Teddy is THREE

I am not sure how the past three years have flown by so quickly, but all of the sudden my baby boy is three!  He is so full of energy and life and he makes me laugh every single day.  At 3, he talks nonstop and has turned into the "why-monster."  He is so curious and interested in the world around him and he truly does make everything more fun.  He is becoming more and more independent every day and wants to do many things himself.  He is an awesome big brother and he still loves to help me out.  In fact, the other day he told me he wanted 3 more baby brothers and 1 baby sister.  Maybe if Shae and I were 15 years younger... 

Happy Birthday to the boy who made me a mamma! 

For his birthday, we started the day with our family's tradition- cupcakes for breakfast (with a sneak peak of the birthday cake): 

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mmmmmmm

Daddy even stayed home to share in the fun before heading to work!

After Shae went to work, the boys and I headed to one of Teddy's favorite places (since it was cold outside).  Who would have thought I would get to take my little BOY to the mall for his birthday?  Only problem... there was no shopping involved!  Just the soft play place:

And of course the carousel (he picked the lion to ride)

Thank you Grandma Judy for meeting us there so I could ride with the birthday boy!

After playing and riding, we shared some pretzel bites.  The highlight- getting to dip them in mustard!

Leo enjoyed the day also:

For supper, we gave Teddy lots of choices of places we could go.  He chose Moes.  For the lemonade. Funny boy!

After dinner, Grandma Judy and Grandpa Bud came to our house for cake and presents.

About the cake.... it turned out to be more difficult then I expected.  It got all stuck in the pan.  Here is the before frosting:

It's amazing what a bunch of frosting can cover up though:

We had bear ears left over from Teddy's first birthday party.  Some of them conveniently looked like Tigger ears:

Teddy and Grandma sported the Piglet ears:

Of course, after I spent time making all of the ears, Teddy asked, "Where is the party hat?"  I made the mistake of showing him some of my ideas from Pinterest earlier in the month.  Of course I only had time to do about half of what I wanted.... 

so I had to quickly make this Pooh hat for him:

It stayed on his head just long enough to get a picture:)  Thankfully we had lots of Piglet ears.

Our little family:

Cake time!!! 

Grandpa chose to wear the distinguished Pooh ears:

Shae and Leo:

Present time:

Teddy LOVES the new garage from Aunt Sammie and Maverick.  Thank you!  (Shae and Lisette have been enjoying playing with it as well!)

A few days after his birthday, Teddy got one more birthday treat.  We all went shopping and he got to pick out his very own fishing pole.  He chose this Spiderman pole.  I am not sure who is more excited, Teddy or Shae! 

I'll end this post with a video- Singing Happy Birthday... note, Teddy sang right along with us, "Happy Birthday to me!"

Before his birthday I explained to Teddy that he gets to make a wish before he blows out his birthday candles.  When I asked him what he was going to wish for, he gave me a huge grin and said, "I am going to wish for some cake!"  Our sweet boy- I am so glad that at least for now, all of his birthday wishes came true!
I can only imagine how much fun the next year will be as Teddy continues to grow and change.  We are thankful for him every single day!

Merry Christmas

December snuck up on us and before we knew it, it was 3 days until Christmas!!  Luckily our tree doesn't take too long to put up:

Or decorate!  

Teddy and the pickle ornament:

Teddy went to church with Shae on Christmas Eve.  He was excited to go:

Then we all went to a family friend's annual Christmas Eve party:

Teddy and Leo have matching jackets (thanks to hand-me-downs)

We got to see our cousins at the party:

When we got home, it was finally time to change into our jammies.  Leo fit into the "my first Christmas" pj's that Grant wore the first time we met him, last year at Christmas time:

Christmas morning started with snuggling:

Merry Christmas:

Teddy asked for 3 things from Santa:  a car case, a care bear, and new blinds for the living room.

No new blinds... but 2 out of three isn't bad!

My parents came over to watch Teddy open his gifts.  We forgot to tell them they could come in their pj's!

Then Shae made Grandma Susie's tacos (the real reason my parents came over):  Yummmy Yummy!

Grandma read Teddy one of his new books as he snuggled under Leo's new blanket:

I will end this post with a video....

 make yourself comfortable and enjoy our "Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony"

Merry Christmas!

The Beach!!!

We were thrilled to get out of town, head to the beach, and spend time with family!  We crammed as much stuff as we could into our car and headed south.

After an overnight stop, and many hours of driving, stopping for many diaper changes, 

a short visit with Kashewa's long lost cousins, 

more diaper changes, 

a night in a hotel, complete with a Chanukah celebration, 

and we FINALLY found my happy place:

And Grandma Susie couldn't wait to snuggle with Leo:

Beach baby working on his tan (he may have some tan lines between all those beautiful rolls)

Aunt Stephanie finally got to meet Leo:

Teddy was very excited to play with all of his cousins.  Feeding them was sort of like feeding time at the zoo...

We visited Friendly's Tavern again this year, although with a toddler and a baby, we sadly did not sing karaoke. 

Another highlight of the trip for Teddy... a couch that turns into a bed!! So exciting!

But of course his favorite part was playing at the beach with his cousins. 

This is the third December in a row that Teddy has gone to the beach, but the first time it has been warm enough to get in the water.  He had a blast!

We also got in the pool:

It was Leo's first time in a pool.

Shae and his beach baby:

See this suit?  The first day at the beach Shae got Teddy dressed out of clothes, and into a bathing suit.  It was THIS bathing suit!  I wish I had a picture, but I don't think I do.  

Teddy and Grandma Susie enjoying our awesome deck:

We also got to celebrate Christmas since Grandma Susie brought treats for all of the children.  Santa Sammie passed out the gifts:

Lots of fun treats!

Thank you Grandma Susie!

Cousin Grant is a cool cat!

We had all of our bedtime snacks on our deck, listening to the ocean.

Cousin time!

Beach baby take 2:

Shae and Teddy in their Cookie Monster and Elmo suits:

Ahhhh the beach!

Once again- I found my happy place!

Love these boys!

Teddy and his cousins had a great time playing together:

They even played a few rounds of golf:

We also got to celebrate a special birthday of Aunt Shelley's.  What better way to celebrate than with tiaras??

And magic wants.  (Grandpa Steve was less than thrilled about this part).

The birthday girl:

It's not a party until you have a baby...

... in a bar!

Tiara's aren't just for the kids:

Too much partying for this guy:

Leo and Grandma Susie:

Since Leo and Teddy were born in opposite seasons, this was the first time Leo got to wear a lot of Teddy's old clothes.  At least for a week he could enjoy some of Teddy's shorts and t-shirts!

Teddy loved digging in the sand:

The Hoscheks:

Grandma Susie and some of her grandchildren admiring the tree:

Leo got this adorable outfit from family friends Cheryl and Gordie:

Grandpa Steve and the kids playing with an ipad:

Loving the birthday girl:

cousins!

Here is our attempt at a picture of Grandma Susie with all of her grandchildren:

Lunch by the pool:

Even nap time is fun at the beach.  Especially when your Aunt Sammie gives you a very cool new sock monkey.  Teddy named him "Oooh Oooh Ahh Ahh"

Family picture at sunset:

We got to meet up with Shae's friend Jim and his family (they live outside of Tampa).  We had a great time catching up with them (well, except for Leo, who slept through the dinner):

Another highlight of the trip were the long walks on the beach.  Leo and I had a blast:

Of course the week flew by and we wished we could stay longer. 

 I took this picture to remind me when I go home: