Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Houston: We have entered Terrible 2 Territory

That's right!! Last Friday, May 20th, our little pumpkin pie turned the big 2-years old....or as I have read on many of my Mommy sites - the dreaded Terrible Twos. Dun, Dun, Dun. But to be honest, we have been experiencing a taste of here and there these past few weeks....a lot of temper tantrums, a lot of 'NO!!' and a lot of 'Momma...Momma...Momma'-- 'WHAT?' I finally answer and then...silence?!?
But in all, we cannot believe these past 2 years are already gone! Filled with amazing memories and milestones and so much more to look forward to!

Jay and I both took Evelyn's big day off from work...but that didn't mean the pumpkin got to miss a day of school (aka - daycare!). No, no, no! Mommy 'baked' and she had to have her little birthday party with her school friends, so off to daycare she went in the AM. Mommy and Daddy celebrated with a little breakfast and then it was off to see if we coudl find the perfect bounce house to rent for her bday party which was happening at the new house the next day. After no luck (we weren't looking for a huge one, but something that was a 'good' size)...Well, after an hour of so of stopping at rental places, her father did what any pumpkin Daddy would do ....he caved....I mean...he graciously suggested we just head on out to Toys R Us and buy her, her very own bounce house! Which is what we did, or course. (I swear, she is not spoiled one bit!)
After our Toys R Us trip, we headed home and I prepared myself to assemble Evelyn's original bday gift - her own backyard slide!! Thinking this was going to be a process, I got out the toolbox, got comfy clothes on and got ready to read instructions only people in Japan who probably disassembled this and packaged it would understand. So, I drag the giant slide box into our family room, do a quick stretch and begin ripping off tape. I got the top of the box open and slid out the slide part...a little heavier then I expected...well once I got the whole thing out I understood why...the entire slide was pre-assembled!! I only had to prop up the ladder part and boom - 'here's your slide!' (ok...two screws were needed to complete the 'look'...and yes, Jay had to help me...but come on...I did it!) I was so excited…that was easy! So, we propped the slide up in the family room and headed off to pick up Evelyn early from daycare.
The whole drive home I kept telling her how she had a big birthday surprise at home...she would get giggly and excited...(oh and by the way...daycare bday party went great...they even sang Happy Birthday to her twice and Kathy said she 'knew' it for her!) We walk in the door and I brought her over to the family room and 'Surprise!' I can't describe the smile...the little jump of excitement...and she looks at me and goes 'my slide?' Melt My Heart! Score 1 Point for Mommy!
Of course she took off like a race horse and she climbed up and went down, climbed up and went down, climbed up and went down...even Bear Bear got his turns too (Jay and I did try to slid the cats down as well, but they weren't having it...and I guess I'll tell you...yes, Jay tried it out too! hahah) After we convinced her we had to go bye-bye but that the slide would still be there when we got back, we headed off to Bounce Magic so Evelyn could have some fun (and Mommy and Daddy too!) It wasn't too packed for a Friday afternoon (plus we were there kind of early). Evelyn had such a great time! It was a lot of fun, and not to mention exercise, to bounce and climb in all those Bounce Houses! Afterwards we headed to Tully's for a little birthday dinner...they literally sat us all in the way in the back...last booth in the joint?! Did someone tell them we were bringing a terrible two with us?! We had a nice dinner and by the end we were all so beat, we packed up and headed home. Evelyn was out like a light around 7:30 and Mommy and Daddy (on a
Friday night!) were in bed by 9:30!!!
Well worth the early bed time though b/c the next morning was Pumpkin's Birthday Party! We had an afternoon/evening cookout planned at the new house and we couldn't have asked for better weather! Considering it had been raining for the past month, this was a pretty big deal that the sun was shining! We heated the pool so Evelyn's cousins and friends could go swimming, the bounce house was up and 'jumping' (hahaha...get it!...I kill me) and her slide had made its way outside!
Evelyn was a little taken back by her bounce house at first (why, I don't know...she had no problem with all the huge ones at Bounce Magic the day before!) But after a while she was bouncing all over the place! Score 1 for Daddy!
Jay manned the grill while our friends and family enjoyed the outdoors. It was a really nice evening. Evelyn got LOTS of great stuff including the cutest little outdoor table with umbrella, backyard balls & toys, clothes, bathing suits, giant coloring books and so much more! She is so loved, by so many, we are truly blessed! When it came time to sing Happy Birthday and more importantly...at least to Evelyn and her sugar-craving cousins...CAKE TIME! Nana made an awesome 2nd Birthday Cake...a replica of Bear Bear!!! Evelyn just loved it and of course, Mommy forgot to take a picture of it...but trust me, everyone knew it was a Bear Bear cake! I cut this GIANT piece of Bear Bear cake for Evelyn...bring it outside and we all start our lovely rendition of Happy Birthday and then BOOM...Evelyn knocks the entire piece to the ground! The crowd goes silent...but not before the 'AWWWWWWW' and my little pumpkin just looks around at all our shocked faces, then back down to her sugary confection on the ground...and cue the water works!!!
We quickly replaced her piece of cake and made it through the entire Happy Birthday song and Evelyn devoured every single crumb of her cake (looking back, its probably better she didn't get to eat the mammoth size piece Mommy gave her!) Evelyn was tucked into bed dreaming of cakes, bounces houses and slides by about 7:30 that night...it really was a great day!
Many thanks to everyone who had a hand in not only her birthday party, but her life these past 2 years! It really does go so fast, but Jay and I have enjoyed every minute and we know we were meant to be her parents -- regardless of Vegas...she would have been ours one way or another!! Now, my next post, I have to back track a little bit and fill you in our our trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina!! We took a 12-hour drive down the beach in late April/early May with our pumpkin pie and stayed in an amazing beach house for an entire week with some amazing friends!! Details on that coming soon! Stay tuned for pics from OBX & Evelyn's 2nd Birthday Party!