Friday, April 26, 2013

2 years old!





Tyler's 2nd Birthday Party


 
 Carson's 2nd Birthday Party 


My two babies!! I feel like just yesterday Carson turned two!! I was 10 weeks pregnant with Tyler when Carson turned two! It feels like yesterday!! 

Tyler is full of life! He has been my sweet, sweet boy from the time he was born. He is a little lover! He loves to give hugs and kisses. He often likes to walk holding mommies hand or brothers. Recently he has become more stubborn and head strong! If he wasn't my child, I would laugh at most of the stuff he does! If he doesn't like some food, he just throws it (on the floor, at me, across the table, etc.). When he's done with something, he also throws it (often at me!)He's not mean he's just head strong and he likes to show us what he's thinking, probably because he's vocabulary isn't very strong yet! 

Tyler got ear tubes a month a half ago, which has really helped with his vocabulary. We feel like he's still a little behind, but he seems to be showing progress everyday. He's putting two words together but he seems to understand everything we say. Recently he LOVES to tell us about all the things he sees, especially what color things are. We are working on beginning sounds! :) 

I went to Tyler's 2 year check up on the 26th and he seems to be doing well! 
Height: 37 inches 
Weight: 33 pounds 

Of course he's still at the top of the chart for both height and weight. He's wearing 2T for most brands but things are starting to get a little small so he has starting wearing some  3T things. His feet are big too! He's wearing an 8!!

According to the height predictor Tyler will be 6'4 by 18. I guess we will see one day soon!! 

Favorites
Trains and Balls!! 
Foods: Mac and Cheese, Milk, Pancakes, and Popcorn 
Color(s): Blue and Orange 

Naps: He naps once a day (1:30-3:30/4) 
Bed time: 7:30 pm- 7am 








Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Photo Book

I just finished the photo book from Tyler's birthday party. I thought it was pretty cool that they had a share link, so I thought I would share it with each of you!

I hope Tyler had as much fun as I did at the party! I am still smiling thinking about it!!




Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The train party... the stations and set up


 Happy Birthday Tyler! Here are a few pictures from the party. I tried to stick to a vintage train theme using blue, red, and white. I made almost all of the decorations and accessories. Luckily I didn't do everything the last minute, so it didn't seem so bad.


The Banner in the Dining Room 
Happy-2nd-Birthday-Tyler 

 Drinks: Water bottle labels:
 Chug-a-Chug-Choo 
Tyler is 2!

I made these on using Microsoft Word and then printed them on regular computer paper. 
We attached them using packing tape.

 Thank you for coming! A train full of goodies as favors.  
Favor bags, shortbread cookies, bubbles, and a train song CD.



 Welcome to the party!! We had "train tracks" leading up to the front door. 
We used black duct tape and electrical tape. 


 I made blue circle railroad crossing signs to decorate the yard. 
We bought tall stakes from Lowes and we glued the signs to them. 
 We also decorated the walk way with red and blue blue balloons. 
I attached them to golf tees and stuck them into the ground.


On the garage I made two banners. 
One said: All Aboard and then other had pictures of a train.
I also made three train crossing signs to go in-between garage doors. 

 


Bean bag toss train station 

The children could pick from red or blue (handmade/sewn) bandanna bean bags. 
They needed to toss them into the train. 


Decorate the Train:

We ordered a 6 foot cardboard train online.
 The kids had fun playing inside the train and 
decorating it with crayons, markers, and chalk.


 Train Table

We brought the train table around for the children to play with.


Train Rides

The children were able to go for a ride on the trackless train we rented. 
It drove the students down and around our street.

We used stakes and red plastic table cloth to make a "barrier" in front of the side walk.  I wanted to make sure that kids didn't just run onto the side walk while the train was driving. This also helped us keep an on the the kids a little better. :)


One of the tables we had set up in the back yard.

 

The Food

Cheese and Crackers, Fruit, Pasta Salad, Strawberry-Spinach Salad, Pirates Booty, and Pulled Chicken.


The Cake

The top was Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream and the bottom was Vanilla with Strawberry Buttercream in the middle and Vanilla on the outside. I used different colored fondant to make the train, cross bars, and lines.
 






 

The Beverages

We decided to offer just water and juice boxes. 
It was better to keep it simple. 
 

 The cookies:
These were the different shortbread cookies that the children 
we able to choose from as part of their goodie bag.


The Bubbles



 The Train CD 

I made Custom CD labels for the Disney Choo-Choo Train Mix.


Color a train or Train Whistle Station 

Each child was also able to take home his/her train whistle.
 

The train ride. This was the biggest hit!! 


A view of the house from the street.


Inside I continued the theme. 
I decorated the two columns in the dining room like railroad crossing. 
We also had tacks inside leading to the dining room.
 This was made with electrical tape because was scared 
the duct tape with leave too much residue on the title. 

We had stuff a great time! I'll add some pictures of the party soon!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

The family comes to Florida!

Our families came down to Florida to help us celebrate Tyler's birthday. My mom and dad came on Monday and we spent some time taking in all the Orlando is famous for. Tuesday they took Carson to the Animal Kingdom while I picked up Darlene, my mother in law, from the airport. On Wednesday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom and had another fun filled day Thursday at Sea when Elisha join us! 


 Saturday was Tyler's second birthday and his birthday party. We did a train theme since he LOVES trains right now! We rented a trackless train to drive the kids around the neighborhood and we had several train themed stations! Here are a few pictures of the family over the weekend.

Elisha and Tyler on the train

Nana and Glammy on the train 

Glammy

Nana and Grandpa

 Jason and Darlene 


Glammy, Tyler, and Nana 


 Glammy and Nana

Glammy and Tyler

 Glammy and Tyler


 Elisha and Tyler


Elisha and Carson

 Elisha and Tyler

 Elisha, Carson, Tyler, and mommy

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter here at home. We dyed eggs on Friday, had an egg hunt and picnic at church on Saturday, and then went to church on Sunday to celebrate. Sunday afternoon was very low key. We came home, took naps, did our own little eggs hunt and had a nice family dinner. Over all is was a pretty fantastic weekend!! 

Egg Dying
 





The Easter Baskets







Bunny Pancakes for breakfast 
 

 True Southern Boys: Chevron Bow ties

My best friend Lauren bought these for the boys. Her sister recently started making/selling clothes. For Easter she was selling tie. bow ties and chevron dress. All very cute!!



Playing on the playground after church 








 Happy Easter from the Bates Family