Birthday Girl

Little girl turned four today. I've been going down memory lane the past few days revisiting old photos and videos of my little girl. I had forgotten what adorable chubby little cheeks she had, and I had forgotten how sweet her little baby voice sounded, and how cute her first little baby curls were.

I really feel like she grew up a lot this past year. She lost all of her baby fat, she talks like a ten year old, and she is so much more independent than she was a year ago. I know that a lot of that had to do with the fact that she became a big sister this year, which meant she had to learn to do more things on her own. On one hand, I'm kinda sad to watch her grow up so fast, but on the other hand, I'm just really excited I get to watch her grow up. I've enjoyed every stage of her short little life so far, and I'm looking forward to the new stages and the new accomplishments that are still to come. Nothing, not even time, can change the fact that I will always be her mommy and she will always be my girl.

There are so many things I love about my little girl. I love how she hits the ground running in the morning and comes straight into my room announcing "it's time to wake up mommy, mommy the sun is out...it's time to wake up!!!" I love how she helps me make breakfast in the morning by scrambling the eggs and pushing down the coffee in the french press. I love how she likes to put together puzzles, play with her blocks, and color with me. I love watching her catch bugs and run around in our backyard. I love her kisses, morning cuddle time, and how she tells me that she "loves me in the whole best world." I love giggling about silly things with her and painting our nails the same color. I love watching her imagination come to life when she plays with her toys. I love that her favorite store is the Dollar Store and how her favorite thing to do is whatever her mommy and daddy are doing.

I tried to put together some pictures that represent the past four years of little girl's life. There are lots of pictures in this post, but I know family and close friends will enjoy looking at these.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! I love you more than you'll ever know!

Baby Shower

This past weekend was taken up with lots of baby shower preparations. I've been planning this shower for my close friend for quite a while now. As a matter of fact, as soon as I found out my friend was expecting back in December, I knew I had to host her shower. And I knew it had to be spectacular.

I made garland and mobiles out of geometric shapes cut from blue, green, yellow, and orange card stock. Each mobile was hung from a CD I spray painted white. I got my inspiration for the mobiles and garland from Frazier & Wing

Me and my good friend Jody stayed up late into the night drinking coffee and catching up on each others' lives while we cut out tons of shapes for the garland and mobiles.

 Cute little pom pom flowers in coordinating colors. I followed this tutorial to make them.

Advice cards made with pom poms.

Amazing strawberry cream cupcakes made by Erin Plonk

Yummy cheese straws made by Jody. I seriously couldn't have pulled this party off without her help.

White cake with raspberry cream filling and cream cheese icing.

Spinach dip with toasted baguettes.

Emily opening her presents.

All of us gathered around to watch the gift opening.

Snow cones! When I asked Emily what she had been craving the most during pregnancy, she mentioned snow cones. After she said that, I knew I had to find a way to make them for the party. I purchased a snow cone maker off Amazon and was so excited to try it to make sure it worked properly before the party. It's a good thing I tested it because it completely died after just two uses. I was able to return the machine, but I was out a snow cone maker. I sent out a plea for a snow cone machine and was actually able to borrow one. It worked so well that I have already purchased one for lil' girl's birthday next week!

Here's a lovely strawberry snow cone. I followed this recipe for the syrup and I ordered the cups and straws off Amazon. And if anyone wants to know, this is the snow cone machine I ended up using. It works great, especially with ice from Sonic.

Pom pom garland and onesie making craft station.

I actually made this garland for a going away party for my friend Alanna. It was nice to be able to use it again. I just took the pinks and purples out so it would work better with the colors for this shower.

Some of the crafting materials we had and a sign that my sister Lindsey made. She had a little set of alphabet stamps that we used to make all the cards and signs for the party. It turned out really cool, but it was truly a labor of love =)

My friends Jody and Lauren helped me make this idea a reality. We ironed fabric onto transfer web (Pellon, Heavy Duty Wonder Under) and then cut out all these fun shapes. This way, all guests had to do was iron the shape on the onesie or bib that they brought, and then they could add whatever details they wanted to personalize it.

Lauren making a cute onesie using a turtle cut out. She added a top hat to hers. It was so great to see how creative everyone was.

 Emily making a work of art for her baby boy.

Adorable bib made by Erin Godbey (There were two other Erin's besides me at this party...crazy!)

All the bibs and onesies hanging up. They were all so amazing.

Me and Emily at the end of the shower. It was such a great time spent with friends. I can't wait to meet this sweet baby boy in September. Before I end this post though, I have to specially thank my friends Jody and Lauren, and my sister Lindsey for helping me make this shower possible. I could not have done this without all their help. I was so humbled by how they gave of their time to make this shower a success.