Sunday:

We have pretty lax house rules on Sundays

We put on pants long enough to hit up Target

And acted like mature adults at BJ's

Monday:

For the first time in 25 weeks, I have NO pictures from a day. I was too sick to care if my kid wore clothes or ate anything besides jelly beans, which means I was definitely too sick to carry my phone around taking snapshots of things like the doctor’s office or the back of my eyelids.

Tuesday:

I was still sick so I asked Brutus to babysit

I don't think he's going to say yes next time

I braved taking both kids to the ped for Caroline's 4 months check-up, and Little Evan was the best behaved 2 year old ever

Wednesday:

I spent an hour looking for just the right thing to make with this yarn but haven't found it yet

Little Evan put boots in one bag and shoes in the other and told me BAH-BYEEE!

Caroline is shocked he wants to leave. "But they have so much MILK here!"

Thursday:

This face was because I wouldn't let him ACTUALLY put on mascara instead of pretend to put on mascara. It was a rough morning.

But things got better after some orange slices and water in a big boy cup

Brutus was thrilled there was finally a patch of sunlight to lie in

Friday:

The Evan's check out the touch tank at the aquarium, where we had a playdate with bloggy friends!

I taught Caroline to stick out her tounge when I stick out mine

Evan and I took a super fun solo-trip to (shocking) Target at BJ's. I love going places with JUST ONE kid.

Saturday:

We went to Home Depot to look at paving stones, but it was POURING & the stone were outside

Caroline modeled one of her new headbands

And a onesie to celebrate her first Easter

The rest of Saturday we hid inside, partly from the rain, partly because Little Miss Caroline is teething and NO ONE wants to hear the noise she makes when her teeth are bothering her. I am seriously considering buying earplugs. Tomorrow I get to surprise the kids with Easter Baskets, whip up a batch of cheddar-rosemary scones and head over to a wonderful friend’s house for Easter dinner and toddler play time.

Amy’s busy planning for Parker’s big 1st birthday so there’s no linky today. But hopefully we’ll be back next Saturday!

Linky is up! Better late than never!

Little Evan is so lucky to have so many awesome friends. Because even though all the decorations and fancy food is for me, the party is still for him, and he LOVES other kids. LOVES THEM. He would spend all day giving hugs if his friends would hold still long enough – but he’s just as happy to chase them in circles while laughing his little red head over off and running like a weirdo. Seriously, the boy has the STRANGEST run ever. I should get it on video.

Here are some of the GORGEOUS children from our party. Seriously, how is it possible all my friends have such good looking kids?

Caroline wore polka-dots to fit in with our theme

A was really excited about the balloons

M had the BEST time in the ball pit. I should tell her mama to bring her over any time for more jumping.

Luckily the weather was nice enough for the porch swing. My friend Sarah's kids also dressed for our theme!

Running-start hug for my Aunt Susan. I was surprised so many kids wore the hats!

Tip toes to reach a balloon

T and his crazy hair in the ball pit

I know I've posted a zillion pics of J already but isn't this BEAUTIFUL? My dad took it.

C really enjoyed his fruit and veggies. His mama made him that vest!

N loved having her picture taken

And I recycled the photo booth from the circus party last year. I once again failed to get good pictures of everyone, especially with the weird afternoon light and the smallish backdrop. Next party I’ll use more fabric on a better-lit wall. If I can find one of those in my house.

Please note the headband I made that matches Little Evan's shirt. AM CRAFTY.

I have more, but I’ll save them for a Facebook album so people who’s kids are in them can steal and share them easily. Thank you so much to everyone who came! You made our celebration special!!

Wheeeee! Date Night! Pretty good way to turn 29, even if we didn’t manage to stay up late enough to celebrate my birthday’s arrival at midnight. Please enjoy checking out your reflecting in the shine off my face in this picture taken with a flash:

On E:
Sweater: American Eagle
Jeans: Levi’s
Shoes: No idea, and E’s answer is “I dunno, they’re SHOES”
Cologne: Aqua Di Gio, which, if you could smell it through my computer screen, would make you want to make out with him immediately.

On Me:
Dress: Charlotte Russe
Jeans: Old Navy
Heels: Nine West
Sweater: Walmart (yeah, I said it)
Rosette Necklace: Allora Handmade
Bag: Epiphanie camera bag – my birthday present!

I think the dress needed a belt, but it was so comfortable I couldn’t bring myself to care if it made me look sort of wide. Also, I am sort of wide. But it’s not like anyone cared what I was wearing – they were all too busy admiring my GORGEOUS new camera bag. SO GORGEOUS. And I don’t know if you can tell (and I doubt you spend enough time examining pictures of my head to notice) but I dyed my hair for the second time this month. The last color wasn’t blond enough but THIS color isn’t pale enough. I think my mistake is I keep picking shades labeled “natural extra light blond” or “natural pale yellow blond” or “natural sort of reddish blond even though the picture on the box is not at all red”. What I really want is a whiter blond, like a less dramatic Gwen Stefani, but I’m soooo scared of the boxes labeled “cool” or “ash”. I don’t know why. It’s not like I couldn’t just dye it again if I hate it – and it would probably be better to START with the most dramatic color so I don’t end up frying the crap out of it dying it every month.

It is amazing how much I both LOVE and HATE dying my hair.

Today I am rocking the dry shampoo AND the headband, along with worn-in jeans and a sweatshirt so I can go do a little child-free shopping in comfort. I might swing by Goodwill (the closest thing we have to a real thrift store) later and see if they’ve stocked anything worth rescuing so the next time I do a Steppin’ Out I can wear something “vintage”. I feel so left out with my retail store bought clothes.

I hope you had a fantastic Saturday too! For more Steppin’ Out fun, go check out the links at Harper’s Happenings!

PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK OF THE 2ND BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Sunday:

BJ's run for party supplies

I glued these to toothpicks, to make sharp pointy things the kids wanted to play with. Genius.

I tried out my cake recipe and disovered piping adorable swirls of frosting onto cupcakes is a lot harder than it looks

Monday:

My kitchen counters became ground zero for all the junk I needed to put away

I went to Joann's and did NOT buy the fancy bedazzler. It took a lot of will power.

Balloons for Little Evan's birthday photos

Tuesday:

I made a quick birthday shirt for Little Evan to wear to Stroller Strides

Celebrating his birthday by crawling under his dog instead of letting me take his picture

And then Little Evan refused to sit in his stroller for a picture. At least Caroline is still forced to pose for me.

Wednesday:

When you're 2, Mommy lets you play on her iPad. Sometimes. With a lot of supervision.

We went to Target & got Starbucks - Evan gets a cup of whipped cream so he doesn't feel left out

Caroline reminds me she lives here too by being adorable

Playing with his new Color Wonder finger paints. NON-TOXIC finger paints. Because yeah, he ate some.

Thursday:

The baking aisle is fascinating

His new favorite word is "Messsssss!" so he makes them just to say it

My parents came into town for the party & took us out to dinner. Little Evan was super well behaved.

Friday:

I tried to find a polka dot shirt/dress for the party and discovered I am WAY too old for Forever 21. Apparently 29 is when you stop being 21 forever.

He's blurry because he didn't stand still the ENTIRE DAY. No nap either.

We finally got the crib up in Caroline's nursery so she can actually sleep there (someday)

Saturday (Part 1):

It's a good think I started baking at 8 am because I frosted the cake at 1:45 - the party started at 2.

The remains of my cake, after the party. It was delicious.

Birthday spoils. We have such amazing and generous friends and family!

Saturday (Part 2):

My folks watched the kids so E and I could have a date night, so we went to Mohegan Sun Casino (5 minutes from our house)

This is The Atrium, the martini bar in the middle of the casino. The whole place is so gorgeous. (This pic is SOOC and by C I mean iPhone)

My 2 favorite kinds of food - fancy and Mexican - from Sol Toro

Our winnings! Ok, not really. We broke exactly even after an hour and a half of blackjack. That totally counts as a win though.

The casino also has Krispy Kreme. Best place ever? I THINK SO. I had a lemon-filled.

The week was totally crazy but Saturday was SO much fun it was all worth it. Celebrating 2 years of being a mommy (because, really, that’s what a huge birthday is when your kid is 2) followed by grown up fun (for the first time since I became a mommy) made for the best day ever. Even if E and I were both totally exhausted and came home at 10:30 to crash. I am so grateful to my parents & my Aunt Susan who came up to help. But now the crazy time is over and I cannot even describe to you how much sitting down and laziness will be occurring around here today. SO MUCH SITTING DOWN.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

(I apologize for the words, I just couldn’t stop myself. Also for the ridiculous number of photos. Again, unavoidable.)

OK, I GUESS he needed a haircut.

Holding still like a big boy!

Family photo!

The reflection is the best part

He got a little antsy at the end so I held him. E did not take any pictures of that.

The new hair make him look so serious!

Pretending to be a little kid (For the record, he's never used a paci. He was joking.)

THERE'S my baby. Next haircut on his 4th birthday.