Dax's Monster Bash!

So many pictures, so many great memories!  I worked really hard to make this party as awesome as Dax deserved (and big sister deserved a great day for being so amazing, too!)- and I think it was a success.  It was perfect, and I am posting an obnoxious amount of pictures.

Dax's big gift from Mommy, Daddy, & Ada- a racetrack table!!!  Talk about a labor intensive gift...  I'll blog about it from start to finish one of these days!  It is pretty darn adorable.

At the entrance to the Monster Bash- "Place a capsule in this cup of water, and it will turn into a MONSTER of a toy for you while you play!"  It literally turns into a foam monster.
 I have a soft spot for these types of toys, since I was quite attached to one as a child.  His name was Mr. Character.  (I was such a freakin weirdo!)

Party favors!

Play-doh party favors

Create your own monster hat- since it was a sunny afternoon.  No one made one except me... :)

Play-doh and sidewalk chalk.  A house party must.

I searched all over Houston for a monster bouncehouse- and the closest I could find was a dragon!  Whatever- the kids loved it.

Homemade banner...

Homemade banner...

HUGE homemade banner!

Balloons with monster faces!!  Literally printed off onto sticker paper- I will do this with EVERY party theme from now on.  What a great way to customize balloons without breaking the bank!

Monster cupcakes.  :)

The snack table- the large empty spot is for a pitcher of margaritas still being prepared by Dad- accompanied by a "Margarita Bar".  Yuummmmm!

 Enough pictures of decor- here are some cute action shots!!!

Ada and her friend Addy jumping!

Dax at the play-doh table.

Trying a bite...

I think the jury's still out if he liked the taste or not!

Dax LOVED his Monster-Dragon Bouncehouse!!!

Sweet Asher Hodge- he was such a trooper!  And too cute for words.

Sidewalk chalk

Dax and his pal Asher Gaulke!!  Whom he bit on the face about 30 minutes later.  :(  

Ada's gorgeous play doh concoction. 

More bouncehouse!

Trying to coax him out...

It's not a first birthday party without adult beverages!!!

Dax opening his gift from Uncle Christian!!!!  

Dax's gorgeous Venezuelan girlfriend from school, Cristina.  :)

Dax smashing his cake!!  Andrea took some AMAZING pictures of this- I'm going to upload them to a separate post there are so many!

No more room to swallow his last bite.  Looking at Uncle Luis for advice...

The little monster ready for bed.  Talk about exhausted!!  And talk about cute jammies from Mr. Asher Gaulke!

So. Handsome. I. Can't. Take it.

MiMi & Steve Get Hitched!

Shoot.  Disclaimer:  most of the photos of the entire family were taken by my one and only Aunt Andi!  :)  I forgot to give credit where credit was due when I originally wrote this post! 

FIRST of all, let me just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE SWEETEST, CUTEST, FUNNIEST, MOST ADORABLE LITTLE BOY IN THE WORLD!!!  Daxydoodle is 1 today- WOW!  His Monster Bash is tomorrow, and I'll blog about it all then!  

We spent today not only celebrating Dax's first birthday, but at MIMI & STEVE'S WEDDING!!!!!  I couldn't be happier for my mom and Steve, and to add Steve and his 2 amazing kids Audrey and Eric to my family.  I absolutely love and adore my new bigger and better family.  :)

Funny story: Steve used to be my uncle.  No, you pervs, they're not related!  My mom was married to Don, and Steve was married to his sister.  They've both been divorced from them for a very long time- and *finally* decided to meet up last summer- and the rest is history!  I sure wish they'd done it sooner- I've *always* said to my mom she should date Steve (because I remembered him being AWESOME!  And funny!  And NICE- that's key!).  So here we are, all joined by marriage and the pictures to prove it!!!

Ada ADORES "MiMi & Shteve", so was super pumped about going to their wedding today!

The birthday boy, hanging with daddy during the ceremony.

Ada getting a tad restless during the vows...

Ada, entertaining herself during the ceremony...

Ada, running circles around MiMi and Steve during their vows.

Ada, proud because she'd made me laugh when I was trying to be stern.

I love them!

After the preacher asked my mom if she'd "take Steve to be her wife."  Ummm...

You may kiss the bride!

They are so happy!!!

My new siblings Audrey & Eric!

The Andersons, 1 Purdy, and 1 Dowell.  :)

OMG I love him.  He was such an angel today!

My sweet girl running wild and free.  She was also a total sweetheart today- I couldn't have asked for more well behaved kiddos.  Thank God!

Us again, plus more Dowells.

I like this picture of me, so I'm including it.  Plus, I had a lot of fun hanging out with Eric at our super nice lunch afterwards today, so that makes me sound less vain.  Ha!  (Seriously, though, we are as similar as two people can get that are over a decade apart in age, and different genders.)

Typical us!

The originals.  We've been through a lot of $h!t together, and I think I can say we've finally got a happy ending in the works.

Dax- 12 Months

Dax is going to be 12 months old on Friday.  That's 1 year.  365 days.  I cannot get over it!!!  I'm posting this a little early because things are HECTIC around here this week- add to that planning the coolest Monster Bash birthday party for Saturday, and doing a furniture redo of sorts for Dax's big birthday gift (post to come!)- I was worried I'd miss his 12 month monster photoshoot.  And that would be UNACCEPTABLE!!!  

Dax is becoming quite the handful to keep up with- but always with a smile plastered on his face, and a punchline to some joke in mind that he can't quite verbalize.  He is WALKING like a maniac, nodding "yes" and "no" to questions, and trying to be funny on purpose.  (Usually by head butting or playing a vigorous game of peek-a-boo!)  He *adores* Ada, and Ada is such a sweet big sister.  

I know there were a ton of things I've been taking a mental note of this month to include in this post, but I can't think of any of them at the moment.  Of course!  Here are his pictures from this month's monster photo shoot:

 And, here is his progression from month 1.  Oh dear Lord, I love him.  My throat is getting tight just looking at these!

I'll post about his birthday as soon as it happens! ;)

Ear Report

First of all- how cute is this picture?  Dax started mimicing me using the phone a few weeks ago, and it cracks me up.  He puts it either to his cheek or behind his ear, and occasionally grunts.

"Hello, yes, is this the ENT doctor?  Excellent.  I'd like to make an appointment for you to put tubes in my ears."

Secondly- his left ear drum is perforated.  :(  Poor baby!  Doctor said it's not totally uncommon (and 99% of the time heals back perfectly fine), but went ahead and suggested we get him in to see the ENT.  We're going the week after next- and hopefully scheduling the surgery ASAP! 

So, if that didn't break my heart enough to hear that Dax's ear drum had burst- Ada gave me quite a scare yesterday afternoon, too.  We were home and swinging on the swing set, and she fell out of the swing onto her back pretty hard- she got the breath knocked out of her and scratched her back up pretty bad (not sure how??), and it scared the bejeezus out of the both of us. 

Needless to say, we all just watched movies and snuggled the rest of the afternoon!

Dax Has Joined the Bipedal Club!

Houston, we have a WALKER!  And a runner!  And a tripper...  

Dax has been contemplating walking for weeks now.  He just couldn't muster up the confidence to let that piece of furniture, or fingertip, or whatever he was clinging to GO to step out on his own.  He finally figured out the whole balance thing today, and there is no stopping him now!

Here is a quick video of him that I took right after he took his first official steps on his own- he gets so excited that he just about runs, and then trips.  He practiced the rest of the afternoon and is taking up to 5 steps at a time before collapsing into a crawl!  :)

Would you ever goes this kid has the worst ear infection I've ever seen???  I've suspected he was working on one for a while now (actually, I don't think his last one ever fully cleared up)- and this morning he woke up with green PUS pouring out of his ear. (so gross)  

I was obviously freaked out and ready to rush him to the ER- but the on call nurse said it's not uncommon, and just get him to Dr. Gonzalez ASAP in the morning.  Where I will beg for a referral to the ENT for tubes.  It is impossible to tell when Dax's ears are getting infected (because he never complains, or exhibits any symptoms), so by the time he runs a fever his ears are horrendously infected and painful- and draining pus!   

I'll keep you posted... in between chasing this walker around the house! :)