For Alexis’ 2nd birthday, we threw a beach party for the family.
I feel horrible because I was so busy, I didn’t get to take near as many photos as I should have/wanted to. I realized I didn’t get any photos of her with any family. But I was able to pass the camera to my sister, Carissa while Alexis opened presents. She got a lot of summer clothes, which she needed!!! And some toys for a little girl. But she did a pretty good job of taking a look at the cards and thanking everyone who came.
For Alexis’ birthday, we got her a mattress & box spring and bedding for a big girl bed. She tried crawling out of her crib the weekend before, so we decided… it was time. After all, Noah is now nearly 8 months and is sleeping in the pack-n-play in his room, and it would be nice to get him in a real crib.
We had the headboard from the bedroom set that the kids’ dresser-turned-changing table came with, so, all we needed was the frame and mattresses. I picked out some bedding to go with her walls and presto!
She seemed to like it right away… now the challenge is to keep her in it. We don’t have railings. So since the box spring is only half the height, I put a body pillow on the floor in case she falls out.
So, her first night in the bed comes with a story. It was the same night my friend’s daughter spent her first night in her toddler bed. Their family’s concern was that Bella knows how to turn door knobs and get out of the house.
So, the next morning (Memorial Day), before I went to work, I poked my head in the room to check on Alexis. She wasn’t in her bed. I had been around the house that morning and hadn’t seen her so I immediately questioned whether she, somehow, got out of the house. As my heart started racing, I looked again. Maybe she was in the pile of pillows and stuffed animals and I just hadn’t seen her. Nope.
I started to panic but then questioned whether I was hearing myself breathing or someone else in the room. I held my breath and the sound continued. But where could she be? I looked in the pink castle there and like the bed, it too was empty. But there, between the bed and the castle, tucked under the foot of the bed just a bit, Alexis was on the floor, fast asleep. It was the one area on the floor below the bed I hadn’t put a pillow… but I’ll never know whether she crawled out and decided to sleep there or truly fell out.
Alexis decided one night to show Noah how to jump on the couch… Let’s just say he caught on quickly!
Since both Bill and I had to work on Alexis’ birthday and her party wasn’t until the weekend, we went out to HuHot for dinner to celebrate. I’ve done my homework and figured out what she can & can’t have for sauces and the cooks are great about separating her meal from others so there’s no cross contamination of allergens in other meals. She loves it!
I got her a bunch of balloons to make it feel more like a little mini party and Grandma Rose was able to join us since Grandpa was on the road for the week.
I usually make one big plate for the both of us figuring she’s going to eat off my plate too and sure enough! She really chowed down! So, after realizing she was going to likely eat everything on my plate too, I got in line & got another dish for me/us. And once I got back, the little piggie at that too!
For her birthday, she got a Magna Doodle and some other coloring toys. She loves to color and draw.
I had to take a picture with her balloons (Elmo is on the mylar balloon… he wouldn’t cooperate) because I have a similar one with me like this from when I was three. She was a total cheese ball!
And since I am making her “special” cake for her party with family, I had also sent birthday cupcakes to day care. For desert, she got to have one in her PJ’s complete with two candles. Not bad practice in blowing them out too!
We’ve been trying to take walks in the neighborhood after dinner on a nightly basis to get some exercise, fresh air and it gives Bill and I a chance to talk without the distractions of the TV and cell phones. But so far, Alexis will only let us take one route: to see the cows. 
The view from the back of our house includes corn fields, and to the northeast, you can see the cows when they’re out. So when you take a relatively shorter walk, these are the lovely ladies we get to see.
Alexis says hello to them, gives them a moo and then we say good bye. Some nights there are more than others and they’re closer to the fence at times too. Other nights, there are just a few and they’re far away. But she still finds delight in going to see the cows. Noah just minds his business in the “back seat” and plays with his toys.
And when we’re lucky, we get to watch the sun set to our west on the walk back.
Now that the house is painted… we were ready for rock on the front. I think it was a little different color than what Bill was expecting (he’ll tell you it’s different altogether), but I think it still works. I guess we don’t really have a choice at this point. But it helps brighten up the front and the are darker colors in the rock that go well with the house color.
Now we’re ready for concrete! That should be coming in a week or two depending on the weather. Then there’s just a little more trim to paint and we’ll be ready for gutters!
These are my precious children on Mother’s Day… two blessings I am very thankful to have in my life.
Alexis and I did a little craft project to make some “flowers” out of her hand prints. It’s an arrangement that will never wilt!
Noah cut his first tooth this weekend and was such a good trooper about it. He just started holding his tongue funny on Sunday, which made me think he was feeling something funny and sure enough, a little tooth had popped through.
Bill took me out to dinner and a movie the night before, which I thought was for Mother’s Day, but it turns out it was “just because”. Carissa watched the kids for us and we went and had dinner at Minerva’s and went to go see ‘Iron Man 2’. He had picked out ‘Date Movie’ movie times, but I decided to see the action movie instead. That’s the honest to God truth!
Carissa and I worked into the late hour of the night making cute little May Baskets for my little May baby to deliver that next day. And she did rather well…
She went unnoticed at Uncle Chris’ house. Although, it helped he wasn’t home. But at just over 2 feet tall she was stealth about it, followed my directions and put the basket right on his doorstep.
We weren’t as sneaky at Busha & Dzia Dzia’s house, though and got caught right away. She handed over the goodies to both Dzia Dzia & Auntie Carissa and left one there for Uncle Brent too.
On the way home, we hit up little Mollie & Jakob’s house and got caught again. Mollie was at the door like we were the ice cream truck! They were very surprised to get the goodies, which didn’t last long, as I’m told. And Noah is just as cute as ever.
We also made a basket for Alexis’ friend Bella but didn’t have time to run out to Harrisburg that day. So I brought it to work with me and put it on Bella’s Dad’s desk. Ben comes into in the afternoon and when I finally got around to mentioning that the basket with candy was for Bella from Alexis, he had already eaten half of it. Oops!
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