So long Three!!

This past Monday my first born turned four. For some reason I am seriously excited about the age four. Maybe because I thought three was going to kill us all! I have no idea why they call it the terrible two's. Three was WAY worse! But I can say that we survived and even thrived at times.

Anyway- onto the big day.

I have a slight phobia of children's birthday parties for many reasons, but really wanted to do something that made Nolan feel special and celebrated. This can be a dilemma. Thankfully my friend Betsy and I had bought a Groupon to a bounce house facility, and thankfully Betsy's son Will is one of Nolan's favorite buds! This was a win/win situation for me (not 100% sure it was for Betsy! :)). It was a school holiday and the place was packed - but I am pretty sure that Nolan thought everyone was there for his party. And, I will let him continue in his delusions!!

We then took the whole crew - 4 adults and 5 small children - to Moe's... on a day where there was no school. It was crazy there but everything worked out great!

Nolan would happily eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Moe's if we would let him!

Then that night we had, what I like to call, the Senior Citizens party. Because of my phobia you have to be over the age of 65 to be invited to my house for a party! Ok, just kidding - kind of! We had Jerel's parents, my mom, and our dear friends Curtis, Berne and Peggy over for presents, dinner and cake.

Nolan started telling me in November that he wanted a robot cake. I have NO idea where he got that from but he maintained his request for months, so a robot cake he got.

This was for sure the best tasting cake that I have ever made and I think that he turned out pretty cute. Nolan was happy with it and that is all that counts - mostly! ;)

He opened gifts and had a great night.

I love this sweet boy so much. He is funny, witty, has a very sensitive spirit, smart, and a fast runner. He's a lover of books, sugar, and all things construction! He is a really great big brother and the perfect first born for this family. I have loved watching him grow to this point and can't wait to see who he continues to mature into.

So, so long Three. You were a very important age but we are very excited about Four!!

Could of been worse...I guess

Today kinda sucked for the Warren family. Jerel has been out of town working and called at 7:30 this morning to report that he had the stomach bug. This bug has been all over Greenville. I wasn't feeling stellar myself this morning and just stayed in my pj's and cleaned and played with the boys. After we finished up lunch, Elliott was pushing back from the table and I think the legs of the chair got caught on the rug. The next thing I knew there was a huge crash and major screaming. I picked him up, trying to calm him down so I could asses the damage. All I could feel was something running down my neck and I knew it was blood. He had gashed the back of his head open on a bench that is on the wall behind his chair. I freaked because I didn't know what to do. I called six people to see if they could help me and couldn't get anyone. And my doctors office was closed for lunch- of course. I got the bleeding to stop and my friend Kristi called me back and came over to give her opinion. I just didn't know what to do and the thought of sitting in the ER during flu season was so unappealing!! Then I remembered that a friend from church, whose husband is a ER doctor, said to call any time. So I called and she told me where her husband was working today- which just so happens to be the nicest, calmest, cleanest ER I have ever seen!! She called ahead to let her husband know that I was bringing Elliott in. My friend Kristi took Nolan home with her and Jerel threw up some more in Atlanta! ;) I sat in the waiting room for about one minute and then the nicest nurse took me back, decided that he for sure needed staples. Sweet Elliott was so wonderful. He never cried as they cleaned it up. He talked with everyone and was quite happy to watch Cat In the Hat. I think he was their favorite patient of the day.

They put this crazy bandage on him to help the numbing cream set in. Looks so dramatic! He napped on the way home and other than being a little clingy and whiney this evening you would never know anything happened. I was able to give him a bath and get the rest of the caked on blood out of his hair. Hopefully he wont wake up too sore tomorrow. May this be our one and only trip the the ER. Here's to wishful/foolish thinking!! :)

Valentine's Happenings

This holiday, for us, was apparently all about making and taking! Nolan had a party at school and I had a hard to finding a Valentine's card that's not oober girly or romantic. His class has 6 boys and 2 girls, so I just made cards. I had to explain to Nolan what a "Hoot" was! ;)

Then on Tuesday we made heart shaped rice krispie treats to take to a few different people. Confession: this is the first time in my almost 37 years of life that I have made rice krispie treats. How is that possible??? The boys had fun helping me and delivering them. I think they turned out really cute!!

I dipped them in white chocolate then rolled them in sprinkles! They looked yummy!

Hope you had a great day as well!!

Things I'll Miss

This guy is at such a fun age/stage. I love that I now get to have two way conversations that make sense most of the time. He's ALL boy and a complete mess. 

If anyone is on the ground, he takes that as an open invitation to tackle - it doesn't matter your age or gender. The poor little girls in his Sunday School class! I'm not sure if he will grow out of this (there will actually have to be some boundary coaching on our part -I am sure) but if he does, I will miss it.

 

He is also very sweet and snugly. Soon he will be too big to truly snuggle with. I am going to miss him putting his head on my shoulder as I get him out of his crib. 

He is fairly obedient and easy to "redirect." I am for sure going to miss that-there's just no way that will last forever!! 

We're getting closer and closer to potty training. I will miss him coming in the house and saying "Mommy, I poopy. I stink like a skunk!" I may miss that little phrase the most! ;)

My Super Bowl Party

My motto is if you can't go to the party- then bring the party to you. And that's exactly what I did for the Super Bowl. Everyone knows that you can't fully enjoy the biggest football game of the year without a huge spread of unbelievably delicious and unhealthy food and twenty of your closest friends. I feel as though I got close.

The Menu:
Chicken Nuggets
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Carrot Sticks
Pears
Milk
The adults (ie. Me and Jerel) enjoyed chili and beer bread!

Here's a picture of the big crowd...

It was a night to remember! ;)

PS- I couldn't give a rip about the NFL- I am pretty much in this for the commercials!