Guess which gift is our favorite?

I'm hoping this isn't the start of Will's career as a Hot Cop.

Happy Birthday Tiny!

EDIT:  I'm not going back and re-formatting this stuff again.  You're adults:  deal with the wonky layout.
First things first:  I haaaate the new version of Blogger--I had a hard enough time with the old template and now they're throwing all these new things at me. 

Anyway, today was Will's birthday party.  Up until Wednesday of this week, I'd been under the assumption that all the children invited were coming (approx 12):  that's a lot for us, folks.  Due to a series of unfortunate illnesses (hope everyone feels better soon!), our crowd was whittled down to about 5 kids.  Not to sound awful, but I'm really glad not everybody made it today.  Because my great idea to have the party at a park came to a crashing halt when the playground at said park was under construction: 

Mom and I were scrambling to get a hold of all the outside toys we could so the kids weren't completely bored.  Luckily, we got a hold of Daddy and Papa and they pretty much saved the day.  The party was allowed to go on as planned.

Will, Kylie and Jovie had a good time with their pirate hats.  Fitting as today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (thanks Auntie Bethany and University of Texas Football!).

I adore the little boys in these pics.  Regular visitors to this blog recognize Kylie (cousin) and Jo (rock star); the new kids are the Robinsons, Gracie and Bradley (children to Doug & Larissa, cousins to Jovie).  They had just driven in from Houston and were subjected to their first outside play time since 7am in addition to sugar.

Needless to say, Doug and Larissa loved me.

Thanks to everybody who came--Will had a blast!  We missed everyone who couldn't make it up and hope everyone feels better soon.

Finally, I really, really hate Blogger.

Day 4: Still successful

I've been told I'm much more pleasant today.

I'm very envious of all my friends losing weight (you know who you are) and realized I need to get my ample-sized butt to the gym if I don't want to turn into a Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloon very soon (what with the non-smoking and increased snacking to offset the non-smoking.... eh, that was a better metaphor in my head). Moving along. Yep, I made it to the gym this morning. Didn't do a whole lot, but it was 45 minutes more cardio than yesterday.

AND... I finally got the ball rolling on Will's birthday party. I tried to reserve the venue; I successfully ordered his invites (20 cents/piece! And printed envelopes! And 3-day rush order!) and have begun purchasing some of the decorations/favors. I say tried to reserve the venue because apparently they're not accepting reservations this week. (This is not a high class resort where they have a waiting list; it's a rec center, complete with little old ladies playing bridge in the waiting room. I swear I heard one of them say "Picture it...Sicily, 1923") So it's at the same park as last year and hopefully the weather plays as nicely as last year too; if not, party at D-Dub's house!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Will wanted to build you a train. Of trucks.

Few more touches....

Done!
See you in a few!

For Matt

Matt--or Funcle as he prefers to be known--bought Will a toy jackhammer for his 2nd birthday this year. Will's been enjoying it off and on the past couple of months, but on Friday, he snapped.

The kid came at me with this jackhammer.

I'm tired and can't think of any funny captions for these. Just know that he kept coming at me. I'd move back a bit so I could get a picture. Will would move as well. I'd go back, Will would go forward. And all the time he's jamming this jackhammer into the ground and we're getting this insane whirring noise every time the "toy" hits the tile and I know Will was aiming for my feet.

It was like he was on a mission to cause me harm.

Coupled with the biting earlier this week, I'm wondering if the kid's trying to tell me something.

Happy Birthday Abba!

Today is Mom’s birthday.

The past two years with Will has made me really appreciate my mom (and y’all know how much I already appreciate my mom). I’ve realized I need to get a move on if I’m going to half as awesome as my mom is/has been her entire life.

My mom made the birthday book for my elementary school library. Every child in that school got to choose a book in honor of his/her birthday; the child’s name and the name of the book was recorded in this… what I can only describe as the precursor to scrapbooking (which makes me laugh now knowing my mom’s thinking on scrapbooking). Anyway, there were balloons or presents or cakes or whatnot to transcribe each child’s name/book, but there was only one pink balloon. One pink balloon that had been reserved for Courage, Dana for Jill Calonico because I loved pink balloons.

My mom put notes in my lunch bag every so often, even when I was in high school.

My mom would make me a turkey bacon sandwich every morning if I asked her to (and sometimes I didn’t even have to ask).

My mom apologized and let me cry ran she ran over my first cat. Then, covered in kitty blood, she laughed with my friends and me when she told me she’d run over the second cat (both lived, btw, and went on to have very long kitty lives).

My mom took me to Fuddrucker’s on her 40th birthday because she didn’t want to be home when her birthday Strip-o-Gram arrived (and I’m not sure if I’m supposed to remember that or not).

My mom continued to let me wear my Strawberry Shortcake shoes even after they started smelling so badly they had to left outside at night.

My mom let me drive her fun little red sports car whenever I “needed” to.

My mom made me a Gloria VanderButt jean skirt when I was a kid.

My mom didn’t let me get too scared when I had a large, scary cyst removed. She took care of me.

My mom let me take care of her when she had a small, even more scary lump removed. She still didn’t let me get too scared.

My mom made my homecoming and prom dresses. She made my best friend’s wedding dress when her mom couldn’t.

My mom lives farther away than I’d like and I don’t get to see her as often as I’d like to. But she always answers the phone when I call and will tell me to suck it up when I’m being ridiculous (which is often).

My mom was always my mom when I was growing up, but now she’s my friend, too.

Happy Birthday, Mom—I love you.

A few of our favorite things

With one major exception, I've gotten all the thank-you cards out, but wanted to call some people out for their excellent gifts.


Up first, we have The Godparents They supplied the Inflatable giga ball which carries it's own weight in awesomeness. Thanks, Dave. Also, the completely rocking airbrushed t-shirt, complete with sparkles.

It took Jason an entire air compressor to inflate the Gigaball enough for maximum viewing and playing. I've been trying for the past 45 minutes to upload a picture only to find out it's not a picture I have but a 4 minute video. I love y'all too much to make you suffer through the screeching heard on that clip. You're welcome.

Funcle Matt got Will a jackhammer (complete with earmuffs and gloves--safety first!). I love that toy a bit more than Will at this point, but give it time.

Finally, Abba & Poppa came through with the Black and Decker tool bench. Will and I both love this thing (actually, Kylie does too--apparently the screwdriver is good for gums). The little mini-circular saw actually has little gold flecks so when the saw spins, it looks like it's shooting out sparks.

I had a bit of a pity-party for myself on Will's actual birthday, but getting to open this stuff up w/ Will and seeing his little face light up when I told him something was from Violet or Funcle just made everything worth it. Thanks, guys.

Birthday party

Sorry these posts are so delayed. The week between Will's birthday party and actual birthday was an emotional one; everything's gone as back to normal as we can expect in the immediate future--with everyone home and tucked safely in their beds--so I've finally gotten around to loading and posting some pictures.

In a break from the usual posts, there will be no witty captions between shots.

Janice and Robert (Grandma & Poppy) gave Will a tricycle, which was a big hit at the party. Colton's giving Will a push while Madilyn patrols.
OK, except for this one. I look awesome, don't I? I haven't taken a decent picture in well over a year, but I'm loving myself in this one. Jovie just wants to know when she can get a damn cupcake.

Sorry, one more: please notice the arrangement of cupcakes. Janice spent a good twenty minutes arranging them so no cupcake papers of the same color were placed together. Perhaps I shouldn't have pointed that out?
We got so super-lucky with this party, by the way. First of all, the weather was awesome: I don't think I even sweat (as evidenced by my fabulous picture above). All the truck decorations were on clearance at Party City for fifty cents. I didn't cry once during all the prep work, nor did I swear at Jason. I remained relatively stress-free until Mom and I tried to assemble the Tonka truck centerpieces. FYI, there was a reason there were twenty left at fifty cents a piece: they put the (pain in the) ass in assembly.

Happy Birthday Will

Oh, you tiny, perfect little man.

How is it that it's only taken twelve months to go from this:


(this one even freaks me out a bit)
To this:



Will's birthday was a success. He's officially one now: no more infant clothes or car seats. He's a fully-fledged, card-carrying member of the Whole Milk-Drinking, Bottle-Weaning, Forward-Facing Car Seat Riding, Toddling Just Enough to Warrant the Name, Cake-Smashing, Table-Food-Eating (but only certain foods because he only has the one tooth), Clapping-Waving-Hi Fiving Club. The WMDBWFFCSRTJEtWtNCSTFEbocfbhohtotCWHFC is an exclusive club; I know of no other 1-year old who belongs to this club, mainly because other 1-year olds have more than one tooth.

Anyway, because Jason and Robert (Daddy and Poppy, respectively) had to leave at 8 tonight to drive to Houston for a store in the morning before driving back up to Shreveport for the weekend, Will had some help opening gifts to speed the process along. He tended to get caught up with things. Like ribbon. And paper. And Jovie playing with newly opened toys.

I was going to add more pictures, but they're not being uploaded correctly (it's slightly possible that I'm doing it wrong). I'll try again tomorrow (or later today. Man, I've been at this for a while) and show you pictures of the cake-eating.