On August 17th we had a party to celebrate Hudson's 2nd birthday. I swore to keep his party simple this year, but just couldn't help myself and went a little over board. ;) I spent a few weeks making adorable things like water bottle labels, signs, tying ribbons around mason jars, decorating a flower pot full of pictures and memories of Hudson's 1st year at Disneyland, picking out pictures to hang of this past year at Disneyland and making goodie bags for the kids. I bought Mickey themed photo booth props, straws and Minnie and Mickey ears off etsy. I also found Mickey pasta on amazon, which was fun. I ordered Hudson's cake and cake pops from CakeGoodness. The rest I re-used from Oliver's party last year (Mickey centerpieces, the banner, food labels and food flags. I was really organized and had most of the house set up early in the week. I started making food on Saturday and felt like I was in good shape when I left for Jen's bridal shower. When I got home with my CakeGoodness goodies I was surprised to find that the cake pops I ordered were not what I expected. The ones I had gotten last year had red bottoms with yellow buttons and were individually wrapped with bows. These were just plain and looked like something I could make. I should have just let it go and continued with my timeline, but I am a crazy, hormonal pregnant woman, so instead, I set out on a mission to buy all the things I would need to make the cake pops myself. I stayed up until 4 am making mickey cake pops, along with some red and yellow cake pops and wrapping each pop individually. I then got up at 7am the next morning to finish the party prep.
We had lemonade, fruit punch and mickey apple juice pouches to drink (along with the water bottles). To eat we had mickey shaped watermelon, mickey nuggets, hot diggity dogs (pigs in a blanket), Mickey pizza pasta salad, and subway sandwiches. For dessert we had brownie bites, cupcakes, mickey rice krispie treats and cake pops. We also had red vines and m&ms in the colors of the party. We rented a Mickey Mouse bounce house (with a basketball hoop and slide inside), set up our ball pit, had a bubble station and had the photo booth up and running. Sabrina made flower arrangements and my parents brought their tables and chairs to set up outside.
The bounce house was a huge hit! Brooke lost her first tooth inside! It worked out perfect because the big kids really liked the slide side which meant the little kids could bounce without being bounced too hard by big kids. Towards the end of the party, we turned the water on and made the slide a water slide for the big kids, which they loved! The kids also really liked playing with the bubbles and the ball pit! It was great because it meant that they spent most of the time outside. :) The parents seemed to have the most fun in the photo booth and I hope they enjoyed taking the photos home from it. I know I have had a blast looking through all the pictures. At one point, Jordan's twins and Hudson posed by themselves in front of it so Jordan started it for them. What crack ups!!
Hudson was so cute when we sang Happy Birthday to him. He sings it almost every day by the candles on our stairs and practices blowing out the candles so I figured he would be into it. He kept asking for more, so we re-lit the candle at least 3 times for him! haha.
We attempted to get a picture of all the kids with the Mickey and Minnie ears (Leah, Hudson, Sage, Gracie, Madie, Kaia, Lucy, Liam, Gracin, Conner, and Brooke. Not pictured: Ava and Ruby)
After a rather long, but very fun day, Hudson opened a few presents with my family, then went down for his nap. When he woke up we went out to enjoy the bounce house one last time before they came to pick it up. I wasn't sure how Hudson was going to react to it since in the past he has only lasted about 2 minutes in them before getting freaked out by other kids and wanting out, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that he loved it! He was running and jumping over and over again! He had the hugest grin on his face the entire time he was in there and even days after his party was still talking about the giant bounce house!
Here are just a few of the photo booth pictures. There were so many good ones, it was hard to pick just a few to share. As you can imagine, by the end of the day my body was so sore and I was exhausted, but Hudson had such a fun day, in fact I think everyone did, so it was all worth it. His party was definitely a success and I'm so glad he got to have his special day without me going into labor. ;)
On May 16th, Hudson and I went to meet Ava and play with Leah. We brought over some homemade scones, cream and jam. Some outfits for Ava and a Doc McStuffins doctor set for Leah. The Doc McStuffins set was a big hit and the kids started playing with it right away. We stayed for lunch and the kids played with stamps, watched parts of Frozen, and played with Leah's toys. They actually played really nice together and Vivian and I got a chance to catch up. Little Ava is so adorable and I'm so glad we got to meet her.
On March 7th, I had my 12 week NT scan with Dr. Devore. Kids aren't allowed, so Nic watched Hud in the parking lot, then went to work after the appointment. Everything looked great with the baby and the doctor told me I was off the a great start! He knew I had done the Panorama test instead of the standard test and I could tell he was happy with that decision. He told me not to tell me what the gender was. Then he made his guess based on the ultrasound and he was right. So along with the 98% accuracy of the blood test, the doctor also confirmed the gender. What a precious little cutie I've got in my belly!!
After the appointment, Hudson and I went to the Magic Playground with Vivian and Leah. Hudson and Leah had a blast. They didn't spend a whole lot of time playing together, but they still had a great time. :)
We grabbed lunch at Lemonade with Vivian and Leah. On our way home, I decided since Hudson's nap was doomed for the day anyways, we might as well stop by and visit Oma and Opa.Hudson was so sweet with both of them. He held Oma's hand and gave both Oma and Opa lots of kisses.
On March 27th, Hudson and I had a play date with Vivian and Leah. We went over to their house for lunch (we had my favorite thai place) then let the kids play while we talked. Leah was so cute! She kept hugging Hudson. He was a bit overwhelmed and kept trying to escape and she kept saying, "more baby." haha. I guess now is as good a time as any to get him used to aggressive older women. ;)
