Sunday Best

All dressed up for cousin Sarah's baptism! Sweater dress, pink tights, and shiny brown Mary Janes!

BOGO

I have come to the realization that when I like something, I must like it. Case and point: we recently went to Payless to get some new shoes. Mine are now 5 years old and after my feet growing after being pregnant, I am tired of curled toes and the fear that they would somehow "break free" through the ends of my shoes. It was time for some new ones...and better yet, its Buy one, get one 1/2 off! First, I found some brown ones I really loved.

 

After I found the brown ones, I though - hey, I should get some black shoes too because they would only be 1/2 price. So I went back to the aisle, scoured the shoes for some black ones I liked and found a pair! It wasn't until I put both of them side-by-side and thought to myself, "wait a minute..."

Yup. Same shoe. I didn't even realize it. So guess what? I bought both, and I am okay with having the same shoe in 2 colors. The best part is, you don't get blisters from switching back and forth. However, I am dreading the day I go to work and realize I have one brown and one black one on. Mark my words people, I am pretty sure this will happen!

Ear Tube Update

Here is a little update referring to Macyn's tubes that were put in on Friday. Everything went well, except she is always super crabby waking up from anesthesia. She was crying so hard that she was gasping for air. Poor thing! Anyways, I am more confident in our decision now to give her tubes again. She still had a tube in one of her ears so the plan was to remove that one, patch it, and give her a new tube. That is exactly what they did, except her ear drum was starting to grow around the tube that was still in her ear. The Dr. said that is very bad when that happens and was happy that we caught it early. They simply shaved down the part that was growing and patched it like normal. They then put a new tube in her ear in a different spot. She has quite a bit of "ooze" buildup (I'll spare you the more yucky description) but it will be taken care of through the use of drops. If there is any excess, they will remove it it next week at her check up. So far everything is going well. Just keeping our finger's crossed this is the last time she will need them!

Baptism Present

DH's cousin gets baptized on Sunday (yes, his cousin is 2 years younger than our child). So I was trying to come up with a gift we could give her, and I found these name crosses on the internet. I decided to create one myself, print it out, and frame it. I think it turned out pretty cool, and I might just have to make one for Macyn. It says her name, along with God's Precious Gift with the date on the bottom. This was an inexpensive, unique gift to give. I can't wait for them to open it on Sunday!

Bug Jar

Since it was such a nice day out today, we decided once again to go outside. Instead of playing in the leaves we do every other time, we had a different agenda today. We were going to collect bugs in a jar. We caught about 6 Asian Beetles and 1 Box Elder Bug. We let Macyn put some leaves, sticks, and grass in the jar too. She likes to watch them crawl around in the jar. They are pretty active I must say. It was a fun activity for outside and fun to watch her bugs crawl around. She was pretty proud of them!

Taco Pizza

I was really hungry for some Casey's taco pizza for lunch today, but since our "eat out" budget is getting a little small, we decided to make our own homemade pizza instead. It turned out really good, despite my picture not looking so pretty! I completely forgot to take pictures of it until there was only 1 piece left. Oopsies! Anyways, here is how you make it. First, get a pizza crust. We used a pre made one. Then top the crust with salsa (we used taco bell, medium), taco meat (make according to package - we also used taco bell). Then, add some mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese. Then cook it according to directions on the pizza crust. Top with Doritos and you are finished! It was yummy and super easy to make. You could also add other things like beans, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. We like ours plain with chips and topped with sour cream. M m m m mmmmmm!

2 Year Check up

Today we had Macyn's 2 year check up and she is a (mostly) healthy little girl! She tipped the scales at 28 lbs which is in the 75th percentile. She used to be right about the 50th, so the doctor was happy with her weight gain. Her height was 36" tall which keeps her in the 95th percentile! If the old wive's tale is true, that if you double their height when they are 2, that means she would be 6' tall! If that's the case, lets hope she is coordinated and can go D1 volleyballin'.

In other news, she will be getting tubes put into her ears again on Friday. Not looking forward to this (or my pocketbook) because its an actual surgery where they put them under anesthesia, have a recovery room, etc. I was surprised to find out she had a slight ear infection in the ear without the tube, so we have some antibiotics for that to hold her over until Friday. Since she still has the tube in her other ear, they will be removing that one and patching the ear drum. They will then put a new tube in.

I think if she wasn't at an age where hearing is so important to development, I would try and wait it out. But the fact that she pretty much hasn't been able to hear anything out of her left ear for 3 months now (filled with fluid, & not draining) we thought tubes would be the best option for her at this time. So thats the plan - I really hope she won't need them again.

Oh, and today when I picked her up from daycare she has a pretty big shiner - got hit by a swing again. Poor kid! Despite all these issues that arise, I realize these are minor compared to what others deal with, and I truly feel blessed for that!

Birthday Party!

Here is Macyn's party, through pictures!

Macyn with her cupcakes!

Auntie Brooke and Grammy T

Mommy & Macyn

A little Minnie, Great Grandpa V.A. and Grandpa V.P.

Macyn with the V.A. cousins

Great Grandma V.A. and Macyn

Macyn with Grandpa and Grandma V.A.

Macyn with her aunties (and Caden)

Macyn with cousin Caden

Macyn with Great Grandpa and Grandpa Y

Macyn opening her presents. This consisted of opening them as fast as she could, tossing them aside, and going to the next gift she could get her hands on.

I love this picture. She was crying because there weren't more presents. She kept saying, "more? more?" and then threw a fit. Hey, its her party - can she can cry if she wants to!

Macyn blew out her candle all by herself!

Minnie Mouse Cupcakes

Cake pans with cut off tops

For Macyn's party,  I made simple cupcakes - boxed cake mix and canned frosting. I did buy the pink fun-fetti frosting and added a little bit of pink food coloring to make it more saturated. I also put white pearl sprinkles on the pink cupcakes, and pink pears on the white cupcakes. I stuck 2 mini oreos in each cupcake to make it look like Minnie ears. I also created the giant cupcake with a pan I borrowed from work. It looks nice, but it was big mess! I filled both pans up to the top and they proceeded to overflow in the oven. I would scoop out extra batter ever 10 minutes or so. After they were completely cooked, I cut off the tops, so they would be flat when I put the giant cupcake together. Sooo happy it turned out (and that the cakes didn't stick!) Here is how everything turned out!

Fall Time Filler

Since Macyn's party isn't until 3:00, we had quite a bit of time to fill some time before the party. Even more time considering she got up at 6:00. Here is how we spent our time, "pre-partying."

Macyn helped Mommy make snack mix and fill cups. Gotta love M&Ms, Peanuts, and Candy Corn! After this, it was time to ride bike in the house. We had to move the table to make room, so it created an instant indoor driveway!

After that, we decided it would be a good idea to brush the leaves off the sidewalk. We all trekked outside and had a great time! Macyn tried raking, and we tried taking some family pictures as well.

After our outdoor fun it was time to eat lunch, take a nap, and get ready for party time!

Birthday!

Even though Macyn's party isn't for another day, we decided to let her open up her presents from Mommy & Daddy when she got home from daycare. (Mom was busy baking lots of cake and cleaning the house!) She wasn't too excited about her presents and was a little bit crabby. (Isn't that what the 2's are about?) Since we already gave her the kitchen when we rearranged the living room for it it to fit, all she had to open were some realistic pots and pans along with some utensils. All this stuff came from Ikea when we were in Minneapolis a couple of months ago. Here is how the kitchen turned out. Oh, and I built it all by myself!

Macyn has a great time playing with and it occupies quite a bit of her time. She loves to cook and give her baby a bath in the sink. The burners also turn on and she cooks things on the cook top, and she always remembers to turn them off. Here are some pictures of her playing with the kitchen and cooking with leftover sprinkles from the fun-fetti frosting.

After present opening, we ate a nice meal of chicken nuggets and shrimp. They are two of her favorite things and she happily devoured an entire plate. Then we had a late notice phone call for a birthday party (for her 1st cousin, once removed - I'll let you figure that one out) at the Ranch. So we let her eat a cupcake, blow out her candle, and headed over for some cactus bread. It was a nice little party and a nice family birthday with just Mommy & Daddy. Tomorrow will be the "big" party!

2 Years Old

Where has the time gone?! Our little girl is two years old. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her for the first time in the hospital. I never knew how much work kids are and how tired you always are (even 2 years later!) But, I wouldn't change it for the world!

Macyn is her own little person. She enjoys playing with her babies, cooking in the kitchen, and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way :)

She is also super sweet too. I told her my tummy hurt and she comes up and gives it a kiss and says, "All better!" Last night at the supper table, Josh said, "here wife!" and Macyn chimes in and goes, "Here you go wife!"

She enjoys saying please and thank you for pretty much everything, even though it doesn't make much sense. She loves to be tickled and often says, "Teeek ulll!" or "No Teek ull, Mommy."

Even though she says pretty much anything you ask her, sometimes we can't understand what she is saying. This usually results in a fit of frustration. Like last night, she was in the kitchen yelling, "BEES!" "NO BEES!" "BEES!" and we finally figured out she wanted a Mr. Freeze. Its nice that she can talk, but not so nice when we can't always understand her. She also talks with a slight lisp with her s's.

She has a hearty appetite (when she feels like it) and loves yogurt! She will sit down and eat an entire serving. Bedtime can still be a challenge. We still rock her and i feel ridiculous doing that with a large child, but I figured soon enough those days will be over. So I continue to do it and cherish it every time I put her to bed.

I never knew how much love someone could have for a child, until I became a mother. I still stare at her in amazement, that I created that. She's beautiful. Happy 2nd birthday Macyn, we love you!

Minnie Mouse Shirt - DIY

Since the dress Macyn wore for her Minnie Mouse pictures is too big, I came up with another idea as to what she should wear for her pictures - I would make her a shirt! I ran over to Walmart and picked up a white shirt, iron on letters, and ink jet iron on transfers. I also had ribbon and stick on jewels leftover from other projects.

I made a pattern of Minnie Mouse ears and printed them out on the transfer paper. I also laid out the way I wanted Macyn's name.

After that, I ironed everything on and added jewel stickers to make the 2. I wasn't sure if they would stick, but i figured I wouldn't wash it anyways. In fact, the iron on transfers do not suggest washing the garment! Crazy! I added a Minnie Mouse bow, and ta-da! A custom Minnie Mouse shirt on a budget!

Can't wait for her to wear it!

Minnie Mouse Ears - DIY

I thought it would be a cute idea to have the guests at Macyn's party to wear Minnie Mouse/ Mickey ears instead of birthday hats. I still think it was a good idea, but had no idea how time consuming it was! But I did this on a pretty cheap budget and was happy with the way they turned out. I first bought some cheap-o headbands from Gordmans. Then, you cut out long strips (I used felt) that will cover the entire headband. Use hot glue to attach. Then, you make an ear pattern by making two circles with a rectangle in the middle. Dimensions will vary, according to what kind of headbands you purchase or how big you want your ears.

Then, you cut out 2 ears for each headband. You also need craft foam to cut out circles 1/2" smaller than the felt ears. You glue this circle to the center of the ears. Fold the other side over to cover up the other side of the foam and glue, but not the bottoms yet!

Once you have all the headbands covered, slide the ears onto the headbands using the loop you created when you made the ears. If my directions don't make sense, go here. Way more detailed than I am :)

And you are done! If you wanted just Mickey ears, don't add a bow. If you want Minnie ones, add one. I created the bows myself using ribbon (see previous post) That simple. Here is how mine turned out.

And here is how they look on my 2 year old!

I made enough ears for everyone at the party. We have decided if the guests refuse to wear them, they will have to donate $20 to her college fund :)

Cupcake Tower - DIY

Remember when I blogged a couple of weeks ago about the Halloween cupcake stand I bought for $1? Well, it is officially finished and it turned out great! I started out by wrapping white pieces of cardstock to cover up the centers of the platforms where there were holes. Then, I wrapped zebra & pink ribbon around the canned goods that will work as the support for the tower.

There was also a topper that I decided to modify and put on top of the giant cupcake on the top tier. I first measured how large to make the ears, which I cut out of craft foam. I then bought stick on jewels to make the 2 on the center of the ears.

All that was missing was the bow! You can make a simple bow by making a loop with whatever ribbon you like, pinch in the middle, and tie off. I also hot glued it so it would stay.

After I attached the bow to the ears, it was time to assemble the topper. I just hot glued it to the bat and covered the bottom with some zebra ribbon.

Before and After

Here is how everything turned out all together. I couldn't be more happier. I also found some cupcake wrappers from Hobby Lobby that match the Minnie Mouse theme.

Birthday Invite

Macyn turns two today! She is getting so big! Even though her birthday is today, we are having her party tomorrow. Here is the invite (and a little sneak peek of what her party will look like). I took the pictures and designed the card myself and had them printed at Hills. Can't go wrong with 10 invitations for $3!

Pink, Zebra print, Minnie Mouse ears, what more could a girl want?

Pumpkin Patch 2011

 Since it was a nice day out, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch! We went to the same one last year and once again wanted to hit up the one nearby, but we are so busy on Saturdays and unfortunately, they are not open on Sundays. We love this pumpkin patch and small town feel. Initially when we got there, it was only us and one other family. However, Macyn was super scared for some reason. Not sure if she was scared by all the pumpkins or what. Who knows. She did warm up once we began taking pictures in the cutouts.

After she warmed up to the cutouts and seeing all the pumpkins on the field, we decided to go for a ride on the wagon ride. She was not a fan and stayed cuddled in the entire way.

After all the "scary" stuff was over, it was time to hit up the patch and find some pumpkins! We had a good time out in the field with only a couple of tantrums over who would pull the wagon. :)

And then, all of a sudden, it happened! Macyn found the perfect pumpkin!

After we paid for all our pumpkins (5 for $9!), you had the opportunity to paint the pumpkins for free. Since Macyn does a little bit of painting at daycare, we thought we would give it a shot. We were pleasantly surprised to find paint shirts, fresh cups of paint, and blow dryers to dry your creation faster. Macyn was totally into this and painted her pumpkin with minimal paint on her hands (she hates ANYTHING on her hands) and only a little bit of pink paint in her mouth. She did the painting 100 percent by herself and picked out the colors she wanted. Her favorite color is "mink!" (pink).

It was a fun afternoon spent together. Here is how her first ever painted pumpkin turned out. I'm so proud of her artistic skills :)