O Christmas Tree

The house transformation for Christmas has begun.  We are slowly but surely making our way through all the rooms in the house to get them all decked out for the Christmas season.  Over the past 2 nights, we worked to put up the kids' Christmas trees.

Julian and Jillian put up her tree last night, and I can tell that it really brightens her day.  

Jillian and her Christmas tree - Christmas  2014

Where did the time go?!

Jillian and her Christmas tree 2011, 2012, 2013

As for Bubsy, we got him a tree last year, but never really found the right ornaments to deck out his tree.  But trusty Target came through again and we found these adorable woodland creatures that were perfect for him.

And I don't know if Jillian was more excited to put up her tree or to help put up his.  

Once I assembled the tree, I put the first ornament on.  Alex is a fast learner and he got right to work on adding the rest of them on.  

Jillian had already spent the night giving names to all of the animals.  So Alex would put one on, and Jillian would go rearrange it... "Alex, Robbie the Reindeer wants to be next to Ballie the Bear."

What resulted was a cute little tree for Alex's room.  Once we put everything on, I figured out that there are still more trimming that we can add to his tree, but all in good time.

How I love thee, O Christmas Tree,

And the little people you belong to!

Eat, Drink, and Be Scary

Last weekend, we had the Annual Halloween Party with our friends at our house.  It was the first of the Halloween festivities this season, which means that it was the first time Jillian and Alex got to wear their costumes.  

We have been asking Jillian since August what she wanted to be for Halloween this year.  She came up with a lot of ideas, and she was originally determined for her to be Minnie Mouse and Alex to be Mickey Mouse again.  I knew it was going to take a great costume idea to stray her away from using the same idea as last year.  

It was a no-brainer when I thought that she could be Queen Elsa and Bubs could be Olaf from Frozen.  As soon as I mentioned this to her as an option, she could think of nothing else!  

 

I knew there were going to be a million other little Elsas out there on Halloween...surely none would be as beautiful as mine!  

And our Olaf was the cutest little snowman around!  

Some people are worth melting for, and he definitely melted my heart!

As I was getting ready to host this year's Halloween party, I turned to trusty Pinterest for some party ideas.  And of course I found tons.  I made mummy hot dogs, ghost bananas, orange pumpkins, and monster yogurts (not pictured).  And of course no party is complete without cupcakes and goodie bags.  The other families brought lots of treats to add to the party fare too!

Everyone ate, drank, and enjoyed each other's company.  We stopped to snap a few family shots.

The Skows

The Malnars

The kids ate a lot of sweets and needed to burn off some sugar energy.  Jillian ran around serenading everyone to "Let it Go."

And we played a mummy game where the daddies mummified their kids, then they had to dance the monster mash, and hug their "mummies."  It was great fun for all most!

Elsa and Buzz ended the night with a dance.  The kids have been coming home telling us that they practiced their wedding dance at school.  They were excited to show us their moves, complete with a dip.  

It was a festive good time and we can't wait to host the Halloween party next year!

Adorable Alex: Walking Boy

Our Bubsy is a walking boy!  He started taking his first steps 3 days before his 1st birthday.

(This video is a little fuzzy)

But here in the last few days, he has really been taking off and walking so well on his own.

Another big milestone for our little guy!  We love you, little walking Bubs!!!

Silly Jilly: Sunshine Days

Happy First Day of School to everyone!  Today was Jillian's first day in a new class, the Sunshine class!  

We have been talking up her new class for quite some time now because Jillian does better at adapting to something when she knows it is coming (don't all kids?!).  So at school and at home, we've been talking to her a lot about how much fun she's going to have in her new class and how much she is going to learn.  

In order to be ready for the big day, we told Jillian that she would get to wear a pretty, new dress and fun, new shoes to her first day of Sunshine.  She was very excited to get to put on her purple dress and purple shoes from Grandma, Grandpa, and Auntie Manda.  And of course, Bubsy had to dress up too!  Don't they look so cute?!

I think the new dress/shoes thing worked because Jillian was excited to go to school this morning.  We stopped for a quick picture in front of the school.  

It's funny because it feels like her first day of a new class happened just yesterday.  While her smile and her hands-on-the hips pose may be the same, she has gotten so much bigger and smarter since this same time last year (and so much more full of personality).

Then it was time to head in.  We went to her class first, but she decided that she'd rather go drop Bubs off instead.

Alex just recently transitioned into his new class, but it's been a little bit of a rough transition for him.  For the first week, he would cry everyday we left him.  He is adjusting better now, and I think it's because we get him there right on time to sit down and eat breakfast, and he loves eating.

Bubsy in his chair, ready to eat!

I was a little worried that taking Bubs first was just a stall tactic by Jillian to avoid going into her new class.  We stopped for a picture in front of her new door and she still seemed happy and excited.

Once we got into her class, I could tell that she got a little nervous.  But I was fully prepared for this so I had saved one last surprise for her.  I got her a Minnie Mouse that could be clipped onto her backpack.  I took it out, put it on, and told her that now she could have a little Minnie Mouse with her all day at school.  I told Jillian that Minnie was excited to get to be in the Sunshine class and that she would learn, listen, and be right there with her every step of the way in her new class.  It seemed to be just the extra little support she needed to turn the nervousness into excitement.  (#momwin)

After a few twenty kisses and hugs, she went and sat down, ready to start her new adventure with her new teachers.  She started learning the new song and dance right away.

Truth be told, I stood outside her door and watched her for a few minutes.  Half of me was wanting to make sure that she was ok, and the other half of me was wanting to make sure that I was ok.  After a few tears in my eyes, and after seeing her settle right back into school, it was time to leave her in the care and trust of her new teachers.

Silly Jilly, you have a lot of Sunshine Days ahead of you!  We can't wait to see all the new things you will learn in your new class.

A Grand Slam Birthday Party

I have been dreaming of Alex's 1st birthday since before he was even born.  As soon as we found out we were having a little boy, I just knew that I wanted to throw him a baseball-themed 1st birthday party.  Some call me crazy for thinking that far ahead, but my plan was almost perfect...almost...

It started with a great invitation.  And who better to help with the invitation than the amazingly talented Sarah Burns to take the photo and the creative genius of Becca Paro to design the invite.  I'd say those 2 combined, plus Adorable Alex made his birthday invitation a Home Run!

Amidst all the craziness that life has had in store for us lately, Alex's birthday took a lot to prepare. I seriously could not have done it all without the help of my entire family to pull together all the little details.  But this little guy is worth every ounce of effort that everyone put in.  He sure is cute, right?!

For party details, I made a pennant-style birthday banner, baseball decor that we have around our house already anyway, and tons of baseball pictures of our baby boy.  I'll post all the baseball pics in a separate post because the series of them all are just too cute!

We also had a day at the ballpark menu, complete with hot dogs, nachos, lemonade, and potato salad.  We also did homemade cakes and cupcakes made by my Mom.

And of course, we had to have peanuts and Cracker Jacks.  We put them in favor boxes and there were also party favors for the kids.

A few months ago, I bought this great slip-n-slide in the shape of a baseball diamond for the kids to play with.  After all, I knew that a birthday party on a hot summer day would have to include some sort of water fun to keep the little ones entertained and cool.

Check out these all-stars taking the field.  I think someone needs to tell baby Koy that he is crawling the bases backwards!  And Jillian ran to steal second while Jackson was cheesing it up at home plate. She must get her baseball smarts from her Daddy!

There were other fun things to do, like jumping on our trampoline or splashing in a kiddie pool.  I'd say the kids had lots of fun.  

There's Jillian, pouting for the picture, while her friends smile!

Bubs' party seems like loads of fun, huh?!  Except you may be wondering why there are no pictures of him at his party...hmmmm...

Remember when I said my plan for his 1st birthday plan was almost perfect...

Well, it was almost perfect because I forgot to plan for him to NOT be sick for his party.  (OK, I know I could not have controlled that part).  He slept through 90% of his party...

And when he was awake, he was a little clingy.  Sigh...

We let everyone have a cupcake and most people left without seeing the birthday boy.  But since my family was here, they stuck around while we waited for Alex to wake up.  Once he did, we finally got to sing Happy Birthday to the sweet boy.  

Big sister Jillian helped us wish him a happy birthday and blow out the candles.  

And just like Jillian, he was not too fond of the icing on the cake.  I'm sure if he would have tasted it, he would have loved it.  But since he wasn't feeling so hot, we took his cake and decided to cuddle with him instead.

Alex's birthday would not have been complete without some family pictures.  After all, these people came a long way to spend it with the birthday boy.

The Acostas with Granny, Auntie Shell, Uncle Joseph, and cousin LoLo

With Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Manda, Gilbert, and Lauren again

At the end of the night, it was still fun to get to look back on Alex's 1st year of life.  Our little family of 4 feels so complete and full of love thanks to this little guy.  I am proud of Julian and I for surviving and thriving with not one, but two, happy, healthy, wonderful kids.  

Alex, you are the little boy we always dreamed of.  You are our son, our pride and joy, our little man. Here's to a million more memories to come and years and years of happy birthdays to you, Bubsy!

Even if he was sick through most of it, I'd still say Alex's 1st birthday party was a Grand Slam!!!

A Whale of a First Birthday

For Bubsy's first birthday, we decided to celebrate his milestone by hitting the road.  My family was coming in via train and so we decided to meet in San Antonio.  I drove with both kids on Alex's actual birthday and we met up to show the birthday boy a good time.

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandsons

 The night of his birthday, we went down to the River Walk to have dinner.  But I think these girls had more fun getting to see each other and spend quality cousin time together.  

Jillian and Lauren

We called it a night so that we could get up and go to Sea World the next day.  We got there as early as we possibly could with 4 kids and 5 adults in tow.  

We enjoyed a few of the shows with the animals, but they really weren't enough to keep the kids attention.  

After the show, we put the bigger kids on a little ride all on their own.

Birthday boy Bubsy was more than happy to stay with Mommy though.

The heat was a little too much for everyone, so we decided to grab lunch and cool off.  The kids loved showing off their Shamu hats.

We braved the heat again and ran into a couple cool characters.  

Jillian loved getting to meet Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Ernie, Burt, and Zoe from Sesame Street.  Baby Mikey even got in on the fun!

This little guy slept through the characters, but was all smiles once he woke up from his nap.

We decided to end the day with some splash time at the Bay of Play area in the middle of Sea World.  

We put the kids in their swimsuits and let them run loose.  They spent over an hour, splashing and sploshing and just being kids.  It was the most fun of the day to see them enjoying themselves and interacting a lot with one another.  And it was a great way to escape the Texas heat!

We had a great time at Sea World celebrating Alex's first birthday!