Liam – Page 4 – Casa de Murphy

Happy 4th Birthday, Liam!

July 31, 2015 casademurphy

Happy 4th Brithday, our sweet little man, Liam Michael!

Honestly, I cannot believe how fast this last year has flown by. My mom jokes that we will be sending him off to college before we know it….I’m afraid to blink because she’s probably right.

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Here’s the latest teddy bear pic ❤

If you follow our adventures, you know this teddy bear pic is a fun regular measure of growth for us. Check out all our past pics here.

Last year, we also started a new tradition of a BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW. Let me tell you, this was hilarious to do with him again 🙂 …definitely recommend to do with your kiddos! I found this free printable here via Pinterest that we’ve been using.

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Other notable things these days…

He frequently refers to me & Stephen as “guys” …as in “hey guys….” 😉

He is a master at the iPad — absolutely LOVES to watch amateur videos on YouTube of product demos of toys & role play….there is an enormous amount of videos of Imaginext, which he has grown quite the collection.

Super heroes are everything — most days you catch him in a superhero shirt. I am hard-pressed to dress him in anything else, actually. He won’t have it. His room is superhero. His birthday party theme was requested to be that, as well.

While he didn’t mention it in his birthday interview, he is also quite fond of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

He loves going to “school” and next month he is starting Pre-K!! He knows this and he already says he is in VPK 😉 …he also will tell you that next year he is going to “hildegard” (kindergarten …lol!!)

Dancing and music are also his favs! This little dude has some awesome moves of his own AND he knows most Top 40 songs by heart ❤

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Always smiling & always happy — BEST disposition ever!!

*However, I will add a side note & keep things real that I am predicting the asserting of independence, attempts of attitude, & pushing the boundaries to see what he can possibly get away with to be quite the test for us this next year…..all normal but we have definitely seen our fair share. He is a GREAT kid but he is kid and is learning….also, we are 1st time parents, and we, too, are learning along with him.

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Words cannot express how much love fills our hearts for this little man. It is such a blessing to have him in our lives. He is truly a gift.

So happy to celebrate him today & everyday ❤

Until next time, friends….

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July 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Liam’s Big Boy Room Makeover

July 24, 2015 casademurphy

There have been some exciting updates that have happened around the house here in Casa de Murphy this summer! One of the most exciting that I want to share with you today is that we upgraded Mr. Liam’s room from his nursery decor to a full-on big boy room.

With the exception of converting his crib to a toddler bed back in June 2013, his room has been the same Disney Lion King theme since we 1st were getting ready for his arrival. I have to tell you that I had mixed emotions for this experience — sad to see the last of his baby things go out of his room but yet excited to watch & help him pick out his own furnishings.

Here’s a peak at what his room looked like before we began the update…….

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Since Stephen & I had obviously picked the Lion King theme, we let Liam pick out what he wanted for his new room. Without hesitation, he wanted an Avengers / Super Heroes room. He also helped Stephen pick out the new colors for his walls:

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He was a great helper, as well, with the paint 😉

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Liam’s room is much smaller that we originally thought while 1st shopping for new beds. The placement of the door, window & closet also proved to make things a bit challenging. There were several beds we chose that ended up being too big or awkward of a fit when we measured to fit. We knew that we didn’t want to go through re-doing his room all over anytime soon, so we wanted a good, solid bed that would last awhile. We decided to go with bunk beds & opted for a twin over full. This particular one is a definite space-saver, as the left-hand side also have a set of SIX FULL drawers and FOUR cubbies to store toys, books, etc.! No need to buy an extra dresser for us. LOVE IT!

If you’re in need of kids furniture & you’re in Florida, we highly recommend Kids Furniture Warehouse — great quality & awesome prices!

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As soon as Liam declared he wanted the Avengers for his room, I started scouting online for bargain deals and of course, cute bedding. I found this set on 50% clearance with JCPenney!! What an awesome deal!! 🙂

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The window valance I found at Bed Bath & Beyond

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Grammy & Papa Rock gave us these awesome pictures above of Hulk & Captain America (hung above the top bunk), as well as a signed poster from the Incredible Hulk movie 🙂 …all GREAT additions to the room!! Best of all, it was re-purposing items they already had. Gotta love that!

The bookshelf is from Target, but was in his room previously …we just kept & reused it.

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Stephen found these art deco posters at Target and we framed them. I really love how the Marvel & DC one turned out on the blue wall.

The striped bin, lamp & end table were also Target finds! I used the bin to store some of his stuffed animals that were previously ALL over the floor (we condensed down). Other stuffed animals were tossed up on the top bunk. The end table looks like a locker and is dark blue (I love it!) ….The drawer is perfect for holding super hero figures 😉

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I’ve seen many people post about these 3D wall art nightlights. We got one for Liam’s Avenger’s room. Target carries quite a few different variety’s, so little man got to pick out which one he wanted. Despite the Hulk being his fav, he actually chose the Iron Man hand. It really does look cool!!

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My “big” project for the room was painting letters for his name and adding Mod Podge to comic book pages to put on the letters. I picked up the letters at Target (can you tell yet I LOVE me some Target 😉 ) and some red craft paint — all of it came from their new DIY section …if you’re crafty or even a wanna-a-be, like me, it’s a pretty cool section.

Overall, I am pretty pleased with how the letters turned out!

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Liam’s room makeover was a lot of work (mostly for Daddy who did a FAB job), but it was SO MUCH FUN! The best part is that Liam is totally in love with it — total win!!

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Until next time, friends!

July 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Healthy Kids Running Series

July 21, 2015 casademurphy

If you follow us on Instagram, then you already know how much fun we had for Liam’s 1st Healthy Kids Running Series. Admittedly, it took me embarrassingly long to get these pics together, as the spring series ended in May, but I couldn’t let the experience go by without a mention.

This series is an age appropriate group run that spans 5 weeks. Ours extended out a bit due to rain delays, but we rolled with it. Liam fell within the Pre-K division, so each week, he ran a 50-yard dash. With the exception of running around the yard or the park, this was his very 1st experience with any kind of distance (for his age) or organized running. We have to say that he did a FABULOUS job & honestly LOVED ❤ it!

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Ready to Go…Week 1

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Giving it his all in Week 3….

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All the boys were very focused on the finish line….super cute to see them all running together. Liam turned out to be quite the little competitor 😉

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Action shot from the last race in Week 5….

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We asked Liam if he wanted to do this series just to give him the experience and a chance to try out running, and we are SO PROUD of how hard he worked and that he enjoyed himself so much. He actually consistently placed 2nd in each of the 5 races, so overall, he finished 2nd in the boys Pre-K division! WAY TO GO, LITTLE DUDE!!!

Every runner was awarded a medal of participation. Liam thought that was pretty cool!

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If you have a Healthy Kids Running Series in your area, I would definitely recommend it. Such a positive experience for the kiddos and fun for the entire family.

We’re already looking forward to the next race 🙂

Until next time, friends!

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June 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Weekend Update // Happy Father’s Day

June 23, 2015 casademurphy

Friday was a fun day for these two // Donuts with Daddy at school in the afternoon & Liam gave Stephen a super cute Father’s Day craft that Ms. Sumar helped make.

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❤ BEST DADDY I EVER SAW ❤

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On Saturday, we went to MyGym for class & this happened…Ms. Deanna asked the kiddos to do their forward rolls & then pop up & roar like a bear & try to scare all the parents….this child is HILARIOUS:

It had been a few months since our last trip to the park, so we decided to head over to Sea World in the afternoon to catch the beginning of their #SummerNights with some of our good friends. There was a nice storm just before we headed in, so it cooled it off a tad & kept the sun at bay.

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I’m not kidding when I say that these two little ones did this all on their own // Sweetest thing ever! // They both were so excited to spend the afternoon together & play — it’s all either of them talked about 🙂

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Daddy & Liam in a version of a “teacups” ride 😉

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Playing in the Shark Encounter area — seriously, these two are adorbs ❤

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We caught our 1st show this visit, as well. Liam’s fav is feeding the Sea Lion’s, so it was fun to see their newest show –> Clyde & Seamore’s Sea Lion High

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Just as we were heading out, the sun made an appearance 🙂

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….and, this –> a lucky rainbow!

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On Father’s Day, we decided it would be fun to take Liam for his 2nd movie theatre experience. Disney Pixar’s Inside Out — We all LOVED IT!! Definitely recommend it. He sat through the entire show and really enjoyed the experience…..including eating a TON of popcorn…LOL!

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Until next time, friends!

Latest & Greatest News, May 2015

Memorial Day Weekend 2015 {Part 2}

May 29, 2015 casademurphy

On Sunday, we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. When we stopped at the ticket booth to get our parking pass, the attendant smiled & said, “Have a Magical Day!” — Ya know what? Not to sound totally cliche, but…We really did! It was Liam’s 3rd trip to the park & it was an awesome day. The park wasn’t terribly crowded. For being an {almost} Florida summer day, the weather was great… the storms held off just enough to give a nice breeze & the sun stayed behind the clouds most of the day. We also got to ride all the rides we set out to go on at the beginning of the day. HUGE thanks to my mom & her hubby for the comp tickets they shared with us …can’t beat that! 🙂

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Our 1st ride of the day was ‘Peter Pan’s Flight’ — this was the 1st time both Liam & I got to ride this one. We all loved it!

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Not the greatest pic, but tried to grab a quick selfie before we got off our boat.

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All little man could talk about was wanting to ride the tea cups. So funny because he had never been on them before 😉 …he was really excited to go on this one!

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This face says it ALL!!!

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“I wish I could ride Dumbo” — that’s his way of saying he wants to do something or have something. He wishes for it ❤

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Next stop the classic carousel….

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He told me to ride next to him 🙂

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During our last visit to the park, Liam kept asking to see Anna & Elsa from Frozen. All the Disney princesses are now in the Princess Fairytale Hall. If you aren’t familiar, it’s a very long wait & with nothing fun to look at or amuse yourself with, as in other rides {sorry, not sorry, Disney!}. Since we didn’t do it last time around, we couldn’t say no this time. The look on his face was SO worth the wait…..

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He was most excited to meet Anna. She was the BEST with him & very interactive. It was awesome!

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Being playful & trying to get him to not be so shy — completely adorable!

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After we wrapped up meeting the princesses, he wanted to ride on the People Mover. Well, you can imagine the excitement when we stumbled upon Buzz Lightyear hanging out in Tomorrowland! 🙂

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Little dude normally has never been a fan of any characters in costume, so we were beyond thrilled that he was up for this meet & greet. He LOVES Toy Story!

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To top off an already incredibly fun day, we caught the end of the Move It! Shake It! Dance & Play It! Street Party Parade — front & center ….little dude’s tired eyes were wide open once again even as we walked through the gates at the end of Main Street & waved good-bye to the Magic Kingdom ….

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……Until next time.

Latest & Greatest News, May 2015

Just Keep Swimming {A Refresher}: Our Little Fish

May 15, 2015 casademurphy

Little man recently wrapped up his spring swim refresher lessons with SwimSprout. Last spring, and into early summer, we spent about 9 weeks going through his initial lessons, & it was an awesome experience. You can catch up on that here.

With the refresher lessons, we just wanted to ensure he remembered everything that was taught to him last year. We plan to be in the water a lot this summer & the temps are already climbing, so it was definitely a good idea to get back into the pool now. We honestly hadn’t been in the water since September.

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We had lessons with Ms. Katie, again, and that made all of us happy. Consistently is key, especially at this age. She remembered his learning style & we pretty much picked up where we left off last summer. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at Liam’s performance in the water on the 1st day. Given the amount of time spent out of the water, I was expecting him to have forgotten a lot, but I was SO wrong. He got right in & started swimming like we had been in the pool yesterday. It was awesome!

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Swimsprout teaches the basics of ISR, and little man did much better in his 1st week of refresher lessons with his rollback. He has definitely proven to be a strong swimmer and can hold his breath for a significant period of time. That can be both good and bad with learning the ISR technique. We have to remember to make him follow through and roll onto his back to take a breath and flip back over to swim to us and/or the steps or edge of the pool. Sometimes, he tries to power swim…and, that may not always be the safest route.

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At the end of the 1st week, I got in the pool with him & Ms. Katie so we could go over his skills & things to watch out for over the summer.

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Refresher lessons usually last 3 to 4 weeks, according to the info we received at registration. However, little man did so great that we only had to go for 2 weeks! Nice for the wallet, but we were a tad bit sad to not spend as much time with Ms. Katie this time around. She really is the best 🙂 …..Liam still asks at pick up from school if we’re going to swim lessons to see her {so cute!}.

We ended our last lesson with asking him to jump off the pool deck. He knew he had to land in the water by himself without having anyone catch him. He had never done this before, but we knew he was ready! He was a little leery, but went for it — he was terrific and we were SO PROUD!!

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Way to go, Liam!! You are such an awesome little fish! It’s gonna be a great summer of swimming….can’t wait!

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Before I end this post, let me just say that having ANY type of swim lessons does not make a child 100% safe in the water. NOTHING replaces parental supervision (that’s my PSA 🙂 ). Also, everyone remember to use pool gates, locks or alarms on doors / windows, and know CPR. Everywhere you look there are bodies of water….it doesn’t take you personally having a pool for your child needing these life saving skills or supervision. PLEASE be safe ❤

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Until next time, friends!

April 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Our Easter Egg-Stravaganza! {2015}

April 19, 2015 casademurphy

As usual, I am a bit behind with my post but luckily, not as late as I was at this time last year 🙂

April just ends up being a busy month for us. Lots happening — Liam got a new room, we just finished up his swim refresher lessons, me & Stephen’s anniversary, and all the other fun day-to-day business that keeps this family afloat. I will definitely be sharing some of this with you soon!

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We knew Liam would be doing a few Easter Egg hunts throughout the Easter week, so on Easter weekend, we decided to do something a little different & headed out to the City of Oviedo’s Annual Marshmallow Drop.

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It was pretty cool. Liam got to see a helicopter drop an enormous amount of marshmallows on the field & we ran out to gather them up in his basket. He just made the 3 & under age group, so that was fun. The event separated the kids by age, so there were several “drops”. The kids then got to exchange their marshmallows for candy. Cute!

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The Easter Bunny came while little dude was asleep….I’ve mentioned before that Liam does NOT like characters in costume (e.g, the Easter Bunny). We had told him he was coming while he would be sleeping to leave him a basket of goodies. Well, normally, he would come out of his room as soon as he woke up…not Easter morning. We had to go in & get him — he wasn’t scared but he definitely asked us to make sure the bunny was gone 😉

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Most of his basket came from the Target dollar spot (so dangerous but I LOVE it!!) …he was super excited to see Baymax in the mix and the new Tinkerbell movie!

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After he had some time to explore the findings in his basket, we headed out front in our pj’s to discover that EB had left many eggs hidden all over the yard 🙂

Later that morning, we enjoyed lunch with several of our friends. Yes, I took a pic of the dessert — it was only fitting….haha!

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There was an egg hunt for the kiddos after we ate. Serious business, peeps! Some of those eggs were really hidden. So funny! The girls did a great job putting it together for them.

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Liam was thrilled to have his buddies, Allie & James, to play with. Here they are after the hunt exchanging their finding from the hunt 😉

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There was even a pinata! Look at the swing on this kid! I think T-ball is in his future 🙂

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We really enjoyed our Easter weekend and had a great time with great people!

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Until next time, friends!

Latest & Greatest News, March 2015

Sea World

March 31, 2015 casademurphy

How is today the last day of March?!?! It has definitely been quiet around the blog here lately for me, but today I’m back sharing our adventure from Sea World over a few recent weekends. March was a busy one for Casa de Murphy & I have some more super fun things to share with you soon about what we’ve been up to!! 🙂

Sea World Orlando recently ran an AWESOME BOGO deal for annual passes (sorry, it’s over now!). Taking that deal into account on top of their other current promotion for the Sea World Orlando 2015 Preschool Pass & this was an offer we just couldn’t pass up. All 3 of us have a whole year of fun ahead of us for less than $200. Score!!

If you have a kiddo that’s age 5 or younger & you are in our Orlando area, you should definitely take advantage of the Preschool Pass. It’s FREE….seriously, can you beat that?!?!

Stephen & I hadn’t been to the park in several years, so it was fun to get reacquainted with things & see all that had changed. There are so many new, fun things to do. You can great information about the park to plan your next visit!

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We didn’t have Liam the last time we visited, so this was our 1st time checking out Shamu’s Happy Harbour ….he really loved the choo-choo train ❤

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Acting like Shamu 😉

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A current fav is Pacific Point Preserve — where the Sea Lions are. Liam loved feeding them & I am sure this will be a stop at each visit.

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A new exhibit for us: Antarctica — Empire of the Penguin ….Liam almost didn’t want to go in here {still not sure why…the whole area is very close to the Manta & Kraken roller coasters & we think he may have thought we were walking onto one of them when we were waiting in line to go into the Antarctica buidling}. This attraction replaced the old penguin exhibit & it’s so fun! It’s a ride that then takes you to get off at the penguin exhibit, where you can walk around & view the little guys.

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In love with the many underwater aquarium viewing areas found throughout the park ❤

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Such a great time learning about the animals & exploring the park. Time permitting, we hope to make it back at least once-a-month to continue to enjoy it.

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Until next time, friends!

February 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Dental Health Awareness

February 18, 2015 casademurphy

Happy Hump Day! 🙂

Today, I’m over on Orlando Mom’s Blog sharing some thoughts from Liam’s 1st trip to the dentist last month.

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Be sure to check it out! …You can link directly to the article, here.

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Until next time!

February 2015, Latest & Greatest News

Valentine’s Wrap-Up

February 17, 2015 casademurphy

Last week was a lot of fun in Casa de Murphy….naturally, there was a lot of EXTRA love floating around, as we celebrated Valentine’s Day ❤

Liam was super excited to have a party at school on Friday, as well as exchange Valentine’s with his friends. I had found two different Valentine’s that I thought he would like, but this is the one he picked:

I found this awesome FREE PDF to use for the Valentine card from Simply Modern Mom. I bought a 24-pk of bubble sticks from Target for $3.99 and found a fun roll of washi tape, also at Target to tape the sticks to the card. It was perfect!

I brought back last year’s fav bag toppers from Makoodle to use for our teacher’s gifts. This, again, is another awesome FREE PDF. I am so in love with Liam’s enthusiasm of the holidays this year! He was SO into walking around all the rooms and hand-delivering these bags….it was THE cutest!! ❤

For a look back on what we were up to last year for Valentine’s, check out our post here.

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I was so tickled when I found Liam’s Valentine’s shirt from last year in his closet and realized it would still fit him this year. Ya know it’s just these little things that make us mommy’s super happy, right?!?!

And, just for a little bit of loving nostalgia of this heart-filled holiday, here’s a look back on our other Valentine’s with little man:

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On Friday morning, before we headed out the door, I couldn’t help myself on the cuteness overload ❤ & snagged a quick pic {thanks, Daddy!}

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After school on Friday, Liam had a ball looking at all his little Valentine’s from his friends, and a few from his teacher, Ms. Tamie. I loved that he listened very carefully, as I told him who each Valentine was from 🙂

Valentine’s Day morning started out as a sweet one. We had a few gifts for Liam to open when he woke up. He has really been into the Duplo Legos, lately, so he got a new set, as well as pretty cool Hulk mug that we found at Target.

Stephen surprised me with this totally awesome black & white canvas painting of a picture of my two boys ❤ ….definitely an understatement to say that I am in love with it!

This was done by a local artist, Nikki Bentley. For info on prices or how to order, you can contact her at Bentleyspawprints@yahoo.com

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I am not going to post pictures or get into much detail, but since it happened & I am about sharing our “real” life here….I will tell you that ad mist this crazy love fest of Vday, we had an unfortunate accident later in morning on Saturday. My poor sweet baby splashed very hot water on his arm in the kitchen & got a 2nd degree burn 😦 …it was a scary incident but happy to report he is okay. We have a few weeks of healing ahead of us, but he is doing great. It was heart-breaking to see him in so much pain, though. I feel horrible that it happened and so many times wish I could re-do the whole situation, but I guess that’s why we call them “accidents”. Still hurts my heart.

The funny thing is that after we left the urgent care center, and we were on our way home….I was planning an afternoon of rest {well, at least, in my head}. I {honestly} felt like we were all emotionally spent by that point and it wasn’t even noon, yet! However, when everything happened, we had been preparing to leave to go to Sea World and Liam knew this. Sooo, he actually cried so hard in the car {again} when we told him that we didn’t think Sea World was going to happen, afterall. By that point, neither of us could watch him cry anymore, so we caved 🙂 ….and decided to just go for a few hours. He was all bandaged up, and it seemed to really lift his spirits and take his mind off of what had happened. So…. win! I took a few cute pics, as this was our 1st family trip there, and will share those later this week.

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We hope you all had a fantastic Valentine’s Day weekend! Until next time, friends!