Two Year Birthday Partay

Stella LOVES Doc McStuffins.  So, naturally, Megan planned a Doc McStuffins themed party for her second birthday.  Complete with themed center pieces:

Cupcakes:

And a band-aided smash cake:

We had a good showing of friends and family and all had a good time.  I was especially warmed by how happy and how much fun Grandpa Peters had watching and playing with Stella:

As I did last year, I put together a photo montage of my favorite pictures from Stella's second year and had it playing on repeat in the background:

1 Year Birthday Party

Today, we had Stella's 1 year birthday part at my parent's home in Derby, KS.  We chose to have it there instead of where we live so we could increase the chances of as much family coming as possible to celebrate this special occasion.  We were fortunate to have a good group of friends of family that made it (with Grandma Judy bearing gifts from others in MO that couldn't make it).

Megan did a great job of planning and getting everything ready for the party.  The party was princess themed complete with tiara topped cupcakes and a crowned smash cake.    We also had plenty of BBQ from  Hog Wild.

It was basically like Christmas for Stella based on all of the great stuff she received from everyone.  Here is the princess herself decked out in a tutu before opening her gifts:

In addition to all of the party pictures, I also have several videos to share from this momentous occasion:

• A photo montage that we played on repeat at her party.  This is only a small special selection of the 1000+ pictures I have taken of her so far
• Opening gifts
• Gingerly getting at her smash cake (despite previous practice with a cupcake)

My Favorite Nerd

I cannot express in words how much I love this shirt.  My buddy and fellow nerd Jason got this for Stella and even got here another size for when she gets older.

TCP/IP is the protocol the Internet runs on, hence the cloud graphic above the text. So, basically she uses the Internet but mostly urinates :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

As usual, Megan went a bit overboard to make another holiday memorable for Stella.  My parents came up the previous weekend so we could go out to dinner and bowling (I won), but today was all about Stella.  To quote Megan, "I didn't know that I could ever love something so much.".  Here she is all decked out in her "bee mine" t-shirt surrounded by her Valentine's Day loot:

Not Quite Tall Enough

Today, we decided to put together Stella's bouncer she got from Grammy.  Although she was briefly entertained by all the stuff to play with in arm's reach, she still can't really enjoy it for what it's worth since her feet don't yet touch:

Laugh and Learn (and Sleep)

Today, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit, so we thought we would bust out the Laugh and Learn puppy she got for Christmas.  Posted up in her Bumbo chair, she seems to enjoy it.  However, I think she's still too young for the "learn" part that the toy is supposed to offer.

Grandpa is quickly earning the nickname of "baby whisperer".  He'll walk around with Stella using his secret powers to quickly relax and soothe her to sleep.

First Christmas (montage)

I didn't do near as good of a job keeping up on all things Christmas and Stella related as I wanted to.  So, I give you the Christmas Montage.

As usual, Megan and I put up our Christmas tree in the front living room.  The tree turned out to be a really good way to calm Stella.  She really likes lights, especially those that change and twinkle such as those from our television and the tree.  So, if she ever got upset, which isn't very common so far, I'd just walk her over to the Christmas tree and she'd stare at the lights in awe and be comforted.

The week before Christmas, Megan and Stella headed down to Bowling Green, MO to celebrate Christmas with the Moss's and Sorrell's.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it because sister Megan had her graduation from Nursing school this same weekend (congrats Megan!).  Above and to the left, you can see Stella laying with Grandpa Marty who's just a bit bigger than her.  Uncle Tommy is seen holding her in the same "deer head" room and Megan holds Stella while she opens her Xmas loot.  Also, Stella had a great time meeting all of her Sorrell aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time, but Megan didn't remember to take any pictures :(.

Santa came to our home a few days before actual Christmas day and our trek down to Wichita.  The night before, we put out Stella's wish list along with some Milk and truffles (we didn't have any cookies on hand) for Santa.  The next day, the family opened our gifts from Santa.  Stella did, in fact, get the Laugh & Learn Puppy that was on her wish list!

After having to purchase a rooftop cargo bag, we made it down to Wichita with all of our stuff and gifts for the family.  Above and to the left, Stella sleeps in her crib on Christmas Eve wearing the holiday outfit that Grandma got for her.  To the right you can see Stella at Grammy's on Christmas morning.  She got all kinds of neat stuff, including Stella Squeak's Cottage seen in the picture.

Uncle Ryan holds Stella on Christmas morning on the other side of town at Grandma's.  She's holding her baby's first doll that Ryan gave her.  Grandma and Grandpa are smiling in front of the tree with Stella as she sleeps through most of her Christmas morning.

I took off the entire week of work, so we got to spend a nice relaxing week at both our parents' while everyone got to better know Stella.  Above, you can seem Ember "guarding" the crib while everyone else enjoys the holiday.

There are many more Xmas related pics in Stella's picture gallery:

• 12-05-2011
• 12-16-2011
• 12-17-2011
• 12-18-2011
• 12-21-2011
• 12-24-2011
• 12-25-2011
• 12-27-2011

Baby Shower in OP

Our good friends Molly and Tina threw a baby shower at our house in Overland Park for our local friends.  Sounds like they had a really good time.  Here is Megan opening one of my favorite toys when I was a kid (rock-a-stack):  

The hosts got us a cool ocean themed activity mat:

Brooke made Stella a stool with her name on it:

One of the games they played was to pass around a foam board and add different features based on what they think Stella will look like.  I really hope our daughter doesn't look like this:

To get out of the house, Marsh and I went to the Tour de BBQ and did the 15 mile ride.  It was a great experience, and we plan on going next year and taking it to the next level with the 35 mile ride.

Baby Shower in Wichita

Today was Megan's second baby shower in Wichita, KS (technically it was in Derby).  Soon-to-be-Grandma Sara, soon-to-be-Aunt Megan, and soon-to-be-Aunt Morgan hosted the shower at my parent's home.  It was very nice with a great turn out of family and friends.  Just like our first shower, we barely had enough room in the Pathfinder to haul back all of the generous gifts.  Some select pictures below.

My Mom gave us a copy of my favorite book when I was a kid, Pat the Bunny:

And Megan's Mom got her Goodnight Moon which was her favorite book when she was little:

The grandmothers and soon-to-be mother:

The aunts:

Melon Carriage and Cupcakes

In preparation for the baby shower in Wichita, my Dad and I "engineered" a baby carriage fruit salad manufactured from a watermelon the night before:

Sister Megan and cousin Sophie graciously decorated the cupcakes that Mom baked.  Megan decorates so fast that the camera couldn't accurately track her hand:

Sophie concentrating very hard (again, notice Megan's blurry hand):

Baby Shower in Curryville

Today, Megan had her first baby shower in Curryville, MO (population 251 as of the 2000 census and according to the sign I found here).  The shower was hosted by Megan's Aunt Angie (with help from her other aunts as well).  Besides her family local to this area, Megan's mom and sisters came from Wichita.  It was very nice and we got a lot of great stuff for Stella.  So much stuff that we were barely able to make a little foot by foot square in the Pathfinder for Sugar to travel back home in.

Maui Gift

Before we went on our summer vacation to Maui, our doctor mentioned that there are popular children's books local to the island about a blue turtle.  So, for our future girl, we found Limu: The Blue Turtle and picked up a complimentary stuffed turtle we found at another shop.  It was different to look for something for a newborn instead of the typical T-Shirts, shot glasses, etc. that we normally pick up.  Also, this imaginary turtle had even more meaning for us, because we actually swam with real sea turtles during our snorkeling trip to Molikini.

Mother's Day - Unborn Edition

For Mother's Day, I got Megan a Snoogle.  It's a popular body pillow specifically for pregnant women.  Megan's been wrapping herself around multiple pillows in an effort to get comfortable while sleeping.  The Snoogle should make this much easier.  It's C shape is also specifically advantageous for circumventing a large pregnant belly when she gets to that point.

We've also been looking for an excuse to go to Kyoto, because they are supposed to have the best hibachi around these parts.  So, we went tonight since it was a special occasion.  It was really good, but I still don't think as good as Kobe Steakhouse back home which is hard to beat.

Happy Mother's (to be) Day!

From Aunt Karen and Uncle Steve

Thoughtful congratulations card we got from Aunt Karen and Uncle Steve in Leavenworth, KS.