Hey, crafty friends! It’s Taylor here today! We celebrated Henry’s 2nd birthday this past weekend at his monster-themed birthday party and I thought today would be a perfect time to share a bit more about the party and about life with Henry. It’s hard to believe two years have passed! In some ways, it has gone by quickly and in other ways time seemed to stand still.

Many of you have read our journey to Henry’s rare genetic diagnosis, but if you haven’t, you can read it here. Life with Henry is full of uncertainty, but you know what? It is also filled with so much joy! Henry is SO happy. He smiles his big, cheesy grin at everyone and it makes hearts melt. He gives kisses and the best cuddles. Henry is determined too. Watching him try so hard for skills that come quickly for typical children is both difficult and rewarding at the same time. When he reaches those milestones you better believe the cheering section erupts at our house! And speaking of milestones, Henry has started to take his first steps!!

Our biggest struggle continues to be sleep. Sleeplessness is part of his diagnosis and he usually wakes multiple times each night. Needless to say, it’s exhausting! It’s amazing what your body can handle though and we’re in a pretty good routine as we trade nights and get full nights of sleep when we travel to various shows and events. So there you have it – life with Henry in a nutshell. We are thankful for God’s grace through it all and look forward to seeing what Henry will show us for years to come!

Here’s a picture of Henry and me at the party. He loved being the center of attention and eating all of his favorite foods – hot dogs, mashed potatoes, grapes, and cake (though I think he prefers ice cream just like his dad)!

His monster cakes were Snickers and almond flavored and decorated to look like monsters using buttercream frosting.

I decorated the walls with monsters by adding eyes and mouths to paper and tissue fans. My ‘larger than necessary’ collection of circle dies and punches definitely came in handy for this project!

As I mentioned, Henry’s favorite foods made up the party menu, but it wouldn’t be a ‘Taylor’ party without a themed watermelon boat (courtesy of my mom – she’s always up for creating my crazy fruit boats). Check out the pirate ship she carved for Henry’s 1st birthday!

 

I planned various games and activities for the kids including ‘pin the eye on the monster’ and we also dipped and decorated these cute little marshmallow monsters.

Everyone left the party with a favor bag (all those circle punches came in handy again)! They got their choice of monster sunglasses and a treat bag with gum balls. I made the little tags with Taylored Expressions Inky Fingers – Monsters stamp set. The girls helped by lending their fingerprints for the project.

Last, but not least, my favorite part of the whole party. All the kids got to adopt a monster to go home with them! My mom sewed the cute little figures and I used various dies from our Sack It collection to cut out the mouths and eyes from wool felt.

Thanks so much for taking a little time to read about the latest in my life! More crafty goodness is coming soon so stay tuned later this weekend –  oh, and one more thing… We’re giving away our ENTIRE June release product bundle to one lucky winner before release goes live to everyone! Click the image below to see how to enter!