a dog party

William's third birthday party was so fun. Exhausting and I wonder why I have to go so "over the top" for a party that he probably won't remember . . . but really fun. David and I were so tired that night and I asked him if it was worth it. He thought so and it seemed that Will had a wonderful time though so I'd say it was. I'm so thankful to my mom for helping me so much over the last few days and to my in-laws for coming in at the eleventh hour and helping set up and clean up. I have awesome family.

Obviously, since Will is obsessed with dogs, I thought that the theme had to be dogs so that's where I started. 

David had this adorable idea to build a dog house for the kids to play in. Will and his friends aren't exactly at an age where they want to play games and the dog house was a hit. We put some kid chairs and a table with stuffed doggies in there and the kids loved to run in and out of it.

We grilled up hot dogs and then had a hot dog station with different "recipes" for gourmet hot dogs so that people could try different kinds. I was told the popular combination was a little of everything. :)

Also on the menu was a dill "pawtato" salad and a veggie pasta salad (made by my sister-in-law),

"pawtato" chips,

and we served some "toilet water" to drink. 

I also made puppy chow (or muddy buddies) and put out some Scottie dogs and "dog treats" (pretzel sticks with mini marshmallows at the end, dipped in melted white chocolate). 

My super artistic mother-in-law even drew puppy dog faces on the balloons that we tied to the gate to let people know to come in the back yard. The kids loved taking them home. Can you believe she just free-handed these faces?

Will was not in the mood to stand still for a photo op because he was so excited for his party. This is the best picture I got. By the time his friends got here he was running around and squealing with delight. Seeing him so happy made all the hard work worth it.

I loved seeing some of my closest friends all in my backyard talking, laughing, smiling. It was lively and fun and everyone seemed to enjoy the food and that's always a big win. :)

I had planned on making a big chocolate cake for Will for his birthday because every time I asked him what he wanted for his birthday the only thing he would say was, "Choc-oh-late" and later he moved onto "Choc-oh-late cake". I'm so proud. So, obviously chocolate cake had to be on the menu. Instead of torturing myself with making a cake big enough to feed 30 people I just headed to Costco and bought one of their amazing chocolate cakes and it was more than enough.

When everyone started singing Happy Birthday, Will plugged his ears. I think he thought the candles were going to explode or something. Ha!

 Then he got into it and it was really cute.

And I let him lick the candles clean because it was his birthday and all. I don't know about you but in my family, you got to lick the frosting off the candles when it was your birthday.

 The family picture that wasn't very great but at least we got one!

My mom helped William open his gifts (he got so many!) and he was thrilled with each one. It was so cute to see how after he opened each present, he seemed like he was perfectly content with what he had. He got pretty spoiled but he had good manners and thanked everyone. I'm so proud of my sweet William.

blessed

Frederick was blessed on Sunday and it was beautiful. My parents came into town for the occasion (and they're staying until the 4th - yay!) along with David's parents and sisters, my brother and his wife from Laguna Beach, my cousins from Del Mar and a few of my dearest friends. David gave Frederick a beautiful blessing - Fritz and Will are so blessed to have him as their papa.

After church we snapped a few photos. I felt kind of guilty because we did absolutely nothing for William's blessing. Like, seriously not even a family picture. And I went a little overboard with this one. Oh well. William, if you're reading this one day - we really do love you!

with my parents and David's parents

I'm really loving summer entertaining on our covered back patio. Our house is really small so it's nice to have this outdoor space when we have such lovely summer weather. I served yogurt parfaits with the best coconut granola, awesome ham and cheese sliders, beet, goat cheese and honey-balsamic salad, fruit and my mother-in-law made delicious banana cream pie tarts. It was delicious!

Yes, I stamped Fritz's initials on the cutlery, hand painted a banner, dipped baby food jars in paint and several other silly crafty things but at the end of the day, it turned out really cute and I was happy. So whatever.

my brother and sister-in-law, holding a wiggly Fritz

beautiful friends - Meg, Stephanie and Ashley

I'm so grateful for all my friends and family for coming to celebrate. We're a really blessed family!

a peter rabbit book shower

My sweet friend, Jaimey, offered to throw me a baby shower a few weeks ago. It was incredibly kind of her and made me feel really good. I felt pretty greedy accepting another baby shower since this is my second baby and I've already had the good fortune to have had two great baby showers when I was expecting William, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity for a girl's night and to see what kind of awesome ideas Jaimey would come up with. She's so talented!

Since I'm having another boy and I already have everything I "need", I suggested that Jaimey ask people to bring a book to add to my children's library. She came up with the idea of a vintage, woodland Peter Rabbit theme. I died when she told me! So cute! She thought of every detail and I was amazed at all her talents.

Check out this little Peter Rabbit centerpiece. It had a chocolate bunny on moss, with little flowers and parsley and the most adorable little mushrooms (which she got from this Etsy shop).

On each table she had covered books and tied them with a red ribbon and made little flower bouquets in recycled baby food jars complete with ferns and parsley (which I thought was so clever and also economical! I'm storing away that idea!)

The food was amazing. I wish I had a better picture of it! There was chicken salad with homemade rolls (by Meg), amazing chocolate cookies - my one weakness (by Aarean), fruit with coconut dip, a cheese tray with my favorites (havarti, sharp cheddar, goat cheese and gorgonzola), goat cheese and chive mini muffins, the most amazing chocolate bundt cake garnished with mini chocolate mushrooms and my very favorite basil lemonade. I was so glad that I skipped dinner that evening!

holding up a painting my friend, Lela, made for me (why do I have a Jay Leno chin in this picture?)

I was thrilled and surprised to see that I didn't get any book duplicates! Of course, my friends were incredibly generous and I also received lots of other things like this beautiful painting done by my dear friend, Lela, and also some adorable outfits. I have been surprisingly strong-willed and haven't bought anything new for this baby so some new outfits were really appreciated.

And, of course, Jaimey made these adorable favors with chocolate bunnies on red and white spotted cupcake liners sitting on shredded butcher paper.

Maybe it's my hormones but I get teary-eyed when I think about my friends here. They are some of the best I've had in my life and I'm so grateful for all of them. I wish I had thought to take a picture with everyone there but the thought didn't occur to me until 10:30 and most everyone had left. Anyway, I love you all my girls!

ready for football

I don't know too many girls who watch the Superbowl for the actual football watching. I mean, I bet there are girls out there who like football. I just don't happen to be one of them. However, I do "watch" the Superbowl because it's a fun excuse to get together with friends and eat food.

My friends invited us over for burgers and other good treats. We had a feast! Of course, I made homemade oreos again because I'm obsessed. All I did was use a cookie cutter after they were cooked and then piped the "stitching" on. I got lazy at the end there and only did the other layer of cookies in the shapes but it was all good.

Our hosts have two dogs that William is BFF with. He seriously loves these dogs more than any human I know. Maybe even me. He sits with them on their doggie bed and eats his dinner. He squeals with delight when they lick his face. He walks around the house holding onto their tails (much to my dismay). He follows them around until they pay special attention to them. Seeing how much he loves them really makes me want to get a dog. Maybe someday.

Speaking of dogs and the Superbowl, this was my favorite commercial by far.