ONE year old!

Oh my goodness.  ONE!  I just can't even believe how fast the time has gone.  Right before this little cutie pie turned one she said BYE BYE to her fashion accessory, the pink helmet.  To be honest, I kinda missed it at first.  She just looked so cute with it on!  But, I'm super happy to be able to kiss on that head again.    

Weight:  20 lbs 2 oz (54th percentile)
Height: 29.8 inches (71st percentile)
Head: 43 cm (7th percentile...the highest it's ever been!)  

Eating:  Around her first birthday we started trying to cut out one bottle a day (4 instead of 5).  She does great at home but has a harder time at school.  At home she has a bottle when she wakes up, before nap (around noon), 4pm and 8pm before bed.  Right after her birthday we introduced cows milk to baby girl.  We started with her bottles being 4 oz breast milk and 2 oz cow milk.  She did great and hasn't seemed to notice/mind.  We are now doing half breast milk and half cow milk.  Anna Grace's solid food eating has really taken off.  One day she decided she was ready and started gobbling food up.  She loves to feed herself!  This girl loves everything she eats.          

Development:  On September 10th our little lady started crawling.  She had been working so hard at physical therapy, so this was super exciting.  Once she got the hang of it she was off....and hasn't stopped since! We had to answer no to most of the developmental questions at her 1 year check up.  She says mama and dada but not any other words and she isn't pulling herself into the standing position.  BUT, we know that she will get there soon.  

Clothes:  Size 4 diaper and clothes 12-18 months (18 month pajamas fit better)

Sleeping:  I finally gave in and moved Anna Grace to her room right before her first birthday.  I'm happy to say she has done fabulous!  I give her a bottle, rock her for a few minutes, lay her down in her crib and that's it, folks.  Such a good girl. :)  Baby girl goes to be around 8pm and wakes up between 6am-7am.             

Things She Loves:  She loves, loves, loves her baby doll.  She hugs it and pats its back.  When she's not dragging around her baby doll she is tossing a water bottle around or searching for a remote control to play with.  HAHA

Things She Hates:  Having things taken away from her!  She is a bit hard headed and very vocal about what she wants.  Definitely not as laid back as her brother was.         

Mommy Stuff:  Right after Anna Grace's first birthday I stopped pumping.  I was hardly making any milk by that time.  Getting my body to stop making milk after William was challenging, but for whatever reason, with Anna Grace at 10 months my body started slowing down.  That was around the time she started to refuse to nurse.  I guess my body knew she was done.        

Health:  Anna Grace got her first ear infection right before Labor Day.  As I mentioned before, neurosurgery released her from their service a week before her birthday.  Her head still has a flat spot but it is SO much better.  Luckily, most nights she sleeps on her stomach or side and avoids the flat area. I am so so happy to no longer have to drive to the med center for her helmet appointments.  :)

We fall more in love every day with Anna Grace's ever growing personality.  She has some spunk to her that is so fun.  On the other hand, she is such a lover.  Her smile is contagious and can brighten anybody's day.  There is something so strong and resilient about her.  I just know that this little lady is going to do big things.  At the end of every day I'm sad to say goodnight to her because she's just so fun to be around!
Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl.  God knew just what the Gooding house needed when he sent you.  ;)

Week 16 = Birthday Weekend

"Week 16" was a weekend full of happy celebration!!  On Tuesday, this super fun swing set was delivered to our house.  It has been so nice to have this in our own backyard!  It was especially nice when all of William's friends were over for his birthday.  Once Anna Grace is here, and it's cool outside again, it will be so much easier to sit outside with her while William plays away.

Swing Set Fun  |  Being The Hulk On His 3rd Birthday  |  Shopping At BassPro Shop  |  Birthday Dinner at Lupe Tortilla (sand for our buddy and a virgin drink for me)  |  Not Too Sure About Flan  |  A Special Breakfast Pancake  |  A Boy and "His" Dog  

Our week/weekend was jammed full of errands, dinners out and lots of time with family.  There's nothing better than celebrating this little boy!

Hot Diggity Dog 3rd Birthday

To say I have fun planning a party is an understatement!  This party was super easy to put together.  With a little bit of planning and help from family it all turned out perfect.  I have found that if I plan far in advance it all comes together nicely (with less stress involved).  It will be nice having William and Anna Grace's birthdays 4-5 months apart.  It'll give everyone a chance to recover from the crazy fun birthday weekends we tend to have!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from William's 3rd birthday party.  I'll do another post on the "birthday party details" for anyone that cares to know where I got things from.  I knew this was my last year to throw William a party without him having a real opinion.  So, I picked Mickey Mouse!  William loves "hot dog" but is slowly turning into a little boy and starting to show interested in Spider Man, Hulk and Iron Man.  .....let the super hero parties begin....next year...... 

William was in love with everything about "his party".  This little guy loves to have his friends over, so this was a much anticipated day.  

• Posing with Hot Dog and Papa
• Checking out the Hot Diggity Dog Bar
• Family of three, going on four
• He was one happy little boy
• Singing happy birthday
• Blowing out his 3 candles
• "Look Mama, it's my cake!"
• Laughing at his friends

{watching the balloon artist} {he loved his new big truck} {some of the guys} {William broke his plane and JB was figuring out the bean bag game} {playing on the new swing set} {tire swing fun} {family dinner at Dekkers} {fun with Friends} {being a superhero with Uncle G}

To this day, a month later, William is still asking me if he can have "his party" again because "it was fun".  He was so excited to take the leftover cupcakes and cookies to school with him on Monday morning.  His teacher said he told her all about his party.  This little boy loves having all his family around.  Uncle G is the best play buddy a boy could ask for, my parents brought his favorite puppy, Massy (aka "Fifi"), and everyone got to check out his fun new swing set.  He is such a loved little boy.  We can't say thank you enough to all of our friends that joined us.  We had the best day and I know that William felt extra loved!!!  There's nothing that makes a parent happier.  :)

Trip to Lake Tahoe

For my birthday this year, Gordon and I decided to make a trip back to Lake Tahoe.  We thought about going back to Breckenridge but in the end decided on Tahoe.  We would really like to take William skiing next year and figured taking him somewhere in Colorado would be much easier than California/Nevada.  The flight to Tahoe is 4 hours longer than it is to Denver and there is a 2 hour time difference (not a good thing for toddlers/babies).  So, that is how we ended up back in Tahoe....8 years later!

As you can see in the pictures below, we were much younger during our first trip to Tahoe!  When we visited Lake Tahoe in 2007 we were 25 years old, had been dating about 6 months, it was during Christmas time, we went with all of Gordon's family and it was not only our first real vacation together but our first time to ski together.  

Gordon and I have laughed looking at these two pictures.  We look so tan in 2007 and so pale now?!?  haha.  It was super windy when we took the picture this year (thus the squinty eyes).  As a matter of fact, it was so windy they ended up shutting the mountain down at noon that day.  :(  Talk about a waste of money!  Our flight into Reno was also really bumpy due to high winds.  If you get "plane sick" (nauseous easily) this is not the destination for you.  Apparently, they have high winds in Reno most of the time.  The only thing that kept me from vomiting on the plan into Reno was knowing that Gordon would then vomit as well.....he has a sensitive stomach!    

 We had a great long weekend away!  Traveling can be a bit tiring but it was so nice to wake up in the morning and have nothing we had to do...and we had the option to sleep as long as we wanted.  There was plenty to keep us busy during our 3 day stay.  Heavenly Village (walking distance from our hotel) has a movie theater, ice skating ring and there's even a casino to gamble at.  There wasn't much playing at the theater but we did rent a couple of movies in our room (The Interview was pretty hilarious).  I'm not much of a gambler but Gordon did walk out with some extra dollars in his pocket!  Our second day of skiing was a bust since they shut down the mountain but day 1 was a lot of fun.  Gordon and I got stuck on a newly opened trail with feet of powder.  It was nearly impossible to ski on.  Gordon took a couple of tumbles....I'll just say that I've never laughed so hard in my life.  #goodtimes #greatmemories.  And, when we weren't skiing....we were eating!  We ate at a few places that we'd been to before and tried some new places too.

Azul- Mexican food with the most refreshing margaritas.
Driftwood Cafe- Yummy breakfast with delicious pancakes!
Kalani's-  Huge selection of sushi and fish.  Great place for date night.
Fire and Ice- All you can eat....you build your meal and they prepare on skillet.  So fun!
Stateline Brewery- We stopped here for a quick drink and appetizer after a long day of skiing.  Their edamame is fabulous.

Since we Texans rarely get to dress "wintery" I had fun getting all bundled up!

J Crew vest |  Skinny jeans from Zara  |  Tassle necklace by Sweet Annie Design on Facebook  |  Splendid ankle boots (similar)  |  Anthropologie sweater (sold out)  |  Tom's wedge boots  

I'm so glad we had a grown up getaway.  It's just what we needed.  Every couple deserves to get some time away to enjoy each other!  It was kinda fun to be back at our first vacation spot.  It's amazing how much has changed since 2007.  I will say that Lake Tahoe isn't a place I'd take my young children to ski.  Getting up/down the mountain via the Gondola takes time and patience.  Breckenridge will be where we take William.  You just can't beat the fact  that it's ski in ski out, you can buy your lift tickets and rent equipment at your hotel!

Here's to hoping next years ski trip is even more fabulous!    

CHOO CHOO, Someone Turned TWO!

FINALLY!  I can't believe it's taken me two months to do this post.  Let me just start off by saying that this birthday party was so much easier compared to last years.  Having it at the house made things go much more smoothly.  My parents, Dustin and Skye stayed with us that weekend and they were awesome helpers.  I had everyone running errands on Saturday morning. :)  So, BIG thanks to those guys.  Sweet Skye even helped me give William a bath that evening because I was pooped!
The day before his party I found out I have to move to working 5 days a week from my current 4 days a week.  I was a bit upset (more on that another time).  Luckily I had lots of friends and family around to help cheer me up.  Saturday morning I woke up feeling really yuck (stomach bug).  :(  Again, thank goodness for my family.  Regardless, we had the best day celebrating William James.  We went to Little Gym that morning and then starting getting ready to PARTY!  
Here are just a handful of the pictures that were taken that day.  Somehow, I didn't get one of Dustin and Skye with William?!?!  :(  I'll have to make it up when we see them next month. 

• How cute is this photo backdrop?!?!?  So easy!  Just some streamers twisted and taped at the top and bottom, balloons and a chalk board.  We took some cute photos of the kids with "conductor" hats on!
• Adorable sugar cookies by a local lady. 
• Invitations from Berings.   Cupcakes by yours truly (blue cupcake holders from Michael's). 
• Picture frame from Hobby Lobby and Mason Jar with forks wrapped in chevron paper.  
• CHOO CHOO banner made by me using Cricut.  2 yr photo book for guest to sign from Snapfish.  
• Drink stand outside.  Re-used name and fabric banner from William's first birthday party.  The fabric banner was super easy!  Just cut long strips of fabric and tie in knot on rope.  

• I love primary colors!
• Thank you Arvella for making the best cakes ever! {Midland peeps contact me for her info!}
• Napkins from Monogram Shop
• Cakeballs by Eggleston's Edibles.  Labels from WH Hostess
• Goodie Boxes from Oriental Trading Company for only $5/dozen (see below for content).
• Centerpiece train from Melissa and Doug.  Table runners ordered off Etsy. 

• Playing corn hole has become a family tradition!  It keeps everyone entertained for hours.  
• Brandon and Ashley came all the way from Birmingham!
• SIL :)
• We rented 3 round tables and chairs so people could hang outside.  After the party we cooked out so having the extra seating was perfect.  I never got a picture of the tables with table clothes/centerpieces (pictured below). 
• Best. Idea. Ever.  The train was a hit!
• They have the cutest stamps on Zazzle.  
• Centerpieces: clear jars from Hobby Lobby + spray paint = cute.  I filled the jars halfway with potting soil and then put the sticks in so they'd stand up straight.  
• Goodie Boxes =  Bubbles, toy train, train whistle and stickers (most everything from Oriental Trading) 

{Playing} {He loves his lawn mower from Nana and Papa} {He rode the train the entire hour} {My baby} {Craft Station} {Riding with Grant and Emily} {I'm in love with this easel W got from Grant and Emily} {Helping Uncle D and Daddy} {Hanging with Mimi}

The little arts and craft station we had was a hit!  My mom and I cut out all the different shapes for the pieces of the train (using construction paper).  I then put all the pieces to make one train in a zip lock baggie.  I had an example laid out for the kids to copy.  All they had to do was clue the shapes of one baggie on a big piece of construction paper.  Super easy and fun!  All the girls loved this.  

Construction paper + glue = cheap and fun  

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet William!

Big thanks to everyone that came out for the festivities.  We had an awesome day.  An even bigger thanks to my family for helping get the last minute details together and for helping clean up afterwards!!  Since the birthday party William talks about Choo Choos every single day. :)

 He loves the hat he wore during the party.  He loved playing in the balls.  He loved seeing all his friends.  He adores his grandparents and aunts/uncles.  He's obsessed with the new lawn mower and drawing ovals on his 2 new easels.  He got so many new books that are now some of his favorites.  He loved seeing his old teachers from BLS that came.  He (and we) had a happy, happy day!!!!!! 

Now I just have to sit down and finish writing thank you notes!   xoxo

Sneak Peek

William's birthday post is long over due but it's coming soon.  I'm sure the only people that really care are Mimi and Nana.  Here's a little sneak peek at our super fun day celebrating William James!

Smile for the camera?!?!  Why would I do that with all these people looking and singing at me?

Even the stamps had CHOO CHOO

I'm so in love with those baby blues.  Hard to say NO to all that cuteness!

I can't wait to share the rest!  We had the best birthday weekend (and it was so much easier than last years zoo party).

24 months old

It's still so hard to believe that two years have gone by since this little angel graced us with his presence!  We love him more than ever. 


Weight- 23 lbs 2 ounces (up 3 lbs in 6 months) ~ 4% on growth chart (down from 6%)
Height- 32.5 inches (up 2 inch in 6 months) ~ 13% (up from 2%)
Head Circumference- 20 inches (same) ~ 93% (up from 86%)

Eating- The last time I did a "monthly" post William was 20 months old.  I was still packing William's lunch everyday for school.  Since then W has really ventured out!  He wants to eat what everyone else is eating at school.  I'm so happy that he gets a variety of foods everyday.  His latest favorites are oatmeal and peas with guacamole mixed in.  He will eat the whole can of peas!  Cheese is still his #1.  He does a "happy dance" when you give him mac n cheese and he loves dipping things in ketchup.  :)  I'm so thankful to not have a picky eater!  William's tried chocolate out recently and he's a BIG fan.

Sleeping-  Unless William's sick, he does really well in this department.  He no longer gets a "goodnight bottle".  It didn't even phase him when we stopped giving it to him.  We just do the sippy cup and only give him water after dinner (next step is cup with straw).  W is usually in bed by 8:00 and wakes up around 6:00.  Nap time is the same, 12-2.  We still give William his paci in the car and during bedtime.  He has a cloth book that he sleeps with as well.  You know William's tired when he starts rubbing soft fabric between is his fingers.  It's his way of calming down and soothing himself. 
Development- We were able to answer all but 2 questions with "yes" at his yearly checkup.  Little buddy can't jump yet and he's not saying 50 words.  We've had him evaluated on speech delay and he didn't qualify.  He is behind for his age but not enough to need speech therapy.  He is able to understand and follow any directions but doesn't express everything in words (might be quiet like his daddy!).  He can kick a ball, say 2-3 words together, and follow directions such as bring me the shoes.  William calls all colors yellow and his favorite shape to point out and say is oval.  He knows most animal noises (elephant, lion, dog, cat, sheep, duck, cow...) and can recognize and say most of his family members names when he either sees them in person or in a picture (nana, mimi, papa, D, Skye).   
Personality- William is still really sweet but he is definitely in the independent toddler stage.  His favorite things to say right now are "It's Mine!" and "Stop".  Time out happens pretty frequently these days.  It really helps him to calm down and act a little nicer.  We're starting to see a stubborn side to our little man.  He still cracks us up!  He makes the funniest faces and is super silly when he's around people he knows.  The kids eyes and facial expressions speak volumes.      
Clothing size- He is still in a size 4 diaper and size 4 shoes.  This time last year he was wearing a size 1 or 2 shoe so we are making progress.  Most of his clothes are 18 months with a few 2Ts. 
Things mommy loves-
His little right arm still swings back and forth when he walks sometimes and he still loves giving us kisses!   I really love how much William loves music!  He and I are going to have some fun times together.  If Dancing With The Stars is on he'll stop everything to do a little dance himself.   
When he sees something that he thinks is cool he does the cutest "ooooooo" sound (see pic below).  It can be a book he's seen a million times, but if it has a truck in it he's in love. 
I love how he holds my hand while he's walking and he tells me about all his "boo boos" from falling down while we are driving in the car.
He still lets me cuddle with him and rock him for a few minutes before bed.  I could cuddle with that baby forever! 
Mommy stuff- When William was 22 months old I had my first night away from him! 
Thankfully, things around our house are a bit calmer since the moving and unpacking are DONE!  Eventhough we recently joined the YMCA I still only get to the gym twice a month.  Oh well, it's better than nothing and I get lots of exercise chasing after the little guy! 
Things WJG loves- William loves being outside!!!!  He will follow his daddy around "helping" him do yard work all day long.  He loves swinging at the playground and playing with his golf clubs.  He still doesn't pay much attention to the TV but if he hears DJ shuffle come on the Disney channel he breaks out in the cutest dance.  He also loves coloring on his new art easels!  Little man is still obsessed with vacuuming and actually requests that we get it out of the closet every day!  His other favorite outside toy is his lawn mower.  You can never be too much like your daddy.  :)
Things WJG doesn't like- Being the typical toddler, if it's not his idea it's probably not what he wants.  Getting him into the carseat can be challenging sometimes.  Same goes for getting him to leave the park.  The kid could play outside for an endless amount of hours.  I gave him a orange push pop the other day and he made the grossest face ever.  I guess we can put that on his NO list along with eggs. 
Favorite Things To Say- William is always saying "I'm stuck!".  If he's in the car seat for a long period of time or is wrapped up on the couch in a blanket he tells us he's stuck.  Pretty hilarious.  If something gets dirty or falls he says "ooooooohhhh NOOOO".  He does not like his hands to get dirty with food but doesn't mind dirt all over them.  "One More" is his other favorite saying.  If he really likes doing something he asks us "one more?".  The past three weekends he's gone on train rides (this is his current favorite thing to do).  As soon as we get on the train he looks at you and says "one more?"
Funny Dad Moments- Until the last week or so William has called both me and Gordon "mama".  He has been 100% certain that Gordon was also Mama.  It has been the cutest thing ever but poor Gordon just kept repeating himself, "No William. I'm Dada."  He's finally asking, "Where's Daddy?" when we get home in the evening! 
First time- William went to Austin for his first time in February and had his first hair cut right before that.  We visited the Children's Museum for the first time on St. Patrick's Day.
From the Doctor- Luckily, William didn't need any shots at this check up.  Dr. Freedman did say that his right ear still looked "congested".  It doesn't seem to be bothering William and we've been fever free for 3 weeks now.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that things clear up and we all stay healthy this summer! 
 

• He still love Goodnight Moon.
• I'm busy mom!
• This is the ohhhhh my gossssshhhhhhh face!
• He's so much bigger than the bear now.
• Being silly
• Such a big boy.  I'm hoping he stays in the crib until Christmas time.  Fingers crossed he doesn't start climbing out. 

Birthday Boy

The past two weekends have been jammed full of FUN!  Both sides of our immediate families came into Houston to celebrate William's 2nd birthday two weekends ago.  Every thing turned out so cute!  We had the best time with our friends, family and the choo choo we rented. 

William's actual birthday was this past Saturday.  It just happened to fall on the weekend of Easter so we were again surrounded by family and friends!  Gordon and I try to split up holidays between my family and his.  Since mine are in West Texas and his are in East Texas we have to pick one or the other....so we generally switch every other holiday.  Gordon will probably appreciate being in West Texas next Easter since the Spring pollen drives his allergies crazy!  (fyi Midland is like a desert so there's little pollen around.  haha)

I have about a million pictures to post from the last 14 days.  Here are just a few from this past Saturday. 

• Coloring with Chalk
• Taking it all in!
• This is the face he gives you when he thinks you're being crazy.  haha
• This kid LOVES bubbles
• Happy boy
• Finally able to blow his own bubbles without eating them all :)
• Aunt Emily is funny!

We have the little guys two year check up this week.  I'm excited to get all his "stats" for an official 2 year old post!

Birthday Party Details

I know this post about William's birthday details is a little delayed but I figured it's better late than never!  Having his party at the zoo was a bit difficult because we had to bring everything in, set up, take everything down and load it back up all in 2.5 hours.  I wasn't able to hang things where I really wanted....but by the time the party started I really didn't care.  As long as everyone was having fun!  I will say I'm looking forward to having W's party at our home next year.  :)

 

These adorable invitations came from Bering's.  You really can't go wrong shopping at Bering's!  If you live in Houston you must go. 

 

 

We had two long tables to work with so one of them was used for presents and the other for food.  My mom bought the white tablecloths online and I found the yellow chevron table runners on ETSY.  William's adorable birthday cake and smash cake were made by Elizabeth with Eggleston's Edibles (you can find her on Facebook).  One of the cake layers was strawberry and the other two vanilla.  It was delicious.  I made the fabric banner hanging behind the presents.  I had originally planned to use it as a photo backdrop but there wasn't a good place to hang it from.  I got the fabric at Wal-Mart, cut it into long strips and then tied it onto white rope.  William had fun helping with this project! 

 

 

One of my favorite things were the centerpieces on each of the tables...sweet William's hand prints on pots!  Half of the pots were yellow and the others white.  The white pots had giraffes on them (I don't have a very good picture of the final outcome) and the yellow had zebras.  My mom found the pots at hobby lobby and spray painted them all white.  I then spray painted 3 of those yellow (over the white).  The yellow turned out to be my favorite AND they held the hand print color better.    

 

Once the spray paint dried we did William's hand prints.  As you can imagine, this is no easy task with a squirmy little guy.  I found the ink pads for his hand prints at Michael's.  The giraffes were orange and the zebras were white.  To make the handprints into animal I used a Sharpie marker (black for zebra and brown for giraffe).  His thumb print made the head/neck and his pinkie the tail.  The chevron boxes that some of the pots sat on were just cardboard boxes wrapped in paper I found on Etsy.    

At our wedding instead of having a traditional sign in book I made a photo book for people to sign/write notes in.  I love this book because it has all of my favorite pictures and our closest friends/family wrote us sweet notes in it.  So, I decided to do the same thing for William's birthday party.  This is such a great way to get all of your pictures into one place and to help remember the people that celebrated a special day with you! 

Photo book from Snapfish

I had a mason jar with primary colored pens next to the photo book and pictures from William's one year photo session. 

 



The chalk board in the back of the above picture said "William is One".  I put all the things he loved at that time.  :)

 

I made William's birthday banner with my new Cricut.  I'm so glad I bought this...it's super easy to use and fast (two things that every mommy is looking for).  I was able to make the entire banner in less than an hour!  I can't wait to do another project and to have a little craft area in our next house for my fun gadgets.  For this banner I used 3 different layers of paper.  Blue, yellow chevron print paper and green.  I'm planning on doing primary colors again for his 2nd birthday since our labels didn't make it in time for this party so maybe I'll use the banner again too!  

 



The marshmallows were dipped in green candy melts (yummy) and put in a clear jar with banana runts on the bottom.  The water bottles were wrapped in green ribbon and had a zoo animal on them.  We also had chocolate cake balls with William's monogram on them.  They are Gordon's favorite! 

 

 

I got all the party favors at Oriental Trading Company.  Everything was zoo themed of course. :)  Each bag had bubbles, a note pad, an egg filled with m&ms, and a stamp.  I got William's initials (that are on the table in the picture above) at Wal-Mart too.  They are just wood letters that I painted green. 

 

If you're planning a party I'd highly suggest starting as far in advance as possible (less stressful that way).  It's nice to buy things a little at a time.  Hobby Lobby and Michael's are both great places to find party and craft supplies!  That's where I got my Cricut, all the paper used for the banner, the Wilton candy melts for the marshmallows, the cellophane bags for the party favors and much more.  Etsy is also great if you prefer to shop online.  I was able to find his monogrammed bib and birthday hat on Etsy as well as the other stuff I mentioned in this post.

 

 

Happy birthday planning to all you mommies out there!  

  

WJG Zoo Birthday Party

Like all the other milestone and special occasions in my life I had been planning William's first birthday party for years!  When he was first born I thought about doing a whale theme party.  But, when William was about 4 months old I changed my mind.  Over breakfast one morning Gordon and I were discussing when we should have the party since it would be the same weekend as his brother's wedding.  We both agreed that having it at our house (like we had originally planned) would be too stressful since there would be so much company in town (and lots going on).  So, we started talking about venues and the zoo came to mind.  I'll admit it was a little pricey to reserve the pavilion but we figured it would be worth it in the long run.
I got serious about buying and making things for the party after Christmas time.  Let me just tell you how time consuming party planning is...but I sure do love it!!  I'm going to do a separate post about all the party details.
Sunday morning we went to the hotel for breakfast so we could say goodbye to Ashley and Brandon.  Nobody had seen William all weekend so we decided to head to the galleria area.  :)  My parents came by the house after that to help me finish making the fruit kabobs, gift bags and to load everything up.  As I mentioned before, it was Earth Day at the zoo so parking was a nightmare.  Luckily, Alison and her mom were there to help me set everything up while the boys parked the car (and Skye watched William). 
We had fun visiting with all of our friends and their kiddos.  William's teacher and school friends, Britton and Amos, came too!  We sang happy birthday, opened presents, ate some yummy birthday cake and headed to the carousel.  By the time that was all over it was time to load back up.   
All in all things went good.  I was disappointed to not have one of the things I ordered back in February.  I had ordered the cutest labels for everything and they got lost in the mail.  The company sent them to me again but they didn't get to us in time.  :(  I was pretty bummed but already have next years birthday theme picked out and I'll be able to use them then.  Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend having a birthday party at the zoo.  Parking is too far away so it takes forever to get things in and out.  You only have the pavilion for 2.5 hours so it makes things quite chaotic!  If they'd had an area that we could put our stuff after the party (so we could walk around and enjoy the zoo) maybe I'd recommend it.  But....they don't.
We DID make great memories, spent time with some of our favorite people and William had a fun time....and that's all that matters.  :)  I know it was hard for people to find parking and make it to the party in time so THANK YOU to everyone that came.  Since becoming a mom I've learned just how protective mothers are.  I want everyone to treat William with kindness and love him as much as I do.  So, having everyone come out to the zoo to celebrate with us really warmed my heart!!! 
This past year has been jam packed with wonderful memories.  We've watched William learn to drink from a bottle, eat real food, sit up on his own, open Christmas presents, try birthday cake, crawl, babble and much much more.  We are so blessed to have wonderful families that have gotten to experience these things with us along the way.  I can hardly wait for all the new stuff that's to come over the next year.   :)

Birthday party guests-  some of my old co-workers: Anne and her 2 kiddos, Stacy with her girls, Rachel and her daughter and brand new baby, Jacqui and her son.  Gordon's buddies: Barteau, Cesar, Zito with his wife and adorable daughter and John Davis and Kendall with little Piper.  William's mimi, grandad, GG, Pop, Nana, Papa, Uncle D, Skye, cousin Susan and Daniel, his teacher (Ms. Melissa), 2 of his school friends and of course Alison, her mom and her 2 kids (that were such a big help!). 

• William looking at his pretty cake!  The adorable hand knitted elephant next to him is from his GG and Pop
• Opening presents (he loves playing with the paper).  Parker was our helper.
• With his Uncle D
• I love how he's smiling up at Gordon from his new wagon from Nana and Papa!  Melts my heart!!!
• Silly baby
• SO in love with my little family of 3
• Singing "happy birthday" again!  He thought the hat was pretty funny.
• With his mimi
• Hanging out with Ms. Melissa while we cleaned up.  Thank goodness she was there.  :)

ZOO!!!

I know it's taking me forever to post about William's birthday party at the zoo.  I'm hoping to post something by the end of the week.  There are just SO many pictures to pick from!  In the mean time I thought I'd post some of the pics from after the birthday party. 

Once the party was over and we'd cleaned up the pavilion we rented we had to load it all back into the cars.  It was Earth Day at the zoo so parking was a nightmare....it had taken Gordon forever to find a space in the paid parking garage so he decided to just head home and unload the stuff.  I was sad to not have him there to walk around the zoo with us but knew he was exhausted (and that the 3 of us have lots of opportunities to visit the zoo together).  Thankfully, it was a beautiful (and cool) day in Houston.  William's mimi and grandad walked around the zoo with her cousin while the rest of us went exploring and rode on the carousel a couple of times.  There were a ton of giraffes, the elephant was giving itself a bath, we saw some wild dogs, bears, a spider monkey, a sleepy lion and lots more!  

 



 

Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

• The whole gang in front of the jaguars
• Looking at the giraffes, zebras and ostrich on Uncle D's shoulders
• With his papa looking at the sleeping wild dogs
• William with his GG and pop.  He loves his pop's cane :)
• It was so fun watching the elephant take a bath
• First time on the carousel
• With Nana and Papa
• Loving the carousel ride!

 

I love looking at these pictures!  I'm just so glad that William has gotten to spend so much time with all of these people that I love so much.  Each one of them has made an impact in my own life so seeing William with them makes my heart smile.  I know we will cherish these pictures forever.  William will be able to look back and "remember" all these fun times with his family. 

I can't wait to see everyone again for our upcoming trip to Midland for a little Duck Dynasty fun.