Are You Ready for Some.... Basketball???

For all of you people who are not from the state of Alabama this is the biggest week ever! Iron Bowl week!!! I remember growing up how much excitement there was. I would wear Auburn stuff everyday to school. That was all anyone would talk about all week. Such fun memories! This year's game is probably the biggest there has been in years. I already have a nervous stomach. I don't know if I am going to be able to watch on Friday. So to get ready for the big game this week what did we do? We went to a basketball game!!

Friday night the Johnsons asked us to join them at the Whitesburg Christian Academy game. Zach is a teacher there so they have been going to the games. They promised it would be fun. And it was! I didn't know what to think but we had a great time. It was Ben's first time at a basketball game and he loved it. Kate loved the pep band and clapping. We knew several of the players and just had a great evening! The rest of the weekend has been really low key! Matt worked in the yard all day Saturday. I did house work and a little shopping. Nothing exciting. The kids enjoyed just playing. It is good to have days like that. Last night my parents and brother did come over. My dad had gotten an new iPhone and needed a lesson in how to use it from Matt. I caught this picture of all the boys playing with their phones.
Today was church and naps! Oh glorious Sunday afternoon naps! We are ready for a great week of celebrating Thanksgiving.

Party!!!

So Kate's actual birthday party was very low key! Not much too it at all. We just ate dinner, had cake, opened presents and watched the kids play. Perfect party for a 1 year old. It was great. She loved all the attention and we had fun. Here are some pictures from the party.

Kate enjoying her dinner. Here we are singing Happy Birthday! I don't think she knew what to think. I love that Ben is holding her hand. He was worried about her grabbing the candle. Such a sweet big brother. He also blew out the candle for her.
Trying the cake. Not so sure what to think.

Maybe this isn't too bad.
Ok this is really good!

You guys have been holding back on me!

Ben enjoying a cupcake.

What was left of her cake. I ended up taking it away from her after she ate about 1/2. I figured that was enough. I think she would have ate the whole thing if we had let her.

Then it was on to opening presents. She got so many wonderful things. A great variety of books, clothes, toys and special things! Thanks to all our family for the wonderful gifts! Her favorite thing was this little piano that she got! She loves it!! She hasn't stopped playing with it.

Ben was such a good helper.

Everyone had to get their picture made with the birthday girl.

Uncle Brett and Aunt Joanna

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kelly

Mema and Opa

Granna and Grandaddy

Our family

Poor girl was so partied out! She was exhausted and ready for bed!

It was a great first birthday!! Can't believe how fast the year went. I am now the mom of an almost 4 year old and a 1 year old!!

The Party Stuff

Here it is what you have been waiting for... all the details on the party! I tried really hard to keep the costs down which was a challenge. I made a lot of stuff and focused on making things really special. I think it all turned out super cute.

I planned the whole thing around this dress that I bought last January for Kate to wear at the party (of course I got it at a consignment store don't worry). I thought it was so cute and it was a great inspiration. So everything was pink and green. Here is the party girl ready for the fun!

So my cupcakes didn't turn out quite right. My icing was a disaster. Usually butter cream works pretty well but it just didn't have the right consistency this time. It was really gloppy. I was going to do half the cupcakes pink and half green. Ended up throwing out the homemade icing and going with store bought. So the cupcakes didn't turn out as cute. I think I have learned my lesson and will be buying all cakes from now on. But they still turned out good. I love the toppers that I got on Etsy. I made the cupcake wrappers out of scrapbook paper and I thought they looked cute with the toppers.
Kate's smash cakes was a little sad as well. Like I said nothing went quite right with the cake. Thanks Kim for the cake! It was perfect even if I didn't do it justice decorating it.

I found this awesome easy project of how to make a ribbon wreath. It was super fun and turned out so cute to be the front door decoration!

Simple table to eat at. Love the hanging flower balls. You can check out how to make them on my friend LeeAnn's blog here.

Kate's highchair! I bought a wooden highchair and painted it a fun green! I wanted something special for the party! It turned out super cute. Also got the highchair banner on Etsy. She of course had to have a special birthday bib!Made the banner out of simple scrapbook paper and ribbon. I think it turned out so cute!! Cost maybe $5 which was so much cheaper than the $40 ones on Etsy I was looking at.

I think my favorite thing was the big 12x12 picture collage I did of all of her crib pictures from each month! I loved seeing how much she has grown and changed over the year! For favors I did pictures of Kate in cute white frame from the Dollar Store. They had little tags on them that said thanks for coming to my party.

Just had to throw this one in! We got her a play cupcake set that she loved.

The food table. We had yummy "party food" as I call it - fruit kabobs, veggies and dip, cheese ball, hot bacon dip, ham rolls and pigs in a blanket. I thought the food table looked great. I made the topiary the same way as the wreath.

We had yummy strawberry limeade to drink! And water bottles. My new favorite thing to do for parties is to cut off the labels on the water bottles and tape on scrapbook paper in the party theme. It makes them so custom looking!

That is all the info on the party stuff. I think it turn out so cute and fun!! I had a blast picking it all out and creating it. Next up the actual party...

Kate's 1st Birthday!

We made it through!! We actually did more than make it through. We had a great day. So much fun! Everything about the day was just great. It was so much fun to celebrate a very special little girl. I took over 100 pictures so I am having a hard time narrowing it down for the blog. I am going to have to break it up into several posts. This first one will be about the day and what we did.

Matt has started taking off the kids birthdays. I think that is so special. He isn't home very often during the week so it is a great treat for him to be home with them on their birthdays. Miss Kate woke up (wearing 1 of her 2 pairs of cupcake PJs) and went to check out her first present. We got her a green Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair for her room. She has always loved Ben's so now she has one for herself! Note her lovely bed hair! Daddy made his yummy homemade blueberry muffins! They were so good. Kate ate them up!
Kate then got to open her present from Ben. I had been asking him what he wanted to get Kate for several weeks. He came to me one day and told me he saw a commercial for the Weebles Treehouse and he thought she would like it. So that is what he got her. And boy did she like it!! I think they played together for hours with that thing! Laughing and having a great time!

Another funny Ben story from yesterday. I was telling him he needed to get dressed for the party. He runs to his closet and said "I don't have anything with a cupcake on it or anything that is pink." I must have really gone overboard with the theme!

We then took a trip to Southerland Station. It is a super fun toy store here in town. We let the kids just have fun and check out all the toys. You can spend hours in there playing! Kate of course had to try on the birthday hat! Her shirt says "I'm the Birthday Girl! Now Give Me Some Cake!"

She loved playing with the baby doll stuff. She is getting to be such a big girl. It cracked me up when she had the stroller and pointed up to one of the dolls (in a box) and then pointed down to the stroller. She wanted me to put the box in the stroller. I did and she went strolling around! So cute!

We asked Kate where she wanted to go to lunch and she said Chilis. Ok she didn't say Chilis but Ben said that he what she told him. So we enjoyed a fun lunch together as a family at Chilis. Kate even got a special birthday treat!
Then it was home to get ready for the party...

12 Months Old - 1 Year!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I am writing this post already. It is Kate's birthday!!!! Here is what you are up to sweet girl at 1 year old...

• You have changed so much in the past month. You have gone from still being a baby to a little girl. Just your mannerisms and what you do seem so grown up. You love to play with toys. You aren't picky - you will play with anything. Today I caught you lining up a bunch of toys on the table. That just seems so grown up!


• You are weighing about 18 pounds 6 oz or so. We will get the official weight at the doctor tomorrow. The past month has been rough with your tummy troubles. You have been off milk for about 2 weeks and are doing so much better. The soy milk has gone great and you have adjusted to it well. You still LOVE to eat. Girl, you can pack it away too. I am pretty sure you will eat us out of house and home before your 2nd birthday. Some of your favorite foods are carrots, peas, bread and ham.


• Your hair continues to grow so long. It is starting to really get curly too. On rainy days it looks so cute and curly. Your eyes have turned a beautiful shade of golden brown. There are times when they look almost gold. So beautiful! Your smile continues to amaze me. It just lights up a room and you so freely give it out these days!


• I don't know what has happened to your sleeping schedule lately but it has been a little off. I think all the tummy troubles got you out of rhythm. You are waking up in the night most nights. Just fussy and needing to be rocked back to sleep. You are always struggling with naps. They are getting shorter and shorter. Hopefully now that you are feeling better you will get back to your great sleeping self.


• Your little personality is showing up more and more each day. You are fearless!!! You will climb on anything and try to get into anything. You love it when daddy throws you. I think you think you are about 3 1/2. You love to be held these days. Snuggling is one of your favorite things to do.


• You have 6 teeth. 4 on top and 2 on bottom. You are not walking yet. You are just not interested in doing it. You will stand on your own but won't take a step. It is just a matter of time though. You have been practicing more these days with your walker and are doing great. You are a talker. You babble all day long. You say Mama, Dada, Ba (Ben), bye and hi really well. There are some other things I think you are saying we just haven't figured it out yet. You love to practice your sounds and to watch yourself in the mirror when you are talking.


• You are such a people person. You will go to anyone. No stranger anxiety for you. Ben is still your favorite. You guys have been playing together more and more. I love to hear the sweet laughs of both of you when you are playing.

Wow! So much to write about! What a blessing. Happy 1st Birthday Kate!!!!

525,600 Minutes

Our sweet baby Kate entered the world exactly 525,600 minutes ago. For the past couple of days the song "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent has been running through my head. The line "How do you measure a year?" is what I have been thinking about. How do I even begin to put into words the past year. There have been ups and downs. Great times and hard times. But through it all God has been so faithful.

I think about how much our Kate changed. It is amazing! She has gone from a tiny baby to a fearless little girl. The love that she has brought into our home is so complete. We are so blessed. I am so thankful that 1 year ago God trusted us to be her family. Happy Birthday Sweet Kate! We love you!!!

It's Almost Time!!

I really do think I have been planning Kate's first birthday for an entire year! I remember thinking about it as she lay on a ventilator in the NICU. It was one of those things that kept me going during that long week. I had to think about the good times that were to come.

Tomorrow is going to be so much fun!! We do small family parties for first birthdays so it will just be grandparents and aunts and uncles here. But it will not be small in terms of fun! Our house has turned into an explosion of hot pink and lime green! It is a cupcake themed party and it is going to be great. Here is the invitation that I made. I think it turned out super cute.
I have spent the last couple of days cleaning and decorating. I love to go all out for birthdays if you didn't know. I change out all the regular decor for birthday stuff. I love making people feel special on their birthdays. Kate has 4 different birthday outfits to wear (I also go overboard on clothes). This is her cute cupcake shirt she is wearing today as we get ready.
Here is your sneak peek and what has been birthday central for the last couple of months. I have been working on getting it all together! As I said lots of pink and green. Can't wait to show it all to you!

My mixer is currently getting a workout as I work on baking the cupcakes and cake for Kate!

We are so excited! Tomorrow is going to be so much fun! Lots to celebrate.