Henry's 1st BirthDAY! (Not what we expected)

Henry's 1st Birthday was on Thursday.  Daddy had to work and we had just had family in town for his & Charlie's birthday party so didn't plan anything big for his actual birthday.  I had planned to take them to the park and then do a little family thing that evening.

Then this happened.

Yes, that is cocoa powder all over the laundry room floor.  

My little chef helper named Charlie remembered that this glorious box of brown powder is what made his birthday cake taste like chocolate.  In the FIVE minutes I left him alone to shower, he must have thought it'd be a tasty little snack for him, Henry & our two doggies. You see all the claw marks in the cocoa?  Well, it was all over our pups' nose and face too.  

Off to the emergency vet we went.  

We spent the entire morning of Henry's 1st Birthday in the waiting room of the vet clinic.. praying that our doggies were okay.  Luckily they didn't eat enough to hurt them after all!  Whew. And on the positive side when we run the shop vac now it produces a chocolatey scent! Mmm.

When we got home Henry was in need of a nap.  His big brother decided he shouldn't have to nap on his birthday... so he turned the last half of his naptime into a crib party!

After that day.. we decided to keep it simple with some brownies & ice cream to celebrate our Henry's special day.  He didn't seem to mind a bit. 

Happy 1st Birthday Angel boy!  We love you more than you can imagine! 

Our Buckeroo's 1st & 3rd Birthday Party!

We had a cowboy birthday party for Charlie & Henry's birthdays!  It was so fun planning this one.  One perk to not having to work 5 days a week is I have more time for fun party planning projects.  My mom & I had a great time making the decorations for this cute little party:  Banners, cupcake stand, cupcake wrappers & toppers.. cake bunting.. crafts galore!

Grammy also made the boys their birthday shirts, which were so precious on them!

 Does it get any cuter than this?  The answer is no. :)

 We had such a great group of family and friends show up to celebrate with us.

A few of our special guests!

I loved catching this special moment between Henry & his Papa.

Bebe & Henry

Clay's is one of our favorite burger places that also has pony rides and a mini petting zoo- it was the perfect place for their cowboy party.

Charlie, Alice & Aunt Emma feeding the animals.

Even though it wasn't his 1st time on a horse, Charlie was so excited to ride the pony!

Our 3 year old cowboy!

Henry watching his big brother very carefully before his turn... 

If my Big brother can do it, so can I!

I love his thinking face!

Could not love this Angel any more!

After all of that excitement we headed for BIRTHDAY CAKE!

This was so much fun!  Our boys both LOVE cake.. and especially chocolate cake.  They have very different ways of eating it, however.  

Henry, in true 1st birthday fashion, digs right in!

 Charlie does not like a mess.. not sure where he got this from?  

He eats his cake with a fork! 

What happened next had us all laughing.  Henry was trying to reach over to Charlie with his messy chocolately fingers and Charlie was in a panic.

"Henny! NO!" 

We knew our Henry would not disappoint with the 1st Birthday cake photos.  Sweet baby loved every bite! 

Our friends and family enjoying the yummy food & cupcakes too:

Charlie posing with a cupcake! 

Henry quickly had a sugar crash, luckily his Grammy was there to the rescue!

It was such a fun day.. the 1st of many joint birthday parties in our future. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Charlie Jack!

Last Sunday was Charlie's 3rd birthday!  He has been looking forward to his birthday for weeks so even though the boys' joint birthday party is in a few days, we had to celebrate just Charlie on his special day!
A little surprise for when he woke up.  Just in case he could forget it was a special day! ;)

My little baker wanted to help make his birthday cake.  He wanted chocolate with sprinkles so that is what he got!  I will never forget the look on his face when we all sang him happy birthday.  The moment he had been waiting for for months.  So precious... it brought tears to my eyes!

 We knew he would get plenty of presents at his & Henry's birthday party this weekend so we let him open his presents from his family today!  Cars, Buzz & Woody, puzzles.. every 3 year old boy's dream!

 Can't believe our firstborn is already 3 years old.  We love his blooming personality and seeing him grow as a little person.  He is full of life and always keep us on our toes.  There's nobody like our Charlie Jack.

San Diego! The rest.

At this point in our trip Trey's conference was starting, so the boys and I were on our own during the day.  We spent the days walking around town, discovering cool parks and a little shopping. 
There was so much to see walking distance from our hotel.  We went over to the city's Children's Park and watched the ducks & seagulls, as well as counting all of the trains going by. 

Charlie even got a few "hello" whistles from the drivers! 

In the evenings we'd connect with Trey's coworkers..some who also brought their families.  One night we went back to Coronado Beach so we could watch the sunset.  Charlie was thrilled to go to the beach again, and to show his new friends!  It was pretty cold- and while the adults were all ready to leave the kids weren't! 

Trey's cousin Misty lives in Carlsbad, CA with her family.  On our last day there Misty came down to pick the boys & me up for the day so we could visit at their house.  Charlie was in Heaven because her youngest- Ryan, is only a year older & had the best toys!  It was nice to be able to relax and visit and see their SWEET kids.  Ashley & Kylie were very playful with the boys, too.

Since Ryan was just about to have his 4th birthday, and Charlie & Henry's was just in a few days she had the great idea to celebrate with brownies & candles!

We all really enjoyed spending the day together.  It was so nice to catch up with family we don't get to see very often.

Thank you Misty & Andrew for your hospitality!

Back to Houston we go.  Sad to leave this beautiful city but we'll be back!  We have to take these boys to Disneyland and Sea World!  We were so glad to be able to turn a conference into a family vacation. Now time to go home and celebrate our babies' birthdays!