Handsome Little Man

My mom & dad sent this adorable suit for Bladen a while ago & it's fitting him now. He's in a huge growth spurt. I can't believe how fast he's growing. But I thought it was the cutest thing ever.

Eve Cake & Ice Cream

After presents, we ate Eve cake & ice cream. Taya was SO happy to be eating cake. It was sitting on the table all day long & she would just sit & beg for it. Everything turned out wonderful.

Happy birthday my darling! I love you!

Time for Presents!

Taya had SO much fun opening her presents.

Auntie Char got her an adorable purple dress with little leggings to go underneath.

Grandma Kinsfather got her a cute blue dress & a little blue sweat outfit.

Cari & Justin got her an adorable pair of cherry sandals. Funny story about these. . . Taya unwrapped these almost a whole month before her birthday. She found the box & unwrapped it & once she found shoes inside, she was SO excited. I had to take them away & re-wrap the gift. I hid it in a drawer. A few days later Taya was wearing the shoes. She had found it, unwrapped it again & put them on. Again I wrapped it & hid it in my closet this time. A week later, she was wearing the shoes again. I had to wrap these things 5 times. She was THRILLED to get to open them for real & get to put them on without mommy getting upset. She loves them.

Nancy sent her a Wall-e placemat, bowl, & plate & an adorable stuffed Wall-e toy which she LOVED! Trek & I bought her the Eve stuffed toy to go along with the Wall-e.

Mimi & Baba got her a Cabbage Patch Newborn baby (which she has been wanting for a while). She LOVES that baby. She takes it with her wherever she goes. She loves to feed her her bottle. It's so sweet. She even rocks when she holds it just like I rock with Bladen.

Mamoo got her a diaper bag full of diapers, wipes, bibs, bottles, & a bowl with spoon for her new baby. She likes how the milk & juice in the bottle disappears.

And Opa & Oma bought her a highchair for her new baby. She likes to stuff her baby & her bunny inside & feed them pretend food. It's adorable.

What's in your mouth child?

So, during pin the tail on the donkey, Taya continued to stuff her face with her treasures from the pinata. Trek & I didn't realize that she was alternating between us for treats. She'd get daddy to open a pack of candy for her, then she'd come to me to open one, & then back to dad, & so forth. As we were getting ready for presents, I looked at her face & her cheeks were bulging & she had a colorful drool spilling from her lips. "GROSS!" I grabbed a tissue & put it in front of her mouth & she spit out an entire handful of candy. I pulled it away just in time to realize that she had only emptied one cheek. She then spit out the contents of the other cheek all over her clothes & all over the coffee table. It's amazing what kids can fit in their teeny tiny mouths.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

After hitting the pinata, we went inside for some Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Lorien laughed,

Taya was confused,

Bladen was slightly terrified of the thing we put over his eyes,

& Cadence cheated to win.

Sounds like most games at the Potter house!

Pinata

So what's a birthday party without a pinata? Taya's theme this year was Wall-e so I had my mom mail us a shooting star pinata. At first Taya thought we were nuts! She couldn't figure out what in the world we were doing with that cane. But once we got her started, it was hard for her to stop. But the best part was when she actually realized there was candy inside. Mommy & Daddy had to hit the pinata a few times for that to happen & when it did, Taya was so excited that she literally froze in place. Cadence & Lorien scrambled around picking up all the candy & Taya just stood there yelling in excitement not knowing exactly what to do. We had to stop the big girls & have them help their little sister pick up the candy & put it into her bag.

Bladen's 1st Food

Today I gave Bladen his first solid food just to see how well he'd take it. Holy Cow! He took one bite of the sweet potatoes & his eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. He smiled SO big & then opened his mouth for more. He ate the ENTIRE jar & he was pretty mad when it was gone. None of my babies have taken to solid food so quickly. It was fun!

Making Birthday Cake

Since Cadence & Lorien were both at school, & Bladen was taking a nap, I let Taya help me make her birthday cake. She especially liked holding the hand mixer. She thought that was pretty fun. She also enjoyed licking the beaters afterward. She watched me decorate the whole cake & now I'm trying my hardest to keep her out of it. She wants to eat it SO bad! I made her an Eve cake for her Wall-e party. I'm so glad we got to make it together.

Taya's Birthday Breakfast

Today is Taya's birthday!! I can't believe she's already 2 years old. I made her homemade brownies with 2 candles in it to go along with her favorite breakfast. . . chocolate fudge pop tarts. (Yes, the kid is addicted to chocolate) We let our kids splurge on their special day. I love our birthday breakfasts! She didn't know what to do after we started singing, & I think the fire scared her a little bit, so she did the first thing she could think of. . . she THREW HER BUNNY INTO THE FIRE!! Talk about panic attack! But nobody (or should I say no BUNNY) got hurt. She enjoyed her chocolaty delicious breakfast!

The Princess Bride Book Club

Last night I got to host bookclub at my house. The book I chose for the month was one of my favorites: "The Princess Bride." The book was awesome like always, but making the treats for the night was the highlight of my day. I love throwing themed parties! I forget how fun it is until I do one.

So we ate. . .

Princess "Buttercups" & "Stop Rhyming I mean it!" "Anybody want a peanut?" (peanuts)

animals from "The Zoo of Death"

"Shrieking Eels"

"The Cliffs of Insanity"

And I forgot to take pictures of my "Miracle Max Miracle Pills" & my "Fire Swamp" Punch. It was SO much fun!! Thanks to all the ladies that came. I hope it was as fun for you as it was for me.

Uh Oh! Guess What Taya Can Do Now?

We woke up yesterday & guess what Taya can do now?

As if we didn't have to constantly watch her as it was! Now I can't take my eyes off her for even one second!

Update on Bladen. . .

Just as a heads up to everyone. At Bladen's last check-up, the doctor noticed that his head size went from the 34th percentile to the 75th percentile in just 2 months. Babies heads are not supposed to grow that big that fast. So they have recommended that Bladen get an MRI to make sure it's not anything serious that is life-threatening. We take him in on October 1st for his pre-MRI visit where they will tell us everything they plan to do to him the day of the MRI. Then on the 6th of October, we'll take him to the hospital (Trier Mutterhaus) at 8:00 am where they will start him on an IV. Shortly after that, they will have to sedate him so that they can get an accurate screening of his brain. Once he comes out of sedation, I will stay in the hospital with him overnight while they check on him to make sure he doesn't have any bad reactions to the sedation medication. Hopefully by the next day we'll know a little more about his brain & head as well. There's a number of things that he could have, but we're trying our hardest not to dwell too much on that right now. I don't want to worry myself sick when it could just be a big head. It's just scary to have to deal with the situation in general. There can be so many complications with sedating a baby that young & I've already got myself all worried about that, I don't want to think about anything else right now. But we will keep you all posted on the outcome.

We do ask for all those of you who are willing if you will join us in a family fast next Sunday for him. I'm sure he'll be okay, but a little fasting & prayer can't hurt right? And if you want to pray for me too, I would appreciate that too. It's a little nerve racking thinking my precious baby boy could be in any trouble right now. I could use a little comfort myself. :-)

But like I said, it's probably just a big head with a big ole genius brain!! Thank you all for your thoughts & prayers! We love you!

Fire Prevention Poster

Cadence LOVES it when the school does art contests. This week there is a contest to make a fire prevention poster. The theme this year is "Be Fire Smart! Don't Get Burned!" She worked really hard on drawing the title in bubble letters & then drawing "Stop, Drop, & Roll" along with pictures showing how to do it. I'm so glad that she loves art & that the school has these opportunities for her to develop her talents.

I'm feelin' crafty!

This is the clock I made at Super Saturday! I finally finished getting the numbers & the other vinyl on it. I'm pretty proud if it. It was hard!! I can't wait to get it up on my wall!

I want a KISS!

Bladen wants a kiss. . .

And it begins. . .

I went upstairs to put away some laundry & came back downstairs to giggles & laughter from the girlies. "Look Mom! Bladen has hair!" I just showed Trek these pictures & he commented: "And that's the closest the girls will ever get to dressing him up, right?"

I especially love the expression on his face. I wonder what he was thinking?

Bladen's Laughter

Every time Bladen starts to laugh, we grab the video camera, but he always stops. Finally we caught him when he was laughing hard & he didn't stop when the video camera started. Isn't it darling?

Toothless Part 2

Cadence finally lost that other loose tooth she had. The big tooth is coming in from her first lost tooth & it just shoved that second one right out. It was great because we were talking to Mimi on video chat & Cadence all of a sudden shouted "My tooth fell out!" It was great!

And I had to add this devilish picture of Taya. She is such a stinker. You can see it in her eyes... she's plotting something devilish! But she's just so stinkin' cute!

Presto (aka Taya)

I love the pixar shorts at the beginning of the pixar movies. One of my favorites is "Presto" at the beginning of Wall-e. It's about a magician & his rabbit that refuses to jump out of the hat until the magician gives him a carrot. Everything about that bunny reminds me of Taya. His expressions are just like hers. He has that plump round face like hers & when her hair is in pigtails, she looks like she has bunny ears. Well, recently she's started walking up to people & opens her mouth as wide as she can & points to her mouth when she wants you to feed her something. That's exactly what Presto does when he wants his carrot. It's SO funny that I had to take a picture of her & put it next to Presto's picture. Aren't they both adorable?