Giraffe Baby Shower

Baby Boy Shower

Nate is Three Years Old!

Nate had his 3rd birthday this past week.  Three years old! Time is really going by fast. Three is such a big change, no more toddler--now a preschooler, and boy, does it feel like it!  He just seems so much older this past month, with his speech, potty training, and need to do things on his own.  He is a big helper and is a little funny man.  He also likes to point out when Maddie is doing something naughty, but also shows her so much brotherly love (usually with unwanted hugs around her neck!) that it all balances out.

The birthday celebrations started on Thursday with Thanksgiving at Mamaw and Papaw's house.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner and then Nate opened his present from them. He was so excited, jumping up and down. 

On Saturday we gave him his presents from us (new train set and train table).  He loves them and it has been such a good babysitter, eh hem, gift for him, keeping him busy. :)

Saturday evening the Toppes came up with more gifts and fun!  Nate has been talking all week about Landon and Lucas and his "birthday party" and monkey cake.  Even though it wasn't a party he wouldn't have known the difference, all he needed was his Landon.  They kept busy with all the new toys, while the rest of us played the XBox Kinect.  I don't have any good pictures of our dance moves, but trust me, they were good. ;) 

Ladybug Cake #2

One of Michael's coworkers daughter turned one today.  His wife had seen the cake for Maddie for her birthday on facebook and wanted the same one so I agreed to make it.  Changed it slightly, but mostly the same. Changed the smash cake completely-was not happy with the one I did for Maddie; just threw it together at the last minute because I had so much else going on. I enjoyed doing another cake and a reason to practice it some more. 

Landon's 3rd Birthday Party

Saturday afternoon we headed down to Landon's birthday party.  The kids had so much fun (of course!).  Nate is at the age where he can run and play with everyone, so he loves all the "new" toys to play with and running around outside.  Landon and Nate are finally playing together (awesome!) and not beating each other up, or should I say Landon beating up Nate, so they have a great time.  Maddie loves all the different toys to play with and exploring the environment, still unaware that she's not running with the big kids, and so still having fun.

The party was great. Jeremy cooked hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and Jaime made this delicious apple dip-yummy!  The cake was a hit, I'm so glad he liked it.  He liked it so much he stuck his face in it! I figured he might do something like that so I made the hill/tunnel just for him!  He's such a character.  He got so many new puzzles.  I really think he's a puzzle prodigy-is that such a thing?  The kid is amazing!  I've never seen someone so young tackle these big kid puzzles before.  And I love doing them with him-we are bonding now through puzzles! :)

New Hobby: Cake Decorating

I started thinking about Maddie's birthday months before she turned one.  Either because my little baby girl was turning one and it's a big deal OR this modern marvel known as Pinterest.  I began browsing for ideas and came up with pink ladybugs and then started looking at cakes.  I never want to pay what the bakery charges for a cake but I wanted her to have a cute cake.  So why don't I just do it?  And that's how the idea for cake decorating as a new hobby began. 

For Mother's Day Michael bought be a starter case of tips and some other decorating supplies.  My friend Sara has always wanted to get into cake decorating so we thought it would be fun to take a class at Hobby Lobby.  So every Tuesday evening in August we had a class.  It was fun to get away and do something "adult" and learn the proper decorating techniques.  Although I'll probably just be doing this for birthdays for family, I am really having fun with it!  It is a good creative outlet for me and I am excited to be dabbing my hands in something new. 

This is my cake from our last class. :)