Costumes, Candy & Cake

Princess Elizabeth Grace turns 2!

Elizabeth Grace turned 2!  I can't believe how fast time flies!  She's the spunkiest little princess around!  Since Elizabeth loves the movie Frozen we had a Frozen themed "party".  It's just us 4 so... not so much a party, but it did include pizza cake and presents!  Tia Eva bought Elizabeth a Princess Anna dress to wear on her birthday and she loved it!  After Aaron got out of school, we all went for pizza (one of her favorites) and then home for a yummy Frozen cake and presents!  

Frozen themed confetti cake

Besides her adorable dress, she got a pop up play tent and Anna & Elsa dolls.  Her grandparents Coblentz & tias sent her more Disney princess dolls & her grandparents Weigel sent money for new pjs & clothes!  (Which she totally needs because even though we get awesome hand-me-downs from my friends and cousin, we somehow got totally skipped over for size 3!  And her size 2 pants are getting a little bit too tight!!)  

Jumping right from her birthday celebration into Halloween prep - we went to the pumpkin patch one weekend and spent the day there having fun and picking out way too many pumpkins.  But bonus, they look awesome on my porch and since Aaron didn't want to carve them, I can leave them up through Thanksgiving (assuming they last)!  

Months ago we had asked Aaron what he wanted to be for Halloween and he choose Peter Pan and he wanted us all to go as Pan characters.  So we ordered Peter Pan and Tinkerbell costumes from the Disney Store and Captain Hook and Wendy costumes from Amazon.  You'd be amazed at how hard it is to find a stinkin' Wendy Darling costume!  OMG.  I only found one (literally) and it came in a "one size fits all" so of course I was nervous about ordering it.  Not to mention it didn't even completely look like Wendy's nightgown!  But we didn't want to disappoint the kids so it was what it was, right?  

I even taught him the Peter Pan stance!

Captain Hook!

 Tinkerbell is taking off!

The kids had so much fun.  Aaron got to wear his costume all day at school and was in a Halloween parade which we all went to to watch him!  Then family fun trick or treating!  The kids had so much fun and one of the neighbors even had a band in their garage so at the end of the night we all hung out and danced for a little bit.  Then we let Aaron pick out a few pieces of candy he wanted to keep and the rest went to Josh's work.

And now that it's officially turkey season, we're thinking about our very first Thanksgiving by ourselves.  And beyond that Aaron's birthday and Christmas loom in the back of our minds.  The weather is finally starting to get a bit cooler, especially during the evening but today was the first day I walked outside and it actually felt like Fall.  I'm hoping it cools down for the rest of late autumn before Thanksgiving!  

Hope you all had a ghoulishly fantastic Halloween!  Hugs from the Herrings. 

 

 

Our Vegas Birthday Trip

Happy 1st Birthday!

Well we are back from Vegas and I finally have some time to sit and blog.  Unfortunately when we got back Elizabeth came down with a stomach virus and then Aaron and mama and finally dada.  SO, needless to say we didn't get much done that first week back.  

The trip to Vegas was great though!  We had a wonderful time with both families.  We visited with my dad's tia Conchita who turned 90.  She was so happy to see us.  And though our visit was short (it was hard to fit all 9 of us in her small room) it was emotional I think, for all of us.  For me personally, visiting with her reminded me of my own grandfather (tia Conchita's brother) and when she was playing her guitar and singing to us, I got a bit teary eyed.  I miss my grandpa and thing of him often.  

Coblentz Ladies

We also got to visit Josh's mom and aunts.  His aunt Lillian lives in Vegas so we were lucky to have another place to feel welcome and visit with loved ones.  Lillian and her husband Evan were so welcoming and invited us to their home not only for meals and visits, but they were gracious enough to host Elizabeth's birthday party!  

Elizabeth & Aaron getting their fingers in the cake!

Elizabeth had an owl themed birthday party that was catered by Lillian herself!  The food was super delicious (my favorite was the lamb and middle eastern salad).  The cakes were from Whole Foods (just like Aaron's were) and everything was wonderful.  

Lillian and Evan were also kind enough to treat Josh, my sisters and I along with Josh's mom Tina and aunt Polly to a limo tour of the strip and downtown Vegas.  No stripper pole, but it was still awesome!  I joked that the driver probably thought we were the tamest group ever but it was fun!

And for one night Josh and I were able to sneak out on our own to walk and explore the strip, have dinner at The Venetian and visit one of my favorite places in Vegas - The Bellagio Conservatory!  They had a beautiful Fall theme with pumpkins, a scarecrow, talking trees and all sorts of autumn flora.  It was lovely.  The Venetian and Bellagio are my absolute favorites.  Though I super love the check-in lobby at Paris.

We also took Aaron to the Shark Reef at The Mandalay Bay.  He thought it was so awesome.  It was actually a really great, although small, aquarium.  All in all, the trip was great.  I only wish we had more time to spend with each of the families.  

When we got back, it was time to get ready for Halloween but like I said, my poor bubba came down with a stomach virus the day after we got back.  I literally went shopping the on the eve of Halloween for costumes with Aaron.  We came back with a minion and Agnes (the little girl with the stuffed unicorn who says "IT'S SO FLUFFY!!") costume for Aaron and Elizabeth.  Elizabeth seemed to be on the mend, but at the end of the night she ended up getting sick again.  Poor bubbas!!  

Minion Dave & Agnes

Thankfully now everyone is back to being healthy and we're back to our normal routines.  Today I took Elizabeth in for her 1 year check up and she is 24 lbs (95th percentile) and 32 inches long (100th percentile!).  She's definitely keeping up with her brother in that respect!  

Next up is Thanksgiving and it's just right around the corner!!  I can't believe it.  We're getting so close to the holidays and Aaron's birthday --- it's all going by too fast.

I'm trying to enjoy it while I can!  Happy 1st Birthday Elizabeth.  We all love you!

 

 

Whooooo had a lovely baby shower?

My Adorable Owl Cake

I had a lovely baby shower recently hosted by my friend Stephanie at her home.  It was a small party, but still perfectly lovely and the food, decorations and cake were fantastic!  Of course the gifts weren't bad either!  

With both friends and family to celebrate with me, I had a great afternoon.  See for yourself (on FLICKR)!

Baby girl got some clothes, gear and all of her bedding.  And I got my diaper bag!  Woot!  Or should I say, Hoot!  

With Aaron being born in Seattle and us living near the water in Ballard, choosing a theme for Aaron was easy.  I knew it had to involve water so we went for a kind of pirate/ocean/sea life theme.  For baby girl, we're in Sacramento and land locked.  Ok, there's a river or two, but basically..... land.  And trees.  And land.  So, I decided to go with more of a "land" theme and I've been digging on the whole owl theme ever since I saw a friend of mine and her baby's owl quilt.  So for my baby girl, she's getting an owl/woodland creature/forest theme.  It's pretty adorable.  

Josh got the nursery painted and the crib up so now we just have to wait for other furniture and accessories.  Once everything is in, I promise to take pictures.

I also had my 32 week check up and baby girl is doing well and head down!  So exciting!  The end is almost here.  I've got so many pregnancy complaints, but right now I'm just trying to ignore every single one of them.  Taking things day by day and hopefully will be able to work another month.  

And in case you're wondering, YES, I do have a name picked out.  If you REALLY want to know, just ask.  

In another few weeks I'll start going to the doctor every week so I'll probably be updating more often.  We're in the final countdown people!  

Happy Birthday Aaron!!

One year ago, on December 21 at 10:15 pm Aaron Howard Herring was born. Yes, my Chubbs is a year old!

My sweet little angel babycakes! (sigh) I can't believe it.

Well, Aaron had his birthday party on Saturday at his great aunt & uncle's house. The entire Herring clan was there and a few close friends who were kind enough to sit through a 1 year old's birthday party! Aaron had an Elmo themed birthday party and got his own mini birthday cake. He opened up a few of his own gifts and mostly liked the wrapping (LOL) but loved the Mickey Mouse card he got from my friends Sara & Tom and he loved Grandpa & Grandma's rocker/tricycle toy they got him. When he got home, we took out a few more toys and he really likes the puppy on a string that his aunties Calena & Melanie got him too! He pulls it towards him and laughs!

Aaron will have his 1 year doctor's appointment sometime next week, so I can only guess his weight is around 28 lbs. He has 8 full teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom) and his bottom 2 molars are halfway out and they top eye teeth are just starting to poke out. He always seems to get several teeth at once! Lucky us!!

He fully crawls now, pulls himself up on his own, walks from one piece of furniture to the next on his own by holding on to them, and he still loves foooooood. Right now he's drinking about 3 bottles a day and 2 solid meals. He loves Cheerios and has recently been introduced to Ritz Crackers (which bring a smile to his face) and plain pasta noodles. He still LOVES his YoBaby yogurt too.

Right now we're not buying anything smaller than 18 months in clothing for him and the Nowali moccasins are still the best things for his feet!

We saved a few gifts from his birthday party to open on his actual birthday so tonight, while watching Chicka on Sprout wish happy birthday to the viewers (we sent his name in!) we're going to open a few more gifts.

A few days ago he got his first professional haircut at this place that specializes in infant/kid hair and he did great! But now with his new haircut he looks even more like a little boy and less and less like little baby! I can't believe he's ONE!

The next celebration is obviously Christmas. That will be a post (or two) on it's own!

But here's my little angel babycakes today-- ONE YEAR OLD. Happy Birthday Sweetness. Mommy and daddy love you more than anything, ever. :)

(That his chocolate frosting all over his face and harms and MY hands from his birthday cake!)