BABY BECKHAM HAS ARRIVED!

The newest member of the Filippini Family arrived

on Tuesday, March 27th at 9:02 am.

Beckham Trace Filippini

weighed 6lbs 15.8oz & was 20 inches long

Beckham is healthy as can be and happy to be home with his brothers Landin, Ryder, and Mazlow.

(More pictures to come)

Happy 2nd Birthday Mazlow!!!!

It's hard to believe that Mazlow is 2. It seems like just yesterday when he was a baby in our arms, and soon he'll be a big brother!

With Beckham due any day now, this may be the last year that Mazlow celebrates a birthday that is truly his own. With his brother's big day just days from his, I imagine we will look to ways to combine their celebrations. But this year, Mazzy didn't have to share the spotlight with anyone. He lived it up and enjoyed his Birthday party to the fullest. I'm glad we got the chance to do this special party for him before the baby was born - - I think it really meant a lot to him.

On the morning of his big day, Mazlow finally mastered the answer to "How old is Mazzy?" ... He would hold up one finger on each hand and bring them together in front of his face and he drawled out the word "ttwwwoooooooo". Too cute was what it was!

In celebration of the fact that Mazlow was born on St. Patrick's Day, we finished the day with a dinner of corned beef and cabbage (prepared by my dear girlfriends Jenn and Nicole who swept in after the party and cleaned and cooked so that I could recover from the party). It was the perfect ending to the perfect birthday for Mazlow!

Happy 2nd Birthday Mazlow! We Love you!!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Presents

Mazlow received some lovely gifts for his birthday, and this year he had a blast opening the gifts himself. We were all amazed at how he tore into the wrapping paper like a pro! The present table...

Mazzy with one of his favorite gifts - a giant Mazzy-sized dinosaur.

Mazzy tearing into some Imaginext dinosaurs from his brothers...

Opening a giant handmade stuffed Bear made by my friend Brenda especially for Mazzy...
Sporting his new goggles and squirt gun, Mazzy is ready for summer.

Special thanks to all of Mazlow's friends and family that showered him with such special gifts!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Pinata

Mazzy had a monkey pinata for his party. We rigged it up to make it one of our infamous "non-violent" pinatas where the kids pull strings instead of whacking it with a stick. One LUCKY string opens the trap door...

Nearly everyone got a try pulling strings, and the kids filled their jungle print bags with candy!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Cake

For Mazzy's cake I made a giant bright Orange Snake with Green Stripes.

Mazlow came downstairs around 5am as I was finishing up the cake, and looked wide-eyed at it and said "MINE?!?" Needless to say he was eager to eat it up!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Lunch

Lunch was set at the table before the kids arrived, so that they could all eat at the same time without waiting for food to be served.

23 kids dined on PB&J with the crusts cut off, Jungle animal shaped Jello Jigglers, Chips, and Wormy Mud cups.

Mazlow especially loved his wormy mud cup. (Guess we don't feed him enough mud)!

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Crafts

In between the games and lunch we had 2 crafts set-up for the kids to do:

After they arrived and were checked-in we sent the kids to the back porch to be "fingerprinted". I had printed out a poem onto a sheet of card stock, and the kids dipped their hands into paint and laid their paw prints onto the paper with the poem. We hung them to dry during the party so they were ready to go home with the kids at the end.

The second craft was a huge hit... we made Necktie Snakes.

I bought 25 random cheesy neckties at local thrift stores, gently ripped the seams open at the large ends, and then my mom sewed small squares of red felt to the bottoms to create an open mouth. The kids picked out the "snake skin" (AKA necktie) they liked and then stuffed it with fabric stuffing. We then attached googly eyes and a ribbon tongue and my mom sewed them closed for the kids.

Even the adults got into stuffing the snakes.

They turned out really cute and the kids loved the 3 foot long stuffed creatures.

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Games

We set-up 3 games for Mazlow's Party:

A "Feed the Animals" Beanbag Toss (Brice drew the animals and then I painted them). Winners in the beanbag toss got bragging rights for the rest of the party, while all players received a jungle print expandable fan for playing.

A Fishing game where the kids fished for jungle prizes like zebra bracelets, baggies of Goldfish crackers, and cheetah print wristbands.

A Guessing Game where the kids had to guess the number of frogs, snakes, bugs, and jungle animals in containers. The kid with the closest guess got to take the container full of treasures home.

Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party: Signs

We decorated the house with signs for Mazlow's party...





And that was just the beginning...

Preparing For Mazlow's 2nd Birthday Party

To Celebrate Mazlow's 2nd Birthday, we decided on a Jungle Adventure Theme. I created invitations on the computer that we printed out and inserted into the card invites that came with with party set we ordered from Birthday Express:
Along with this sheet, the invitation also included a "Passport" for each child invited to the party. The invitation asked them to add their name and picture to the passport and to bring it with them to the party to "gain entrance to the island".
On the back of the passports was the agenda for the day's activities (hopefully encouraging parents to arrive on time - and it worked!)
When the kids got to the party, they were greeted at the door by the safari guides (me and my mom). They showed us their completed passports, which we then stamped with the official seal of the island (a jungle sticker) and dropped into a plastic slip on a lanyard that they could wear around their neck. In the back pocket of the plastic slip were a series of coupons for each of the activities scheduled throughout the day.
The first coupon was for a visit to the medic. When they gave us this coupon, the kids were presented with a baggy of "malaria pills" (AKA Hot Tamales Candy) and "Typhoid Shot" (a fake prick with a Fisher Price injectable needle followed by a Jungle Bandaide).

They had a ticket for Lunch...

They had tickets for all the games and crafts...

The last coupon they used before they headed home was for their treat bag parting gift.