Busy, Busy Weekend

And the boys did great! I'll start off by saying that. We went on Ethan's first road trip, our first trip as a family of four, to go to my mom's for the weekend. We celebrated my Grandma's 80th birthday and it was wonderful to see all of the family!

Braden and Jay sang happy birthday to GG and she looked so beautiful! She had all three of her great-grandbabies there!

It was really special to see GG meet Ethan for the first time, he was wide awake at the party!

And that little Abby is such a ham!

Not only is my little Abbykins a ham...she is such a little beauty and a daddy's girl at 7 months!
 

I love seeing my brother as a dad. He's such a wonderful daddy to Abigail and an amazing uncle to my boys!

 Uncle Steve even got in on some Ethan snuggling action!

And Auntie Jess got some Ethan lovin' too! She's been dying to meet him and I'm so glad we finally all got together and that the weather cooperated!

Speaking of Auntie Jess, she threw us a "Meet Ethan" party on Sunday! In Canada, at least where I'm from, we don't typically have baby showers for every baby, only our first...but I really wanted my Edmonton friends to be able to meet Ethan, so it was really nice to have a "shower" for him - thanks again, so much, Jess!

It was so great to see my girlfriends and all their babies! That's one of my forever besties Natalie and her little boy Reid. He's only 6.5 weeks older than Ethan! That's the part that is the hardest for me living at the farm - the most bittersweet part of my life - is being away from my girlfriends and their babies, and Ben & Jess too, especially since they've had Abigail. Sure, I've made friends here and they have kids my kid's age...but it's just not the same. I wouldn't trade my life on the farm for anything, it's just very bittersweet sometimes!

The spread was amazing! And just check out these adorable whale cookies!! They were so cute I didn't want to eat them...but then I got over it and did!


Thank you again, my beautiful girls, for this awesome party! And Ben too...he did a lot and I know that! And just a few more pictures from the festivities...


None of my candid pictures from the party worked at all - but thank you Natalie, Keri, Katie, Marjorie, Mom, & Mrs. N for coming as well! I loved seeing all the babies together (Abby was the only girl) and missed everyone who couldn't make it!

And, for my friends who love Friends...a little humor featuring Reid & Ethan!

Babies, Babies, Babies

I swear, you guys...if I wasn't pregnant and due in 5ish weeks...I'd be aching for a baby right now! Melissa just had her 2nd baby girl and there's too many others in the blogosphere to even mention on here that have welcomed newborns in the last few weeks and/or are due in the next few weeks. I also have a few babies in my life and I got to see them all this week. Ladies...start your ovaries!

First up was Blake. He just turned 7 weeks old (what!?) but he was 6.5 weeks when these pics were taken. He's so alert and was fascinated by his play mat and the musical star, just like Braden was at that age! Jay used to call it "baby TV"!

Next we headed to Ben & Jess's and we got to visit Abby! She's now 5.5 months old and is loving her solid foods! I just love how expressive her little hands are in some of these photos.

Oh I love her and wished they all lived closer! My best friend Natalie had her 2nd baby on August 31 and I got to meet Reid Andrew, 3 weeks old!

 

I love that picture of big sister Sophia loving on her new baby brother! Makes me REALLY excited to meet Squishy in the next 5-6 weeks or so!

Are there lots of babies in your life right now too?

P.S. Pretty please keep voting for us, we're still in the top 50...but barely! Okay...I'll stop shamelessly asking now and rely on you to remember now every day! ;)
 

Matthew & Andrea's Wedding

One of Jay's best friends got married last Saturday, so we took a break from harvest and headed to Lethbridge. Instead of chitty chattering...and since I have a TON of pictures, I'll mostly let the pics speak for themselves!

The couple has 8 nieces and they were ALL flower girls - adorable!

It was a beautiful day for Matt & Andrea, I loved the simplicity of their wedding - they didn't need all the "big & fancy" things because they had their love and that radiated through the day. They strayed away from a buffet meal, which this pregnant guest REALLY appreciated too! It was a long day of sitting/standing for me...but I had a wonderful time and was so happy to be a part of their celebration!

It was a lot easier taking pictures in a low-lit reception hall...but there's still a TON I need to learn with my new camera. Overall, I had a lot of fun playing with it!

Braden's 2nd Birthday Party

Braden's 2nd birthday was just awesome! It was everything I'd hoped for and more. He slept in and was SO happy that my Mom was still here, as she came the day before and slept over. "POPPY!!!"

Jay and I got him his Thomas Power Wheels and he was excited at first, but then when he was riding it the sound of the battery kind of scared him! But he was over the moon about his first wooden track set and all the little trains that Mom brought for him.

I really didn't go above and beyond with my Thomas decor for the party. I bought the hats, banner, and cupcake wrappers on eBay for ridiculously cheap...and I am so glad I did. I had plans to make a "Braden is 2!" banner from Thomas scrapbook paper...but I just didn't have it in me, and that's okay!

All of Braden's cousins were here, his friends Katie, Tessa, and Sophia were here too. There were 12 kids age 7, 6, 4.5, 3.5, 3.5, 22 months, 22 months, 17 months, 14 months, 14 months, 1 month, and our 2 year old...and you know what? They were GREAT! They all behaved so well! I have a "no running" rule when there's so many kids over, they all (for the most part) listened to that, there were hardly any tears, no meltdowns, no fighting...they were all AMAZING!

Braden found Gus...can you spot him?

And then it was time for cake! I made this Thomas cake from a Wilton train pan before we left for Maui and I froze it. I'm so glad I did...it was all ready to go!!

Thanks, Natalie, for taking the videos with our iPad!!

A little Thomas humor...my niece Danika wanted to eat his head!

What a little sweetheart, that Sophia!

And then it was time to open presents!

He got a lot of great Thomas stuff, he's starting to collect the wooden trains for his train table that he doesn't know he was yet! He also loved this Cookie Monster from his Rayton cousins!

I didn't take pics of the goodies...but I just bought these blue treat bags from Walmart, put the treats inside with a Thomas sticker on the outside - voila! I made Thomas cupcakes for the guests to go home with and the other goodie bag had a Thomas train whistle, a few chocolates, a Thomas coloring sheet, and these Thomas crayon holders from Etsy with crayons included. Very reasonably priced! I didn't even do treatbags last year...oops!

And, since Grandma & Papa will probably never be here to celebrate Braden's birthday, we had an early celebration in Maui too! Lucky boy! I went to Safeway, got a $9 cake on sale, and she decorated it "Maui" style for free. And it was YUMMY!


We love you so much!!

Now we're linked up for Toddle Along Tuesday! Hi Growing Up Geeky readers!