The final post of birthday shenanigans

Okay, here's the last post about Jackson's birthday. After his super hero birthday party on Saturday afternoon, we made our annual trip to Fritz's at Crown Center (the place where you call in your order and a train delivers it to you!). Chacey got to tag along and that was really special for him!

We had a family birthday party for Jackson on Sunday afternoon--which was his actual birthday. We had cake, ice cream, and of course, more presents.

Here's a quick run down of some of his presents that we (and family) got Jackson. He had some specific requests that he had been asking for, even PRAYING for, so we enlisted grandparents to fulfill his little boy desires. And boy, was it so much fun watching him open his presents. This year was fun to plan because it was almost like a graduation into big kid toys!

He opened Optimus Prime first. This is a "little kid" version of Transformers, so it's not too complicated. He really wanted to play with it, but he wanted to open other presents too, so he kept Optimus really close so he could watch. The Spiderman airplane was Jackson's first official request and to say he was thrilled when he opened it is a true understatement. After presents were done and it was time for cake, Jackson wasn't leaving these guys behind-- they had to join us too!

Daddy picked out a special Iron Man toy. He talks and shoots missiles. I'm not sure who likes the toy more-- Jackson or Daddy.

This was his "big gift". But I found it a few months ago online for a mere $15-- making it cheaper than most of his other gifts. Plus it came with a bunch of extras! 

The thing that Jackson actually prayed about was receiving the Cars 2 DVD. Great Grandpa made it happen and I really, really wish I would have been recording his reaction. He unwrapped it and squealed with delight and his voice got up in octaves that I didn't even know he had. It was so fun to watch!

Jackson also got some puzzles (we've done them all), games, a giant Super Hero Squad coloring book, a bubble machine, action figures, and even a Spiderman toothbrush (that he is very excited about!). He was totally spoiled! One friend gave Jackson a big box of wood scraps, wood glue, and some paint! It was the neatest thing.

He did receive a few items he already has, so we exchanged them and he picked out Bumble Bee and some more Batman action figures for his Bat Cave. Since that moment, Optimus and Bumble Bee have been with Jackson as all times. He even takes them to the bathroom "so they can watch." He always wants to take them with us when we leave, but I have convinced him that they are needed here at the house to keep the bad guys away. It's worked so far. 

But I noticed something today as we were getting ready to run an errand. The kids were in the car and I glanced over behind our flower bed to see Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee placed so perfectly to keep watch of our house. Jackson pulled the blinds a little and placed the Transformers behind a bench so they could see. 

If this attachment to Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee continues, I'm going to have to create some sort of acronym because it is getting ridiculous to type that out each time. 

Four

Last year I did a survey right after Jackson turned 3. Now that he's 4, it's time to revisit the survey and learn about his favorite things right now!

{click on the photo to enlarge so you can read his responses}

You can probably tell that he was a little preoccupied with his new Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee toys. They watched us for the interview.

But this isn't a new love for Optimus and Bumble Bee just because he's excited about his new birthday presents. Before he had the "official" characters, these were Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee. And yes, he did sleep with these guys. 

• His favorite animal being a tiger surprised me as he often pretends to be a dog and is known for sniffing, licking, and eating out of a bowl on the floor. I'm not even joking. 
• The first five times that I asked Jackson what his favorite food/snack/drink-- he replied, "poop" every time and laughed ridiculously. 
• Julie is his best friend. Every time he makes a pretend call with a play phone, he calls her to talk about his day.
• When Jackson said that he loved only Daddy, he did add that "I even love myself." Eventually he came around to finding SOMETHING that he can appreciate about me. 
• Jackson's favorite movies are not only Cars and Cars 2... he went on to say that Cars 3 and Cars 4 are his favorite even though I've tried to explain that those movies don't exist. Pixar, if you're reading this, please make a new Cars movie soon. 
• VBS music-- oh yes. He got a CD of the songs from VBS this summer. He listens to it as he falls asleep and he listens to it while he plays. Every single day. And there are only 7 songs on the CD. I have heard each one about nine million times.
• He wants to grow up to be a firefighter so he can be a helper. And then he wants to be a Daddy like Derek. This was like his answer last year too! I guess this means that Jackson thinks Derek is doing a pretty good job! :)

Papa Johne made us a measuring chart! It's not mounted to my wall yet, but fortunately my library checkouts and my textbooks measured to exactly 6 inches! I never noticed that Jackson was getting so tall! I looked up last years stats and marked them on the chart as well. He grew about 4-5 inches this year.

Jackson thinks he is really big stuff now that he's four. And he even knows he's growing up so fast. Today he said, "I'm starting not to be a kid anymore!" He's like four, going on 18 I guess!! Slow down buddy! :) 

Lots and Lots of Birthdays!

We’ve been celebrating lots and lots of birthdays lately! There was a period of time in June when we had three birthday parties in two weeks! {Yes, I am just now getting around to posting these}. We’ve had a few more celebrations since then and have thus enjoyed lots of cake. It’s been good. :)

Belle was invited to her first birthday party. It was a spa party and she got her toe nails painted!

She was mainly entertained by giving kisses to the cute girl in the mirror.

When our cousin Gabe was in town, we celebrated his 3rd birthday.

 

And the next day, Jackson had fun at a birthday party for his buddy, James.

I love this picture!
 

Later that week, we all went out to Ryan’s to celebrate Grandma Linda’s birthday.

And just yesterday, we had a big family celebration for my Grandma in honor of her 80th birthday!!! There were around sixty people over at my parents house to celebrate with us!

And here’s a sweet picture of Belle and Gram Gram.

… and here’s a not-so-sweet picture of me and my grandma thanks to my RIDICULOUS mother!

{her response to this post will be, “Why did you do that!?” and my response will of course be, “Well, why did you do THAT in the first place!” Love you, Mom!} :)

Birthdays are so much fun! And I’m already starting to plan a party for Jackson’s birthday in October! It’s just too much fun!!

Cousin time, take 2

Back in the beginning of the month, my nephew Gabe stayed with us for several days. I shared a quick post when he first got here, but I wanted to share the rest! The cousins had a great time together!

Gabe was here for 9 days before his parents came over from St. Louis. We crammed in lots of fun!

The park

Gabe got to join us on our weekly pilgrimage to McDonalds with Great Grandpa. 

 

The boys slept peacefully together and never ever fought over the same toy. {ha, yeah right! They did good sharing a bed. Sharing toys, eh, not so much}

We got pretty good at getting three kid plates together at meal times!

And loading up three kiddos to go places. 

Like, to Burger King on a certain day when I realized that taking care of three kiddos is hard work—let along preparing a meal to feed five people. Whew. Thank goodness for that BK giftcard! {and seriously, this is the face Jackson gives me when I said, “say cheese!”.}

Then, Aunt Mary and Uncle Brad came over to Kansas City to visit. And they brought this guy! He’s saying, “Hi Aunt Amy!” Isn’t he cute!?

We got all the cousins together to take a picture—which was not an easy task, but we did it!

Apparently, I need to do a better job of actually taking pictures of Brad and Mary—not just their kiddos. Though I only have one picture to show for it, Jackson and Belle loved playing tackle with Uncle Brad.

We celebrated Gabe’s third birthday

And we had a big family get together at Ryan’s—like 20 of us! 

It was a crammed-packed two weeks full of lots of fun and playing! The boys loved riding bikes together and throwing year old “popper” fireworks in the garage. And it's really nice to visit with Brad and Mary when they come visit. I’m working really hard to nag them to death convince them to move to Kansas City. Maybe someday!

Twenty-eight

My birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I had a fabulous birthday, just like a Saturday birthday should be! Those don’t come around very often and when they do, your birthday celebration is supposed to be way awesome {unlike last time when Derek was working with KCPD and worked/slept all day. Yeah, I don’t miss those days}. Anyways… my day was great so I’m gonna tell you about it.

This birthday cookie was from book club. It was delicious. I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. When you’re 28, you can do that sort of thing and not care. 
My day was spent with a lot of my favorite things: My family, BBQ, and being outside. My parents came down on last minute notice and that was really just topped off a great day!   

My presents this year were awesome. From my parents, I got flowers to put in the empty window boxes I had laying around. These guys have had a couple weeks to grow and they just add so much to the little corner by our garage.
Derek bought me a new set of outdoor dining dishes. Pink, of course. 

He also got me a bag of mulch {that we already had}, a hose reel, flower bed edging, solar powered patio lights, and an upgrade…

Oh yes, it’s awesome. Really, his gift to me was this… a makeover to our patio. I love being out on our patio. I enjoy grilling, eating, and just hanging out! I liked out patio before, but now I just LOVE it. It was the perfect gift I didn’t even know I wanted. {my favorite kind of gift!}

 

The table is in the same place in both pictures, but look at how much bigger it looks after we cleaned up and organized! See all that extra space for the kids to play!?

 

When I told my sister what we did for my birthday, she said… “You worked on your birthday!?” I knew I was old* and boring when I was perfectly happy fixing up this space, even on my birthday. I loved planting flowers and putting mulch around the flower beds by our patio. All because after dinner, my parents came over and this is what we did:

It’s my favorite way to end a spring/summer night!

*Actually, I have to tell you the real reason I feel old at 28 and I blame it on my mother {one thing you never get too old to do!}. For as long as I can remember, Mom has always claimed her age to be 27. Even as us kids approached the age of 27 ourselves, she still stuck with it. She’s still 27 today if you ask her even though my brother turned 30 last month. So, now that I’m 28… it means I’m a year older than my mother claimed to be. A year older than she deemed acceptable to admit! Now, THAT’S why I feel old.

The pink party

I know we’ve covered the topic of Belle turning one already, but before I can just wrap it all up, we have to take a look at her party! It was super low-key with all her favorite people, lots of pink, and a tutu of course!!

Belle spent the afternoon visiting her favorite peeps—Aunt Laura, Grammy,
Papa John {yup, that’s what he’s called!}, and Great Grandpa!

 

As you can see, Belle is doted on by ALL of her Grandpa’s… even all at once!

Belle was gracious enough to offer up some kisses for me! {oh, the kisses you learn to love once you’re a mommy—open mouthed and slobbery, but so so sweet!}

The “great” Luceros {great by relation, of course} and Grandma Linda and Grandpa Forrest, too.

Family photo!

Her guests enjoyed pink candies, pink popcorn, and frosted pink cupcakes… on pink plates!

And I made a poster out of Belle’s Sticky Bellies monthly pictures! {Remember: You can enter to win a set for you or a friend!}

Belle enjoyed some pink popcorn herself!

Belle was making the funniest face when she had the cake in front of her! She was acting all excited, mouth open and all! Yet, she was more interested in poking the cakes than eating it. I think she was more into all of the attention everyone was giving her! Either way, she was super cute!

She did enjoy a few bites of cake!

And there were presents of course. Great Grandpa got her the cute pink chair and she loooooooves it! She’s opening the present that Jackson picked out.

Grandpa also got her a {loud, singing} stuffed animal—she loves to snuggle and love on stuffed animals.

Belle got a new {pink} high chair, booster seat thing. I am probably more excited about it that she is, but we need to get the full sized one out of the dining room!

She was more interested in climbing up on the box than what was inside, and that’s okay! At least it was sort of a toy for awhile.

Belle loves her necklace {from Jackson} and she will put it on whenever she finds it around the house. Just a cute little girly-girl in training I guess!

I love how her pink party turned out! We love our little girl and are so thankful for all the friends and family in our lives that love her as much as we do!