Happy 4th of July!

Excuse the very delayed post. We have been very busy with birthdays, softball and summer.

Our 4th of July...

I’ve always loved the 4^th of July and this year I fell in love with the holiday even more. Not only was the holiday on a Friday which extended the weekend, but it was the very first time Nolan experienced fireworks. He loved them and I loved watching him love them. So let me begin by recapping just how perfect our day was celebrating America’s birthday.

We started off the day hanging out at home while I whipped up a few different foods for the cookout to be had later on at my dad’s house. My sister, Hayden and Lincoln met at our house and we all piled into my car and made our way to the Catonsville parade. This parade is so hyped up every year and we have always stayed far away as to not mess with traffic,vclosed streets and large crowds, but now with the kiddies we decided it was finally time to experience it.

We found a small side street a block away from Frederick Road (where the parade route takes place) and parked. We walked up to Frederick Road and I was prepared for the massive amount of staked out chairs that people put out days weeks in advance. Well, we found a nice large spot right at the edge of the sidewalk and set up there. Just across the street from us was an ice cream shop. Jackpot! We all had a scoop of ice cream, except my odd child that refuses to even try ice cream. He had a snowball! Before long, the parade began and the kids watched and got way too excited over the tootsie rolls, Frisbees and key chains that were thrown their way. Their attention was fully devoted to the parade for a solid hour. Well, an hour and half in the parade was still going on, but we decided we would head out because we still had the cookout.

We left the parade and then packed up for my dad’s house. The kids went in the pool (except mine...he stared at it, talked about wanting to go in, but never actually did go in). At this point Ryan’s parents and the Kennedy’s had joined the cookout. We ate a delicious meal and watched the kids run around and play for a little bit. Around 8:30 we set out to go to the Catonsville fireworks.

Nolan was exhausted and although we did everything in our power to keep him awake during the car ride, he fell asleep about 10 minutes before we parked. Again, we found another neighborhood (a little more congested than the parade area we parked in) and had a bit of a walk, but found a less crowded grassy area away from the mayhem. Nolan slept on me for 75% of the walk. When I switched him over to Ryan he had woken back up and no lie he said, “Daddy, I want to go home”. We asked why and he replied “Nolan wants to go to sleep”. Seriously, how lucky are we that our child loves his sleep? So, we made it to the grassy area and set up the blanket. The kids were all so excited because Aunt Lainy (seriously, the world’s best aunt) had bought everyone glow sticks, glow sunglasses and more. The fireworks started and we all just watched them together.

It was such a great day spent with our family and friends. The weather was amazing. The children were angels. The food was delicious. I seriously love the 4^th of July.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4^thof July!

Oh yeah, and a month and a half late on posting this, but figure I might want to look back and know this someday... Nolan's 2 year old stats:

Height: 34.5 in (51%)

Weight: 26 lbs 15 oz (37%)

Head: 49.5 cm (73%)

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Father's Day!

Rise and shine its Father’s Day! This means I need to wakeup early and make breakfast in bed for Nolan to take to Ryan right? Well, I would have if Ryan didn’t wake up at the crack of dawn to drive around to 8 different softball fields to check the conditions and try to repair them for our Sunday league to get their playoff games in. Thankfully, they were unplayable and so our Father’s Day plans quickly changed. We decided that we would kick start the day with me trying to make Ryan breakfast, but him being 1 step ahead of me seriously the entire time. Then you know, awhile I was getting Nolan dressed for the day Ryan threw a load of laundry in and I tried to get him to stop, but he didn’t listen.

Since we no longer had softball games on our agenda wethought we would go to the Orioles game, but they only had standing room tickets available—no thank you. We stopped over to see my dad for a little while and hung out there until lunch time. Then we headed to Mission BBQ in Canton and ate outside. It was such a beautiful day and the food was DELICIOUS. After lunch our little monster was in desperate need for his nap. We went home and tucked him in and then I mowed the lawn awhile Ryan sat back, enjoyed a cold drink and apparently snapped a photo to post on facebook. (Thanks, babe.)

Nolan and I decided it would be fun to give Ryan the gift of jumping for Father’s Day (along with a few other great presents!). We ended our evening spending an hour at Sky Zone jumping around as a family and having a blast.

trim.22907024-1C0C-491C-9C85-B34E19187391 from Tessa Hurd on Vimeo.

I hope Ry had a great Father’s Day because Nolan and I sure did have a fun time spoiling him. We love you and appreciate everything you do for our family. You are our everything.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, especially the many men in my life that are AMAZING father’s to their kiddies. You all deserve this day to sit back, put your feet up and soak in the love.....and eat a piece of homemade peanut butter tandy cake! :)

 

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Jake & the Neverland Pirates 2nd Birthday Party!

A look inside Nolan's 2nd birthday party! 

Theme: Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Step 1 to throwing a Jake and the Neverland Pirates birthday party means going shopping and trying on silly masks and hats!

I had a lot of fun creating these X marks the spot goodie bags! So simple and they turned out so cute!

The pirate themed contents to the goodie bags included pirate bubbles, ring pops for jewels, plastic hook, pirates booty, pirate stickers and water bomb balls! 

Everyone also got a homemade telescope, just like Jake's! I cut pool noodles from the dollar store and wrapped them in electrical tape!  

Step 2 to throwing the party meant I needed a few fun games for the kids to play. One of my very, very talented front desk staff at work created this board for me to use as a bean bag toss game we called "Feed the Croc".

Feed the Croc bean bag toss game

Nolan painted this one! :) Hook toss aka ring toss!

Lastly, I also purchased a ton of ball pit balls on craigslist and used an inflatable pool as a ball bit filled with different "treasures" and the kids had to 'Find the Buried Treasure'. Don't worry, I disinfected and cleaned every ball pit ball before I brought them to the party. 

Aunt Lainy, Grandma and I made cupcakes! 

Jake cake thanks to Ms Carol! :)

Food table

And now a ton of party pictures!!! 

Thank you to everyone that came out and celebrated our handsome little boy turning 2 years old.

The birthday boy!!!

Quinny was doing great hula hooping!

Playing ball with Uncle Chuck!

We needed to open a present mid-party so he could continue his baseball game. He got his very own set of bases and is using them daily!!

Handsome boy chowing down on watermelon!

Look who is here!

Treasure!

Linc looked more excited!

Nolan asks me daily to go play with Taylor!

Cutie pie!

Sweet little Carter!

Look Pop Pop a lollipop!

So we gave them the peeps....from Easter!

Notice the bag of peeps is on the ledge and they are running away. I snapped this and turned around. That is all I will say, but Jenna I am SORRY!!!!!!!

He loved blowing out the candles!

I think Connor liked the cake :) 

Hugs for Uncle Mikey!

Now it is Aunt Gins turn to play ball!

And Grandma's turn!

And Grandpas too!

Colin liked the ball pit!

Sweet Eliza!

I was proud of capturing this!!

Next year these two will add another little boy to the party mayhem!! I can't wait!! 

Jamie, please make this your FB profile picture.

I have like 17 of this picture and this was the only one where we are all looking!

We weren't successful on these ones, but still cute!

SK '03 - Love you girls forever and ever. 

Lily was "sleeping" SO CUTE!

"Yo ho, let's go!"

Best friends since we met 18 years ago! (Holy crap, did I count that right?? 18 years!)

Love this picture!

Play fetch with Carter!

Nolan and Aunt Theresa!

Kisses for Aunt Peggy!

Great picture!!

He loves his Auntie!!

Another awesome picture!

Nolan is making Pop Pop's face! ;)

My loves, my life.

And we are home! Pants off, dance off.

Thank you so much Aunt Peggy for the quilt you made for Nolan. I am obsessed with it. He has it on his big boy bed and sleeps with it every night! 

The next morning we were still opening presents. Little boy is so loved. Thank you everyone!

Overall, the best day. It was so much fun watching all the kids run around and play together. Nolan was spent when we got home and went to bed rather early without making a peep. 

Excited to see what this upcoming year has in store for our little guy. He has already transitioned to his big boy bed and that was beyond smooth. Next step will be potty training. I wasn't too scared about the bed transition, but the potty training. Yeah, that scares me.