Grant’s 3rd Birthday!

On March 24th our Grant turned three! This year we celebrated with family and friends in our back yard on an unseasonably warm Saturday. It was a train-themed party complete with train table, bubbles and homemade cupcakes. On the morning of his actual birthday we continued the streamers tradition and then had cake and presents at EB & GPa’s house. I think he loved tearing them down more than the surprise of having them on his door. His big gift this year from us was a sandbox for the patio. He also got a balance bike, tool kit, and truck basket to hold his lovies. Happy Birthday, Grant!

February Memories

February began with Aubrey’s birthday party at the Hanlin household – kicking off a month of festivities! I always look forward to my birthday and Valentine’s Day (which fall in the same week) and this year our team at work did a market research day for Valentine’s Day, Dale and I celebrated my birthday with dinner at Lidia’s, we had a wonderful family dinner at my parents and we capped it off with a weekend at The Elms. This was a combo birthday/Valentine’s Day/mini-babymoon (just like we did before Grant was born). Grant enjoyed Val this year as well and picked out monster truck Valentines for his class at daycare. This month we also visited the zoo aquarium with Grammy and Pop (their Christmas present), I traveled to Charlottesville to celebrate Holly’s Bachelorette party, and Dale, Grant and I had lots of fun everyday moments playing at home and enjoying family dinners. Sadly, we also had to say goodbye to Granny this month and had a wonderful celebration of her life at our house with the Smith family. I’m going to miss her (and the sweet voicemails she often left after I mailed her a card) so much. For the shortest month of the year, we sure experienced a lot!

January & February Home Progress

Janary’s biggest home project was getting the dining room plaster repaired! After painstakingly removing the old wallpaper, the walls were literally crumbling and it felt great to get this big job checked off the list. Next up, paint touch ups and wallpaper! I also spent a lot of time working on Grant’s big boy room in both January and February. I finally found the perfect wood sample for his dresser/bedside table to match our existing bed and we sampled lots of blue paint options. We also started setting up the rest of his room and decor. Dale and I also finally decided on blinds and curtains for the nursery! I can’t wait to get baby’s room all refreshed and setup, too!