Hayes

Peter Pan Party: Celebrating Hudson and Hayes!

Filed Under: Hayes, Hudson, Parties and Showers

May242013

Party Details:

Hudson and Hayes first watched Peter Pan last year when I rented in on Netflix. When it came out of the Disney Vault a few months ago, I grabbed it for them immediately. And we watched it about 100 times in a month. I’m not kidding. They wanted to watch it constantly.

When I asked Hudson what kind of party he and Hayes should have, he immediately knew he wanted a Peter Pan party. And this totally thrilled me! Peter Pan is one of my most favorite stories. I love the magic and the fairy tale and how it’s not super duper sweet, but it is so much fun! There’s adventure and I just love the overall lesson to never grow up! And think happy thoughts!

It was a little harder to plan this party than parties in the past because all of my party supplies are in storage. We’re still living at Todd’s grandmother’s house.

Todd’s parents graciously offered to let us host the party in their backyard, and I am so thankful. Their backyard is absolutely beautiful!

We used their back porch as the staging area for all the food and drinks. And the place where the fans could live. It was a hot day!

We did a joint party because my boys’ birthdays are exactly a month apart, and it’s just easier on families to do it one time. And my boys have so many friends that are siblings. It ended up being great to just invite entire families to come play for the afternoon.

I ordered all of the baked goods (resources are listed below) and then we picked up a Chick-fil-A nugget tray. I made pinwheels and we also had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, “Lost Boys Trail Mix” and “Tick Tock’s Goldfish.”

I wanted a tall cake with both of their names on it, and a “Neverland” type of background. So Ally & Eloise created a blue cake with stars on it. My mom brought the adorable wooden pirate ship and she painted it for the boys. And I had gotten a lot of small Peter Pan figurines to add to the top of the cake. The boys went ba-nan-as over that cake!

My boys love Tick Tock the Crocodile and Nana the Nurse Maid. Seriously, the Peter Pan characters are the best!

We turned the playset in the backyard into a pirate ship by hanging a Jolly Roger flag. My boys got a tee pee from their KK for Easter, so we set that up in the backyard to be like the Indian Brave village.

We used a large inflatable baby pool and filled it up with multi-colored balls (no water) to be the “Mermaid Lagoon.” It ended up being the most fun little place for the little kids to play!

I also rented a bounce house because, let’s face it, 4 year old little boys love a bounce house and need a place to release their energy!

For party favors, we gave each family a Little Golden Book of Peter Pan, and all the little boys got felt Peter Pan hats and the little girls received a set of fairy wings. And all the favors were super inexpensive and a big hit!

It was a super fun party to plan. I lost a little bit of my planning mojo about a week before the party and considered not doing it at all, but I’m so glad we did. Hudson was just beside himself with excitement over the party, and has been on a Peter Pan high since that day!

Party Resources:

Cake, Cupcakes, and Petit Fours: Ally & Eloise in Columbia, South Carolina

Cupcake Toppers, Invitations, Food Labels and other paper goodies: Sweet Birdie’s Nest (and their shop)

Iced Cookies: The Doughmestic Housewife

Peter Pan Favor Hats: A Rainy Day Play on Etsy

Tree Trunk Cupcake Stand: Your Divine Affair on Etsy

Fairy Wings, Peter Pan Golden Books, Peter Pan Plush Characters, Disney Figurine Set: Amazon.com (all over the course of a year)

Straws, Balloons, Paper Cups: Shop Sweet Lulu

Bounce House Rental: Jumperee in Columbia, South Carolina

Happy 2nd Birthday to Hayes!

Filed Under: Hayes, Uncategorized

May52013

Dear Hayes,

My Hayesy-Boy, Hazer, Hayesbo.

May 5, 2012

We love you so much!

Your Daddy and I were just saying today how it’s so special to us that when we mention you to anyone, they always say, “Oh! He is just the sweetest kid.”

And you are. You have the sweetest little heart.

Summer 2012

You have grown up so much this year. You finished up with your doc band around 14 months, and then we got you started with speech therapy around 17 months. We’ve been doing speech with Mrs. Sarah since October, and recently started occupational therapy through Baby Net with Mrs. Juliet.

Your fine motor skills have improved so much. But your speech is just incredible! The improvement is so remarkable. This is all due to your hard work and Mrs. Sarah’s help. She has helped me understand how to help you. And you have been so focused during our sessions with her.

Your vocabulary, Hayes, is so big! I can’t even list all of the words that you say now, and, I don’t take one single word for granted. You and I worked hard for those words!

Fall 2012

There was a time when I just ached to hear you say, “Mommy,” and now you probably say it one thousand times a day. And I am just so thankful.

Hayes, you are so happy. Of course you have your moments. You’re a toddler, and those “terrible twos” are upon us. But you are always smiling at everyone. You say, “hey!” to anyone that you see. Whether they’re a stranger or not doesn’t matter to you one bit.

You run into Hudson’s class every morning when we drop him off, throw your hands up in the air, and shout, “heeeeyyyy!!” You’re just so friendly.

Fall 2012

Hayes, you give the absolute best hugs. You rest your head on our shoulder and throw your chubby little arms around our necks and say, “awwww” when you give us a hug. And I really don’t think there’s anything that feels better than that. (Your Daddy wanted me to be sure that I mentioned how fantastic your hugs are.)

You are also a wild thing. Goodness gracious. You love to go, go, go. You love to dance. You love to jump. You love to run. Anything active and fast is your jive.

But now you’re also starting to enjoy more focused, indoor activities now like puzzles, reading, and anything having to do with using your fine motor skills.

April 2013

Hudson is your favorite person in the world. The two of you can irritate the mess out of each other, but you are always asking for him. The days that you don’t go to school, you ask me about Hudson no less than 20 times per day. You’ll say, “Mommy!? Where Hudsy go?”

And when I tell you that he’s at school, you always try so hard not to cry.

You always try hard to be tough. If you’re throwing a tantrum, you let the tears go, but if you’ve gotten your feelings hurt or if you’re sad, you very quietly start to sob and try so hard not to let anyone know you’re crying. This absolutely breaks my heart. I hate for you to be sad, and I hate for you to feel embarrassment for anything at all.

You adore your grandparents. All of them. You’re always asking for at least one of them and you just love them all.

Hayes, your laugh is so infectious and full of joy. Hudson can make you laugh like no one else can. That’s what makes you so fun to be around.

You still take excellent naps and sleep a good 12 hours each night.

April 2013

When I look at you, my heart just aches. Because of your cuteness, your smallness, and your unbelievable sweetness. I’m always having fun when I’m with you and your sweet, wild, adventurous little personality shines through in everything that you do.

You and Hudson are so very different, but the relationship that the two of you are developing is something that is so special. There’s a bond that can’t be spoken and it’s hard to put it into words. And watching this relationship develop is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Hudson knows exactly what you want before you ever open your mouth to say what you want or cry for something. It’s something that I imagine only brothers or sisters share, but it is so special.

Your favorite toy is the train table. You and Hudson, both, stand around it all the time and just play with the trains. You fight, of course, but you both love that train table. You also love your Little People Wheelie track and cars. You’ve had so much fun with that toy.

But mostly you want to be outside to run and try to play soccer like Hudson.

You’re a big little boy and are still off the charts in height and weight. I’ll know exact numbers soon. But you’re a bruiser just like Hudson was.

May 5, 2011, the very first time I saw your sweet face

Thank you for your sweet heart. I am so thankful for another amazing 365 days with you. I’m so thankful that I got to hear your sweet voice say, “Morning, Mommy!” to me almost every day this year. I’m so thankful that you giggled at me every time you get your diaper changed. I’m so thankful for the times that you said, “again! again!” when we listen to “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” in the car on the way to school, despite Hudson demanding to listen to “Life Is A Highway.”

May 6, 2011

And I am just so thankful that God chose us to be your parents and your family. What a precious gift you are. I am so proud of you and how smart you are, how sweet and fun you are, and how you love everyone.

We love you so much, Hazer!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy (and Hudsy, too)

before Hudson met Hayes

Filed Under: Baby, Hayes, Hudson, Pregnancy

Oct112012

Before Hayes was born, I had this overwhelming feeling of worry. But I was worried about Hudson. I was so worried that we were going to completely rock his world, and that our relationship with him would change.

I worried that he would be sad and feel left out and jealous. And, mostly, I was worried that he would instantly grow up more than I was prepared for him to grow up. To help him prepare for the baby’s arrival, we just talked about the baby a lot. We told him Hayes’s name, and we would pray for the baby every night before bed. I think that constantly talking about it helped prevent some of the surprise when Hayes was born.

We also took Hudson to the store so he could pick out a gift to give to Hayes in the hospital. He picked out a little stuffed animal, and was excited to give it to his baby brother.

My friend, Nina, sent Hudson a book called “I’m A Big Brother” and we read it every day, multiple times a day. And we continued to read it once Hayes was born. He loved looking at the pictures and talking about his new baby brother.

The weekend before Hayes was scheduled to arrive, we had a weekend of fun just for Hudson. We took him to his favorite places and just really had a great weekend celebrating him and soaking up our time with just our little family of three. We were thrilled to be welcoming Hayes, but we were very well aware of how much life would change.

But, goodness, all that worry was for nothing. Life wasn’t a cake walk after Hayes arrived, but the amount of love that our hearts can accommodate just grew and grew. There was no reason to be worried.

And in these first couple of weeks at home with Hayes and Hudson, my mom was there with me while Todd was at work. Having her there helped us divide and conquer, so that Hudson and Hayes were both being cared for at all times. I think the adjustment went really well, and our boys are getting closer and closer to becoming the very best friends.

How did you help prepare your child for a new sibling?

Check out the Huggies Mommy Answers Facebook app and find more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page on BlogHer.com.

Hayes's Noggin – Part 2 {doc band results}

Filed Under: doc band, Hayes

Jul22012

Back in February, we visited Cranial Technologies for the first time in Charlotte. We had been referred there by our pediatrician to look into correcting Hayes’s head shape. For the most part this was a completely cosmetic issue, but because Hayes is a boy, we thought he’d appreciate us doing everything we could to help him with this.

These are some pictures that I took of his profile around Christmas time

Hayes loved to sit up and try to crawl. When he was awake he was never flat on his back. But when he slept, he slept directly on the back of his head. He never moved and rarely turned his head. It wasn’t until after he got the doc band that he started sleeping on his stomach.

Our visits to Cranial Technologies were very pleasant and I’m so thankful that we went ahead with the process. About a week after we decided to go forward with getting the doc band, Todd’s firm was bought by a much larger firm, and we switched insurance providers. Our previous insurance provider denied coverage for the doc band. And the new provider accepted it. We didn’t pay a dime.

We didn’t know this when we decided to go forward with the doc band for Hayes, but we did take a big leap of faith. We are so happy that it was covered. But we are even happier that we did this for Hayes. The results are just remarkable.

I’ve said before that we only a couple of instances with children staring or talking about him, which were, of course, more hurtful to me than to Hayes. And the only “issue” Hayes had was that he’d get hot occasionally and get some minor heat rash.

We went for our “graduation” appointment the other day and Hayes had the same pictures taken that he had at his very first consultation. He got a little certificate and we got to bring home his doc band (never to wear it again) and the actual size mold of Hayes’s head from the beginning of the process.

I shared this whole process because I want other mothers who have to make this decision to know that someone else has gone through it. I was so very thankful for the friends and readers who shared their experiences with me. I also wanted to help “educate” anyone who wasn’t familiar with this process and treatment.

So the before and after pictures. We are so excited about the results and Hayes will never know the difference. The “before” photos were taken in February, about two months after the pictures I posted above. I can tell that once he started crawling, his head started rounding out more just on its own.

And the “after” pictures were taken two weeks ago. I think the changes are just remarkable!

Bless his little heart. The look on his face in both of these pictures just makes me laugh. But here I can see how his facial symmetry corrected, especially in his cheeks and ears.

In this picture, you can see how his head grew longer from front to back where it had been wider and more round before.

And in this angle, his face is less wide and grew “back,” bringing his cheeks into a more symmetrical place.

So, those are the results. We’re really pleased with them. It took a bit of courage for me to post these and I pray that any comments will be kind toward my baby boy.

I am happy to answer any questions about the process! We’re just thankful for a good experience and glad that the last four months went by so quickly.

Some other posts to check out:

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