Week 6 update: Birthday Parties & Progress

This past weekend was all about Logan. His birthday weekend each year is one which we try to make super special for him. We started with a sleep over a bunis, then a trip to kiddie kingdom, which then lead to Saturday and his big 5^th birthday bash!

One thing I absolutely love doing is planning parties, especially when it comes to Logan’s birthday parties. Its one night a year where everyone we love comes together to celebrate our little man, it’s a night where everyone comes together to have a good time and let the kids run wild. I can care less if the house is trashed and there is a day of cleaning the next morning, that just shows that all the kids had a great time!

When it comes his parties there’s one thing you can guarantee you’ll see and that’s my dessert table! I love coming up with these each year and have them based around the theme Logan picks for his parties. They are filled with more candy than you can think of, cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and so many other treats! Its also the space where I get to be creative and come up with fun crafts and ways to really make his party stand out. This year Logan decided he wanted a Mario party!

The creative wheels in my head were spinning for months, knowing I wanted to create a dessert table that resembled a Mario world level, the crafts began. First with a streamer wall, then with hanging bricks and “?” boxes, Mario clouds, coins, and even an actual Mario reaching for a star. We used lots of fishing wire & paper to come up with the fun backdrop for this table (youd be surprised to know 80% of the supplies actually came from the dollar tree!).  Then came picking the treats and my go to place to order any candies is oriental trading they have ever color candy you can imagine which is awesome when it comes to throwing a Mario party because you need lots of red, blue, green & a little bit of yellow. With candies ordered its time to come up with a cake, now for previous parties we’ve always done one big cake, this year I wanted to change it up a bit. Knowing most kids gravitate towards the cupcakes I wanted to have more cupcakes than an actual big cake. So with 3 dozen cupcakes ordered, I knew I wanted to make them special so I contacted an old friend from grade school who actually makes the most adorable fondant cupcake/cake toppers. These are perfect to make the plain jewel cupcakes stand out and make them a bit more special! The toppers came out perfect! I’m so glad to have been able to order through her and absolutely recommend this small business guys! She’s really fantastic! So huge huge thanks to Laura with Sweet Cake Top! Now although we primarily went with cupcakes this year its not a birthday without an actual cake! For the past 3 years I’ve always got his cakes through a good friend of mine! Each year the cakes comes out better than the last and this years was probably my most favorite cake yet! I knew I wanted to have the cake be a mini Mario world level and the top to be Marios face! Now since we were going with more cupcakes this year this was going to be more of a mini cake, we decided that the right size would be a 4x6 cake perfect to place on top of the 3 tier stand above the mountain of cupcakes. The inside was funfetti with vanilla cream & absolutely delicious! If it wasn’t for watching the calories I could have probably ate the whole cake myself lol yes it was that good! Over all this was probably my most favorite dessert table to come up with and create & I really hope everyone was able to enjoy it! Another special addition this year were the super cute cake pops that came from Margarita with The Looks Magical Events. I literally showed her 2 pictures of what I wanted and she came up with exactly that! She made us Piranha Flower cakepops and Bomb Guy cakepops as well as Star Chocolate lollipops! These really gave the kids a special treat! Now I don’t mind cooking ill cook up a storm but when it comes to baking and making sweet treats I’m glad I know people who are so talented because they really do help complete these crazy dessert tables!

Something I've always wanted was a piñata…but we have nowhere to hang one and its nowhere near warm enough to go outside and set one up…so I came across a great idea on pinterest that would give somewhat the same feel as a piñata but be less of a mess and easy to set up…a PUNCHBOX! All we needed was a large box, a good sharp knife (boxcutter), some red solo cups, brick wrapping paper, yellow paper and prizes, oh and a husband who gets your vision and makes it possible! He first measured out where the boxes will go…then wrap the box to make it look like a brick wall…cut out yellow squares to cover each of your holes….fill your cups with prizes and then tape them to the backs of the yellow squares. Of course since we were doing a Mario party the last step was to add “?” to each yellow square and that’s it! Each little one was able to punch through their own box and they got to get a cup full of prizes! I loved how this game came out and I think each kid loved it as well! Such a great alternative to a piñata!

Overall Saturday night was a blast! Logan had the time of his life with all his friends and cousins! The smile on his face all night and the happiness you saw on his face made it all worth it. He was literally the happiest 5 year old and that’s why we do what we do. We love him so much and we are so grateful to have such amazing friends and family who came out to celebrate with us and we love that you guys all came out! I hope everyone had a blast and had a good time! That’s what’s most important to us and the whole point of this party each year, it’s really about the kids and having this time to be with one another, to catch up and to see each other since we all know that once winter hits we all hibernate and hardly see one another so thank you to everyone who made an effort and came out to party and sorry for the sugar high your kids went home with…

With all the stress of this party and trying to stay on track with my weight loss I was really nervous that I would be putting on weight that I worked hard to lose…since I know I’m a stress eater…I snack when I’m stressed…and it doesn’t matter what time its at once the stress hits the snacking starts…it happens…its how I cope…its horrible I know…and it’s a habit I probably need to break.  Even though there were so many good treats I really did try to stay on top of my game this weekend. I wanted to be sure I didn’t overdo it and stayed within my calorie counts for each day. I knew that there would be pizza and yummy snacks all over the place and all I had to do is remember that its all about portion control. Yes I had 2 squares of pizza and I’m not going to feel guilty about it instead im going to be proud of myself that I was able to stay within my limits.  I made sure that there were healthy options at our party too…a yummy veggie tray, greek orzo salad, and fruit salad among the other treats. Over all this week was stressful and its probably why I dropped as much as I had, which was a total of 3lbs this week bringing the loss to a grand total of: 18lbs!!! That brings me to being 2lbs away from my first goal of 20lbs lost which also brings me to what my pre-pregnancy weight! It feels great to actually be seeing a difference now and I’m really excited to keep going!

Logans Last Day Being 4!

Today was Logans last day of being 4!! 

SORRY FOR THE OVERLOAD ON PICTURES: HERES SOME PICTURES THAT SHOW WHAT BEING 4 LOOKED LIKE FOR LOGAN 

And as I'm sitting here I think back on this day 5 years ago...in labor...about discussing our options as labor had stopped much earlier...the doctor saying that it was time to consider a c-section. Complete fear coming over me not knowing what to expect but fully knowing that all I wanted was to bring my baby boy into this world and for him to be healthy and safe in my arms after 8 months of growing in my belly, feeling those kicks and cartwheels in my belly....putting my complete trust in God it was time to move forward, time for the epidural, time to prep for surgery,  the surgery that would lead to us meeting Logan for the very first time. Now lets fast forward 4 years....

When this year began for him I wanted to be sure that it was one that was filled with lots of fun, adventure, lessons and memories for all of us. As I look back on this past year I think we were absolutely able to achieve that and give Logan an amazing year being 4! 

This year was a bit of a transition for me with a new job that came with a whole new schedule…this now opened up Wednesdays which had now become our day. A day literally dedicated to Logan. We have been able to explore our city, visit cool play places, libraries, parks, trips to the zoo, museums, and countless other activates that we were able to enjoy together. Seeing him play and explore made me realize just how important it is to take time aside to be with him and to give him the chance to just be a kid. 

Time literally flies once you have kids and it doesn’t seem to ever slow down, we are constantly on the go and always having something to do and sure it can seem a bit nuts that we always have something planned but in my mind that isn’t such a bad thing. Why waste a beautiful day inside doing nothing why not be outside or trying something new. As a working mom time with Logan really is something special and I don’t want to waste that, I want to be able to take advantage of whatever time I get with him, cause guys kindergarten starts in the fall and then that’s it mommy & Logan Wednesdays are coming to an end…at least until we find another day to make our own. 

This year logan has really grown into an amazing little man. He’s such a smart little boy, listening to everything we say, picking up concepts that still surprise me. Just the other day he grabbed a post-it and ran into his room a few minutes later he comes back and goes “here mom, look what I learned…” this 4 year old boy who for the longest time was hesitant to do practice any writing at all has come down from his room having written his whole name, all by himself!! He’s become so creative with a box of spare Lego pieces he can sit and build and build and build till it bed time comes around. His mind so filled with imagination and so ready to create! He’s got his numbers down solid….his memory is on point as well basically don’t make a promise to this child you can’t keep! Logan’s also my little perfectionist, he is the most detailed oriented little boy, anyone who knows him knows how attached to his halo, call of duty and Lego guys he is. No accessory can go missing, no head turned the wrong way…even the little hands have to be specific colors to be sure they look just like the picture on the box! Everything has its place, its own little ziplock bag (you’ll find them all over our house filled with all Logan’s treasures). Nothing can go missing with this kid! With each milestone and stage that we go through he continues to mature into this awesome kid & I will forever be so proud of him. 

                 

Something that this year also came with is how we as parents have learned lessons from our 4 year old. With nightly reminder to say our prayers together, days where he tells us to not worry, to be nice, not get mad. When driving and getting upset at another drivers and we let out a stressful “you stupid driver” he will quickly reprimand you for saying the bad word and will not let you live it down until you apologize! He keeps us in check!  He’s taught us patience, how to love more, to have more fun, to enjoy the simple things, and to appreciate all our blessings big and small.  He’s taught us about kindness and how that while we’re teaching him how to be a good boy we are also learning form these lessons and they are reminders to how we should be towards each other and those around us. Something that I see as a huge accomplishment though this year is that each night as we end our day and Moe says his prayer Logan than all on his own begins to pray his good night prayer. His prayers are filled with thankfulness, with requests that God protects and keeps him healthy as well as his bunis, bunu, all his aunts and uncles, cousins and his friends. He asks that God watch over us and our family and that He continues to bless his family and him. He asks to be kept happy and to have sweet dreams and most recently to become a big brother one day. His prayers are sweet, sincere & they come from his heart. Not a night goes by without what he calls his “Dear Jesus”. 

Its unbelievable how much our lives have changed over the course of these last 4 years, 4 beautiful, exciting, fun, sometimes sad (the tantrums still happen form time to time guys, no one’s perfect), blessed 4 years. That little 5lb baby boy who entered our lives a month before he was due changed our world. He’s given us so much more than I could ever begin to tell you, just the fact that God has chosen me to be his mom and has given me the gift of being able to be a mother is so overwhelming to me. I was blessed to have been able to experience a healthy pregnancy with Logan, sure we had minor bumps in the road but nothing we couldn’t get through. It’s a gift and an experience that no one can ever take away from me. Like I mentioned earlier his most recent prayer request has been what we have been praying for the last 2+ years and something we have been leaving in Gods hand because his timing is better than our own and I am so grateful that I was able to experience pregnancy once and can only hope that I would be able to again to be able to give Logan that little brother or sister one day. If Gods plan is different than my own then I have come to understand that and I am able to say that I have been blessed with an amazing little boy one who is my miracle that 20 years from now he will still be my baby and I will love him forever. I just hope that God continues to help me be the best mom I can be to him to be able to raise him to the best of my ability, to be give him the knowledge between right and wrong, to be show him how to make the right choices in life, I want him to grow up to be a Godly man, one who follows knows the truth and lives a good and right life. I want to be able to show him compassion and love, for him to understand that his dad and I will always be here for him and that we will love and support him always. 

So as Logan is about to turn 5 and we start our 5^th year as parents I’m ready to face new milestones, new challenges, new adventures. I’m excited and nervous that he’s starting kindergarten (FULL DAY by the way) in the fall…that he’ll hopefully get over his stubbornness and maybe wanna learn to ride a bike even if with training wheels. I’m ready to see him grown and learn and take on being 5 to the fullest! My prayer for this coming year is that Logan is blessed with a healthy year, that hes protected where ever he goes, when school starts that he is blessed with knowledge and wisdom. Most of all I pray that he knows that he is loved beyond measure.