Lyla's 1st Birthday Party!!

For Lyla's first birthday we had planned a swim party with ice cream!!  The weather man kept saying it was going to rain on the party day, but seriously I never thought twice about it actually raining!  It was AUGUST in Austin!  You're supposed to be able to have a swim party!  

BUT...It rained that morning and it was too much to risk getting rained on at the party.  So, we moved the party to our house.  If I had actually though ahead I would have come up with some activities for the kids to do, but again, I never thought it would rain!  That means there were lots of kids and adults just hanging out at our house.  I'm thankful for Cade's train table because that seemed to keep them entertained for a little while.  Not sure what the kids did the whole time though...ha!  Also, thankful for Ryan, Cole, and Judith who helped set up the party!  yea, I will repay the favor when y'all have kids!

I really enjoyed making all of the fun decorations for Lyla's party!! It's fun having a girl.  We had ice cream cupcakes and then ice cream sundaes with lots of toppings!

I made some "ice cream cone balloons" for decoration.  They didn't turn out as cute as I thought but the kids loved them!!  Cade's face is priceless here!

Ryan and Cole actually made the tutu skirt! 

Lyla enjoyed it!

Then liked their picnic on the kitchen floor!

Happy birthday song!!  not a fan of the hat!

At first Lyla didn't know what to think of her cake.   Cade showed her how to eat it without getting messy!

Our family..plus Harper :)  She fits right in!

she started to get the hang of the icing!

yup!!! That's my child!! 

 You have to watch the video of Lyla below...I can't believe how messy she got!

Presents!!

Birthday girl face!

She was overwhelmed and needed a hug from daddy!!  Such a girl!!  I love this picture!!

Lyla turns ONE!!!

I know that every mom says..."I can't believe my child is one (or any age for that fact)", but honestly I sometimes still can't believe I have two kids!  So, the fact that Lyla is ONE, just baffles me!  I wonder if I cherished every moment and all the wonderful milestones that she reached in her last year.  I also worry about the "second child syndrome".  I had been using some of Cade's leftover labels for cups and bottles on Lyla's stuff and realized the deserved her own!  There are many other hand me downs that she has used and will have to use the rest of her life, but at least her cups say her name on it and not Cade's.  It's the little things right??

Ryan and I try to have traditions on birthdays that aren't elaborate, but something fun we can do every year.  I'm sure we'll add or take away as they get older, but it's fun to start traditions.  Ryan's mom always made him homemade breakfast on his birthday (which BTW I still carry on) then his dad would take him around Austin to do fun things (movies, golf, etc.).  They try to still do that when time permits.  Ryan has great memories because of this so I we are going to try to keep the same up for our kids!

Since Lyla was only turning one and Ryan had to work on her birthday we didn't do a lot, but I did make a fun breakfast.

Here's some traditions that we have started:

-The Birthday wreath got hung during the month of August.  Cade somehow broke the wreath into 4 pieces a few weeks ago, so it will have to be fixed, but I have until February to figure it out!

-Both Ryan and I woke up Lyla and sang to her.

-We hung balloons outside her bedroom door.

-Special breakfast.  As they kids get older I'll let them pick what they want!  Can't wait for that.

Pumpkin Pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries!

 Time for Presents!!!

I made her a little Owl Purse since she always wants to play with mine.

We gave her a little tea set that sings and makes tea noises.  This is what my face looks like when I have a British accent.

Too much tea!

Cade asking Ryan if he'd like some tea!

Happy Birthday my sweet girl!!!  You have such a personality and I can't wait to see what you become.  With your social skills it will be wonderful to see how many people's lives you touch.  

Ryan's 33rd Birthday!

Ryan's 33rd birthday was last week.  He doesn't always want a big "to do" for his birthday, but it's hard for me to ignore it.  This year he wanted to just hang with the family and do some fun park things.  It was one of his last days before he started the police academy so we wanted to make it count.

When we got married, Ryan told me that his mom always made him homemade breakfast tacos on the morning of his birthday.  So, guess what?  Yup I've done it 6 times!  I don't really care for my homemade breakfast tacos, you can buy some so much better at Bill Miller for like $1.25, but I guess traditions are priceless!  

Cade got to eat a taco, too and loved it!  Especially, daddy's orange juice!

I surprised Ryan with tickets to see David Crowder that night and had already arranged for some good friends to meet us and for his mom to watch the kids! 

I also made Ryan a frame with our hand prints cut out and put inside.  I love how it turned out and already hung it on the wall!

We headed to Butler park to go fly a kite!  We found Cade a super cheap McQueen and Mater kite!  When we put it together he loved it!  I'm not sure if he knew what it was at first, but once we got it in the air he was so excited! 

We decided to let Cade hold it himself.  He loved it and you can also see how entertained Lyla was.

 Well, Cade let go of the kite and we were not expecting the wind to take the kite away.  It really wasn't that windy!  Ryan tried to chase after the kite.  He came really close to the handle and then the kite went towards the hike and bike trail and then probably over Lady Bird Lake!  I was laughing so hard watching Ryan chase after the kite!  Hopefully he won't have to chase kites in his APD training!  

Here's a picture that says it all!

My loves!

I love the kids' expressions!  They are so alike!

In case Ryan has only told you that Lyla cries, here's Lyla super happy!  She really loves her daddy! Oh, and I grabbed a hat really quickly on the way out for Lyla.  It was actually Cade's from when he was only a few months old.  It totally didn't fit Lyla!

Feeding the turtles and fish Cade and Lyla's snacks.

Then, we went to a bounce house and Lyla and Cade played until they could barely walk (or crawl).  We had so much fun; I hate to think about the next time that our family will get to do these fun outings!  Hurry up December! :)

We got home and put the kids in bed and then got ready for our concert.  We left before the kids even woke up from their naps.  We went to eat at The County Line BBQ and met up with the drummer in Theophany (also on APD) and his wife.  They are such sweet friends!

David Crowder was awesome and hysterical.  I really love sitting next to Ryan and worshiping!  It doesn't happen very often.  Ryan is usually on stage leading others to worship! I love when we can worship the Lord while laughing at the same time! 

 Happy Birthday!