Our buddy, Ashlyn, turns 4!

We have been a little under the weather the past couple of days. Delaney has had the stomach bug, busted lip (accident from school), and been a tiny bit snippy.

Sam Nolan has wanted to say "HEY!!" but I haven't been able to blog due to our crazy schedule. And, yes, his shirt says, "My Mom Rocks!" Love my mommy's boy.

 But before we got sick, we had the best time at our buddy, Ashlyn's, fourth birthday party!!

 When we got there, she immediately ran to this...

 And found her Ashlyn...

 Sam Nolan was content watching the girls play and racking up on some tickets!

 It wasn't too long before Delaney saw the huge bouncy area and was gone.

 This sliding position made me a little nervous...

 But not our little girl!

 Sam Nolan loved meeting his new friends...

 And Delaney enjoyed telling her friends all about it.

 Ashlyn opening her presents!

 After that, we played games in the arcade.

We meaning Daddy.

 Can you tell who is really playing the games???!

Then, they got on the go-carts for some Daddy-daughter bonding...

 In front...

 In back...

 Rematch-ASAP! We all decided that we must come back this summer for the guys to ride go-carts again (and maybe the kids can ride, too) haha!

 Love it!

Friday Favorites

Favorite after-school activity right now: Rest and relax. I just can't get Delaney to want to do anything but snack and chill after she gets home. I'm not sure what the whole "one-shoe on, one-shoe off" thing does for her, but she has no worries in the world. I have also learned that the daycare uses coffee filters to hold snacks. It's cheap and easy to clean. Love it! This is our favorite thing to watch. It's called "Super WHY!" She has recently decided to tell me "We don't like Dino Dan, Mommy." So instead, we turn on this educational t.v. show :) (or as educational as tv can be). And, yes, that's her nook on our t.v. We try to keep her time on it to under 15 minutes, but sometimes it's hard!

 What's Sam Nolan's favorite hobby when sister gets home? Sleep! He prefers to stay in his carseat so sister won't be able to touch him and try to wake him up. He's also been battling a stuffy nose, so this position makes it easier for him to breathe.

 I recently attempted to coupon at Publix, and although I didn't save much (a whopping $8!), I did find these on sale. Delaney's favorite dessert...

We are looking forward to a busy weekend with many pictures to post soon!

Progress

These days it seems like we are making progress in so many areas! Delaney is progressing in her cooking skills (with play-doh)...

 Cutting her cake.

 And showing off the final product.

 Sam Nolan is making strides towards his goal of army crawling. He is loving rolling over.

 Go, Sam Nolan!

 One happy boy!

 Eric and I have definitely taken our time progressing on house projects. We decided we didn't want to just settle for decor that we weren't in love with. Since everyone knows I am a "throw away or get rid of" person, our house still looks pretty bare. But we finally almost finished our dining room! It was an awful pink color, so that was the first thing to go.

Before:

 After:

I recently looked at the old blog, and found this picture of Delaney at 3 months old. I thought it'd be fun to compare the two babies.
Delaney:

 Sam Nolan:

3 Months and Growing!

Sam Nolan turns three months old today!! Check out that belly!! At three months old, Sam Nolan likes to:
drink 4 oz bottles (he likes to nibble on them throughout the day)
use his voice to "talk" to us
be swaddled almost all the time
diaper changing time! He loves to be naked!!
His little arms fling everywhere when he's playing. He loves it when we make animal sounds and he gets so tickled when we do them.

In honor of his three month birthday, Delaney is singing Sam Nolan her rendition of "You are my Sunshine" on her new microphone. Loving the outfit, too. :)

Delaney Turns Three!

Delaney had the best time celebrating her 3rd birthday. The theme was "Nick Jr." and the characters we covered were Olivia, Dora, Diego, Foofa (Yo Gabba Gabba), Max and Ruby, Backyardigans, and Blue's Clues. Whew! It was fun to decorate and get ready for our friends!

 She was so excited to see her friends and jump in the bouncy. Her expression when she saw it for the first time was priceless. We were able to get it all on video thanks to Nannie and Nana for keeping her upstairs until it was time.  It's so true that the greatest joy you feel as a parent is the joy that your child has during times just like these. I think I was just as happy as her to see the big smile she had ALL day. Although Eric and I were working on very little sleep from the night before, we were pumped and ready to go for the party!

 This is where she stayed most of the party and into the afternoon. Delaney said it was "Dora's house."

 It wouldn't be a party without a goofy picture of Daddy!! :)

 It was extremely hard to get a good picture of this little Dora doll because she was on the go the entire time.

 Eating our Dora doughnut and getting a little messy...

 My sweet WMK girls!!! Baby Kate came, too!

 Our awesome JCA friends, Sophi and Sarah, came!! :)

 BF Jenn and sweet boy, Cayden...

 Where's Cayden??!

 Making their Dora or Diego backpacks...

 Love our Luke and Crystal!!

 Look at those cute kiddies go!!

 Delaney was in heaven.

 We headed to the swingset to have some more fun with our buddies!

 And then we tried to get a group shot of everyone who was still there. Everyone wanted to get back in the bouncy. So when that didn't work...

 I got in there with them and I was only able to take this super dark picture. Oh well.

After nap time, our friends, Will, Ava, and Sam came over to jump, too. We had definitely taken advantage of having our bouncy for the day!!

At the end of the day, Delaney was so appreciative of everything she was given and the party that she had. She was thrilled to spend her third birthday doing what she loves while being surrounded by her friends. We wanted nothing more than to see her happy and excited about her big day. So when Daddy tucked her in tonight and she said, "I had the best happy birthday, Daddy. I love you." It melted our hearts. Doesn't get any sweeter than that. :)