Leighton’s Puppy Birthday Party (Gus Party)

I decided a while back to have a Puppy Party for Leighton’s first birthday. He loves Gus so much that I thought it was a great idea to include him in Leighton’s special day! Our puppy party was sort of a chocolate lab party. I used blue and red with chocolate labs and red and blue tennis balls. The color palette came from a blue chocolate lab outfit I bought for Leighton before he was born, and I added red because it looked good.

I ordered the invitations from JLC Printables on Etsy. I got the print your own version. I only needed a few, so this option was great for me. Lindsey was great to work with, and I thought the invitation turned out so cute.

The decorations turned out so cute. I got a fire hydrant at Hobby Lobby – and I only had to call three stores to find it!

The balls came from Bambeco. $12 for ten, and I had a coupon. They were my favorite thing about the party! Of course, I used the silver pails that I used at Blair’s barnyard party and her circus party. They are from the paint section Home Depot.

I used the invitation from JLC Printables to make the little labels on the pails. They weren’t the perfect color, but they were better than the $40 chocolate lab clip art I found!

The cookies were made by my very talented sister, Linsey. Two Crazy Cookies is her and my mom’s business.

The precious Gus smash cake and chocolate cake were made by my mom (Jan McCord Catering).

This was a family party for mostly adults, so we had supper. Our menu included give-a-dog-a-bone-in grilled pork chops, sweet corn chew toys, bone-tie pasta salad, and watermelon fetching balls. I tried to plan the menu around Leighton's favorite foods for the most part. And it was all delicious!

The most important part – the birthday boy had fun! More on that later!

One week to one.

My baby boy will be one in just 7 days. How did this happen? When did he become a little boy instead of my scrunchy baby?

I have loved seeing him grow this year and seeing how he is like and unlike Blair. Boy, is he UNlike her! He's SUCH a boy, and she's SUCH a priss. I love it. And I love that they love each other... mostly. Blair trips me out with her "look at that sweet sweet baby" right before she slaps him on the hand. And I love that he chases her around laughing hysterically while Blair yells also laughing, "He's chasing me! He's chasing me!" These two certainly keep me on my toes!

We'll be having a little party -- bless his heart for being born during watermelon season; that's no fun -- so I'll be posting more about that and this year.

My baby is almost not a baby anymore...

Baby Led Weaning Works (Insert Sad Face)

We’re coming up on my little man’s first birthday, and he is growing up way too fast. Part of that is that he is backing off of nursing a good bit. Which is totally normal. And fine. But sad to mama.

I started Baby Led Weaning when he turned six months old, and he really took right off eating. He loves food, and eats basically whatever we eat. Last month he was nursing every 4 – 5 hours during the day, and now he’s down to just morning, before supper, and before bedtime.

This is so bittersweet. I’m ready for him to quit. And then I’m not. But it’s time, and I’m glad the BLW is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.

He loves meat, bread, blackberries, and blueberries especially. He begs for eggs in the morning, and he gets two! He puts a nice dent in my weekly egg supply. He’ll eat just about anything. I love that about him and BLW.

I’m curious to see how long he goes with the morning and night feedings. I’m not expecting to have a hard time dropping them, but I will sure miss our little times together. I’ve nursed here there and yonder over the last year – our house, in bed (while sleeping!), in the car on the side of the road, Disneyworld, doctor’s offices, putt putt at Ormond beach (he was tiny!), in our backyard, and wherever else I had to. It was super hard for the first two months, but after the third month, it was a breeze. I’m proud to say that I breastfed both of my babies for a year – exclusively pumping for Blair and the easier “normal” way (once past the first 3 months!) with Leighton. I am so glad to have both of these experiences!