Behind...again

Ever feel like no matter how many things you get accomplished, the list never gets shorter???  I constantly live with this struggle.  In fact, it always seems to get LONGER with each thing I mark off.  Maybe I'll figure it out one day and not let "the list" have such control over me.  Until then, I'll just stay behind I guess. 

Anyway, on to more important things...

Yesterday was a special day in the Hadley house! 

We celebrated 3 years with this sweet and sassy little girl...

And 9 months with this adorable little man...

More to come on each of them, so stay tuned!

We love you so much Miss Allison!  Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

And Ryan, I think the calendar is lying to me, because there is no WAY you can be only 3 months away from your first birthday! 

Happy 9 months cute boy!  We love you!

Thanks for the pictures Vanessa!

A Special Day

Today is Billy's 31st birthday! Since I am constantly telling all about our kids, I don't often take time to brag about the great daddy and husband in our lives!
Billy is such a hard worker and does a great job making sure the needs of our family are being met. Lately, he's had to work 10 hour days, even on Saturdays! In addition to that he still has Sheet Metal School on Wednesday nights. So we've been joking that we're Daddy deprived these days. We appreciate how hard he's working for us, but we sure do miss him a lot!
We're going to do our best to make this a special day for him, starting with this post!
We've made the following lists of how Billy is a great husband and daddy to each of us...and has been since day 1! (I just thought it would be a fun trip down memory lane to post a picture of Billy with each child as a baby.)

1. He's always thinking of me. He sends me a text every single day telling me that he loves me and hopes I have a great day. And if there's something he feels I want or need, he will go out and get it for me (usually without me even asking.)
2. He's a great "gopher." He never complains when I ask him to get and bring things to me that I need around the house.
3. He isn't jealous of the relationship I have with my mom. I'm such a Momma's girl. I talk to my mom almost daily and have to spend time with her on a regular basis. Billy is very understanding of this.
4. He never complains about my cooking. I'm a pretty decent cook, but we all have the urge to try a new recipie now and then. If one of these trial dinners isn't his favorite, he'll eat it anyway. (He won't go back for seconds though. haha)
5. He loves me unconditionally. Even three kids and a whole different body shape later, he doesn't love me any differently from the day we met.

1. He plays Air Hogs with me. Tyler got an Air Hog remote control helicopter from Grandma and Grandpa Hadley for his birthday. Billy liked it so much that he bought his own. Billy's just happened to be green (Tyler's favorite), so they share and have a great time together.
2. He finds us after work. Long ago, Tyler started a game of hiding from Billy when he came home from work each day. Him and Allison still hide from him everyday and Billy just has to listen for the giggles to locate them. Once he finds them, there's lots of tickles, hugs, and kisses!
3. He teaches me lots of fun games. He has loved learning how to play Tic-Tac-Toe and Rock, Paper, Scissors. He also loves watching Billy play online chess and asks lots of questions so he can be a pro at chess too one day!
4. He shares mints with me at church. Daddy always has a pocket full of Life Saver mints at church. Tyler always looks forward to them on Sunday.
5. He calls me his "Big Man." And Tyler takes it personally if Daddy calls Ryan "Big Man." He will quickly correct him by reminding him that Ryan is "LITTLE Man."

1. He's my "friend" at night. Since sleeping in her big girl bed, Allison has some nights where she feels a little insecure. She will say that she needs a friend on these nights and sometimes Daddy will lay with her and scratch her back.
2. He shares his iPod with me. Billy has one of the iTouch iPods (not the iPhone). There are lots of fun apps for the kids that Billy has downloaded. Allison LOVES playing with Daddy's iPod and has even asked for her own "Princess iPod."
3. He's so warm and cozy. Allison loves sitting in her Daddy's lap. Ever since she was a baby, she has been most comfortable sitting with her Daddy. 95% of the time, she'll fall asleep while in his lap.
4. He shares his chocolate milk with me. Billy loves Mayfield chocolate milk. If he gets one when we're all shopping together, he gets a straw so he can easily share with the kids.
5. He calls me his "Pretty Girl." This makes her feel so special. She loves being Daddy's pretty girl.

1. He lets me watch T.V. with him. Billy uses this to distract Ryan when Mommy needs a little break.
2. He even downloads iPod apps for me! Billy downloaded Baby Einstein and some white noise apps for Ryan to use.
3. He turns on music and dances with me. Billy does this to get Ryan to sleep. It's worked several times!
4. He takes good care of me. Whether it's running to the store late at night for some Gripe Water or Tylenol or finding a way to calm me down, Daddy wants me to be happy!
5. He calls me Little Man or Ryan Baby.

We love you so much and hope this is a special day for you!

Tyler's Birthday Celebrations

We have 2 celebrations for each child's birthday every year. The first celebration takes place on the actual birthday. The birthday boy or girl gets to choose what's for dinner and then we have a dessert and sing Happy Birthday.

On the morning of Tyler's birthday, I reminded him that he got to choose what was for dinner. Anything he wanted. I told him we could go out to dinner, order food, or Mommy would cook something for him. He chose Mommy's cooking over any old restuarant! How sweet is that?! So my next question was, "What would you like me to cook for you?" He said he had to think about it for a while. A little while later I asked if he had thought of what he wanted. He said that he was still thinking and then said, "I know! I want fish! ......and shrimp!" Yes, my 5-year-old LOVES seafood. Always has really (ever since he was old enough to eat it anyway). So fish and shrimp it was. He ate almost every bit! And he's since told me that he wants the same exact thing for his birthday dinner next year. :)

After dinner, it was time for the Happy Birthday song, birthday cupcakes, and a couple small presents. I have to point out that Tyler didn't want me to use the green star candle on the brownies. Yep, it is still his favorite color. You'll see why later in this post.

Funny story about this flashlight from Mommy and Daddy: Billy loves MagLites. Tyler loves using Daddy's MagLites. Daddy thought Tyler would love having a MagLite of his own. You also have to know that ever since Christmas, Billy has been trying to get Tyler to tell his Grandmas and Grandpas that he needs his own laptop instead of more toys. But, 5-year-olds love toys and Tyler isn't convinced on the whole laptop thing. He can just use Mommy's or Daddy's after all. When we brought in the wrapped gift Tyler exclaimed, "I hope it's a toy and not a laptop!" So he opens it, and has a look of dissapointment on his face and says, "I wanted a toy..." Poor Daddy. It really was so thoughtful of him. And Tyler really does love and use it. This picture was taken after the initial disappointed feeling.

One other cute comment Tyler made that day:
A little before Grandma and Pawpaw got to our house for dinner, Tyler received a call from his Great Aunt Kandee to wish him a happy birthday. They got to chat for quite a while, but once Grandma and Pawpaw came through the front door Tyler told her, "I love you Kandee. I gotta go. Some of my party guests are here!"

The 2nd birthday celebration is the actual party where the birthday boy or girl gets to pick the theme and what kind of cake he/she wants. Tyler chose to have a rocket themed party this year and we decided to have the party be pretty low-key and only invite family.
These space balloons were the party favors for each child. They got to decorate them with stickers. This is the infamous balloon that got sucked out the window and (did not) fly to space. On the left is cousin Lilly and on the right are cousins Keilana and Kayden.

Here are highlights of the gifts given by Tyler's grandparents.

And some from Aunties, Uncles, and cousins.

And here's the rocket cake Tyler requested (and the green star candle that HAD to be on this cake). And yes those are real sparkles coming out the back of it...

And YES we really DID light them!

Can you sense Tyler's reservations about the situation. "Okay Mommy, if you really want sparklers lit in the house that's your prerogative. Just so you know though, I'm feeling a little too close for comfort here..."

Birthday Boy

As usual, I have a few posts to catch up on (including Ryan's 3 month post), but today is a special day for our Tyler Man. Somehow he's turning 5 today! I'm certain that he was just born last month or something, and now he's FIVE! I'm really in denial about the whole thing. The fact that he's no longer a Sunbeam at church, the fact that he'll be starting Kindergarten this fall, the fact that he's SO GROWN UP! I sure miss his sweet little baby face, but I love my little man more than ever!

Everyone knows that Tyler loves turtles and T-Rex, that his most favorite color is green, and that he's a pretty witty little guy, but here are 5 things you may not know about Tyler:
1. He's not eager to grow up. He says being little is more fun (aside from getting to be a parent, I completely agree with him!). He even asked me a couple months back if 5 was still little. I assured him that it was. :)
2. He doesn't like many vegetables, but will eat spinach any day of the week. He's seen what it can do for Popeye!
3. He has known his letter sounds for quite some time, and is in the beginning stages of reading. He can spell phonetically and is putting sounds together to read 3, 4, and sometimes 5 letter words.
4. He loves riding his tricycle. This is what he spends 95% of his outdoor time doing. And even though he got a new one for his birthday last year, he's still loyal to his original (gimp tire and all!) Currently he doesn't even have to do without on a rainy day. Luckily, Allison got a tricycle from Santa and it hasn't been broken in outside yet. He doesn't even mind that it's pink and has Barbie plastered all over the sides!
5. He has an amazing memory until it comes to locating his belongings. Seriously, he can recall - with detail - something we did or somewhere we went 2 years ago, but can't find that toy he was playing with 2 minutes ago!

Aside from his charming smile and adorable personality, here are 5 things we love about Tyler:
1. His helpfulness. Especially to Mommy with a new baby in the house!
2. His desire to learn and know about things. If there's something he is unfamiliar with, he'll ask questions about it until he's knowledgeable on the subject.
3. His spunk and energy. The kid runs a close race with the Energizer Bunny! And what's even better is that he stays chipper and happy even when he's running on empty!
4. His sense of humor. He keeps us laughing on a daily basis!
5. His willingness to try new things. From craw fish and stuffed mushrooms to the huge water slide on the cruise ship (which he wasn't tall enough to go on), he 's not afraid to venture into the unknown.

And just for fun, here's 5 things Tyler wants everyone to know about him today:
1. Today is my special day because it's my birthday, and birthdays are special!
2. I'm lucky because I get a cake and presents!
3. I am 5 and I'm almost all grown up. If I want to get a pet turtle I have to be grown up. (I guess this is the one exception to not wanting to grow up.)
4. I want to be a Paleontologist someday.
5. My birthday is in winter and winter is my favorite season!

If you'd like to see how he's grown over the past 5 years, click here to see his 4 year post.

Happy Birthday Mr. Tyler Man!

We Love You!

The Birthday Celebrations

Since Allison's birthday is two days before the 4th of July, it's difficult to plan a party for that particular weekend. So her actual party didn't take place until a couple weeks later. But we still wanted to celebrate her special day, especially since she had been talking about her party for several weeks. She kept telling everyone, "My party is coming SOON!"
Just before heading up to our cabin for a fun 4th weekend, we had a little mini birthday celebration with pizza and cupcakes.

Allison helped make her cupcakes and then she got to add the sprinkles!

She decided her little princess dolls needed to join the party as well.

Getting ready for the Happy Birthday song!

This was her most favorite part...her face lit up with delight during the whole song.

Time to enjoy the sweet goodness!

Grandma and Pawpaw didn't want her to have to wait for her entire birthday present, so she brought part of it for her to open that day.

This is something she had been wanting and talking about for a long time. In fact, when we first started talking about her birthday coming up and the kind of party she wanted, she told us over and over that she wanted an umbrella party.

She had a great time and was one happy little girl!

On the day of her Princess Party, Allison dressed up as Cinderella and took her place in the spotlight!

The Food: We had pizza and subs, Sun Chips, fruit salad, and a spinach dip bread bowl with crackers. (The things in bold represent some of Allison's favorites.)

The Presents: This princess made out like a bandit in the present department. She is certainly well stocked with everything princess!

These are the presents from all Allison's aunties, uncles, and cousins. These pictures just show a sampling of what she got from each person.

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Hadley...

Gifts from Grandma and Pawpaw Hamby...

Grandma and Grandpa Tholkes' gifts to her were her bed and accessories for her new Princess room. I will post pictures once it's 100% complete (it's almost there!).

Great Grandma and Grandpa Farish brought Allison's gifts on the cruise since they knew they wouldn't get to see her on her special day.

The Cake: Here is my latest and greatest in cake creations. I decided to take the idea I did for Keilana's Cinderella cake and shrink it down to make a trio of princess cakes. This cake was a bit frustrating at first. Mainly because I didn't have those little princess cake toppers with the pick on them. Those would have made it so much more simple! Instead, I used Allison's little princess dolls and had a difficult time getting the large bases of them into each cake without it tearing apart. I almost gave up at one point, but persistence paid off. Here is the end result. Allison loved it!

Allison was VERY tired by this point, so that's why she doesn't look very enthusiastic in this picture...

But that all changed as Daddy started to light the candles in preparation for the Happy Birthday song...again...

Her eyes scanned the room as we all sang. I think she wanted to make sure each and every person was singing directly to HER! She was on Cloud 9!

Time to blow out the candles!

And eat some cake!

It was a special day for a VERY special little girl!

We Love You Allison!!!

Allison is TWO!

Honestly, I don't know how Allison is already 2! I know everyone says it, but kids just grow up WAY too fast! It seems like our little princess just became a part of our family, but she's already becoming such a big girl! Here's what she's up to lately:

• For starters, she is almost completely potty trained! This seems like it just happened over night. I thought she might be an early potty trainer since she started showing interest back before she was even 18 months old, thanks to her big brother's influence. But then she had a period of time where she went anti-potty, and I didn't push it. But something magical happened when she turned 2, and she just decided it was time to go for it again. Ever since, she has been in panties and has had minimal accidents! She is only in a Pull-Up at night and when we leave the house, just as a safe-guard. 95% of the time, even those stay dry. I am especially happy about this accomplishment because I was not looking forward to having two in diapers. Go Allison!
• She is obsessed with anything that is Disney Princess, and has started showing interest in playing dress-up. She mostly only wants to be Cinderella, which is her most favorite of the princesses. She also really likes Aurora, who she calls "Beauty."
• She still loves to sing, and you can hear her singing something almost all the time (especially when riding in the car). Even if she can't remember all the words to a song, she will just make stuff up as she goes along.
• She also continues to love to look at books and be read to. She would be content sitting in my lap for hours listening to stories. This makes the teacher in me so happy! :)
• We are in the process of redoing her room (also in preparation for the new baby) and she will soon transition to a big girl bed. She is very excited about her new bed, so I hope it's a smooth transition. Many nights when Tyler goes to bed she says, "I want a big girl bed wike Tywer!"
• She is so independent and likes to do most things on her own. In fact, she will take it quite personally if you try to help when help isn't wanted. Each time she heads off to go potty she exclaims, "you not help me!" as she attempts to shut the bathroom door in my face. A girl has to have her privacy, right? When I explain that I have to come along to wipe her, she responds with, "No, I wipe myself!" This sudden streak of indepedence isn't settling so well with Tyler, who has been used to her following him around and going along with everything he does. Allison is now realizing that she has a mind of her own and that she doesn't necessarily have to agree with Tyler on everything. Of course they still love each other to pieces, but they are having to learn how to play together without pushing each other's buttons. Fun times!
• Of course every mother has to brag about how her crow is the blackest (or the smartest), and I'm no exception. Allison is very much ahead of the game with her verbal skills. That, combined with her height, makes many people think she is closer to 3. She can pronounce just about anything you ask her to or that she hears, aside from words with an "L" in them, which she pronounces as a "W." There really is no limit to what comes out of her mouth. She speaks in complete sentences almost all of the time and enunciates quite well. She also has known her colors and shapes for several months now, and recently proved that she recognizes the numbers 1 through 5. We were playing one of Tyler's board games one afternoon, and in order to move your man, you have to draw a card and move the number of spaces indicated. Each time it was Allison's turn, she would draw a card and I would ask her what number she got. I was quite surprised to discover that she was able to tell me every single one! Since then, we have been working on 6 through 10, and she's almost got those down too. She's a very bright little girl!
• She is still quite the sassy little thing, but she also has the sweetest disposition. She is so loving, and when treated kindly, she will happily reciprocate. We just love her so much and enjoy the smiles and laughs she gives us each day!

Stay tuned for a post with pictures from her birthday and Princess Party!

Tyler's Birthday Festivities

Since over a month has past since Tyler's birthday and party at the Bounce House, I decided it was time to report. Honestly, I have just been so drained lately. But there's no surprise there. I'm just glad the first trimester will be over in a week! After going through this twice already I realize how fast pregnancy really does go by, so in no way am I trying to rush it along. I am really blessed with great pregnancies, but I am just ready to have some of my energy back!

Tyler's actual birthday fell on a Monday this year, so we did the traditional birthday dinner with family that night and then planned his party with friends for the first Saturday in February. One of Tyler's favorite foods is meatloaf, so that's what we had for dinner on his birthday. He wanted to have cupcakes to celebrate, so he got to help make and decorate them. He decided on a color of sprinkles for each person's cupcake and then wrote their initial with icing. Notice that his is the ONLY green one!

We decided to avoid all the chaos and clean-up of a party at our house this year, so we opted for a party at The Bounce House. Tyler was very entusiastic about the idea and he had a blast! Here he is having a great time with his friends.

And one of Daddy and Allison taking a breather.

After an hour of playtime, we headed to the party room for pizza, cake, and presents! They really do take all the hassle out of it for you. I was able to pretty much just sit back, enjoy myself, and do some video taping. (Luckily, Auntie Vanessa was very willing to take pictures with her spiffy, new, high-tech camera so that I wasn't doing double camera duty!)

Time to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out the candle!

Tyler was more than lucky when it came to presents. He really racked up this year! Here is just a sampling of what he got.

We attempted a picture of the whole group. Here's take 1:

And take 5:

It's tricky to get 10 kids to smile and look in the same direction all at once!

Another Cake

My nephew, Kayden, turned 2 in February. To celebrate his birthday, he had a Cars themed party and this is the cake I made for him. My sister wanted the cake to be low in sugar, so it is made with a natural sweetener called Agave nectar. The frosting was also to be low sugar, so it was made from cream cheese and Agave nectar. This made it a little more difficult to work with since it got soft rather quickly, but all-in-all, I think it turned out pretty cute!