donut grow up, charlotte!

I say this every time my kids have a birthday, but it's true- I blinked and a year went by! Every year seems to go a little faster. It feels like Charlotte has always been part of our family, even though she's just been here for a year, I can't remember life before her! (Did I sleep more then? Probably not...)

Charlotte has been a pretty easy-going kid (probably thanks to birth order)! She still wakes up once a night to eat, loves to read books, likes to try whatever food she sees you eating, and gets into everything. She says: Mama, Dada, Nana, Papa, no, more, all done, poo, night-night, bye, hi, hello, eat, ball, yay, uh-oh, oh no, and book. She just took her first few steps a couple of days ago, but hasn't wanted to practice really since then (though she pushes her walker like a boss!).

Jillian likes to tote her all over the house and can get some of the best belly laughs from her! Anytime the doorbell rings she crawls as fast as she can to the door, because she knows it's most likely Jillian coming home! She's like her second mom. 

 She loved everyone singing happy birthday to her and just beamed the whole time. She wasn't quite sure what to do with her cake, but after a couple of tastes she got the right idea! Anytime she wants to eat something (especially something she sees you eating), she will start "mmmm-ing" very emphatically (sometimes even angry!). Don't get between this girl and her food! She still only has two bottom teeth but that doesn't stop her from doing pretty well with table food!

 We love you SWEET girl! 

__________________

Party Sources:
Letter balloons: Amazon
Tissue paper tassels: Amazon
Donuts: Beyond Glazed in Murray
Donut pinata: Target
Sweet One banner: Etsy
Plates, napkins, donut cups, table cloth: Etsy
Printable paper donuts: Etsy
Sprinkle paper lanterns: Amazon 
 Cake topper: Amazon
Printables: Etsy

thirty, flirty, & thriving

Anyone else love that movie? (13 Going on 30). 

Thirty.

Three DECADES alive. As I was growing up, I remember always thinking thirty sounded so old.  Now I'm actually quite looking forward to it! You're in the more established phase of life; you're not as concerned with impressing other people; you can drive a minivan with pride because you (and other minivan driving moms) know how awesomely convenient it is to have a minivan.

My cousin, and one of my best friends, Jenn turns 30 this week! So we threw her a surprise party.

And the best part? She was genuinely surprised!!! No one let it slip. Her husband, Gordy, and I were texting a lot the month prior, so he had to be pretty sneaky with not leaving his phone laying around face up! Right after they left their kids at home with a sitter, I snuck over and met one of her neighbors and we started setting everything up. Instead of coming back to the house how she left it, she walked into a party!

It was a fun and tasty night! Happy birthday to one of the hottest and talented mama's I know! 

May your thirties be the best decade yet.

jillian's barbie beach party

Over the weekend we celebrated Jillian's 6th birthday! Somehow that happened...six years went by in what feels like two blinks. She wanted to celebrate with her friends via Barbie beach party! She just recently started getting into Barbies since her friend next door and her sister have them. And now I think they've created a monster...dressed in pink...wearing heels...

Normally (as in when I don't have a newborn), I like to spend weeks planning and prepping for a party, getting all of the details just right. But this one was thrown together in about two days...so while things weren't quite as I wanted them, I know Jillian loved every bit of it regardless, which is of course ultimately what matters, right? (Mostly. Yes. ;-) )

Side bar: I didn't realize my camera was on the wrong setting when I was quickly snapping pictures and not looking at them, so only a few even remotely turned out! Ah well! 

But the kids (all 16 of them) started by decorating sand castles! Aka gingerbread houses but with ice cream cones. I think this was a favorite for many since they had unlimited access to a tube of frosting. 

Her cake was from Cravings in Pleasant Grove. I had them make the cake and frost it plain, then I added the crushed graham cracker and other easy decorations! I didn't realize how enormous it would be when I ordered it over the phone, so we were pretty surprised when we picked it up and realized it was about a foot tall and probably 20 lbs (no joke). We sent several people home with big chunks and still ended up with a huge amount! Next time I should probably ask about serving sizes before just ordering away! 

^You can sort of see the pink "trail mix" we had as a snack- pink goldfish, yogurt pretzels and pink jelly beans. Why they don't sell the pink goldfish in a giant carton like the cheese ones is beyond me...because buying and opening 6 little bags of them was annoying. I mean, you know you'd give into your kids and buy a giant carton of pink goldfish over the orange ones. Well, I would anyway.

^Jack's face in this picture...hah!

^I love that look of birthday magic on her face! I think I have a picture from every year where she has this same expression. 

We ended the party with swimming! Fortunately our neighborhood pool isn't very deep and just about every kid had a puddle jumper on- other wise that would have been incredibly stressful! But James was still on lifeguard duty. :-p

And now she is the proud owner of 7 new Barbies, a Barbie house, car, and gymnastics set. She's named them things like, "Pinkalicious" and "Wishes", with a few standard "Stacy's" and "Kelly's" in there. This phase of life, which is really almost a rite of passage in the world of little girls, should be titled "pink, plastic, and why-do-they-make-their-little-tiny-shoes-removable-and-the-easiest-things-to-lose-EVER."

Happy Birthday Jillian! We love you!

showering baby bates

My sister is due in less than a month! We're all counting down the days until Baby Bates (whose first and middle names have yet to be decided) shows up- my sister the most, I'm sure. We had a little baby shower for them today at mi casa!

 Since my other nieces and nephews live back in Florida, I'm especially excited to have a nephew living in the same state! 

I'm not gonna lie, I think it was one of my favorite spreads I've ever done. All hail cheese. 

I know a lot of people don't like cheesy baby shower games, so we skipped those (though I totally don't mind them. Sure, pass the diaper filled with a mushy candy bar and lemme smell it while we pretend it's poop...can I eat it?) But we did find a game that was pretty funny- a spoof off of Cards Against Humanity- called Babies Against Parenthood.

 

Thanks to everyone who came! You are already so loved, Baby Bates! I know Michaela is ready for the next few weeks to fly by, but I for one am NOT! That means it's too close to the end of summer, and I'm not prepared to even go there yet!