Garden Party

We celebrated our darling Eliza Kate with a garden party for her first birthday bash at the East Cobb Park pavilion. After a month of recovery with end of the year events, I'm finally surfacing to reflect. These kid birthday parties wear me out!

God graced us with an absolutely gorgeous spring like day. You never know with these spring outdoor parties what you're going to get. We were due for good weather on a first birthday after Miller's gray day way back when... The party forecast was for 0% chance of rain, sunny and warm. The absolute perfect gift for our garden gal.

There's nothing like a one year old birthday party. It's really all for the parents the first go around. Eliza Kate had no idea what all the fuss was about. Our queen bee handled all of the attention beautifully, but all one year olds can only handle so much partying on their big day.

I had a lot of fun creating with this theme. Of course, I had a great start with my friend's purchased decor. It was fun to add to it and make the party our own. We dined picnic style on sub sandwiches, chicken nuggets, fruit kabobs, and dirt cake.

Pinks and greens were such a joy to use. After thinking about boy themes and colors for four years, it was a pure delight to use polka dots, ginghams, flowers, watering cans & bumble bees. Miller was thrilled that we put fondant bees on the cupcakes. What's a garden party without bees buzzing around the sweets?

More party details...

Garden centerpiece

Month to month birthday banner

"Rakes and Shovels" utensils for eating;)
EK's smash cake. Notice the pre smash finger sampling! Hmm..I wonder who enjoyed a sample frosting lick?
Smash cake time..not such a smashing success. EK wasn't into getting messy frosting all over her face!

We were honored to have friends and and our extended families there including Uncle Clay who snapped this picture. They were all sports and dressed in pink and green for the little miss! This is the best we could do after the kiddos were partied out!

Birthday girly with her gifts. She loved all the ribbons and paper.

Present time after nap did not disappoint. Eliza Kate received some of the most thoughtful and girly girl gifts. It was rushed to get the name and gift down before Miller was tearing into the next package. He loved showing and modeling how each toy worked for his little sister. Miller celebrated EK's birthday in the sweetest of ways not minding all of the shifted attention on the birthday girl.

Happy First Birthday to Elizabeth Katherine. We enjoyed every minute of your big party day! Thank you sweet friends for "buzzing by" to celebrate the big ONE years old with our girly.

Easter Best

I remind myself on the challenging days with these two that Miller really does love his little sister. He doesn't really mean it when he says he wants to send her back to the hospital:) These pictures are a reminder to me of the relationship we're building with these two. Eliza Kate surely does like to full out belly laugh at Miller's crazy big brother antics. He really has taken a liking to his baby sis, too! These Easter pictures are telling, he adores her!

One way big brothers show their affections to their sisters is bopping them on the noses with flowers to make them laugh.

It worked! Eliza Kate loved this game.

She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me!

Sealed with a kiss on the forehead. He can be so sweet!

Eliza Kate proudly announcing she's one. We've been practicing holding our finger up and saying "one". It sounds like "wan" coming from this cutey.

Grandmama and Poppy invited us to take pictures after dinner at their church's decorated cross. The children at their church bring bouquets of flowers on Easter morning to attach to the cross. What a wonderful and beautiful tradition.

Celebrating Easter & our risen saviour!

Celebrating Easter

Finally exhaling after a flurry of wonderful celebrations in April. Preschool parties have been such the treat this year. I pinch myself that I can participate in Miller's little school life. The outside hunt was rained out, but that didn't spoil our fun. The kids used their matching Easter buckets to hunt on the indoor playground. Pastel eggs were hiding everywhere. Miller's strategy of count and open your eggs after each discovery wasn't exactly the winning ticket. Curiosity got the best of him. He wants to know what's inside each egg while their is chaotic hunting activity swirling around him to collect the most eggs.

On your mark, get set, RUN! Love this one of the mad egg dash. Miller has made some sweet friends this year in class. For that, we're thankful!

Little sister was content playing with the spinning wheel, while Miller sorted his loot.

We capped off the weekend of Easter festivities at Bradley Elisabeth's very first birthday. Bradley is one day older than our sweet one. She had an adorable Easter themed party with little Chicks. The kids had a big time hunting for eggs in her backyard. Eliza Kate was more interested in the pink grass in her basket. Once she discovered the cheerios and puffs in the baby eggs, she was in heaven!

What happens to the wardrobe of older brothers with little sisters? They have an assortment of pastel shirts ready at a moments notice to match their girly younger siblings:) Real men wear pink, right? I hope Miller doesn't give me grief in future years over wearing pink. Eliza Kate sported her very first pair of Easter shoes. Now that she's pulling up, it was high time she started getting comfortable in summer sandals. Eliza Kate does not like the strange feeling of grass under her toes, so shoes are an absolute must if we're playing outside.

Eliza Kate enjoyed socializing with the other little girls in her own way. Nothing like the blessing of little "chickas" to celebrate all the party fun with. Sweet southern darlins enjoying the outdoor hunt!

Miller's sweet buddy, Jack. These two are an absolute mess and joy at the same time. They finally posed long enough to smile:) Love this!

Hope you enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebrating the risen Savior!

Cupcake Cutey

Sweet Eliza Kate got to see what sweet really tastes like on her birthday. We celebrated with cupcakes and the birthday chorus after dinner on her actual day. It didn't take long for the girly girl to dig right into her hot pink frosted cupcake.

Peek-a-boo is not a very good activity with frosting on your hands. It was a greasy mess all in her hair and ears.

Something about getting messy makes this child a little upset. She's not a fan of messes. I love her "clean my face off or else" stare down in this photo. A hair accessory quick change was in order from this princess after it got sticky. All princesses have a bow waiting in the wings for occasions such as this.

We quickly washed her down with soapy water.We found hot pink stains for days on towels in the kitchen and on our clothes. Even an after dessert bath did not wash away the pink residue on her face and hands. Eliza Kate's face was stained a soft shade of pink until the next evening. Gross! The frosting did not agree with her and we found a hot pink mess all over her crib in the morning. Poor baby! Her little system is just not use to the sugar shock overload. More pictures of her garden party to follow.

Happy First Birthday to our hot pink cupcake! You're the icing on the cake in our family:)

Birthday Letter

Dear Elizabeth Katherine,
Guess who's one? You are!

It's been one whole year since you graced our family with your sweet life. What an absolute gift and blessing the Lord bestowed upon our family with you.

I guess our story can be traced back to the day of our 19 week ultrasound. That's when we really felt like we "met" you for the first time. The technician measured you and checked you out from head to toe. You were sucking your thumb and cooperating as she was getting a good look in mommy's tummy. I was trying to read by her body language and wording if you were a boy or girl. She was sworn to secrecy and wrote down your gender on a slip of paper. I was dying with anticipation to unseal that letter. Daddy and I went out for a relaxing dinner and he unsealed the letter first. We were shocked that we actually saw the words "It's a girl!" I could hardly eat my dinner without my mind planning..racing..our whole schema of life changed with those three words introducing us to the world of all things girl.

Flash forward eight months to the month of April. Your scheduled c-section date was April 29, 2010. That's the beauty of a second c-section with a toddler to take care of. Planning is comforting with scheduled surgery,right? I relaxed at the thought of strolling in fresh faced, packed and fully ready to greet you. Well, you had other plans sweet one. Mommy was wrapping up make up CRCT testing and timing my contractions at the same time:) When I recorded 8 minutes, I felt the need to leave work and call the doc. After a quick office visit with daddy by my side, they determined it was prelabor and said I could go on for a week with these painful contractions. Really? I decided there was no way I could work under these breathtaking contractions. The next day I laid around and went in to get checked again after predictable contractions. The midwife recommended a heavy painkiller to ease the pain. I finally convinced her through painful pauses that I could barely stand it! With a quick call to the hospital with the on call doc they worked me in.

It was go time with a minor miscommunication issue on the arrival time at the hospital. Since, I wasn't an emergency section per say. I laid in that hospital bed with predictable, severely painful contractions that narrowed to 5 minutes apart. As the minute hand would approach each five minute mark, I was extremely anxious as I knew what was coming. It was all I could do, to last until surgery with no epidural. As soon as daddy suited up in his scrubs and we were wheeled into the OR, there was mental relief as I knew the spinal would take away my miserable contractions. The freezing cold OR greeted us with a flurry of activity. I was never so anxious for drugs and as soon as the numbness trickled down my back and legs, I could finally relax. Within minutes we heard your first cries and saw you precious face for the first time. At 7 lbs.6 oz. and 19 1/2 inches, you were perfect from head to toe. You had dark black hair, daddy's bow shaped lips and big blue eyes. It's hard to believe but your side profile and cry were that of big brother. I knew you were ours forever, Elizabeth Katherine! When we were all wheeled out, both sets of grandparents greeted us just in time for your first bath. We were all in heaven.

What an angel you were in those first days...an excellent eater, sleeper and your overall calm countenance gave us a peaceful hospital stay. You showed us your furrowed brow look. It looked like you were in deep thought with your eyebrows all wrinkled up into an eleven shape. We had a few first visitors, but not the circus in & out that big brother had. Miller came to meet you for the first time with his "Big Brother" shirt on and he fell in love. He surprised daddy at how grown up his hands really looked compared to your tiny newborn hands. You loved to sleep swaddled in your favorite swaddle me blanket with your legs up close to your body and your hands up in the air.

Our first year held many special memories. Mommy became a stay at home mom for the first time and celebrated each first with her sweet girl. Mommy had a lot of adjusting to do becoming a mom to two kids. It was ALL a little overwhelming at first coming home from the hospital to a three year old with needs this go around. Although, I finally felt like I knew what I was doing with a newborn. Meals, advice from friends, family, rereading Babywise and Miss Karen's help all got us through those first few months. With time, we really meshed together as a family of four.

We're celebrating your first year of life sweet girl! Happy, Happy First Birthday!

Royal Princess

Introducing Lady Elizabeth Katherine. Trying to get in the royal wedding spirit of things with the countdown to William and Kate's wedding just days away. Am I the only one excited as a school girl to watch all the event unfold? Interestingly enough, I found out the Kate's full name is Catherine Elizabeth the exact reverse of our prissy missy. I dusted off a veil that my roommate from college Terra and I used for our bacherlorette girls' nights out. I bedazzled this toole and hot glued each sparkly gem on until my fingers hurt. Little did I know that my little girl could use it in her dress up trunk for play.
Isn't it every little girls dream to meet their prince? Landon proudly announced that he was this sweet one's prince. I couldn't agree more. Daddy's princess for sure!



Our days of dress up are just beginning. We're having fun! Thank you Lord for this blessing.

dino-four

Jack-o-saurus turned four! Our family loved celebrating his dinosaur fourth with him. There was lots of dino jumping, dino egg hunting, a fossil dig and dino craft. Miller found himself entertained bouncing silly on the dino jumpy. These dinos had lots of energy to burn off!

These fun -filled parties are a lot of work! Jack's mommy did such a fantastic job with the theme. All the details were darling. Former teachers have lots of training in the school of creativity. All the energy that use to get poured into fancy bulletin boards and thematic units gets poured into birthday parties. You could tell that Jack appreciated every detail!

I love how Jack is concentrating hard on not tipping his mile high frosted green cupcake over. He was given specific instructions to keep his eyes on his lap. Can't believe there are four candles on that cake. We watched Jack blow out one candle not too long ago.

No Words for this one!

These two ladies of leisure parked it on a towel and reaquainted with one another. Eliza Kate loved having a girly to play with just her size. Bradley and Eliza Kate are one day apart. EK kept touching Bradley as if to say.."are you real or a dolly?" Don't you feel sorry for Eliza Kate playing with cars? Yes, she loves wheels as she observes big brother playing all day.

Landon and I tag team at these parties. I love that he can come along so we can divide and conquer. I got to hold this sack of sugar on my hip most of the time.

Happy Birthday Jack..we loved sharing in your day.

Picnic Pals

So, whenever we venture outside Miller just follows the street noise for a playdate. He'll tell me, "I hear kids, let's go find them mommy." This kid has really made me come out of my shell. He just joins in the party and asserts himself into conversations and games...gotta love him!

As if there wasn't enough action on our street, Miller has befriended the nicest of families in a nearby cul-de-sac. They have four children with their youngest two kids around the ages of Miller and Eliza Kate. Miller sure knows how to pick nice buddies as we love their parents too!

Miller finally got to break in his new birthday picnic table from Grandmama and Poppy. When the box display picture showed kids eating picnic style under the umbrella, Miller asked if he could have his friends over to use it. Perfect timing to fill up the whole table!

The very next night, we joined in for a neighborhood block party on our neighboring cul-de-sac. Everyone brought a dish to share. The kids rode bikes and played until their hearts were content. Miss "L" has a baby sister at home and knows all the tricks of the trade. She'll make a great mommy's helper one of these days! Love that she helps me with miss priss.