alarms, jail & firetrucks

So, I'm blogging at 1 in the morning. Because this is on TCM and I love it:

{source}

I can't help myself.

Besides, I'm paranoid for the 2nd night in the row (and hopefully the last) because our carbon monoxide detectors went off again this evening, like they did last night (um, and the day before Liam's birthday). Luckily, I contacted our MHI Group contractor and he has an electrician coming out tomorrow to install NEW detectors because he said the ones they were putting in houses 6-12 months ago have tended to be extremely sensitive. If the new, and better, detectors go off, then we'll move on to looking for a potential leak. But, let's start with the trending fix right now. Yay. But I am afraid a) that if I go to bed too early and shut all the windows and turn off the fan, the alarm will go off again (and it did, again, at 1:50 in the morning, with all the windows still open and fans still on... and again at 2:03... and again at 2:08, when I finally disconnected them so my boys could at least get some sleep) and b) that there is a leak and I need to watch Liam like a hawk. See? Paranoid. But I own up to it.

And due to your OVERWHELMING (said in the most scathingly sarcastic voice I can muster right now) response to Liam's birthday party post,

:: aside: I got the NASTIEST comment about the birthday party (hooray comment moderation!) the other day telling me that I shouldn't have been proud of all the homemade elements because my son's party looked cheap. Look, oh commenter with the bad grammar and obnoxious use of too many exclamation points, there's going to be many a store-bought party in my kid's future because they all want that at some point, so let me do it my way until then. And guess what, you're not invited, so who cares? ::

I figure you're clamoring for more Liam. I apologize for the quality of the photos now: they're from my phone because I'm too lazy to go and get the cord to load from my camera. So here's Liam lately:

Liam's birthday present from his Godfather came in the mail the other day, and he's quite enamored. Oh yes, he's spoiled. But know what's worse? He got ANOTHER Power Wheels vehicle for his birthday: a Buzz Lightyear 4-Wheeler. He's less keen on that one right now because there's no seat, but the fire truck makes noises, the lights flash and he loves it. Jethro... not so much.

Little guy fell asleep in the car on the way to Lopez for lunch on Tuesday, and was just too cute not to photograph. He picked out that Dale at the Disney Store with his Grandma Steph and loves it. We're hopeful our Disney treats we bring him will be equally well received.

He had SO MUCH FUN this morning. While I was getting ready, he was doing his usual thing, playing in our bathroom. He got his foot behind the toilet, it got dirty, so I stuck him in the bathtub to rinse his foot off. He decided to play with the faucet, and loved, loved, loved it. He knows how to turn the water on and off, and he likes to turn it on hard and put his hand high into the stream and spray water everywhere. It was pretty funny to watch him, and the joy on his face made every millisecond of cleaning worth it.

And now for something completely different...

(name that reference!)

This is finally on its way to my house:

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I loved my brown 2009-2010 one, and had been waiting to order my 2010-2011 one until it was dire because I couldn't settle on a color. I eliminated brown since I already had one... and then eliminated the zebra cause it's so NOT me, and being an Aggie through and through, my body repels at the thought of buying anything orange, and I hate the colors purple and red... so... yep. Fuchsia it is. Embossed. Love it. I just can't wait for it to arrive so I can sit with my package of 100 + markers and decorate the special days. It's like therapy.

Another exciting find for me:

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If you're an Anthropologie shopper, you know how thrilling it is to find something priced for under $20. These tops originally retailed for $68 and were marked down to $9.95. Um, BARGAIN. That's good for Target, guys! I really like the top- it's very casual & right up my alley so I've got it coming in 2 colors (which you can figure out from the above mentioned orange/red aversion). I figure I can wear it with shorts during the warm weather, then throw it on with a pair of skinny jeans, a cardigan and these:

{source}

These were a recent gift (thank you, oh gift giver!!) and I really love them. The only other pair of boots I owned before these are my Burberry wellies that I love and swear by, but it'll be nice to have these come fall and winter. And the heel height is perfect for me, because I hurt my ankle in October of 2008 and it's never been the same- those beautiful 4 inch stiletto Louboutins I drool over? Pure fantasy because my ankle feels like it's going to break with every step I take. Anything over a 3 and I'm done. Sadly. But these boots are super comfy. I have them in the brown- but am in love with the Lead. I'll wear the brown and see how they do and if they're comfy enough over the long haul, I'll consider investing in a second pair. Cause that's how I do things.

Finally, (and sadly, pictureless) I am TRYING to settle on Halloween costumes for the family. Liam I've settled on. He's going to be one of the aliens from Toy Story. Why? Go to buycostumes.com and have a look at it. It's friggin' hysterical and until he's old enough to request characters to portray, he's stuck wearing what we find funny or cool. Speaking of cool... (if you get that, you are seriously awesome!) I thought I figured out what I want to be, which would require buying a bow tie, a pair of suspenders, a fez and men's clothing. The hubby wasn't surprised- but it's a far cry from the Alice & Mad Hatter a la Tim Burton that I had initially settled on. However, he thinks he should get to be said bow tie person, and I should be the companion. I think we could both be *the* person, but I could be bow tie him, and Zach could be trench or leather him? He balked at the leather version, and still didn't seemed thrilled with the other option. Cryptic enough for you? I know. But I've got Halloween on the brain now- I haven't gotten to put out any of my decor for 2 years!! I can't wait to get our Halloween village out this year and display it.

THAT is what's going on in my neck of the woods this week- or right now. Elvis has since gyrated his way off my TV screen, so I am off to bed. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend-- especially the S Family who are traveling in a mere 4 hours. Safe travels, K&J&J!!!

this is it! otherwise known as: the birthday party post that finally got made.

I realize this post has been an age and a half in coming, but please be lenient- my baby boy started to have a slight reaction to his chicken pox vaccine over the weekend, and so we've been handling that. We even had to miss my sweet friend Mandy's wedding because of it, so you'll understand just how pathetic he's been.

That being said: Because Mr. Man is awake and toddling around my house right now- dragging an ancient dog leash, I will make my commentary brief. But there are more than enough pictures to make up for my cryptic conversation. :)

:: PARTY DETAILS ::

{roger's flowers}

{planning the tablescape.}

{voila!}

{smash cake & kids treats}

{guest sign in}

{my handmade tray & bar display}

{over-the-bar balloons}

{my handmade banner- love this!}

{front door wreath i put together 20 minutes before the party started!}

:: CAKE FACE ::

:: PARTY PEOPLE ::

{sweet mommy friends}

{post cake clothing change}

{presents}

{he came over and gave me a hug!}

{lovely ladies}

{jackson sniped pics from behind the gift table: love this one of sweet mer!!!}

{jackson sniped the room}

{jackson took about 1000 pictures of sweet scarlett}

{opening presents again}

{aiden, liam and jackson. jackson is a champ with younger kids: he's got 4 siblings, 3 of them younger than him. he's really remarkable with liam.}

All said and done, we had a fantastic time. We got to spend time with people who mean a lot to us, and who have supported our family as we've grown and become a family of 3. We love, love, love you all, thanks so much for celebrating with us!

wonderful wednesday

Sorry, again, no birthday party post yet! My MIL gets back from out of town tomorrow- hopefully we can get a post up and running before the end of the week. Hopefully.

For now, I feel like posting about a few things that are making me a very happy girl today (lately).

I know, I know, I blog about Sprinkles cupcakes about as often as I blog about my child. However...

Have you TRIED the Summer Cherry cupcake? No?

You SHOULD.

They're amazing. Like, so much so that Liam was getting mad at me for not sharing more of it with him. I'm thinking I might have to go get us a few more before they're gone for the year on August 1. I love Sprinkles' traditional flavors, but I have to admit, I'm a bigger fan of their fruit flavored sweets. The orange one was my favorite... until I tried the cherry. Just sayin'.

Secondly... I have recently jumped on board the Romper fan bandwagon. I know, it only takes me about a year to figure out if I want to even bother with what's "trendy." Usually, just in time for everyone else to decide that it's "oh, so last year!" Anyway, my current favorite is this little Hollister & Co. number:

I MIGHT have bought it in both colors-- and at that price, I don't feel bad about it either! Two for less than the original price of one? Yep, not bad! I wear them with one of Hollister's tanks underneath and feel quite comfy- and covered up enough. I went ahead and bought the navy, a little while after having the gray because I a) LOVED it & wear it all the time and b) have a REASON to find cute, comfy summery clothes... What reason? Oh...

I just BOOKED MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT VACATION HERE:

Okay, make fun if you like, but I am so excited!! We're going the week of my birthday... rather, leaving the day after we get back from 4 days in Port Aransas for the CE by the Sea conference.

And we're staying here:

{images: hotels.com}

We've never stayed at the Port Orleans before- I've stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, the Polynesian, the Pop Century and the Animal Kingdom Lodge before, but Zach and I decided to find a place that was all new for us, and somewhere none of our friends or relatives had been before either.

We narrowed down our choices, added choices, eliminated and finally settled. After realizing our first choice was all booked up- already. For September. Woah. Gotta be good.

We're going to be *GULP* leaving Mr. Man at home with my parents- my dad is going to time his trip back from Qatar to coincide with our trip so he'll have good grandpa/Liam time. I'm not thrilled about leaving him and going away, but Zach and I are looking forward to some down time, just the two of us. We haven't had a moment to catch our breaths since I found out I was pregnant with Liam in November of 2008-- and that's a long time. We are so, so, so excited. AND we're getting the Dining Plan for FREE which is a whole new thing for us, so we're excited about the places we'll get to try that we never wanted to spend the money before.

Okay, I could write for another five pages about how excited we are, all the things we can't wait to go and do, but I won't... grudgingly. ;)

All I'll say is, I can't wait for a week of playing with my fantastic hubby, acting like carefree kids again-- and all for my birthday!?

Seriously, isn't he one hell of a husband, giving me such a freaking awesome gift for my quarter century mark?

1 year

Firstly:

Sorry to disappoint, friends, but this post is strictly dedicated to Liam's -actual- birthday. I am still waiting to gather all the images from his party, so that I have the full *set* to share. After I get the pictures from my dad and my mother-in-law, I'll post all about his party. I suppose I could break it up into a few different posts, but why don't we just wait and do one big post when everything can be posted together? Sorry, again!!

Sweet friends: if you have pictures from Saturday's festivities, please do not hesitate to post them! I'll just link up to you in my eventual post (and perhaps steal a few pics as well!).

xoxo

Liam, I believe, had a good first birthday. We woke up fairly early for him, got ready and headed into Houston to visit the zoo.

{first picture as a 1 year old!}

:::: aside: yes, he's wet. yes, he wet himself. yes, that is the empty bottle from the middle of the night before. our carbon monoxide alarm went of at 1 in the morning, and woke him up. this was the only solution to soothe our frightened child.::::

Before we left for the zoo, we gave the birthday boy his big present from us. He' still not so sure he's keen on his R2-D2 chair, but we sure love it, and know he will in the future. Cause he's going to have it a long time. Yep.

We got to the zoo around 9:30, before it got so hot that most of the animals were hiding away. Liam was a champ in his stroller, we turned the seat around to be facing away from us so that he could see everything that was going on.

{kookaburras. i *love* these-- lauren, these remind me of the pair that nested in the chapel at school and used to sing during service.}

{the shoe-billed stork. seriously, so friggin' cool.}

{poor grizzly trying to keep cool.}

{daddy showing liam the elephants}

{baby elephant!}

{mommy & liam in front of the giraffe pen.}

{birthday boy.}

{dory!!}

{LOVING the aquarium}

{trying on a mask in the gift shop.}

After we left the zoo- around 11:30-- because it got stinkin' hot!-- we headed to Highland Village (hi Jess!) to get lunch and run over to Sprinkles so that Liam could have a cupcake for his birthday.

{at p.f. chang's for lunch.}

After lunch, we headed home. We figured, honestly, that Liam had already had one heck of an exciting day, so we'd go home and let the little man hang out and take a nap.

{cheesin' with mommy.}

{after nap: grandma brought a present!!}

{playing with his turtle he got at the zoo}

{birthday boy's right: doing what he wants. pulling every dvd of his out of the cabinet and throwing it on the floor.}

We had a lot of fun on Mr. Man's birthday. It was nice to get to spend the day together- and during nap time I was able to get a lot of baking and decorating done. Liam was a complete joy all day- as he should be! Of course, he was super tired by the end of the day, but that was to be expected.

And to answer some of your questions about how well Liam handled the zoo: He liked it a lot, or so it seemed. We've talked about when we'll go back and we think we'll wait until later in the year, we're thinking October or November because it's going to be a lot cooler, the animals will be out and more active, and Liam won't be too steamy sitting in his stroller. In general, he spotted the large, flashy, stand-out animals, or the animals that moved a lot. He had a hard time spotting the birds, or the animals that just laid around, but he enjoyed the elephants, giraffes, the aquarium, the white alligator, and the flamingoes. Contrast, you know?

That's that for the birthday recap!