bubbles and {dirt}

bubbles are great...and will finally learned how to blow them himself.  :) 

anna grace loves watching her brother blow bubbles.

but she reeeallly likes playing in the dirt.

if anna could run, she would run into the dirt every time we are in the backyard. 

(why do you have a patch of dirt in your yard?...well it will be a garden. soon.) 

for now, it's anna banana's messy digging spot.

will has now dumped out the bubbles...and is using the bubble container for dirt 

(so he doesn't get his hands dirty...seriously.)

i didn't realize i captured this until i was uploading my pictures.

pile of dirt...right on top of anna's head.  :( 

oh wait, she liked it.

she started eating it...

is she not deliciously chunky? 

rolly polly arms.

oversized tummy.

love handles. 

delicious.

 she thinks the dirt is delicious, too.

my dirty bubble loving, dirt eating babies. i love them.

the carnival

will and i went on a little mommy/son date. to the carnival. in the mall parking lot...you know the creepy kind your parents didn't let you go to as a kid. yeah...well, we went to it. :)

growing up, my parents rarely took us to the carnival...and now i know why. 

they are 'spensive! not to mention the creepers who run the rides with the awesome facial tattoos...

anyways, will enjoyed it.

(and please enjoy my overly exposed photo...) ;)

okay, i lied. he did NOT enjoy this ride. at all. this was his first ever experience on any kind of ride. 

i thought it was harmless. will thought he was going to die. 

i didn't think to explain to him that sometimes you scream on rides because you're having fun.

poor little guy didn't get that memo. so the moment he heard the kids ahead of him screaming,

was when he started flipping out. :( he cried the whole time, probably because he thought something terrible was going to happen. so sad. 

  can you see his terrified little face? 

when the ride was over, i asked him what he thought and he said, "i scared mommy, but i did it!" 

good job, buddy.

next, was a will friendly train. oh boy, will was overjoyed when he saw this. 

and i was creeped out...look at that monkey...creepy.

he rode this train three times. he was livin' the dream, baby...

sidenote: who painted these train cars!? 

look at this picture...the lion is about to attack the poorly drawn african tribesman. 

creepy things you don't notice about carnivals until you're an adult. 

will really wanted to go on this...um. no.

the final toddler friendly ride he did was the car merri-go-round thing. he loved this.

wouldn't get off of it. but we ran out of tickets and i wasn't about to buy more, so i had do pretty much drag him out of there a huffin' and a puffin'. 

but the huffin' and puffin' stopped when he got to experience the ultimate carnival food...

man, that cotton candy was good, i don't know the last time i ate some.

but this was deeelicious. clearly, will thought so too.  :)

downtown

the sun finally came out. it's been typical spring weather around here...rainy and cloudy. the other day when the sun was out we took full advantage. we checked out the new library (which is really nice!) and every time we go to the library we end up watching a train or two roll by. mr. will and his trains. trains are his first love. so we hung around downtown for about an hour so will could watch "da choo choos."  :)

the range of emotions will has...in about one minute. :)

he got upset the train was over...so he pouted. 

and anna grace's emotions were sweet and typical anna.

will leading the way on an "avenjur." 

does anyone know what this spout is for? is it just a giant gutter drain? 

i love our little downtown. makes me glad we live in a small town again...a pregnant mom with two toddlers can walk down a clean alleyway with no worries. good stuff.

anna's birthday bash!

anna grace had a nice little birthday party. family and friends and cupcakes and poms...oh my!

there wasn't really a theme for her party...do purple, pink and yellow count as a theme? :)

i made her smash cake in my cake decorating class and it turned out pretty cute. my good friend, russtanna who is also taking the class, helped me do the cupcakes. umm...we haven't really "learned" how to make flowers out of frosting, but we managed.  :)  

with cupcakes and buttercream icing made from scratch, how could you go wrong?!

the poms were really fun to make...i did them like two weeks before her party.

....the banner on the other hand...was made 30 minutes before the party when i realized i didn't have anything that said 'happy birthday' on it. nothing like a little procrastination! 

here's the birthday girl looking oh, so {one}derful...in her little getup. 

she got a lot of sweet little presents...but i must say the dolls and the jack-in-the-box are her favs. 

look at those grins! she just loves a good parrrrtaaayyy.  ;) 

and then there was cake. sweet purple cake.

she was pretty thrilled about this. the pink dots were her favorite, i think she picked most of those off...for as much as this girl looooves her food, i was surprised she was so dainty with the cake...

"say what, momma? did you just call me dainty?! 

i will prove to you that i can make a mess...a big ol'mess."

"who's dainty now?"

(please note the sweet little chunkins she has now)  :)

oh yes.

this is the best birthday ever!!

 getting all cleaned up in the sink...she LoVeS a good sink scrubdown. 

so there it is...our sweet anna grace's first birthday parrrtaaay. 

celebrating her first year with many grins and lots of love. 

love you sweet girl. i am so blessed to be your momma.