**EDIT** Hi ya'll - guess what, I haven't died. I also had some partial posts. So now Andrew is almost 3....I'm mostly just gonna slap some pictures on here and forget about writing more. We are sooo behind ;)
You know, Walmart has some decent party supplies. I got a cute rainbow garland there for Henlie's second birthday, and then we found some awesome decor to go with Andrew's vintage space themed party. It makes me happy. But first, the invitation!
Okay, so Andrew's party theme was inspired by Owl City's song Alligator Sky. The video is whimsical with very vintage space influences. When I was pregnant with Henlie, I wanted this to be the theme if I had a boy. Well, she wasn't, but my hopes didn't change when Andrew came around :)
Those rocket drinks? They're actually pretty gross.
Shoutout to my aunt Koreen for making Andrew's cake!
Andrew shared his cake.
I used a new-to-me photographer for Andrew's 1 year photos, and I'm in LOVE! Jennifer of J.Lyn Fotos is freaking amazing, reasonably priced, laid-back, and the FASTEST turnaround time in the history of ever. (Heads-up, her business Facebook doesn't have anything from this year posted. She basically just puts teasers up on her personal page. Both are linked.) She does all sorts of photos, but I'd seen thousands of cake smashes of hers and opted to message her. She's a freaking cake smash pro, guys! Seriously, I can't sing her praises highly enough. Anyway, here are some shots from Andrew's session.
Obviously I took this during the shoot, but her setup was so fantastic that even my phone camera got some great shots with no edits at all :)
Also, at the time, she had purple hair. Awesome!
Shout-out to my aunt, Koreen, who did Andrew's cake.
Left: Pinspiration, Right: Koreen's cake.
Fabulous.
Some pre-cake cuteness.
She also gave me this in a black and white, which I totally framed for his room. LOVE it :) And I'm picky when it comes to B&Ws :)
I love that she had a little bench. Henlie had some with her Piglet on a bench at her 1 year photos, and now Andrew has some on a little bench with his Osito. Not planned, but totally cool :)
And this is the one hanging in the living room :)
Cake, pre-smash :)
"What is this?"
Jen and I were talking while we were waiting for Koreen to bring the cake and I predicted Andrew would have no issues with cake smashing. My boy proved me right. He dug in :)
I absolutely LOVE that she captured this. I was just swinging the rocket back around for better pictures, and he nommed it. Jen was awesome and got the shot :)
mmm those baby blues :)
I think the cake was definitely a "smash." ;)
Koreen opted for a smoothing buttercream. It was her first time doing it. I think she nailed it. She wanted it to be yummy and to make a bigger mess haha. Andrew was definitely a fan. The cake was a little dense for him to actually dig into, but he enjoyed his frosting all the same.
Also, you can see the progression of his tie. That frosting had a lot of fats in it. I tried hand washing it with laundry detergent, but it was still very oily. Next, dish soap. Dish soap is the answer, my friends. The tie is like new again. :)
Shout-out to Littlest Prince Couture, where I found his tie. LOVE them. I've also since bought him a long-sleeve onesie there, and it's great. (No, I'm not compensated by them, I just really appreciated their selection, quality, and everything, so go check them out! Also, join their birthday club, and your little prince can get a free tie for his b-day!)
It was a truly great experience. Henlie played with Jen's daughters while we were taking Andrew's pictures. Jennifer was amazing to work with. And seriously, the FASTEST turn around time ever! Plus, I love her editing. I can't say that about a lot of photogs these days. (Sorry, I like bright and vibrant, not the faded vintage-y look that seems super popular. Though I'm sure she'd do that for you too if you wanted!) So, big thanks to Jennifer!
Saturday, November 14th, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner with Matt's family while we were all in the same place still. Thanks to Curtis and Jackie's visas for Korea, they ended up still being in Utah for a couple weeks after we moved back from Peru. Originally, we were just going to miss them, so for once, a government worked in our favor so we could see them again :)
The Thanksgiving crew!
Mom wanted a musical number by Curtis and Jackie before they left.
The rest of the crew.
Yes, Mocha attends family events.
Poor Charlie wasn't feeling well.
Mom had us all make pies. We decided to combine Henlie's birthday with dinner, so I let her choose what pie we made. She picked apple. That was a fun adventure as neither Matt nor I had made an apple pie before. It turned out yummy, though. Fun story, at dinner, there were also some chocolate options....and so Henlie had chocolate and no apple pie...
The vents in the pie spelled out "Happy birthday Henlie!"
Aunt Lynell and Uncle John got her some fruit snacks and some cowgirl dolls with horses.
It was so fun to be able to celebrate with the whole family. Michelle and Jennifer also brought their boyfriends, who are both named Braden lol. Michelle's Braden actually is a friend of mine from work, so that's fun. Jennifer's Braden was such a doll playing with the kids. Both of the girls probably read this, as does my mother-in-law, but I'm just going to throw it out there that if they both stick, I'm totally okay with this ;)
Henlie petting Devan.
Braden and the girls.
Andrew had been watching football on the TV :)
Ring-Around-the-Rosie with Jenn, Kayla, and Charlie.
I am so grateful for the family I married into. They are wonderful and warm. I love them all so much. Really, I don't think a girl could ask for better in-laws :)
All of the grandkids together.
Andrew, Henlie, Charlie, Danica, Christopher, and Zachary
Other Braden, Jennifer, Michelle, Braden the First
My Dad made breakfast of French toast and bacon. My Dad makes awesome breakfasts. They make me happy. Also, I love the toast at their house. So yummy!
Matt helped Mari and Ryan move some stuff and then unload the rest of their truck at their storage shed. That afternoon, we went to Furniture Row to look at couches, dining sets, and kids' beds. We found a potential couch and table, but no kid bed.
Gloria picked up a cake at Costco. Henlie was so excited it had a dinosaur on it! She kind of loves dinosaurs haha. She'll still tell you about her dinosaur cake, too.
We also had family over for cake for Henlie's birthday. Henlie has sort of enjoyed a "birthday month" between festivities at El Hornero a couple of days before, birthday wishes on her birthday, a present from Grandma Biggs the day after, presents from Mom and Dad after her birthday back in the US, cake here the weekend after her birthday, and singing and a present from Aunt Lynell the weekend after that. I think she has rather enjoyed it.
Happy girl with her dinosaur cake, crayon candles, and birthday song!
She blew them out in one go!
Video of the singing and her blowing out the candles.
Henlie "reads" her card from Grandma and Grandpa Erdmann.
Other thankful bonuses:
Super yummy dinner. The meatballs were really good :)
Aunt Joanie was there for Time Out for Women. Bonus family!
We got to visit with Uncle Nolan in the morning for a bit. This was an extra blessing as he has since been hospitalized after having multiple strokes.
So our friend Andrés bought our mattress from us, but since he had an airport run at 6am, he picked it up last night. This meant we had to put the crappy mattress that came with the apartment back to sleep on. I...maybe laid on our mattress, stroked it, and said my goodbyes....maybe :) It's the best mattress we've ever slept on, and it's at least 1,000 times better than the box that passes for a mattress in the apartment. There's a reason we spent money on a new one for a year's use when we already had one.
Let me just tell you, I'm super glad it was only one night on it. And I sure hope it's way more awesome than what Andres has been using because the mattress from the apartment is truly awful. I'm so grateful for the mattress we bought, and that I was only without it for one night before we move home.
Also, today I have to be thankful for my little Henlie. Today is her third birthday! She has been blessed with many messages and Facebook comments wishing her a happy birthday. She is such a good big sister to Andrew. They sure love each other :) She has been trying to help me pack. (Never mind I have to take her things out of the suitcase to rearrange things :) I love that she wants to help :)) She's my little porcelain doll. She has a very big personality and loves to exercise her independence. She keeps growing up, too. She's gained probably at least two inches in the last three months. It's fun to see how tall she has gotten over the last year. For example, she can reach the elevator button in our building all on her own without even having to stretch much. It's also fun to look back at pictures a year ago and see just how much her hair has grown. She's our little smarty-pants with her own opinions. She tells fun stories and it's amusing to hear how her mind works sometimes.
Packing her things to go to "Mutah," yes, even Piglet!
She definitely tries our patience often, but we sure do love our little girl!
Henlie and Andrew (and Mom and Dad) were invited to Sebastian's second birthday party on July 18th. He had a Toy Story themed birthday. Let me tell you a little about Peruvian birthday parties (as we've been subjected to many in the common area at our house as well). They go all out. There is a theme. The spread is Pinterest-worthy, as is the decor. There is music, and it is loud. There are favors and games and characters and puppet shows (pick two, at least three, if not all four of those). Parties are serious affairs here. That said, we'll get back to the specifics of Sebas's party :)
Leslie (Sebastian's mom) had cowboy hats for all of the kids, black for boys and red for girls.
My little Jessie.
The only picture of the spread I got.
Estefani, Melany, and Leslie setting out food before everyone arrived.
It's .... the claw.
ooOOoo
It even could go up and down :)
Aaron (Leslie's brother) arrived and DJed. Adults chatted. Kids played. A puppet show arrived with a life-sized Jessie.
Sebas's awesome Buzz Lightyear wings.
It even has lights on the wings :)
Watching the puppet show with life-size Jessie.
It's Mickey!
We only stayed for about two hours. It was getting crowded and we only do well hanging out places for a few hours at a time anyway. And loud. It was very loud. So we said our goodbyes and left as the children's games were starting. Leslie sent us home with a goodie bag (and game prizes) for both Henlie and Andrew. Henlie liked "sharing" Andrew's candy :)
Andrew wondering what's going on.
Me wearing Henlie's hat. Henlie was pretty done at this point.
There were even too many kids and too much noise for her to handle.
We had a good time visiting with our friends and getting to celebrate Sebas's 2nd birthday. Feliz cumple, Sebas!
