Crazy Chaos

I keep describing our life right now as crazy chaos! Between living in transition (we're living with my in-laws a.k.a. Mimi and PopPop, while we do some renovations to our new house), one of us being sick just about every week this Fall including being hit with the stomach bug TWICE, trying to help Mimi (who has a broken femur and can't do a lot on her own) when PopPop is out-of-town for work every couple of weeks, working on the house, parenting two little kiddos, a busy weekly schedule, the list goes on and on...things are just a little crazy right now. Blogging, unfortunately, has taken a major backseat, but I finally got all caught up. Don't miss the posts below:

Matthew's First Birthday

Let's Party

Fall Fun

Fall Fun

I have gotten so behind in blogging this Fall (see Crazy Chaos post above). Here are some different things we've been up to that I never blogged about. This is my mini catch-up post.

We were BOOED! Our neighborhood has this fun tradition:

 I STLL haven't figured out who BOOED us, but whoever it was spoiled us for sure! There were even more treats in our bag than pictured below:

 Caroline was SO excited about getting BOOED and said "this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me" :-) That cracked me up!! We followed all of the directions and hung up our sign then BOOED two more friends. I wonder who they were??

 Caroline currently LOVES the show Max & Ruby. She thinks it's so cool that Ruby has a little brother just like her. Matt bought tickets to take her to the Live Max & Ruby show...it was supposed to be a fun daddy/daughter date. However, Matt got really sick with a terrible stomach virus (again, see Crazy Chaos post above) so I got to take Caroline on a mommy/daughter date instead. It was so fun! Caroline couldn't believe she was seeing the "real" Max & Ruby characters.

 Recently, Caroline was giving her brother practice walking while Matt watched football. She steered the car while Matthew pushed it. Very cute!

 Family chapel at Caroline's preschool:

(L to R: Cecilia, Natalie, Emory & Caroline)

 Emory, Caroline and Jack

 We have gotten to celebrate some sweet friends this Fall. I finally remembered to bring my camera to Amelia's 2nd birthday:

 Lainey and Caroline

 Craziness in the bounce house:

 Last but not least, I got to participate in "A Meaningful Christmas" ornament exchange (thanks, Chelle). Check out all of the details here. I am beyond excited to do these daily devotionals with our family this Christmas season. It will be wonderful to have this "tool" to help keep our focus on the TRUE reason for the season.

Let's Party!

Saturday, Novermber 12th was Matthew's 1st birthday party! We had a small party at my mom's house. The guest list mainly consisted of our family, community group from church and a few close friends. Matthew loves to push his little red wagon and go for wagon rides so a red wagon-themed party was a no-brainer for our little guy.

Angie outdid herself yet again...she matched the birthday cake, smash cake and cookies-on-a-stick (party favors) to our invitation:

 The small cake table and Matthew's invitation:

 I ordered a cute banner off Etsy but didn't get in time due to horrible mail-forwarding issues. Luckily, my mom had a back-up banner! Matt's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their vintage wagon to hold Matthew's presents:

 Matthew's monthly pictures...a Pinterest idea, of course :-)

 We set up toys inside for the babies to play with:

 Outside, we set up a few tables (thanks, Amy!!) and a bounce house (thanks, Lacy!) for the big kids to play in:

 Party favors/table centerpieces:

 Sweet birthday boy!!

 Caroline was so excited to see Eleanor:

 Matthew, eating lunch, with our friend Ben in the background:

 This cute little dude, Aaron, is Kelly's son...Kelly is one of my best friends from Baylor:

 My brother was kind enough to grill out burgers for the party.
Some of the guys getting food:

 Wagon filled with drinks...another Pinterest idea!

 Most of our community group (we missed you, Julie & the Matthews!)

 Sweet Kate...Caroline looks up to this "big girl" so much:

 Some of the fam: Nannie, PopPop, Mimi (broken leg and all!) and my Aunt Jean:

 Can you believe these boys are only 4 months apart?!? Aaron's dad is tall :-)

 Caroline, eating lunch with Eleanor, Amelia and Elizabeth:

 More pics of our guests:

 Waiting for his cake...the look on his face cracks me up:

 "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to Matthew. Happy birthday to you!!!"

 Mimi & Matthew...Mimi was such a trooper to come to the party with her broken leg:

 Two of my favorite people in the world:

 Best family pic we could get:

 Caroline opened Matthew's presents after all of our friends and family went home:

 These climbing blocks from my aunt and Nannie were a huge hit:

I did a terrible job taking pictures of our guests. I was too busy talking, imagine that ;-)
Thank you to all of our wonderful friends & family for helping us celebrate Matthew. He is one loved little boy!!