Sesame Street Birthday Party!!!

This is a long post, with LOTS of pictures. I hope you enjoy! We did a Sesame Street/Elmo birthday party for Maggie this year. Tyler's parents came down for the weekend for her party, so that was a lot of fun, and Amron was a big help in getting everything set up for the big event (and picking stuff up after the party, and doing dishes, and helping out with everything else).

After the cake as made and frosted I needed to keep it cool overnight so the buttercream frosting would be OK. Not having enough room in the fridge, I improvised and put it up in the attic. It was a high of 40 or so yesterday and today, so I knew it would be OK. Note the fun cover I made, just in case there was something in the attic that liked cake! Luckily, the cake came out of the attic before the party unscathed, and un-dropped. For those of you that know me well, that was quite a feat!
My FIRST attempt at a decorated cake with piped icing. I'm glad it turned out good the first time, those little stars took a lot of butter-cream frosting and it took a long time to do. But I'm glad I did it. Maggie loved her Elmo cake!
The scene. I LOVE that Sesame Street scene on the far wall. It was Elmo, Cookie Monster, Zoey, Big Bird, Bert & Ernie.
Here was the treat bag: a disposable Sesame Street sippy, sunglasses, chapstick, sucker, stickers, coloring page. It looks like a lot, but I got the sunglasses and chapstick on clearance, and the sippy was really not that expensive.
Some of our guests: Dixie & Zayli Christian, Janet, Emet & Evi Yates.
Maggie showing off one of the party favors: these awesome metallic sunglasses I got at WalMart on clearance. I paid $1 for 8 pairs! She is also showing off the too-cute Elmo hoodie I got for her at Babies R Us. Gotta carry the party theme all the way through, right?! She was one coordinated child. =)
Lunch: homemade macaroni & cheese, mini corn dogs, and corn (fun things that kids will eat). Only once I set everything out did I realize everything was yellow! I guess subconsciously that was for Big Bird. Oops! It wasn't the prettiest meal, but it tasted great and everyone enjoyed it.
Here we are unwrapping some gifts. Gramma Spaid got Maggie a Cabbage Patch doll with blue eyes and short blonde hair. In true Cabbage Patch style, the dolls name is Jaycee Perla. Janet's girls have Blanche and Carla - I'm glad we got Jaycee.
Tyler on the video camera.
The carnage after round 1, yes, I said round 1, of gift-opening. You can just make out the froggie bathtub toy holder from Gramma and Grampa Jones. I already put it up, and it holds all her bathtub toys.
Maggie posing with her cake. You will note the silly "cheese" face. She whips out this face every time she sees the camera now!
She did pretty well trying to blow out her cake, but Mommy still helped. All afternoon she said "blow cake, blow cake". For dessert tonight we relit the candle and she got to blow it out all by herself.
Enjoying her Elmo cake - she mostly just ate the frosting.
Round 2 of presents, after most of the party guests left. We had a LOT of gifts to open! The lack of pants on this child is thanks to a very large glob of red Elmo frosting that made it's way onto her pants. She didn't want new ones on for gifts, so we did those gifts in her Elmo panties. She's sitting on this awesome tunnel and tent set that Poppy & Mimie got her. I am so looking forward to warmer weather so I can set it up outside. I haven't decided if I'm going to try and set it up inside yet.
Our big gift to her was a 2-sided easel (not pictured, but I'm sure it'll make it into a future post), so she can color standing up in the middle of the kitchen, away from walls and other surfaces that seem to call out to her to be colored on! We are so thankful for all our friends and family that have blessed Maggie with such nice gifts. I won't list all the gifts she received or pictures of her opening gifts, but thank you all so much! It was a really special day for us to celebrate her 2nd birthday. Our greatest hope and prayer for Maggie as she grows is that she will accept with great joy the best gift she could ever receive: salvation through Christ Jesus alone. If you think of it, please pray that she would accept Christ as her Savior at an early age, and that she would always love God.

Hmmm ... poopoos in the panties

Ok, so we've got #1 down pat. Maggie feels the urge, and she will go sit on her potty at home, or tell someone at church (which is usually the only place I'm not with her). She pooped in her panties, not a pull-up, Sunday morning. Ug. I feel sorry for the poor nuresry workers who had to take care of that. I know it's not a lot worse than cleaning a poopy diaper, but still.

Then there's this morning... This morning I was very quick and efficient getting the 2 of us out the door by 7:30 so we could get to the gym by 8. It would have been great, except I left her bag on the table!!! I was smart and had put her in a pull-up, but I only had the one on her hiney. I told Maggie to tell the ladies when she needed to "go", but to no avail. About 20 minutes in, Rosemary (one of the nursery workers at the gym) comes up to me. Maggie pooped in her pull-up and was trying to take it off. Yuck! I got in there and cleaned her up, and straight home we went - Maggie had to go commando in her jeans. For all you non-Friends watchers, that means going without underpants.

Later in the day I had several errands, and she did fine with all of them in panties, no accidents. Any suggestions on how to get your toddler to NOT poop in their panties when they are in someone else's care? It is such an imposition with the pooping in panties.

Potty Training Update

We are in panties!!! Not always dry panties, but panties nonetheless. Recently Maggie developed a bad diaper rash, and she kept telling us about her boo-boo. We went to the doctor Thursday for some prescription cream. Well, on Wednesday after her nap at Mother's Day Out, she told her teacher she didn't want a diaper on because of her boo-boo, so she put her in just her pants! She walked around for an hour or so before it was time to go, I did put her in a pull-up for the trip home.

I thought I would just continue with no diaper and so Thursday we did panties all day except naptime. We had two pee-pee accidents right after Zayli got to my house and we were trying to get out the door (of course when I'm in a hurry!), but after that she ran errands for 2 hours and she did great. She went potty at 3 different places all without a fuss! I am thinking the constant reminder that an m&m is awaiting a successful trip is helping.

Today we left the house at 8:30 and didn't get back until 2 - and only one accident at lunch time. I think she wanted to eat rather than get down to go potty, but was really upset once she did pee in her pants. So no more diapers except at nap time and bed time. I did line her car seat with a plastic bag and a blanket, in case she forgets, but I think we just about have this potty-training thing down!

Here is a picture of her panties. They are like 6 inches across, teeny-tiny, and they are still a little baggy on her tiny buns!!! We also have Elmo and Happy Feet and Tinkerbell panties - but these ones are the smallest (and still too big).

I am in awe of how fast her childhood is whizzing by! She is just about potty trained and will be TWO next Sunday, the 27th. That's 1/10 of her childhood gone already. I remember clear as day when she was born, and bringing her home from the hospital, and her 1st birthday... Wow. I'm glad I've got about 3,000 pictures (yes, that's the count on my iPhoto on my Mac) of her from birth to now! She is such a wonderful blessing to us, we are grateful that the Lord has placed her in our lives. Everyone says it, but it really is amazing how much I love her and can't believe I ever had a life without her in it. I'm going to stop typing now, and go get a tissue!!!

Ok - New Pictures of Maggie

As I type, Maggie is sleeping, I finished everything else I needed to do on the computer, and I am ignoring everything else in the house that needs attention, so please enjoy! =) I know, posting on my blog is not a chore, it is a fun thing, but I've gotten so behind!

Some new pictures, since it's been a while. Her hair is still growing, and finally starting to thicken up! Here we are with her wispy hair sticking out and those big beautiful eyes...Here we are the next second making faces at the camera. She must get that from her dad!
Thursdays I watch Zayli. I had errands to run with the girls, so I asked for her car seat. This is how Seth brought her in. I made him stand there for just a second so I could grab my camera.

You will note a change:

I changed my flowers blog from Melissa's Flowers to Melissa Marie Floral Design. I changed my business name from As You Wish to Melissa's Flowers on Monday, but after I got my new business license, I had a change of heart and I'm now going with Melissa Marie...

This means that the website address of my flowers blog is now:
www.melissamariefloraldesign.blogspot.com. Please note this change if you have it saved in your favorites or as a link on your page. Sorry for the hassle, I just want all my business stuff to be consistent. And, if you want my business email, it is melissamariefloraldesign@gmail.com.

Also, sorry for the lack of posts. I've been doing a lot of stuff for my flowers business, and it's eating up all the time I have on the computer. I will resume posting pictures of Maggie shortly!

Wet Cat

No, Maggie didn't put Blitz in the toilet, we had to give him a bath. Poor "teetat", as Maggie says. The darn thing has become a flea bag. Even after having a new treatment of Frontline and being inside only for the 2 weeks we were gone for Christmas, he STILL had fleas, so in the tub he went! Blitz will be 4 in May, and this was his first bath. It actually went pretty well for having to get him soaking wet to the skin (and he has as much hair as a persian), coat him in flea shampoo, and keep him in the tub coated in the shampoo for 5 minutes before rinsing him out completely. He only bit Tyler hard enough to draw blood once, and that was when I came at him with the hair dryer after the bath to help him dry.

You will note the "I hate you" look on his face.
I guess it's true that cats have a short memory, because about an hour later he came up to cuddle with us on the couch. Let's just say I am not looking forward to the hairballs that are sure to come of this! All he's done all night is lick his wet fur.

Stupid Tree!

After being gone for 2 weeks and not watering the Christmas tree I knew it would be dead, but I didn't know it would be THIS dead. Saturday we got the remnants of our suitcases unpacked, organized and put away, and I also got all the Christmas decorations put away. Most of my Christmas stuff is for the tree, so I had to deal with the crispy tree.

The simple act of removing an ornament caused untold numbers of needles to litter the carpet. I refused to take off the lights in the living room, so I did it on the front porch. It was a good thing, too - check out the pile of needles and bare tree!

Oh, the bags we have

I snapped this shot of the needle from the freeway as we headed to the airport.
So, on the way to Phoenix to start our crazy holiday, Tyler complained about the fact that we had 4 bags - one of each of us and one for gifts. Ha! Little did he know that on the way home we'd have 6 totally full bags! I had left two empty bags at my mom's when I was up for Kim's wedding, a little insurance policy for Christmas.

Here we are at the airport with our six bags, 2 carry-ons, stroller, car seat and my purse. We managed to find a smart-cart in the parking garage so we didn't have to pay to rent one for the 15 minutes it takes to walk from the car to the Southwest ticket counter an wait in line. It was really nice, but at this point we just suck it up and rent one each time. It makes everything so much easier! Additionally, having a mother-in-law who likes to help us at the airport also makes it easier.
No picture, but a tradition we have at SeaTac is to always get lunch (or dinner) at the Ivar's stand. Best fish 'n chips you'll ever eat!

Christmas in Seattle, Part 3

Sorry this is REALLY late. We got home very late on the 3rd - and don't EVER try to fly anywhere on time from Chicago Midway. It just doesn't happen. Our flight was supposed to land in Nashville at 9:45. We didn't even leave Chicago until 10:15 or so. ...

Anyway, our last family Christmas was my Dad's side of the family, the DeWaard's. We all gathered at my Auntie Bon's and Uncle Les' house in Oak Harbor. The only real traditions here are a seafood bonanza and name gifts. I ate lots of salmon, grilled oysters, steamed clams, salmon dip, shrimp, homemade clam chowder. YUM YUM! I was too busy scarfing to take a picture of the glorious spread, sorry.

Zach, Annica and Maggie playing during gifts. Hey, lookie here. A picture of me, and a good one! Shown is my current hair style and color (subject to change without notice). You can also see my very favorite sweater at the moment. It's a kimono-style one-button affair. Love it. Aunt Bonnie and Aunt Dee (not pictured: Uncle Les and Uncle Bernie, and most every other relative, sorry!). Here we go, Aunt Dee and Uncle Bernie and their twin granddaughters, Riley & Kendall. Me, Maggie, Grandma Margaret, and my Dad.
Anyway, that was Christmas in Seattle. We had a great time getting to visit with everyone we did, and are still sad that we didn't get to see Sean & Becky and boys, and the Davidsons et al.