Grayson's 5th Birthday & Liam's 3rd Birthday Party - Pump It Up

We celebrated Grayson's 5th and Liam's 3rd birthday at Pump It Up.  Grayson picked out the Hot Wheels theme and was really excited about it.  We got a huge cake from Sweet Mandy B's with icing on top and in between the layers with a cute Hot Wheels theme.  We decorated the party room with streamers, balloons, Hot Wheels table tops and covers, Hot Wheels piñata, goodie bags and confetti.  We had 67 total (35 kids and 32 adults) - way more than we expected.  The boys had a great time with all of their friends.  We spent the first 40 minutes in the first jumping and slide room, the next 40 minutes in the jumping, slide and rock climbing room and the last 40 minutes in the party room.  They ate pizza, cake, fruit and skinny popcorn.  We had a pinata full of candy as well as goodie bags full of treats.  They played music and fun games with the kids.  The boys got a lot of fun gifts:  slime ball launcher, tee ball set, train set, snap circuits, spider man design capes, PJ masks watch, Batman Imaginext, play dough activity case, Curious George books, outdoor/indoor club house, Sharper Image remote control cars, marble maze, space book, space puzzle, train puzzle, sticker book, hot wheels garage attack playset, lego city fire ladder truck, Mr Men book set, light stax illuminated blocks, gift cards, lego city, books, board games, dinosaurs, cute shirts, nerf guns and a few more.  They are so lucky to have such great friends.

Weekend at Sergi's in Wisconsin

We had a great time with Liam's godparents, Dominic and JoAnn Sergi at their house in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.  They have a beautiful home on Lauderdale Lakes.  We spent the day (Saturday) on the boat riding around the lake.  Phil and Kat were in Chicago Thursday - Sunday with their son Paxton so he actually came with us to the lake (Saturday - Sunday).  Grayson and Liam went tubing for the first time with Daddy.  I was very nervous, but they actually loved it.  Grayson first went with Daddy and then went with Paxton.  Daddy and Liam went tubing slowly, but they ended up falling into the water.  Of course I was very nervous, but luckily they had their life jackets on and Liam didn't seem too shaken up by the whole event.  He got a little scared as they were waiting in the water, but later wanted to do it again.  We had a cook out at their house and celebrated Liam's birthday.  The boys went fishing from the deck and Liam caught several fish.   The next day we had breakfast and the boys went fishing again one last time.  We had such a great time with Dom and JoAnn and are so thankful for their wonderful hospitality and generosity.  They got the boys gifts for their birthdays.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Liam's 3rd Birthday

Liam is 3 Years Old!

Happy 3rd Birthday to our sweet Liam.  We love your kind nature, sweet disposition, crazy independence and love for action.  You love to ride your bike, your scooter, play all sports especially soccer, basketball and baseball.  Your athletic ability and coordination amaze us.  We love you to the moon and back times infinity. 

Birthday Celebration ~

We celebrated his birthday morning with special hot wheels balloons when he woke up, a special birthday dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Mia Francesca, with Oma, Phil, Katherine and Paxton (they were in town from Michigan) and opened gifts at home.  We had a special chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream frosting from Sweet Mandy B's.  We get both boys gifts on their birthdays (Grayson gets presents on Liam's birthday and Liam gets presents on Grayson's birthday) because their birthdays are so close together (3 weeks).  They got a fun laser tag game from Phil, Kat and Paxton.  They also got a train set, rocket shooter, car carrier, hot wheels and a few other gifts.  They were so excited to play with all of their new toys.

Things he loves ~

He loves to ride his bike and his scooter, play sports, play with big brother Grayson, play with cars, trains, magnatiles, marble maze, doctor kit, construction kit and play pretend.  I always love hearing him talk in different voices when he's playing with his toys.  

We are so proud of our Liam (Lili, Lili cakes, Boo Boo, Googie).  He is such a big boy now and loves to do everything by himself.  Beware if you try to help because he will have a meltdown.  He has started dressing himself and loves to do everything big brother Grayson does including repeating everything he says.  (such a cute echo)  They have started playing together a lot more and it's so sweet to see, although it ends up in a lot of fights.  Liam loves to antagonize Grayson, but we think he is paying Grayson back for all the beat ups when he was younger.  They truly are the best of friends and love each other so much.  I know this relationship will only grow with time.  We love to watch this bond grow each day.        

3 Year Doctor Check up

We took Liam to see Dr. Cherian (Allison's older sister) for his 3 year check up.  She was happy with his weight gain and height gain.  We discussed some options for Liam's rigidity (OT evaluation, etc) and hope to find ways for him to go more with the flow.  He weighed 28 pounds (13th percentile),  was 36.75 inches long (33rd percentile) and has a BMI of 14.58 (8th percentile). 

Happy Birthday to our sweet Liam!  We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy       

Harezlaks at the Elmhurst Country Club

We spent the day at the Elmhurst Country Club with my college BFF Christine and her family.  My boys love playing with her kids, Casey (6) and Logan (4).  We spent the entire day at the pool and then had dinner at the country club.  Grayson went off the diving board for the first time and loved it. He also did a spin and front flip off the board.  

Hotel Transylvania 3

We took the boys to see Hotel Transylvania 3 and the boys loved it!  It was Grayson's 3rd movie and Liam's 1st movie at the theater.  We've seen Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2 so many times so we couldn't miss the chance to see Hotel Transylvania 3.  It was such a cute movie and the boys had a blast.  I wasn't sure how Liam would do, as his attention span is not that long, but he did great!  At one point he went to the potty with Daddy and came back in telling me "I went potty, Mommy!!".  He was so proud, but I couldn't give him the normal attention I do for this so he was a little upset.  He wanted to wear his Batman raincoat and boots because we had a little rain.  We bought a big giant size popcorn and snacks for the boys and we ended up refilling the giant popcorn.   

Celebrating Oma's Birthday

My mom and I went to dinner and a movie to celebrate her birthday.  We were out of town on her actual birthday so it was nice to spend a night together.  We went to Ella Elli for dinner and split the crispy grain salad, truffle stuffed gnocchi and scallops.  We finished with an amazing desert.  Afterwards we went to the Mama Mia movie.  We had a great time at dinner and loved the movie.  My mom felt like my Dad was with us as the movie talked about losing a loved one.  We had a great time and I truly treasure these special moments.  Thanks, Oma for being the most amazing mom and grandma to my kids.  We think the world of you and can't imagine life without you.  You have such a special bond with the boys that meals my heart.  We love you so much, Oma!  Happy Birthday!