Raegan turned 5!

So glad I ordered this cake from Jeri's Bakery instead of trying to wing it myself.  I found the tiara at A Final Touch in Granbury and it truly was the perfect final touch for this cake.

 We decorated our formal dining room in pink and purple for the party.

 Princess Erica dolled up some of the girls and sprinkled a dash of pixie dust on them.

 In front of the party favors basket and on the table I added pictures of Raegan and the princesses she met at Disney World last month.

 Guests made their own crowns with crayons and jewel stickers.

 My amazing husband made this dress up station for Raegan, we used it at the party in case anyone needed to borrow a princess dress or accessories. He used these instructions from Ana White's site and added a shelf across the top.

 Princess Erica read a story, Tangled, to the birthday princess and her guests.

Making a wish.  She told me that when we were at Disney World Cinderella told her that wishes really do come true.

 Opening presents

That evening we celebrated with family, ate pizza, and all cuddled up in the living room to watch Frozen for the first time. 

 Raegan celebrated her birthday at school on Monday.  Gigi, Cameron and I brought Chick-fil-A for her lunch and chocolate covered marshmallow treats for her to give the her class.

 On Thursday before dinner, I took Raegan to get her hair cut.  Here's the result:

She's not a huge fan yet, but I think she looks adorable with her new little bob : )

25 Questions with Raegan

25 Birthday Questions

March 24, 2014

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink and purple

2. What is your favorite toy? My dolls

3. What is your favorite fruit? oranges

4. What is your favorite television show? Peppa Pig

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Veggie straws

6. What is your favorite outfit? My black ninja clothes

7. What is your favorite game? Elsa (freeze tag)

8. What is your favorite snack? A granola bar with chocolate and marshmellows in it

9. What is your favorite animal? A snake so they can eat the mouse

10. What is your favorite song? Twinkle twinkle little stars

11. What is your favorite book? Peppa Pig

12. Who is your best friend? Kyler and Olivia Mars and Olivia C and my baby brother and my mom and my dad

13. What is your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride my car to get the mail

15. What is your favorite drink? milk

16. What is your favorite holiday? summer

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Ariel

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? A waffler

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? A waffle

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A mom and a cheerleader, cheerleader first and then a mom

21. What do you like to do with your family? Go outside

22. What makes you happy? When I get stuff I like

23. What makes you sad? When I don’t get anything I want

24. Where do you like to go? Park

25. What are you really good at? I’m really good at being nice to my brother

Cameron - 16 months!

Wow, this month went by quickly!

Here's an update on Cameron at 16 months...

He's curious and inquisitive which means he's into everything!  He plays well with others.  Loves to dance at home, not so much out in public though.  He's learned more of the motions for 'If your happy and you know it' and 'twinkle, twinkle little star.' 

Did I mention he's handsome, check out this lil dude stopping for a pose in an aisle at Lowe's.

He LOVES to eat!  The other day Raegan and him both ate the same amount of breakfast.  She got up and went to get dressed, while he said, "more" and signed eat!  Sometimes he will open his mouth super wide like in the picture below if you ask him if he's hungry or wants a bite  to eat; other times he'll stick his tongue out as far as he can!

He's definitely growing!  He seems heavier and taller every week and some of his 12 month overalls are starting to get too short.  He's also outgrown his size 3 shoes.  

He's managed through his top two molars coming in and now he's working on his bottom right molar.  His teething toy of choice is his hand.  He chews on his fingers pretty hard; Raegan is sometimes afraid he will need a bandaid.

He's still definitely a mommas boy from the time he wakes up and hollers, "mama, mum, mama" from his crib until I lay him down for bed at night.   

We love you bubba!

Spring break - days 2 through 4

Tuesday morning Raegan helped me out by packing snacks for our play date with one of her friends from school, who we met at a park. 

They swang:

Cameron tagged along:

These baby ducks thought I was their momma duck and followed me all the way around the park.  Raegan and her friend tried feeding them pretzels; other kids came by and picked the poor lil things up, which caused them to squeal and squeak.  

After playing at the park we picked up food from our favorite quick service restaurant ;) and then went to get my car's oil changed and then shopping for more princess birthday party goodies! Later we met up with Philip at the chiropractor, as he had an appointment right before mine. 

Cameron was asleep in his car seat so Philip and I switched cars and Raegan stayed with me for my appointment.  We went and washed Philip's car for him and  vacuumed it as well before picking up Rosas for dinner on the way home. After dinner Philip helped Raegan hang up her birdhouse in a tree in our front yard.  She built and painted it this past weekend at a free event Lowe's held. 

Wednesday morning Raegan was extra helpful by putting away dishes, helping me fold towels, dressing herself, and even making me a cup of coffee! (She's pretty awesome!)  After beautiful 80 degree weather on Tuesday, the bitterly cold and windy Wednesday morning was not what I was looking forward to, but we braved it anyways to head to storytime at the library.  The theme this week was a sock hop or as Raegan explains, "a dance party!"  The kids also made 'hound dog' sock puppets, which they both really like playing with. (Sometimes it's the simplest things!)

After storytime one of my friends and her son, who is Cameron's age, came over for the kids to play while we discussed a Bible study we are doing together called, "power of a praying wife."  

Philip's parents came in town late Wednesday afternoon and brought Babe for Raegan to ride in our front yard. Cindy, Raegan and I played Sequence for Kids and each won once.  We also watched Alice in Wonderland and Philip and his dad went fishing Wednesday evening and Thursday morning and caught two big white perch fish which Philip cleaned and will probably cook tomorrow night.  It'll be pretty cool if his fishing hobby can help lower our grocery bill ;) 

Spring break - Day 1

Today was the first day of Raegan's first ever Spring Break.  Luckily it was also the first full day after spring forward, which tricked Raegan into sleeping in until nearly 7:30!  Cameron wasn't fooled by the time change and was yelling "mama" at 6:30 as usual, but he paid me back by taking an over two hour nap after lunch!

We stayed home all day, which is Raegan's favorite thing to do!  We watched a movie called "Gigi, Gods little princess" (twice), had dance parties, and the kids played outside with motorized cars and some side walk chalk while I cleaned out and vacuumed my car.  The weather was nice so I decided to spray off cobwebs and dirt dobber homes on our upstairs balcony with a water hose.  Cameron followed me so he could stand in the sprinkles.  

Raegan decided to join in the "rain party" and they both had a blast stomping around and getting soaked in their clothes! (So much cheaper than a water park)

We are having white chicken & spinach pizza and salad for dinner and then hopefully putting these rowdy babies to bed before 8!

Disney world 2014

Friday morning Philip and I had to go to a different hotel to hear a Hilton time share speech, but Cindy, Melissa and the kids went ahead and went back to Magic Kingdom without us and we met up with them before lunch.  

They rode a few rides and Raegan took a picture with Minnie Mouse Friday morning and we met them at the teapots.  

Raegan was happy to see her daddy!

Friday was a much warmer day and we had already rushed around to most all the rides on Thursday so we had more time to take in shows, shop, and enjoy ourselves on Friday.

We were asked on Thursday to beta test the mobile fast pass for guests not staying at Disney properties.  Which just meant that we could schedule and change our fast passes from our phone instead of  waiting in line. Space Mountain is the only ride I recall Raegan (who is just barely 40" tall) not being able to ride, so we scheduled her fast pass to visit Princesses with Grammee and Philip, Melissa and I went on Space Mountain later Friday evening which was the most exciting/fun ride in all of Magic Kingdom. Coming from big six flags fans, the rides at Magic Kingdom are quite a disappointment or as Philip explained his Disney experience "overrated." 

Here Raegan is showing Rapunzel the new charm bracelet she got that day and below is a picture of Raegan with Snow White. 

We were able to get reservations for a late dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern (all you can eat family style dinner).  It was delicious! After dinner we headed over to Belle's castle for story time with Belle.  It was a wonderful way to end our time at Magic Kingdom. 

Saturday morning we packed up and went to do some shopping and hang out at Downtown Disney. We had breakfast at Wolfpuck Gang express, visited the chocolate store, purchased a few souvenirs, and played at Lego Land before heading back to the airport.

The trip was short and sweet which was just perfect with this young of children!

  

Disney World 2014

Summary of first two days:

Philip got an awesome deal through Hilton for a three night stay in Orlando for $199 + $200 for a future hilton stay and 10,000 honors pts (yes we had to go listen to time share propaganda Friday morning, but it was well worth it)!  So we decided since we would already be in Orlando for CFA Seminar that we would fly the kids and his mom and sister out for a two day Dinsey trip as well! 

We stayed at Buena Vista Palace; it was in the middle of a renovation.  The hotel was decent, but it's location was great as we could walk to Downtown Disney in just a few minutes.  We met Cindy, Melissa, and the kids at the Orlando airport Wednesday afternoon.  It was Cameron's first flight and they tell us he did great and slept all but about 20 minutes of the flight.  

Wednesday we checked into our hotel and ate at Paradiso 37 in downtown Disney, not exactly a kid friendly place, but the food was delicious! 

I rented this stroller online from Orlando stroller rentals before we left for our vacation and it was waiting for us at our hotel when we arrived. I would highly recommend renting a large jogging stroller! We didn't have to worry about lugging one around the airport and it provided rain cover for the kids, storage for our snack bag and other goodies, and an awesome napping spot for Cameron while we were at Magic Kingdom!

Our first stop early Thursday morning, after Starbucks and a picture in front of Cinderella's castle, was Aladdin's Magic Carpet ride.  

It was colder than we expected so I bought Cameron this cute Mickey Mouse sweatshirt with ears and all.  Cameron was able to ride with us on nearly every ride and he really enjoyed the sights and sounds.  Here he is on 'it's a small world' with Grammee.  

Princess Raegan met Cinderella and Aurora and showed them her Princess Sofia shirt.  

Thursday night after watching the electric parade we rushed out of the park to get to our dinner reservation at Fulton's Crab House in downtown Disney. 

Fulton's was great; our server did magic tricks and played with the kids.  The calamari, shrimp, and filets were also great!