt like it was WAY overpriced. 

After the Museum we met up with Meemaw and Pop pop for dinner at Zupa's (William LOVES soup and salads lately) then we drove up to Cold Stone by our house and had some ice cream with Grandma and Grandpa Halladay as well. All the Grandparents spoiled him and gave him some gifts to open. He got a Thomas the Train Book and water shoes from "Meem" and Pop and Grandma and Grandpa gave him some aquarium trains for his train set. He loves all the gifts!

Big W had a great birthday. We were so happy to spend the day with Daddy. That is an extra special treat! He had his Minion birthday party just a couple of days later.... Coming Up.

5 Days of Disneyland Part II

For weeks William was telling everyone that he was going to meet Elsa at Disneyland. (This boy LOVES the movie Frozen) I kept telling him that I wasn't even sure that Elsa was going to be at Disneyland, but if she was- that we could meet her. She was definitely at Disneyland- along with Ana- and everyone wanted to meet them. The first time I checked the line was on our 2nd day and it was a 2 1/2 hour wait. I bagged it. I had the brilliant idea to return first thing the next morning. 

We arrived at the park on our 3rd day and I went straight to Elsa's line. Everyone else must have had the same brilliant idea because the line was all ready looped all the way around Fantasy land and down the walkway toward Frontier land. I stood in line for 5 1/2 hours so my little man could meet Elsa and Ana. I was completely fine with it since it was our 3rd day and we still had 2 more days- plus I was swollen and tired being 28 weeks pregnant. And it was worth it- look at how happy this cute boy is that he is next in line:

Holding up "5" for 5 hours... but it was really 5 1/2!!

Meeting the girls. I love how he is so calm and "macho" in these pictures. He has to be all manly about meeting these beautiful girls. What a stud.

Thanks to Meemaw and Pop pop for taking William on rides while I waited in line! And for trading places with me so I could eat lunch!

Another new thing we tried was over at California Adventure- it is the Wilderness Explorer Camp. We have always just walked right past this, but now that Will is bigger we decided to give it a try. (Plus William has always loved the movie Up) It was such a fun area to let him run around and get all his wiggles out- it is HARD standing in lines all day long just to ride for a few seconds. So this area is great to let them just get all that energy out:

We also took William over to Pirate Island. I have been over there before- but it was William's first time and again, he just loved it. Such a fun area to run around, explore caves, and do fun things. He loved all the pirate stuff.

Our last night in the park- had to get a picture in front of Mickey at the entrance. We never do this- and it is a must! We are all exhausted but happy! All 4 of us survived.

Until we meet Disneyland again... (hopefully in a year or so when Baby Girl is big enough) We had such a great time. 

5 Days of Disneyland Part I

Man- I feel like we haven't been to Disneyland in a looooong time. In reality it has only been about 11 months- ha ha. We were lucky to be able to tag along on Scott's work trip this time. He had a convention in Anaheim! So William and I tagged along and got to go to Disneyland for our LONGEST trip yet- 5 whole days! We have been super excited about this trip and talking about it non-stop for weeks. I was a little nervous being 28 weeks along AND chasing around my 2 year old... so my parents were nice enough to join us! 

We did lots of new things this trip- first up was the Sword in the Stone. I always saw this at the park, but we have never stopped to try it out. All our boys gave it a try:

William just loves trains. We took full advantage of the train this trip. Anytime we could hop on- we would do it. William just loved it, and it was a time to relax for all us adults. 

Big W is tall for his age... he was only 1 inch short for MOST of the rides- so hopefully next time we go he will be able to ride pretty much everything & anything. Some new rides he was tall enough for this trip include Autopia. I think he rode this about 6 times. Look at how happy he is that he gets to "drive" a "car"!!

 Cute Meem & Pop driving along behind us.

We even talked Eric and Colleen into Disneyland for a day! William was SUPER excited to see them at the Park and they were sweet enough to take him on rides that I couldn't. Mater's Tractor Pull is one of his favorites. 

 And he talked Eric into taking him on a drive on Autopia.

The weather this trip was PERFECT- a little overcast and around 72 degrees. I think Sunday was pretty hot... but the rest of the week was amazing. And thank goodness because with all the humidity and walking around- my feet and ankles could barely handle it. I was SO swollen!! All in all- I loved walking around Disneyland and getting lots of exercise. We had so much fun hanging out with Meemaw and Pop pop all week too. We had lots of treats- our favorites are the Mint Juleps and beignets at the Mint Julep bar. We also love the Tigger Tails at Pooh Corner (which is another favorite ride of Will's. He rode it almost 20 times during the week). We got to try a new treat this trip as well at Maurice's Treats in Fantasy Land. We tried the Strawberry swirl bread, the chocolate swirl bread and the garlic swirl bread. As well as the frozen apple drink. It was delicious. 

One more post and more pictures and stories to come...

Odds & Ends

I can NOT keep up with this blog lately! Our life has been extremely hectic the last few months. We decided it was time to move- so we had a couple MAJOR projects to finish in about 2 weeks so we could put our house up for sale. It went up and about 8 days later it sold. So then we were house hunting like crazy- found a house and we close next week. So now I am packing up and cleaning out and have been doing all this with a very active 2 year old AND a pregnant belly. So the blog has been low on the priority list. Here are some odds and ends from this year so far:

January- Birthday Month. We spoiled Daddy with some gifts (that to be honest- I can't even remember what we got him... Some Legos, a Movie or two, some comic books, something electronic and an herbal tea maker perhaps...) Big W loves to hep open the gifts. We also went out to dinner with some close friends of ours- Scott and Toni have the same birthday so we celebrated by going out to Ruth's Chris. They are such a sweet couple and I am so heart broken to be moving AWAY from them. Good thing it is just down the street a few minutes...

 My birthday is in January as well and we had a great relaxing day. The boys got me heated curlers (that I need help learning how to use properly), a new curling iron, my own tea maker, and Tangled. We just hung around the house to my recollection and it was a fabulous day :) My boys make me feel so special and loved. I am so lucky.

During our busy house hunting days- we had one Saturday where we looked at about 9 houses (maybe more). We didn't want to drag Big W around and so we arranged to have my dad (Pop-pop) ride the Frontrunner train up to Draper to pick up William and ride back down to Orem. William LOVES trains. And he is always fascinated to watch trax or frontrunner zoom past. Here they are at the train stop and getting on the train. He was ALL smiles and just loved the ride. 

I am horrible at taking pictures- but William and I spend pretty much 24-7 together and I LOVE it. I am so blessed to be able to stay at home with him and raise him and play with him and teach him. I am not going to lie- being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done. Some days I really question what I got myself into. But it is all worth it. When he gives me hugs, cuddles, kisses, smiles or anything- I just melt. He is my favorite. And he is the sweetest, smartest boy I have ever met. I am lucky to have him in my life.

Speaking of being lucky... our little GIRL will be joining us in July. I am still kind of in shock that we are having a girl. I just always pictured myself having a bunch of boys. I am really nervous about raising a girl- but I am getting more and more excited every day. She sure does love to move and stretch- she moves pretty much constantly (just like William did). So far the pregnancy has been great and everything looks good with Baby Girl. I couldn't ask for more.

My little sister (Dee-O to Will) got married in March! This handsome man was the ring bearer and he did such a great job.  He just loves Dee-O so much and is always giving her kisses. He has such a great Aunt and now a new Uncle. Welcome to the family Kaden. Congratulations to both of you. We love you!

I think that is all the major updates for now. I have lots of recipes we have been cooking up... so look out.

Christmas-- finally!

We had a very nice and laid-back Christmas this year. We did our traditional Orem Christmas Eve party at my Papa's house. It is so great to see family members that live elsewhere and those that we just don't get to see very often! There are lots of us expecting babies this year so that is the biggest topic of conversation. It is so exciting to see our family grow! We got our traditional stockings and blankets from Papa and Nana. We also had our traditional pizza dinner. One fun thing was our neighbors had ordered way too much crab- so they brought us a TON of crab legs! Scott and I (and we now know William) love crab! After the party we went to Meemaw's and Pop-pop's to open gifts there. William is one spoiled boy and got tons of Cars stuff as well as Monster's Inc. stuff. His favorite toy from them is his cat Figaro. Scott and I got Hale Center Theater season tickets- which we are so thrilled to use!

On Christmas we hung out at home all day and let William slowly open gifts. He loves to open one and play with it for a while. Then later come back to open another etc. We didn't rush him through opening gifts. I like that he enjoys each gift and doesn't care if there is a big pile of gifts to open or not. We ate breakfast before doing anything because Scott had to work for a little while. We made eggnog french toast with scrambled eggs. Then we got to the fun stuff. He was most thrilled to get Woody and Buzz:

Scott and I opened gifts while William was playing with his toys. I made this gift for Scott and Eric: a Rubik cube tissue box. If you watch the Big Bang Theory- in Leonard and Sheldon's apartment on the side table by the couch, they have this. We are Big Bang enthusiasts so when I saw the tutorial on Pinterest I just had to do it.

The gift that he picked out and bought for his self: a straight edge razor to shave with! It was really nice and William and I took it downtown to get sharpened so it was all ready to go with all the accessories. I think he was happy with his choice :)

William came back for more presents and opened up Mack (from Cars) that held I think 8 other cars. Luigi and Guido are his very favorite. He has ALWAYS wanted them and we can't find them anywhere. So I was super excited to find them. He is also dying for Doc- so if anyone sees him anywhere, tell me!!

While Scott and I were opening gifts I went to see what William was doing and found him curled up in his new Cars show couch/bed with his new cars blanket, Figaro, Monsters Inc toys and Cars toys watching his new show Monsters University. I think he had a very memorable Christmas. Such a cute boy.

We were lucky to have Eric and Colleen stop by for the afternoon and exchange gifts. They always spoil us and spoil William. They are such great people and the best friends. Later that day we went to the Halladay's and opened many gifts and ate way too much food. We also shared our Service Projects and just hung out. The Halladay's are so generous and sweet. I am so blessed to have such great in-laws. 

Hope everyone had very Happy Holidays!

Family Pictures

We actually got these family pictures done back in November. My entire immediate family decided to get these done for my parents for Christmas. It has been a long time since we had family photos done, and now we have new babies and family members moving away and new members of the family... so it was much needed! They turned out really nice. I am so thankful for my family- Love you all!

I love the picture of Pop-pop and Meemaw with the grand babies. Aren't they WAY TOO YOUNG to be grandparents??? And I just love Vivee, Miss Aeda and Mr William. Such cute kids. Aeda will be a big sister in March. And William will be a big brother in July!! I made a ton of Christmas cards with all these cute pictures on them to send out for Christmas and misplaced my Address Book- so I never got them sent out! (Pregnancy Brain) So I thought I'd share them on here instead. 

I have lots of Christmas pictures, birthday pictures and recipes with reviews coming up.