Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. The Macy's Day Parade, the turkey, the fall weather, the family, the pies, the hashbrown casserole, remembering that we are more blessed than we know, the mashed potatoes and hot rolls. I love it all. And really I just love the spirit on thankfulness. I think we as a society are way to quick to want and too slow to say thank you and count our blessings. 

Anyway, enough of my preaching here are a few pictures from our day.

These two are so silly.  

I love the turkey shirt that my mom made Hayden! And doesn't he look so handsome in that blazer?

It's not very often that ALL of the grandkids on Ryan's side are together. So here they are! All 9 of them together! 

And with that many toddler you never know what you're going to get! 

They love to run the backyard together!

We loved spending time with my family too! The boys love their aunts and uncles and one cousin ;) It is obviously just different having seven cousins to play with at the other house. But they are both equally special in so many ways. We really do have SO much to be thankful for.

Hayden's Party {Fun}

Okay my last post was about a party on a budget. One more tip: buy the birthday shirts when they are on sale! This cost me about $10 to have made from my favorite Etsy shop! 

Hayden loves his cousin! She's just small enough for him to pick on {for now} 

He thinks those bows on her head are a bit ridiculous. The mommies disagree!

The birthday boy and I. I love my little chunk SO much. And check out the look on his face. just. plain.ornery.

               Hudson loved having his cousin/friends there! They sat around and chatted like old men.

Hayden was blessed with some fun gifts! He really didn't know what to think of the unwrapping madness. 

This is the card Hudson made this brother ;) 

The only thing Hayden really wanted to do was snuggle his new jammies. He's such a funny boy.

                           

Gigi & Pops got Hayden a Radio Flyer bike. He mostly pushes it around the house, but he still loves it. This is our attempt at a family party pic, Hilarious.  

The picture on the left shows his confusion because everyone was singing. The picture on the right shows his digust that we expected him to eat cake. He wouldn't touch it. We attempted at the cake smash and at the party and he DID NOT LIKE IT! Sorry, I'm just still shocked my chunky one year old doesn't like cake. 

He settled for a sugar cookie instead. 

The twins and one of their long time friends. 

Mommy, daddy and the birthday boy. Everyone else decided to help him eat his cake since he wouldn't.

I love my smiling one year old. We had so much fun partying with our friends and family. 

And after the party he got his big one year old chair! {Hud got the same present for his first birthday}He loves to sit in it. Getting out is another story. It's titled face plant.

Anyway, we had a blast-one year old style!

Hayden's Party {Decor on a Budget}

I LOVE to throw parties! I especially like to make a big deal of my boys's birthday parties! However I work really hard to make it cute, but not costly! So I thought I'd show you Hay's party and tell you about the details!

Let's start with my splurge! I HAD to splurge on these cookies from a friend in OKC. Everytime I see her work I'm amazed at the perfect of her design. SO this is the one item I though deserved the $$. 

These chalkboard signs are SO incredibly expensive right now. Upwards of $25+. I made mine for a total of $2.50. My sister made the page for me and I took it to Office Depot. They charged me $1.50 to print it as a 16x20. I went next door to the Dollar Tree and bought a foam board for a $1 of course. It was bigger than I needed so I just cut it down to size. I usually have a bottle of Mod Podge around and a sponge brush. I use that to adhere it to the board and DONE! $2.50 for a cute sign! 

I wanted to use the colors and prints from his room. So I just added the thank you and some cardstock behind it. I bought these bags at Hobby Lobby and put animal crackers in them that I already had. I think I spent $2 for the bags and $1 on the paper. 

My mom bought me this number 1 and a piece of scrapbook paper after we had the conversation about making one. But I would say this project cost about $3. 

The food table. I try to stick with snacks and use foods we will eat the leftovers. We had cheese & crackers, fruit & dip, and chex mix. I bought the crackers and Chex Mix at SAM's. Our SAM's just opened so I found them both on sale. And we have plenty left for lunches and snacks! 

I bough the plates and napkins on clearance at Target and for 20 plates, 20 small plates, and napkins I spent around $8. 

SAM's also has the best deal on cakes and cupcakes! This set of cupcakes and a smash cake cost me $11! And it always taste great too! I got another set too and used it for his cake smash/1st birthday session that I photographed.

You might notice the chicken nuggets at the back of the table. Long story short-I had a bad experience and got a free nugget tray. I saved it for Hay's party. I don't suggest you have a bad experience or complain just for the freebies, but I saved it and used it to feed a lot of people! 

I decorated the window and the front of the table with Hay's monthly pictures. I spent $4.50 on the ribbon, $6 on paper, and $4 for the pictures!

I always keep things for sweet tea at my house because I'm addicted. I also try to keep lemonade around for LifeGroup or a treat for Hud. I did buy more lemonade for the party but already had the tea!

I made this banner on the computer with FREE scrapbook pages from Pinterest. And ribbon from the picture project! And a teacher always has cardstock, right?!

I also bought two balloons at the Dollar Tree for a whole $2.

That comes to about $30 on decor and paper goods.

I spent $22 on 2 cakes and 20 cupcakes.

And probably another $25 on the other party food.

That's about $75 for a party! You can't rent somewhere for less than $150 these days and you have to bring your own cake!

Hayden Greer

Hayden today is your FIRST birthday! I can't believe it!

Here are some things about my big ONE year old!

You weigh 23lbs (approximately)

You are about 29 inches long

You wear 12 mo clothes and size 3 shoes.

You wear a size 3 diaper.

You are all chunk, but there is nothing cuter than a roly poly baby.

You pretty much eat anything and everything. You like fruits, veggies (except peas), meats, and carbs.

You love the sippy cup, especially when it's your brothers ;) If someone is eating something that you want you will crawl to them and say "MMMMMMM" really loud until you get a bite. YOU.LOVE.FOOD. {Sorry bub, you come by in honestly}

You take bottles at bed and nap time and maybe occasionally throughout the day. We haven't started milk, I'm curious to see how that will go.

You are a good sleeper. You sleep from 8:30pm-7:30am. This is the opposite how your brother slept. Mama appreciates this about you! You take two naps-a morning (about 10) and afternoon (about 1:30).

You have THREE teeth! Two on top, one on bottom. That fourth one is working it's way out too ;)

You love patty cake, peek-a-boo and playing with your brother. 

You smile, laugh and clap pretty much ALL day. You are just the happiest guy!

You sign more and touchdown. You are babbling "ma ma" but haven't really associated it yet. You really aren't into talking yet and that's ok. Your big brother does enough talking for both of you. I don't know how you'll ever get a word in!

You LOVE bath time, the pool, dog water....aka anything WATER! You think it's so fun to splash and play.

You stand alone for a few seconds and occasionally take one step, but when you realize what you did you won't do it again. You will bounce up and down when we try to stand you up. You're a stinker :]

It's amazing what a year will do to a boy!

Hayden Greer, mommy and daddy love you more than you EVER could know. You have been the perfect addition our family and your brother adores you! We love the way you smile SO big when he kisses you. We love the way you clap and want everyone to cheer with you. We love the way you snuggle with blankets and are the messiest eater on the planet. We love EVERYTHING about you. You are the perfect example of true JOY! Every night mommy prays over you that God will use you for HIS glory. I can't wait to see what He has in store for my big ONE year old! We love, adore and cherish you baby boy. Keep smiling! 

Love, Mommy

Pumpkin Patch

The first time I ever visited Livesay Orchard was with a group of 9 Kindergarten classes a couple years ago. I immediately fell in love and we've been taking Hudson ever since. It's totally worth the drive!

Daddy taught Hudson to ring toss. 

Hud was so excited about the hay maze.... 

and even laughed when he got "booed" by Papa. 

He practiced his mad bowling skills lol! Notice he didn't knock any down.

I would have to say that this was his favorite toy of all. Why wouldn't he love digging in the dirt, he is a boy?! 

 

How tall am I?

These horses are a lot of work!
(And yes I did try it for myself!)

What was Hay baby up to? 

Just posing in a tree 

and ropin' calves with mommy.  

As I look at these pictures I am SO thankful for time as a family. We don't get a lot of time as a family of four and I don't want to take one minute of it for granted. 

I am so immensely blessed and undeserving. 

That baby down front ALWAYS keeps us smiling, I stood him there with no real intention of posing him for a picture, but he was hamming it up so I had to!  

He's just the happiest thing. He is my constant reminder of pure joy. 

We took a hay ride and both of the boys were so serious, they didn't know what to think!

He may or may not have snatched an apple right out of the basket and taken a bite. No worries, we paid for it. I mean how can you deny a home grown apple straight from the orchard? 

I am so thankful to see this boy's smile. It hasn't been shown often lately, but I am thankful for days that he feels well (or somewhat better). 

Cutie patooties! I have no words. 

Mom, I think I like this one. 

Or maybe this one? 

Hmm, let's look over there.

This one is real heavy. 

I'm definitely picking this one.

(and he did!) 

Off with our haul! Do you think that's enough?