Trendy Tot..Thursday?

OK so my last post wasn't my last post for Feb after all.  I realized in the chaos of this week, I'd forgotten about Trendy Tot Tuesday.  Only I didn't so much "forget" as I didn't have time to do it.

So I've decided that trying out trends is WAY more fun on Morgan than it is on myself.  Floral denim from the 80's?  I don't know if I'm ready for it again, but she is.  She told me ; )  (To let y'all know that yes, I really AM old, I really WAS around when it was cool in the 80's.  Colored jeans too.  Oh, you bet I rocked my burgundy, green, and peach colored Guess? jeans with my Aussie Sprunch Sprayed hair.  Boo-yah.)  I digress.

Now, I'm a big copycat since I've seen these all over blogland.  But I waited it out and they went on sale, so I ended up getting them for 50% off (I had a promo code too)!

GAP

And since the dotted denim jeans I got her turned out to be SO FREAKING CUTE - we seriously get tons of compliments every time she wears them - PLUS I've been wanting a pair for myself ever since I first saw them.   I believe I even said "I wish these came in my size".  Well?  GAP came through. I ordered these and yes, we will be obnoxious matching Mommy-Daughter pants, lol!  Hey, if you can't have fun with the trends, then what fun can you have?

One trend we will NOT be partaking in is sneaker wedges.  Oh. My. Ugly.  

I just can't.  

I won't.  

Morgan won't.  As long as I still get to be the boss of her wardrobe ; )

Who decided these were the big trend of this spring?  Seriously?  I want their name.

I tend to shop at Target a lot for Morgan since it's right down the street from my house and I usually can't resist their 4 for $20 play clothing knowing it will just get stained.  But I'm trying to branch out a little more... She did just get a new batch of clothes at her birthday party, but let's not let that put a damper on our shopping spirit!

My Last Post for February

I should be packing -- instead of blogging -- but I feel like these days are passing me by so quickly that I had to document a few things.  Of course blogging only once or twice per week means a photo dump.  I can't even believe its the end of February.  But then again, I'm SOOOO ready for spring & summer.  

The Hubs and I are off to Gatlinburg for a long weekend getaway, just the 2 of us. We haven't been anywhere alone since our honeymoon in 2010 I think?  It's just 3 nights, but I already am having panic attacks about the kids.  I think the first 2 hours I'm going to be all "Yes!  This is awesome!" and then I'll probably be begging Joe to turn the car around.  Which is why he refused to allow us to travel too far, because he thinks I'm gonna fall apart missing my babies!  (It could happen.)

Anyhoo...here's the cuteness going on around here:

Her new car seat sat in the kitchen for oh...2 weeks?  I got her all strapped in and she loved it; would sit in it nightly, pretending we were in the car.  It's now in my Mommymobile, we took our first trip in it today, and she was so proud.  I'd catch her smiling randomly, looking at the cupholders.   Such a big girl.

Post-party bomb.  We're slowly returning to normal.  Those toys need a home!

This one...oh my.  He's all over the place.  SOCLOSE to crawling.  I told my MIL that if he crawls for the first time while we are away, I'm going to cry!  She said she'll never tell me ; )  He's outgrowing everything.  I keep buying new jammies, only to have him outgrow them.  I should never have even bothered with 9 month sized stuff; just skipped straight to 12 months.

They are interacting  SO much.  They just gravitate toward each other now.  And they've even started fighting a little bit over toys, haha!  I think it's cute now, but I"m sure I'll get tired of breaking them up.  I'm using this time to teach Morgan about sharing.  She's good at giving him the toys she's no longer interested in ; )

The Birthday Cluster of Balloons.  How many balloons does it take to levitate an empty cat house?  We will never know. But the Hubs is wanting to buy more to see if we can do it.  Morgan just wants to dance.

If you follow me on IG, this is a repeat.  They were both looking at books.  I said I interrupted their reading sesh. Gah!  SO PRECIOUS.

This little boy?  Has figured out how to zoom all over in his walker now.  And he's also figured out how to pull my towels off my oven door.  Now I'm fighting against 3 forces to keep them where they belong!!

 My Joey bear is 8 months old today.  I don't have his 8 month post ready just yet.  Hopefully when we get back.  I'm taking him to the Pediatrician tomorrow because he's developed a new rash that's crusty and raised on his hands and lower back/bum.  I think it's Baby Eczema, but we'll find out what the Dr. thinks.  I just want to be sure it's not a food allergy or something else.

His sleeping patterns this week has thrown us all off.  He's been up at midnight and anywhere from 4:30am-6:00am (not cool!) for the day.  His naps have been 30 minutes to an hour.  Just an off week.  Growth spurt maybe?  Teething?  Hard to tell.

All ready for my trip.  Pleasure reading?  YES PLEASE!!

I have no idea where we are staying - it's a surprise.  I only know it's a cabin in the Smoky Mountains with an amazing view.  The Hubs said he wanted us to stay in and cook a meal at the cabin one night.  At first I was all irritated, asking "Why would I want to cook? I cook every night!  I'm on vacation!"  But then he told me he wanted to cook a meal together, have a bottle of wine, and just take our time getting to eat together (since we rarely get to at home - we usually eat separately and I feed the babies since he gets home so late from work every night) and hang out.  He even stressed the cleanup would be together ; )  Now that's romance, folks.  (For the record, my Hubs does many things, but cooking & cleaning are not 2 of them.)

Morgan's 2nd Birthday PARTY

Over the weekend, we hosted Morgan's 2nd Birthday Party.  I said it would be low-key, and more laid back than last year's huge 1st Bday bash.

Well, I lied.

We had the same large group of family and this year I made almost all of the food (except the cake balls & cookies - had to leave that to a Pro!).

I don't like cooking for large groups because I have zero confidence.  But I went for it:  I roasted almost 17 POUNDS of pork and our menu consisted of Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches, Corn, and Baked Beans. We also had Coleslaw, Loaded Baked Potato Salad, a big Veggie/Dip platter and a Bruschetta/Hummus/Tapenade platter that I ordered from Kroger.

I also made confetti popcorn, which was a Pinterest find and that was a BIG hit.  Too bad I dropped one full batch out on our porch when I took it out there to cool/set.  I almost cried because it happened about 30 minutes before the party was set to start.  Since it's made with almond bark, the almond bark all started hardening on the tile floor.  Not my finest moment.

We timed the party for after Morgan's nap and prayed she would sleep well and be ready to party.  She did, and she was!

I think our girl had the BEST day!  She loved the attention, the gifts (she got completely SPOILED!!), the cake balls, the balloons....all of it.

So, photo overload:

That little onesie hanging on the buffet was hers from the NICU.  Crazy tiny!!

I couldn't believe she actually let me put her hair in a pony tail!  SO CUTE!

My Pinterest-inspired Confetti Popcorn.  It's just microwave popcorn (natural salted) with vanilla almond bark melted over the top and sprinkles.  SO addicting.  That salty/sweet combo is the bomb.

Dora-inspired cookies.  Not baked by me, wish I could take credit for them!  They were as tasty as they were cute!!

On her new 4-wheeler from her MN family!  She was scared at first, but once Joe showed her how to use it and held on to her, she couldn't get enough!

Cake Balls: Peanut Butter/chocolate, Strawberry Delight, Rainbow Chip, Not-So-Thin Mint, and Turtle.  OMG.  To die for good!  These were made by the same lady that did the cookies.  She is clearly talented!

Baby Vincent and Baby Joey with Nana and Aunt Janice

About to blow out her candle!

She loves her 'Kenzie...

Trying to hold up 2 fingers.

We all sang Happy Birthday - and we had been preparing Morgan at home with this song for DAYS.  I didn't want her to be scared and so we'd always yell, cheer & clap after the song.  Well.  Girlfriend went NUTS, screaming, cheering, and clapping when the song was finished.  EVERYONE laughed so hard.  So we sang it again.  Her 2nd time reaction wasn't nearly as enthusiastic, but still fun.  Of course, I didn't get my video camera out in time :(

Dad & Mom.  To a Two-year old.

There was no shortage of people to hold and love on Joey, so he was a happy camper.  Even though the shirt I picked out for him was way too small - it kept riding up and his little belly looked like it was gonna bust the buttons right out.  And his father put it on him anyway. Haha!

New trike & helmet.  She loves this thing too!

Conned her cousins into reading to her.

Joey (in a bigger shirt, lol!) taking it all in.

A new baby doll to love.

Freshly bathed taking a spin in the new wagon from Mommy & Daddy right before bedtime.  Love these two SO SO MUCH.

My In-Laws are the only family we have here, and they had all the dishes done & leftover food put away before they all left.  SO NICE!  Today I'm busy finding a home for all her new toys, cutting tags of the new clothes & washing them, and overall just cleaning up the party bomb, lol.  It was a GREAT Day!  My baby girl is so loved.

Morgan Turns 2

Yesterday, February 21st, my sweet Morgan turned 2 years old.

Wow.  I'm still in awe that I have a 2-year old!  When you have a preemie, who begins life in such a fragile state with so much of the future unknown, it's hard to imagine too far down the road.  Early on, you are taught to take their achievements and small victories one day at a time.  I'm thankful for that.  And so incredibly grateful that she is our healthy, sassy, energetic, loving, smart, kind and typical 2-year old!!

Dreaming of summer in my new flip-flops!

"I'm Mo-Gen.  I'm TWO!"

We started her day off by Daddy and I going up to her room in the morning when she woke up.  We sang Happy Birthday to her and I'm sure she wondered what on earth was happening, lol.  It's not every day you get woken up by your parents serenading you (thank God, lol).  I recorded the whole thing with the video camera and keep watching it over and over.   My Baby.  Two.  We've been working with her to tell people she's 2 now, not one anymore, lol!

We spent the day at home and had a playdate again with Baby Amelia - who shares Morgan's birthday, and turned one yesterday.  I made the girls a heart-shaped Funfetti cake.  I wish I would've been more on the ball and gotten some balloons to make it more festive.  Really kicking myself!

I see this face in protest a LOT these days!

 In the evening, Daddy came home from work and we ate Morgan's favorite:  Pizza!  We tried a new place, Jet's Pizza.  It was pretty darn good!  We also had more cake and lots of play time.  We didn't do presents yet, although I did let her open a new pack of Dora stickers yesterday.

She knew exactly what to do when she blew out her candle.  She wanted to grab the fire though...yikes!

She kept making this face, saying "MM HMMM!  MMM HMM!" When I asked her if the cake was good!

My Big girl on her last day of being 1.

 I've been writing letters to both kids since we found out we were pregnant with each one of them.  In my last letter to Morgan, I told her all the things she's doing right now and how she seems to old to me.  She loves blueberries, Mommy (!!), helping, her blankies ("ba-tees"), pizza, fruit snacks ("Soo-nacks"), necklaces, Mommy's leopard print slippers, baths, books (ESPECIALLY the Llama Llama books and the Potty book and the "Where's Baby's Puppy?" book).  There's so much I just love about this age!

I actually got her to smile for a picture!!

Gratuitous picture of my handsome lil devil of a son....I'm obsessed.

I'm dying to put together the battery-powered Tinkerbell Quad that my MN family got her - I know she's going to love that thing!  Makes what we got her seem kinda lame....more on that later.  But I know she'll get tons of gifts to open at her party.

Her big party is Sunday afternoon.  I'm trying not to stress:  Just family.  Just at our home.  I'm just making most of the food. No big whoop.  How much can go wrong?  lol...I've got a giant, small child-sized pork butt roast in the crockpot right  now.  I keep telling myself it's fool-proof.  Let's just hope so!