Lawson is TWO

Lawson turned two in January.  I have really been slacking in the memory keeper role for my family, and I realized today that if I don't document these moments for my family, no one will.  So here is a little info about Lawson at two years old!

Height: 35 inches, 66th percentile

Weight:  25.5 lbs, 16th percentile

We have been feeding this kid anything and everything for so long and it is finally paying off.  He is not only on the chart, but it double digits percentile wise.  We are so happy to finally see some growth in this area.

Likes:  playing/tormenting his sisters, watching Super Why, being naked, playing outside on the swing set, eating dirt, taking baths, Thomas the Train, eating vitamins, the Thingamajigs book, stacking blocks, playing on the ipad, sitting on my lap, doing puzzles, playing with his basketball, football and soccer ball

Dislikes:  drinking milk from a cup, being told no, speech therapy (haha), sharing his toys

Favorite Foods:  spaghetti, oatmeal, pb&j sandwiches, goldfish, raisins, grapes, chicken, cookies

I won't lie and say that Lawson is the easiest child on the block.  He throws fits, he doesn't talk and he does a lot of things that drive me crazy (like eating dirt and putting his hands in his diaper when he has poop!).   But, I will say that despite all the hard work, and tears (his and mine) and frustration, I feel so blessed to be his mom.  I know that God has a plan for Lawson's life and I pray every day for patience and wisdom in parenting him in order that he can grow up to be the man God intends.  I feel a tremendous responsibility with Lawson and I can honestly say that my walk with the Lord has grown more during the last two years than I thought possible.  I simply could not parent Lawson without help from Him.

I don't want to make it sound like there are no good or fun times with Lawson, because that wouldn't be true.  He is a huge cuddle bug and loves to give hugs and kisses.  He cracks me up with his dancing and the games he plays with his sisters.  He is a great little boy and I love him so incredibly much.

For his party, we had family over for cake and ice cream.  The cake was Thomas inspired and once again the hubby did a great job decorating.  The party totally wore him out!  He fell asleep playing the ipad once everyone had left.  That NEVER happens!

Happy birthday, Lawson.  Mom and Dad love you and feel so thankful to be your parents!

Molly is Three (well almost three)

When Isabelle turned three I did an interview with her and then did it again when she turned four.  I decided to do the same with Molly Moo.  Her birthday isn't for a few more days, but in her mind since we had her party, she is three.  Therefore,  I have just pretty much accepted that my baby girl is three and she is growing up and someday she will be 18 and move out and I will be so, so, so sad.  Moving on.  Here is my interview with Molly at age 3.

Favorite Food:  Stroganoff

Least favorite food:  Soup

Favorite Show:  Phonics Farm

Favorite Movie:  Toy Story 3

Best Friend:  Isabelle and Mom

Favorite Toy:  Big Jessie (her new Jessie doll from Toy Story)

Favorite Book:  Cat in the Hat (her real favorite is Pete the Cat or Everyone Poops)

Favorite Snack:  Fruit Snacks

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Police man

What does mom do all day?  Clean dishes and hang stuff up (amazingly accurate)

What does dad do all day?  Clean dishes and hang stuff up (totally NOT accurate)

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?  Baby

Coolest person you know:  Mom

Favorite Song:  I love my friend, Jesus
This is a song she learned at church.  The song says, "He's always with me, and I'm so happy.  I love my friend, Jesus."

 Here are a few things about Molly from my perspective.

Loves: stroganoff and spaghetti, playing with Isabelle, watching the Toy Story movies, doing things on her own, helping me out around the house, giving hugs and kisses, sitting on laps, calling herself by different names, calling us by different names, "helping" her brother, grammy's big lake (lake of the ozarks) and spending time with family.

Does not love:  being told what to do, going to bed, taking a nap, waking up, sharing, sitting still.

Molly is so different from her siblings.  She really doesn't have things she loves or hates, she just likes to be a part of the action.  She will try new foods and is a better eater than Lawson and Isabelle combined.  She is wild and crazy and loud and strong willed, but she is also sweet and sensitive and kind and loving.  She is hysterically funny and incredibly smart.  Molly makes me a better mom, constantly forcing me to seek God and His help in parenting.  It would be easy to think I had it all figured out if not for Molly!!!  Haha.  Molly is almost always involved in the best and the worst parts of my day.  She is such a blessing to our family and I can't imagine how boring my days would be without her!  My little NICU baby who seemed so fragile when she was born is by far the most resilient of all my children and funny enough, has the least amount of issues when it comes to her health.  She is a go-getter and get-upper.  She is tough, like seriously tough, and she will go from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye.  I am so thankful I get to be her Mom.

Toy Story Cake

This past weekend we celebrated Molly's birthday.  Her official birthday isn't until this weekend, but with Easter on Sunday, we decided to celebrate early.  Three year old post to follow!

Recently, Molly has become obsessed with Toy Story.  Her most favorite is Toy Story 3, but she loves, loves, loves all of them.   Her favorite character is Jessie.  So, when she started asking for a Jessie cake I was not surprised.

What did surprise me was the cakes that turned up when I looked on pinterest or the internet for Toy Story cakes.  Every last one of them was fondant.  I hate fondant.  I have never had any that tasted good, it is expensive to buy, and frankly, I don't know how to use it.  So, to say I was frustrated that I couldn't find any Toy Story cakes online to get inspiration is an understatement.

Luckily, I have a really creative husband.  Jason and I started talking about the cake, deciding it should for sure be a round, layered cake, and that our best bet for Jessie was a plastic Jessie from Target.  We talked about putting the Toy Story 3 logo on the cake, but decided against it.  I knew I wanted a 3 on the cake somewhere, but wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like.  Jason suggested the cow print and from there we pretty much knew exactly what we were going to do.

Here is a pic of the cake.  We put cupcakes around the cake that said Rootin'est Tootin'est.  This is the frosting I made.

I am not a super decorator, nor am I a super party planner.  What I can do is make a cake.  So, while you will never see pics of the worlds most fancy party, I do try to make the cakes special for each birthday.  I am pretty sure Moll loved her cake and I know she loved all the Toy Story plates/napkins/toys.

And for the record, while I do sometimes make the cakes from scratch, this year the cakes were just box mixes and they were delicious!

The Par-tay

Here are some pics I promised from Isabelle's birthday party.  We had a great time and Isabelle is still talking about how fun her birthday party was!

My sister is the one that really deserves all the credit for making the party a success.  She not only came over early to decorate the cake, she also bought the paints which were the best present of the day!  Now that things have calmed down a bit, Isabelle is much more excited about her other presents as well, but the paints are still the favorite!

The Elmo cake, plus cupcakes! 

Just the Elmo cake.  My sister is amazing!

Poppy and Great Grandpa trying to assemble a pink princess tent!

Dad and Isabelle in the tent!

Another pic of Belle and Dad! 

I know that I am not the hostess with the most-est when it comes to birthday parties.  I don't have balloons and streamers everywhere...or for that matter the fancy banners that everyone makes nowadays.  I don't have a candy bar or special labels on water bottles or even gift bags for my family to take home.  We don't have a bunch of friends over, in fact, mostly just family.  But, I am pretty sure that for now that is okay.  The girls had a great time.  We got to eat yummy chili and cake and ice cream and Isabelle is still talking about it over a week later.  A week later and I still can't believe my sweet girl is three!