Wow Wow

We had a Wow Wow Wubbzy family birthday party last weekend for D's big second b-day and it was great. I wasn't sure about the theme as Wow Wow Wubbzy isn't as well-known and there's not anything at your local party store as far as "stuff" goes - but I love creating something from nothing. It got my creative juices going - and since it was going to be mostly adults - it didn't matter anyway!

Here's some pics:

The cake I made...


The food table - and the only officially licensed Wow Wow Wubbzy item - a tablecloth found on Amazon.com


My homemade banner and balloons converted to Wubbzy faces :)


The activity table - and some decorations...


D in his walking-decoration shirt I made him


D and his cousins - Adam and Amelia - enjoying the food!


Will - the only one who would wear the Wubbzy tails I made for all the kids!


Him loving the cake...but confused why everyone was singing to him!!


It was a great party - D got some wonderful gifts and had a great time with family. Happy #2 again to D!!

WHO'S TWO?

I can't believe my little baby is two. Dain claims I can no longer call him a baby, but that part of me that's still clutching my newly-released-from-the-incubator-newborn-on-a-monitor will call him my baby probably until he's 40.

He's an amazing two year old. He knows his letters. He can say just about everything you can, only with a cute accent. He counts along with numbers, chimes in on the ABC's and sings TV theme songs. He's got an attention span longer than my 31 year old husband - sitting to read books or play with his cars and trains for an hour with not even the blink of an eye. He is a true sweetheart, giving hugs to anyone who will take them. He's quiet in a crowd, loud at home and plays wonderfully with other kids. I'm lucky just to know him, but the fact that he's mine is the best feeling in the whole world.

I will post later about his Wow Wow Wubbzy birthday party, trip to Legoland, and pics of him with his gifts that he loves. But for now, I just want to say Happy Birthday to D. It's been the best 2 years of my life and I'm excited for what this third year has in store.

This Fall...

We went back to Sunny Acres a few weeks ago with Uncle Evan and Aunt Marcy. We had a great time. I just wanted to post a few comparison shots...

Here's D circa 2009:

And 2010:

He's getting so big!

Walked for Hope

Sorry for the delay in posts...don't know what the problem is. Life is busy. Planning D's 2nd birthday party, getting his Halloween set up (spoiler alert, he's going to be a gorilla!), and work, etc.

Also we had the Walk for Hope this past Saturday. It was amazing. There was a HUGE turnout and the Team Andrea group seemed to have grown quite a bit as well!


I'm so proud to report that Dain & I raised $347.00! We beat our last year total! All in all the Team Andrea group raised more than $2400 for Mutual Ground. What an amazing effort. I'm still waiting to hear the final tally for all the teams. But I will keep you all posted.

In the spirit of awareness for domestic violence, I wanted to post a link to this amazing lead article to a series of features on domestic violence awareness through the Aurora Beacon. In this article, Dain's aunt Patty was interviewed, and she left us all with some very powerful words.
Click here - Domestic violence: Their words, our awareness - Courier News

Bull-ony

Maybe it's because he got the book "Ferdinand" from my mother-in-law recently, which we read daily. Maybe it's because he loves basketball slam dunks in the living room. Probably it's because Dain gets him pumped up for this.
I've watched this video with D seven times already this morning. On repeat. He loves "buhl-buhl".



It's adorable - at the beginning he holds his hands out and says "where da buhl-buhl?". Then cheers for them later. It's pretty stinkin cute. Looks like we'll add a Bulls jersey to the b-day list...

Morton Arboretum

A few weeks ago we got the amazing free passes from the library Museum Adventure Pass Program to go to Morton Arboretum.

I am sad to admit that it was my first trip (who can believe this from a huge tree hugger like me?!?) to the arboretum. It did not disappoint. What an amazing place - and I was totally impressed with the Children's Garden. Wowza - I want to move there. D loved every minute.


In the little tiny play house that my giant had to duck to get in and out of...Crawling through the tubesHamming it up on the way up to the tree top viewsWalking across the tree top bridges made for older kids...that didn't stop D!Enjoying a picnic lunch...

Navigating the toddler hedge maze - mostly just chasing me in circles...
I can't wait to go back!!

Thanks

Thanks to all who have donated to the Walk for Hope. Just over a week left to donate. See my next post for the link to my fundraising site.

And a side note of thanks to whomever taught D to stick his finger up his nose and say "pick".