Baby M's Very First Birthday Bash

Baby M celebrated her very 1st  birthday last week & we had her very 1st birthday bash this past weekend.

I am a bit poky about getting the shin dig posted.

A little birthday recovery effort has been going on over here.

Then add my home being invaded by neighborhood kids & well,

my time for me, myself, and I gets put on the back burner.

The birthday bash was incredibly laid back & very small compared to past birthday gatherings that have taken place for my other two wee ones.

The color scheme of the birthday was pink, white, and baby blue.

Here are some photos of Baby M's sweet little birthday party.

Her attire:

1. A birthday skirt purchased by an amazing friend, who also happens to be my next door neighbor.

2. I purchased a onsie and appliqued the number 1 to it.

3.  I made her a flower hair clippie.

4.  I, also, made Baby M a party hat  made out of fabric and embellished with a tulle pom pom, an appliqued number 1, and a silk flower.

She looked flippin' ADORABLE!!

And, of course, I wasn't able to get a great shot from my camera & I am waiting for a couple of others to send me their photos.

For party food, I kept it pretty simple.

I made lemon flavored cake balls,

rice crispy treat pops in the shape of hearts,

chocolate cupcakes filled with homemade caramel or a mini candy bar & topped with a vanilla/almond butter cream.

I also made Baby M her own chocolate smash cake with a vanilla/almond butter cream frosting.

I made a watermelon punch which just consisted of pureed watermelon with ginger ale & some sugar. 

It looked so pretty, & of course, I have no pic of it when added to the table!

Duh!

( I had the husband make the adults a grown up drink using the punch.   Yummy!) 

We also had some watermelon slices, grapes, blueberries, chips & salsa.

Things that the birthday girl loves to eat.

For decorations, I was very frugal & "decorating on a dime" would be an understatement.

I draped mosquito netting that my mom gave to me after her return from a trip to Vietnam along one corner of our  pergola. 

It was so billowy & lovely!

And free!

 I also made mounds of ruffled streamers & covered the "rafters", table & Baby M's highchair with them.

The cost for the ruffle streamer loveliness cost $2.00!

The streamers were so easy & fun to make!

I just took some plain old, boring streamers, set my bobbin tension to it's highest  on my sewing machine & then placed two different colored streamers together & started sewing.

Presto!

Ruffle loveliness.

It's like magic happening before your eyes!

I  made a balloon banner with the cost of maybe $3.00 (idea taken from here),

tissue paper flowers all of $1.00,

and displayed some fresh baby blue hydrangea flowers that were given to me by one of my son's sweetest friends who happens to be our next door neighbor as well.

A long while back, a friend of mine gave me oodles & oodles of white fabric.

Cost of fabric=FREE!

So, I dyed a large piece of fabric baby blue & made a tablecloth for the table.

The cost for the dye...almost $3.00

Total cost for decorating=a whopping $9.00

We all anticipated CAKE TIME!

Because she tends to shovel her food with both her hands during meal times

we thought, without a doubt, that she would go NUTS with her cake.

Guess what?

B-O-R-I-N-G

Nada!

No face plant into the cake.

No two handing cake into her mouth.

No throwing it all about.

NOTHING!

Oh well....

We did get some cute pics of her trying to figure out how to eat the darn thing.

It was such a great little birthday party.

She had a blast & in the grand scheme of things, that is really all that matters.

Happy Thursday!

~Amy

I'll be linking up to some fab parties!

It Was Like Giving Birth to a Pony!!

My wee-ist turned "1" today.

I still cannot get over how big she was at birth.

I mean, seriously, it was like giving birth to a pony!

I am not joking!

And I delivered her O-Natural with no drugs.

What was I thinking??

Ouch!

It was a tough pregnancy.
 An even tougher delivery.

She has had an uphill battle with a birthing injury and she has fought bravely and ferociously.

That is her personality.

A fighter!

Strong.

Very LOUD!

My little fire cracker.

She also has a personality that can brighten your worst day and have you smiling and laughing the moment you meet her.

She is truly amazing.

How much I love this little one.

Happy 1st Birthday Beautiful Baby M!

Happy Thursday!

~Amy

 

Mischievious Madness

You may ask, "How could this precious, angel of a face do something so wildly mischievous?"

Just look at her...

Big chubby cheeks that you just want to kiss & squeeze,

eyes the size of saucers,

dimples galore,

and the cutest little smirk that's simply hard to resist.

Pretty darling, right?

Ha!

During Sweet Baby M's nap, she made a stinky in her diaper.

No big whoop...happens all the time with wee ones.

However,

Baby M decided she didn't want her diaper on any longer.

She easily disposed of the diaper & emptied the contents.

She then proceeded to finger paint all over her crib rails & nearby walls.

I mean, really, how could anyone resist the temptation of finger painting with poo, right?!

Ohhhhhhhh, it gets better.

 The finger painting with her own poo just wasn't enough with this darling, angelic wee one.

OH NO!

She wanted to "one up" on all those other babies who have experimented with poo finger painting!

She decided to have herself a little SNACK!!

Seriously!  I couldn't believe my eyes!

Needless to say, I was a tad bit mortified.

However, as sick as this may sound to some, I found it quite comical.

Especially seeing how she realized that snacking on the contents of her diaper really wasn't something so fantastic.

In fact, if she were able to talk she would have probably told me it was disgusting!

I am going to savor this moment & know during her teenage angst years, I will have some kind of leverage with this tale.

A bit of blackmail, if you will.

And I won't be afraid to use it!

Muahha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Happy Tuesday!

~Amy



Thank You For a Great Year Teacher Gift

Little Man N will be spending his last day as a 2nd grader today!

Wowzer! 

This year flew by so incredibly fast!

And to add to the craziness, Baby M took her first steps last night!
All my babies are growing up waaaaay too fast.

                                                              
                                   Oops...

I got sidetracked...back to my topic.

I wanted to make Little Man N's amazing teacher a gift for her "amazing-ness" & for the wonderful job she did.  She was able to make my Little Man a serious learner & that is so fantastic.

Nearly every day he looked forward to attending school & I truly believe he enjoyed going this year.

(Although, he may tell you otherwise if asked.)

I am so proud of his accomplishments & I owe so much of those accomplishments to his teacher.

With her guidance, patience, love for teaching & perseverance, Little Man N was able to reach goals that were thought to be unreachable in a short amount of time.

Here is what I made for her...

I have to apologize for the crummy photos.  I finished the tote bag during the evening hours which means horrible lighting.

I made a simple tote bag, but to make it unique, I sewed the fabric to look like notebook paper.

Super-cool, right?

I got my inspiration here & here.

I then appliqued an apple & embroidered my son's teacher's name to the front of the bag.

On the backside I embroidered a heart, my son's initials & the year.

This tote bag is also reversible!

I added  pockets for pens, markers, pencils or whatever.

I only did the pocket thing on one side & I am now wishing I had added pocket to both sides of the bag.

Oh well.

I am really digging the "notebook paper" fabric.

I can't wait to do more with it!

So, overall I am happy with how it turned out & hope she likes it.

Thank you, Ms. Morrill!

You are truly amazing & wonderful!

Happy, happy Friday!

~Amy

**I'll be linking up to some fantastic parties!**

Finally Posting About Our Incredibly Fun Memorial Day Weekend

I know, I know...I am a bit late with this post.  My computer has not been playing nice, therefore the lack of posting & anything else that requires my computer.

The wee ones & I spent an amazing time with Grummie & Grumpie at Grumpie's hunting camp.

(I can hear your giggles now as I type.)

I figured it was time to get back to my roots, so to speak.

Shot guns & four-wheelers my friends!!

There is nothing like it!

Camp is set in, what seems to be, the middle of nowhere. 

Lots & lots of trees

AND

black flies

AND

MOSQUITOES THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD!

The wee ones & I had so much fun, minus the shotguns, of course.

Little Man N & Sweet Little L spent hours catching frogs...

And snakes...

In between the frogs & snakes & dumping out the mucky water from their puddle boots, they found time to practice their golf swing...

My Mom, aka Grummie, is playing the role of golf instructor here, giving Sweet Little L some pointers.

We also enjoyed a game or two of horseshoes...

As well as lots & lots of bike riding through giant mud puddles...

and some jump roping...

The wee ones, of course, found time for a 4-wheeler ride with their Grumpie...

While on their ride, Sweet Little L & Grumpie, noticed a turtle hitchhiking along the path & decided to give Mr. Turtle a lift back to camp...

During our few down times, Little Man N would serenade us with some good ole' guitar pickin'...

Even my Dad, aka Grampa, paid us a couple of visits at hunting camp.

Here is looking all super-fly riding his Harley...

And, no, you're not seeing Grizzly Adams or a member of the group ZZ Top,

this man is my very own cool Dad.

For a very short amount of time,

we were able to roast a few marshmallows.

We were out numbered by the mosquitoes & black flies, so a cozy campfire was, unfortunately, short lived.

Wearing a space suit could not have protected us from those nasty, mean bugs!!

Poor Baby M, all she got was a stinkin' cracker...

One of the highlights of the weekend was when I went to check in on Little Man N at bedtime.

He was tossing & turning so I asked,

"Hey Bud, are you okay?"

He replied, "MOM!  What is that noise?  It is so loud.  I can't sleep!"

I giggled & said,

"Um, those would be the frogs croaking & crickets chirping."

"Tell them to STOP!" he bellows.

Ha!!!

I think my wee ones are becoming a bit too "city" & need some more back woods adventures.

Minus the dreadful mosquitoes & blackflies, our weekend was

FAN-TAB-U-LOUS!

It is nice to go back home & let my wee ones enjoy the environment that I grew up in.

Playing outside & getting dirty...

there is nothing else like it.

Thank you Grummie & Grumpie for such an incredible weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

~Amy