Black Friday 2011

Jordan and I got to go black friday shopping together this year, which also happened to be his first year going, and we had so much fun!  We started at Walmart where we were hoping to score him an Xbox, which was a fail, however!  We did get a lot of other cool stuff, all on sale, and spent less than a hundred dollars.  I was ecstatic!  I even got my cousin Amber to give it a try and she totally scored a brand new laptop for super cheap!  We went to target and got their last Xbox on sale, which totally made Jordan's day, and shopped around at a few other places having huge sales.  My parents took Tobi overnight for us so that we could go out together and I'm so grateful that they did that.  We even had time to squeeze in a movie, which was a nice little break for us.  It was so nice for just Jordan and I to go out together and I haven't had that much fun in a while.  It made me really sad when Jordan had to go back to work today.  Here's hoping we get to do it again next year!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving this year was perfect!  It was supposed to be our turn to spend it with Jordan's family this year, but after hearing that my grandparents were staying in Utah for the winter and hosting Thanksgiving at their place, we just couldn't miss that opportunity.  Especially since my sweet Grandpa has had so many health problems this year.  Jordan was so understanding about my desire to spend the holiday with my family and I was thrilled when he decided to come with me (originally we had planned to split up but I was so sad at the thought of spending it without Jordan at my side) and most of his family members were gracious about our predicament, so that was very kind of them.

I had so much fun, this year was the Thanksgiving of my childhood.  It brought back so many memories and it was so nice to be there with them.  The food was amazing and Tobi had a blast playing with my little cousins, Cooper and Eli.  We watched The Grinch and enjoyed delicious pie and wonderful company.  I got to spend some time with baby Ashtyn and she is ADORABLE.  It really got me craving my next baby!  There were a few that couldn't make it and they were truly missed.  I'm just so grateful that I got to be with them this year, I love them all so much!

Gone

I am embarrassed to admit that two weeks ago.....I lost my wedding ring.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I haven't been wearing it to work because it pokes holes in my gloves and it's super uncomfortable.  So during the week, it stays on my nightstand and I wear it on the weekends, which I'm always excited for.  Well, two weekends ago, I couldn't find it.  At first I didn't panic, I figured maybe I put it someplace else and I was confident I would find it.  After the first week went by with no success, I was a nervous wreak.  Each day I stressed even more, and became more and more heartbroken when I started to realize it was truly gone.  Tobi has been into EVERYTHING lately and if he got a hold of it, it could be ANYWHERE.  He's been particularly fascinated with the toilets and sinks lately, dropping in all kinds of things.  After finally admitting to Jordan that I thought it was gone, and many many tears had fallen...he came home and surprised me with this beauty...

I was shocked.  I didn't think I'd be able to get a replacement so soon and I was so surprised that Jordan took the initiative and picked out a new one for me.  I seriously married the perfect man and I am SO happy that he would do that for me.  I love him so much and because of everything I've been through the last two weeks searching for my lost ring, and Jordan bringing me a new one...it just makes my new ring so much more special to me.  He is such a wonderful man!

90 Days!

As of October 25th, I have now been a Blendtec employee for three whole months...crazy!  And do you know what that means?  I got my free blender, woot!!  It is awesome and it will probably take me a while to get used to seeing it on my kitchen counter after building them all day.  We used it the other night to make milkshakes and in just 30 seconds we had a perfectly blended dessert.  I chose black and I love it, it was definitely well earned.

Tobi is TWO!

Today, November 6th 2011, my little boy turned TWO!  I can't believe it has been two years already, the time has seriously flown by!  He has been such a joy to have in our lives and I love him SO much.  I love how much his communication has improved and it's such a pleasure watching him learn and grow.  For the actual day of his birthday, the three of us just chilled at home and let Tobi enjoy all his loot from his party the day before.  I insisted that he still have a couple gifts from us to open on his birthday, so we saved his cute little grill and picnic set...which turns out was the one toy he was most excited about.  He played with it ALL day.  We had another little cake with a candle that he blew out after we sang happy birthday for him.  He is one special little boy and I'm so happy that I was able to make his birthday weekend the best a little two year old could have.

Happy Birthday Tobi, we love you so much!!

Tobi's Terrible Two Monster Party

We threw Tobi's SECOND birthday party today and it turned out AMAZING!  I've been planning this party now for three months and I'm so happy with how it turned out, it was perfect, I wouldn't have changed a single thing.  We decided to go with a Terrible Two Monster theme and I had a blast putting it together.  I had a sign on the outside door announcing the monster party which was followed by cute little monster feet cutouts leading the way to the cultural hall.  At that door I had another sign welcoming the little monsters to the party.

As people came in, I had a little table set up with monster masks and pinata treat bags for all the kids.  I found the cutest monster pinata, it even had a little present held in its hand, and the kids had a BLAST trying to bust it open.  Right behind the pinata, at the front of the room, I hung Tobi's Happy Birthday sign, which also turned out super cute.

I also had a Monster Photo Booth that Jocelyn and I made ourselves, for everyone to get pictures taken.  It turned out super cute and didn't cost me much at all to put together.

I had all my tables decorated with table covers, and centerpieces that we made ourselves.  Each center piece had a unique plush monster, and a giant pinwheel with monster googly eyes in the center.  I had two extra tables, one containing gifts and Tobi's thank you's for all his little guests, and the other set up with the cutest little monster bowling set.

My last table was my food table, which sported our ADORABLE cupcakes and cookies (made by me and Jocelyn), ice cream, milk, Tobi's cake and other necessary food items.  The paper cupcake toppers were made by me, Jocelyn and Shannon.  The fondant cupcake and cookie toppers, along with Tobi's cake were made by Jocelyn's wonderfully talented cousin, Jen.  She did an AMAZING job and I couldn't stop gushing over how perfect they were.  We didn't want to dish ice cream through the whole party, so my mom came up with the great idea of having individual ice cream cups for everyone to help themselves...brilliant!

In the back of the room, I had an area blocked off with all of Tobi's different cars for the kids to play with.  We dubbed it the Monster Raceway and it was a big hit with the smaller kids.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, especially the little birthday boy.  He had a blast opening his gifts, even though I had to finish for him and hand him his new toys.  I even had these cute little favor boxes for all the kids to take home, which they were super excited about.

We filled each one with a monster coloring book and crayons, monster stickers, monster rubber duckies, monster finger puppets, monster beach balls, vampire teeth, and a cute little monster party blower.

Whew...as happy as I am with how it turned out, I'm glad it's done and I can now relax and enjoy the upcoming holidays!  With that said, here are my credits....

Party favor boxes were purchased at Polka Dot Market.
Monster Mania party supplies were purchased at EZ Party Zone.
Monster rubber duckies and finger puppets were purchased on Amazon.
Monster bowling was purchased on Amazon.
Monster pinata was purchased on Ebay.
Monster pinata bags, masks and table cover were purchased from Target.
Monster cupcake/cookie toppers can be purchased here.
Monster plush dolls were made by Jocelyn.
All paper monsters were made using the Mini Monsters Cricut Cartridge and were made by me.
The felt monsters in the favor boxes were made by me.
The photobooth was made by me and Jocelyn.
The photography was done by our very own Jocelyn Callahan from Black Bird Studios.

I'd also like to throw out a GINORMOUS thank you to everyone who helped me make this party happen, you all know who you are!  I'd also like to thank Jen for her amazing cake, cupcake and cookie toppers...again, they were perfect!  And a great big thank you to everyone who came and helped us celebrate Tobi's second birthday!!  Woot!

Ah November

November has arrived and brought with it the sweet sprinkle of rain.  I can't think of a better way to start off the month.  I love this month for the little spirit that joined our family almost two years ago.  I am so excited to celebrate his birthday and show him what a special day it is for all of us.

Trick or Treating 2011

This year for Halloween we went out to Saratoga Springs to haunt the street with Sean and Brynn's kids.  Tobi had a blast going from house to house and watching all the other kids.  He had the biggest smile on his face pretty much the whole time, giving his cute little "thank you's" and even growling for a few lucky people.  He had a death grip on his little pumpkin bucket and had a blast digging through it when we were done.  We got tons of comments on how cute he was in his little zombie costume.  We toned it down quite a bit since he's barely two and anytime he saw his face in the mirror he would laugh.  I'm glad he had fun trick or treating with his cousins, he did so great!