Birthday Wrap up

With the gorgeous temperatures this past weekend, we decided Saturday would be the perfect day to pick up Jade's birthday gift, a playhouse for the backyard!! Jade was so excited to go pick it up (I showed her a picture of it online so she had something to be excited about)! Here she is on our way to pick it up, letting us know that she is TWO!

When we got to Walmart, we noticed a large rip in the box. We had to take it out of the box in order for it to fit in my car, and as we expected there was a huge crack in the plastic from where the box had been ripped. SO, Jade had to watch her playhouse go back to the store, and we had to order another one. To cheer Jade up, we took a walk to the park to play, which she really enjoyed!

When we got home, we gave Jade the rest of her gifts from us, which included 3 puzzles and a storage rack, a Disney Junior coloring book and this table and chairs that was refinished and painted by Nate!

Last but not least, and ironically this was the first gift to arrive, Jade got to open her gift that came in the mail from her Great Aunty Jill and Uncle Jim! It was a hit to say the least!

Jade's 2nd Birthday Party

Jade had such a wonderful Minnie Mouse themed birthday party. We are so blessed that so many family and friends were able to come celebrate our sweet Jade! Here is the Birthday girl decked out in Minnie Mouse attire!

The menu was hot dogs, fruit salad and chips (all with fun themed names)!

Jade had lots of lovin' today!

She also had lots and lots of presents to open!

I had a lot of fun with the party decor, including the cupcake toppers! I ordered the cupcakes from Sam's Club, however I made the ears with mini oreo cookies and the bows with fruit by the foot. I think they turned out super cute!

Jade loved having everyone sing to her. Plus, who doesn't love cupcakes?!

Big thanks to my sister who took all these wonderful pictures for me!

Happy 2nd Birthday

Jade came down with a bit of a runny nose a few days ago, and it spiraled into an ear infection, irritated throat and conjunctivitis. Not a fun way to spend your birthday. Luckily, she made it through her party on Sunday (pictures coming soon) before it got too bad! After being on medicine for about 24 hours she started to feel much better and didn't let it put too much of a damper on on her birthday! :)

We celebrated today by going out for breakfast at our favorite spot, Honey Jam Cafe! Jade loved having us and our waitress sing Happy Birthday to her!

Between taking it easy on the couch and playing with all of Jade's new toys from her party on Sunday, we decided to wait to have her open her presents from us. (Her big gift isn't here yet anyway) :)

Nate had to work this evening, so I took Jade out for a birthday dinner and ice cream at Culvers. She loved it! Made me so happy to see her feeling better!

Last year Jade wore a dress that I wore on my 1st birthday, so it should come as no surprise that I would have her wear a dress I wore on my 2nd birthday! :) It was a little short on her (and cool outside) so we paired it with some skinny jeans! 

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Jade! I can't believe you are two!!!

Arizona

Jade and I were able to escape the questionable Illinois weather and spend a ton of time with the Baum Family! We had so much fun!! Here are a few highlights from our trip!

A quick McDonalds lunch and some play time at the airport before our flight!

Excited for her first airplane ride in her own seat! She did so good, and even napped for over an hour!

The typical airport shot while waiting to be picked up! We were picked up by my sister and all the kids! Such a wonderful and warm welcome!

On Saturday we got to attend Cruz's 4th birthday party at the park. It was a super cute dinosaur theme! Here are a few pictures from the party. 

Playing with Grampy at the park!

Getting into the dinosaur theme with this cool mask!

The Birthday Boy!!

Enjoying the coloring craft!

On Sunday we got to experience the Anthem Carnival and Jade spent lots of time playing with her cousins. The kids all had a blast! Jade was able to go on a few rides since she is basically two years old! We went on this train twice!

The Cousins!!

Before we left on Monday us girls made a quick outlet mall stop before heading to the airport. Neither Jade or Cora were super excited about it, but they sure looked cute in their matching piggies!

Ready for the flight home! Jade did a great job again on this flight, but somehow managed to not nap. She was slightly less than perfect when we got off the plane. :)

Thanks for having us, sis! We had a great weekend!!!

Jade, Jade and more Jade

Thinking that my little baby will be turning two in less than a month is just crazy. Here is a little bit about Jade at 23 months!

She suddenly got on a huge vegetable kick with broccoli, asparagus and peas leading the pack. As you can see here, she destroyed the broccoli much faster than the chicken nuggets!

She is recently obsessed with coloring and will color for 30+ consecutive minutes at a time. I have to admit I have enjoyed coloring a few pictures myself! :)

She can identify all her colors, and makes very good attempts at saying their names. Here is a little video.

She has been enjoying wearing an old pair of my sunglasses in the car when mommy has her sunglasses on. She was so excited when I showed her that she had her very own pair today. She wore them the whole time we were in Target and didn't take them off until about 10 minutes after we had gotten home!

She always requests that we listen to her Bible songs CD in the car, and hates when I try to sing along!

A few other things about Jade at 23 months.

- She can drink out of a cup

- Her vocabulary is growing by the day. I'm amazed at how far she has come in just a few months of therapy

- She can identify all of her letters and about 75% of the sounds they make

- She can identify numbers 1 through 10

- Her other favorite foods are cereal, smoothies, yogurt and fruit

- Knows she will be "two" at her birthday

- Loves to say prayers and is always thankful for Grammy and Grampy

- Is excited to be a big sister ;)

Gymnastics

Jade completed her first "gymnastics" class last week! It was a fun 6 week parent tot class through the park district that let the kids run around, play and learn some introductory gymnastics. Jade enjoyed walking on the balance beam and rolling down the wedge mat best! Here is a picture of her with her certificate at the last class! I will probably sign her up for the next "level" in the spring once she turns two!