1 month until...

my 2nd birthday!!


What??? I know, my mommy can't believe it either!

CJ's Birthday.

Today was CJ's 1st Birthday Party!! It is funny - both Jensen and CJ were born on the same exact day (good thing they had birthday parties on different weekends or we might not have been able to celebrate with both of them!) Elena kept saying Happy Birthday Jensen - I had to remind her it was CJ's birthday we were celebrating today (I can see how that is confusing though - what a good memory!)

This was a Yo Gabba Gabba Party - CJ loves the show and was thrilled with his cool cake!

He was not so thrilled with all of us looking at him and singing though ~ he started crying and trying to hide behind his momma during the song, poor little guy! Dad and Mom stepped in to help and then he was all better.

Look at these two cuties just eyeing that cake! Lol!

After a quick rinse and an outfit change CJ was ready to open some presents!

But first a birthday hug from Elena!

Elena was loving on Xavier too!

and who wouldn't want to kiss these adorable little cheeks?!

Our attempt at a group shot with all the moms, Elena was NOT having it!

Present time!

Hey ladies, I thought these were CJ's presents?

I think this was his favorite!

After presents it was time for the pinata! CJ was pretty excited about it!!

So was Elena!

Whoops! Don't worry it wasn't Elena that did this. :) It was CJ's daddy trying to help out the kiddos!

There we go!

All Elena wanted was a lollipop, she wasn't even trying to get any of the other toys or candy!

Happy 1st Birthday CJ!!

Poppo in the pool?

My dad hasn't been in the pool at all this entire summer! I know-that's just crazy, right? He used to get in all the time, especially when I was younger. Elena always asks - 'Poppo in the pool?' and he just says 'Nope, not tonight baby girl'. Well for some reason the other night he decided it was time to get in! Elena (and my mom and I) were very surprised!
 

She was pretty much in heaven that he was in the pool with her! It was too cute!


She has also learned to do this~nice, huh? :)

Pasta Italiano.

For those of you that may not know, I am 1/4 Italian. (I know, I don't exactly look it right?) My grandfather, Dominic was a full Italian, which would make my Mom and Aunt both 1/2 Italian. Their maiden name was Martelli - and my Aunt and Uncle had been researching and tracing back through records to find more information on our family heritage. In their searching they came across some Martelli brand pasta. My Uncle decided to buy some and he brought it with him this time when he came to town. So, we decided to have a little Italian tribute for dinner.

This was flown all the way in from Italy!

Yummy! It was sooo good!

Elena really enjoyed it too! She thought it was funny to put the noodles on her fingertips and then eat them off - silly girl!

It looks like we will now be having this delicious Martelli pasta each time we have a special occasion to remember our loved ones and salute our Italian heritage! :)

Girl's Trip.

This past weekend Elena and I decided to take a girl's trip up to Kansas City all by ourselves! I was a little nervous driving with just me and her but she did great! We got to visit my non-biological sisters, as well as celebrate Jensen's 1st birthday! Here is Lynette, Stephanie and I~

Rachel and Lynette~

I also got to meet the newest addition to the family baby Ella - who is the sweetest little chunky monkey I have ever seen!!! Take a look at those little rolls, makes me just want to eat her up!

Steph and the birthday girl!

Opening presents~

Elena did just fine watching Jenbug open her presents - I was a little nervous since she is in that 'everything is mine' stage, but she just played with other toys and happily watched.

Laura, Ella, Elena and I ~ gotta love the party hats!

Time for some cake. Hmmm...maybe they won't notice if I give it a taste test. :)

After the cake the kiddos went outside for some fun pool/sprinkler time! Check out the size difference in petite little J and my little giant!!! I know she is a year older but still!

 

They had a blast playing in the water.

Although Jensen was not too happy about these big kids in her pool!

Apparently my little spider monkey decided she was thirsty! ha ha!

Happy Birthday Jensen! We had so much fun celebrating with you!

After the party we went back to Lynette's place to hang out and have dinner. Elena was so tired from the car ride and party fun that she gave me no trouble going to sleep - even in a new place! Thank goodness! We did have a little piggy-back fun before bed though.

The next morning, after Lynette made us some yummy pancakes, we headed to the pool. You know Elena - splash, splash, splash!

This is the first time Elena had ever seen an infinity pool - she was a little concerned with where the water was going...

Then she found the waterfall and was fascinated by it!

Elena is kind of funny about swimming, she will go, go, go -- but when she is ready to be out she is done! Here she jumped out of the pool, took her life jacket off, ran to the side...

and curled up on the lounge chair!

So we decided to head back to Lynette's.

Check out this cute new cover-up that I bought her. How adorable is that? I can't wait to use it at the beach in a couple weeks!

We spent some more quality time with Aunt Nettie before we grabbed lunch and headed home.

What a blast we had this weekend!! I always love seeing my girls! Thanks for everything and we hope to see you again soon!