Josephine Turns 1!

On November 21st, our sweet little Josephine Jayne turned ONE! How the time passed so quickly, I will never have any idea. She has been the perfect addition to our family and is an absolute delight!

We had a "donut grow up" party for her (I'll share her donut smash pictures soon!), and we had a few friends and my mom (her Gammaw) over to celebrate with a little brunch party. She even got to wear her donut pajamas! It was a perfect morning, and our teenie weenie Josepheenie had a blast! This girl has more nicknames than anyone in the history of the world, I'm pretty certain.

Josephine's personality is developing rapidly, and she is a hoot! She makes us laugh constantly, and she adores her big sister. Annabelle loves her too, thank goodness. Josie loves being tickled and spun around and rough-housed. She is a total mama's girl, but her eyes light up when her daddy gets home from work anyway. She is still breastfeeding, but she also eats literally any other food you give her. She doesn't turn anything away yet, and it's great.

JoJo doesn't love bath time, mostly because she hates having water poured over her head to wash her hair. Playing in the bubbles with her big sister helps a bit, though. Our Joey Girl babbles all day, claps her hands when she's happy, asks for more in sign language, says mama and dada, points at what she wants, walks all over the place, and is just a happy, delightful little girl. Jo makes people smile everywhere we go, and she is seriously such a great baby. Hopefully she'll be just as great of a toddler!

Josephine Jayne, we can't believe you've been with us for more than a year already. We love you more than anything, and we are so happy you're a part of our family!

Have you ever had anything other than birthday cake at your birthday party? We did have a cake as well (because duh - it was her first birthday, after all!), but we really did enjoy the donuts being different.

Annabelle Turns 3!

I'm not sure how it's possible that my tiny little baby became a THREE year old who is in preschool... but it happened in September!

Annabelle Kathryn, it seems like you were just born yesterday. I can remember so much of your infancy, and while I'm so glad we can communicate better now, sometimes I wish I could go back in time and snuggle with you as a little newborn.

For her birthday, Annabelle chose to have a Paw Patrol party. She is obsessed with these silly dogs, but hey, it was her day! We had her party at the end of August since Dan knew he would be away for SERE training on her actual birthday, and my mom and one of Dan's aunts were able to come down for the party, too!

We had a hot dog bar (hahaha - get it?!), and it was a huge hit. Poor Dan was outside grilling in the Florida heat for a couple hours, but he had company, at least. We rented a giant bounce house from Outdoor Rec on base, and all of Annie's friends (from ballet, preschool, and the library) had a blast jumping until they were drenched in sweat and red hot - literally! We ended with a cake from the commissary (seriously - they're so good! I don't even shop at the commissary, but I always go there for birthday cake!)

Annabelle had so much fun opening her gifts, and what was great was holding most of them back in Dan's office to pull out one at a time during our cross country move so she wouldn't be bored in all the hotels we stayed in. I call that a win!

The girls' amazing babysitter in Florida wrapped Annabelle's gift with this - how incredibly thoughtful! I had to snap a photo before she ripped into it so she can have it forever. We miss her terribly!

Overall, Annabelle had a blast at her party! We are so sad that we moved away from all of her friends. She made so many in our short time in Florida, and she is still asking to see them two months later. Such is the life of a military brat, I suppose...

Our TWO Year Old Annabelle

Annabelle turned TWO years old... way back in September! We are so glad we were still in Texas at that point because we got to have a big celebration with all of her friends! And my family was even able to drive down to spoil the birthday girl!

We had a children's book themed party for her - complete with all of her favorites! I hung up balloons to look like the very hungry caterpillar... we made snacks that matched several books, typed out cute book quotes to hang around the party area, and I even made little cupcake toppers to look like her favorite book covers! Our party favors were books with a bag of "book worms" (aka gummy bears). I loved planning this party for my sweet Annabelle, and I know she had a blast!

Oh, and I couldn't resist making her a giant 2 out of her photos from that year! Everyone got such a kick out of the huge 1 I made for her first party, and I just had to! Hopefully I'll be able to continue that (and do the same for little sister!) but we'll see!

(for reference... the 2 was a bit smaller than the 1!)

On her actual birthday (the following Tuesday from the party), we spent all day celebrating! I took her to a painting class for toddlers, followed up by a quick stop to buy donuts... which we ate in the backyard at her request and then played in the water table! We then had Whataburger for lunch, went to the bounce house and jumped and played in the ball pit, and ended the day with a trip to Chick Fil A and cupcakes in the backyard!

Do you do themed parties for your kids' birthdays? 

Catching WAY Up

Where does time go? It seems elusive these days... or at least free time for blogging. I do miss writing. A lot. And I miss all the connections with blog friends, especially all you milso blog friends! 

But my life has been crazy, hectic, and chaotic lately... if we're friends on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you likely already knew that. 

The last time I posted was in July... nearly four months ago. Oops. I'm not kidding when I say life has been crazy... but so many things have happened since I last posted! 

• I turned 30 and visited KCMO to celebrate.
  
• Dan started (and finished) IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals).
  
• Annabelle turned TWO, and we threw her a party.
  
• I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia and put on "chill out rest".
  
• Family has visited... twice.
  
• We went to the pumpkin patch.
  
• We celebrated Halloween.

... and so much more! I am going to try to write out a few posts right now and get them scheduled to post soon while I have a bit of time since Annabelle is at the CDC for daycare most of this week!

It's been rough trying to stay inactive and calm in order to keep my blood pressure down... but I'll talk more about that in a post coming soon! 

And because every blog post needs a picture... here are Gilligan and Stormy lounging on Annabelle's bed! 

A Beer Lover's Birthday Gift

Last weekend, Dan celebrated his 27th birthday. He is one of those people who has everything he needs because he just buys things (mostly on Amazon...) whenever he needs something.

That leaves very little room for someone who wants to purchase a gift for him besides a gift card... which is why I'm always making things myself. This time around, however, I did not have time for a homemade gift. A baby and a cross-country move kind of do that to a person...

Luckily, I planned ahead and found something I knew he'd love while we were still in Ohio. I ordered this wood beer tote through an Etsy shop called AbsoluteImpressions, and I was so satisfied with my purchase that I'm sharing them with all of you. *I did NOT receive a discount for this; this TRULY is my opinion... they don't even know I'm writing this post.

Not only is the quality outstanding, but the customer service was completely on point. They sent the proof to me of our last name on the side within 24 hours. Also, I needed my beer tote to be shipped after a certain date so it wouldn't arrive to our new home before we got there, but I also needed it to arrive BEFORE Dan's birthday about a week later. They were more than accommodating, and I arrived the beer tote exactly when expected.

I added a six pack of beer to make the gift ready-to-give, and Dan loves it. I know it's something he could have made himself... but he never would have. He's so difficult to shop for, and I'm really glad I discovered this!

You can find them here: AbsoluteImpressions

What do you give your husband for gifts?
Do you like the challenge of buying gifts for people who are hard to shop for?