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Friday, December 30, 2011

First Day of "School"

Nate started "school" this year--I mean, he's so advanced, we wanted to capitalize on the learning.  Every 1 year old should be in school.  Ha, ha...I'm totally kidding, so please don't peg me as a crazy pageant-type mom just yet.

Nate's school is at our church, which does have a great program that is always pretty popular.  It fills up every year, so we are glad we got in and can take advantage of it!  It's basically a mothers day out type program in terms of how it is set up.  This year, he is in the infant class and goes 1 day a week from 9am-2pm.  Amy, our nanny, uses this time to run errands for us, get her own appointments and stuff done, etc.  It has been great for everyone!  Nate loves it.  His teachers are very nice, and I'm thoroughly enjoying the art he brings home every week!

Here is our little "genius" on his first day of school.

Teacher gifts I whipped together.  I found some free printables online -- it says "With you as my teacher, I'll be one smart cookie".  I cut them out and tied them around some packages of cookies we randomly had left over from a Junior League project.  I thought they turned out cute, especially for a totally last minute thing!

Crawling to get the camera.
Much more interested in mom's necklace!



Goofy boy.  I love his pointed toes--takes after his momma with a natural point to his feet.


Cutie.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas this year was so much more exciting than it has been in years past!  Having a little one, just makes everything better when seeing it through their eyes.  I wanted to make everything "special" and start some of our own traditions, and Michael willingly tagged along.

Reading the Night Before Christmas that GB and Abuelo got for Nate.

 One tradition we started: the Trains at Northpark.  

Added plus, the exhibit benefits Ronald McDonald House of Dallas!
Nate was old enough this year to appreciate the coolness of this annual exhibit!  And, we had a ton of fun taking him.  We went the day before Christmas Eve, so things were crazy busy!  The line was super long and I didn't think we'd be able to see the trains...there was no way we could handle close to a 2 hour wait.  So, we decided to grab an early lunch instead.  On our way out, I suggested walking back by the exhibit just to see how things were, and surprisingly, the line was so much shorter.  We only waited about 20 minutes to get in.
Waiting in line.


 

Nate loved the trains, and was just mesmerized watching them go around the track.



He loved the little windows that were low to the ground...perfect size for him to check out the scenes on display!







It was fun to see the D.C. model since it hadn't been too long since we were there.




The model of Dallas was really cool!



A picture of Michael's hospital and my office building in the same shot.

On Christmas Eve, we took Nate to the family worship service, which was great.  It was short, but a really sweet service.  And the sanctuary was full of families with young kids, so we didn't have to worry about Nate making any noise!

After church, we came home and opened one gift.  This is another tradition we will do each year.

Nate liked helping.


 

 

Michael was slightly embarrassed when he realized the cool gift wasn't just PJs for Nate, but the entire family!


 

After we opened the gift, we read the Night Before Christmas one last time before heading to bed in anticipation of Santa Clause!


 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Milestone Moment: First Steps!

Nate took his first unassisted steps yesterday, October 29, 2011!  Nate was "helping" Dad load the dishwasher, while I was standing back watching the cuteness.  They closed the dishwasher, and Nate stood with his hand against it.  Then Dad bent down and beckoned Nate to walk to him.  Low and behold, Nate let go of the dishwasher and toddled three steps into Daddy's open arms.  Like any adoring mom, I then went nuts!  It was so surreal seeing him take actual steps on his own and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  He is getting to be such a big boy!  No more steps yet since then, although we've seen him stand on his own for a couple of seconds a few times.  We are getting there!  Little guy is so good at crawling, crusing and climbing that I think it will be a slower transition to walking...but, once he realizes what he can do without hands holding onto something, WATCH OUT!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Pirate Party - Part 1

Well, it has been awhile.  We've been really busy this fall/winter, and I just haven't felt motivated to blog.  This is conflicting because I do want to record all of these memories we're making on this blog, especially since I'm not really completing a traditional baby book for our little man.  So, I didn't stress about it and took a little break--making sure to keep taking pics along the way.  Now, its just a matter of getting everything on here.  A little at a time...

My last substantive post on here was a sneak peek of Nate's first birthday party.  I went with a pirate theme, mainly because, I thought it would be so cute!  Little boy, pirate stuff...it just goes together!  And, it was exactly as I had envisioned.  Precious.

To capture everything about his party, without having a post that takes 30 minutes to read, I'm breaking things up into parts.  First up, decor.

I absolutely love party planning (possible second career later on in life??  Maybe!)!  And I think decor plays a big part in any event.  I had a blast decorating for Nate's big bash.

I didn't get a picture of it, but on our mailbox (which is the variety that attaches to the brick next to our door) was a big red X that I cut out of foam board and hung from the mailbox with twine.  X marks the spot for this pirate adventure!
Entry way parrot!

Dress up station.  We had hats, bandanas, eye patches, and wrist bands for all the little pirates.
You can see a couple of the other pirate books I had setting out as well. 
Just inside the door, the treasure maps to lead the guests to their loot!
Close up of the maps.
I created the maps using Powerpoint, printed them off, and then  made them look the authentic by tearing the edges and tea staining them.  Once they dried, I rolled them up and tied them with some twine.


Inside of the map
Treat table!
We had various red, black and gold candies for the party guests to help themselves too, and a few cracker items too.  This table also held the cake pops and Nate's smash cake.
Cake pops!  So cute!




I made this pirate ship out of Styrofoam, poster board, fabric and wooden dowels to hold the cake pops.
View of the buffet table.
I had a couple of pirate themed books  scattered around for decoration and playing.  This book was specifically designed for Nate.
Another buffet table pic, in progress.
With the food!
Fruit bowl close up.
Drink station with Pirate Grog and Adult Pirate Grog.
I found the Ahoy cups at the Target Dollar Spot.  Couldn't be more perfect!

Love these blocks!  The "one" is from Hob Lob.  I painted it red and added a ribbon to theme it out!
Monthly Pics from Nate's first year.
I mounted each pic onto scrapbook paper, affixed it to a dowel and pushed it into each  bucket (from Oriental Trading), which had a small styrofoam ball in the bottom and was covered with black mesh fabric.  I added a few pirate coins to complete the look.
Outside table set up.
This Pirate blow up was awesome.  It came from Oriental Trading.
Nate's b-day gift: a pirate sandboat!
Found this at Wal-Mart {dot} com for 1/2 of what it sells for at Chasing Fireflies {dot} com.  Score!
Another view of the boat.
Water table.  The kids loved playing with this!  Another Wal-Mart {dot} com purchase.
Baby pool.  Another big hit! $5 from Target!
As you can see, I used red, black and white as my color scheme, with a few teal touches thrown in.  I decorated with a printable collection from Shindig Parties to Go, made a few tissue paper poms to hang around, and then accented with any and all pirate goods I could find.  Most items were from Oriental Trading company, Target dollar spot, or Hob Lob. 

Next up, activities!