A Very Merry Unbirthday Party

 With our trip to Disney this year, I said a big NO to a big Birthday party.

That was hard for me to do.

Even though our little family celebrated Addison and will celebrate Ansley on her upcoming day... even though extended family has and will celebrate them... even though Disney was the best imaginable celebration... It was hard for me...

So hard for me that I bent...just a little...and am having a few friends to the park after school to play and eat cake right smack in the middle of my September and October babies' birthdays. That's all. 1 gathering. The park. Cake. Candles.

But, I am a sucker for anything that warrants making a cute invitation and writing in pretty fonts on envelopes--even if it is just for a few of them. ;) And we had just returned from a magical adventure that had the princess love exploding, so how could I withhold my girls a princess party at the pinnacle of their obsessions, right!?!

So, tada.

It is documented, and the girls don't even know it is small scale. Love them for that.

I love Birthdays. What can I say? So celebrate we will!

 With our trip to Disney this year, I said a big NO to a big Birthday party.

That was hard for me to do.

Even though our little family celebrated Addison and will celebrate Ansley on her upcoming day... even though extended family has and will celebrate them... even though Disney was the best imaginable celebration... It was hard for me...

So hard for me that I bent...just a little...and am having a few friends to the park after school to play and eat cake right smack in the middle of my September and October babies' birthdays. That's all. 1 gathering. The park. Cake. Candles.

But, I am a sucker for anything that warrants making a cute invitation and writing in pretty fonts on envelopes--even if it is just for a few of them. ;) And we had just returned from a magical adventure that had the princess love exploding, so how could I withhold my girls a princess party at the pinnacle of their obsessions, right!?!

So, tada.

It is documented, and the girls don't even know it is small scale. Love them for that.

I love Birthdays. What can I say? So celebrate we will!

Birthday Sunday

One of my favorite things about my church, Otter Creek, is the way that they celebrate and honor the Birthdays of the children. The first Sunday of each month, they call all of the children whose Birthdays fall in that month up on stage--kids in the range if ones who are celebrating their first birthdays all the way up to those celebrating their 18th Birthdays. Then they sing the Birthday song followed by a verse of "May The Lord Bless You." It is really so special.

Today my upcoming almost 3-year-old celebrated her Birthday Sunday.

Her sister was excited for her.

Patrick and I are so thankful to be raising our girls in such a loving church. This Birthday Sunday is a small thing that has a big impact. It's a way to make a big church feel a little bit smaller. 

Loved celebrating this October girl's Birthday month!

One of my favorite things about my church, Otter Creek, is the way that they celebrate and honor the Birthdays of the children. The first Sunday of each month, they call all of the children whose Birthdays fall in that month up on stage--kids in the range if ones who are celebrating their first birthdays all the way up to those celebrating their 18th Birthdays. Then they sing the Birthday song followed by a verse of "May The Lord Bless You." It is really so special.

Today my upcoming almost 3-year-old celebrated her Birthday Sunday.

Her sister was excited for her.

Patrick and I are so thankful to be raising our girls in such a loving church. This Birthday Sunday is a small thing that has a big impact. It's a way to make a big church feel a little bit smaller. 

Loved celebrating this October girl's Birthday month!

Things I don't want to forget Part 2: the adventures of My spunky2-year-old Ansley

Oh the terrible, wonderful, bi-polar 2's. We have embraced you again in our household, this time with this little creature:

Ansley Carolina is my fiesty, inquisitive, and fiercely independent 2-year-old. She thinks that she's just as big and that she can do just as much as her big sister. From the way I fix her hair, to how we tuck in at night, she makes sure that she is on an equal playing field. She is so conversational. She loves to ask everyone what their favorite part of the day was, and she especially loves to tell us about her day at the dinner table.

Ansley is super affectionate, and she has become even more affectionate as she gets older. She is a nurturer and loves her babydoll more than anything else she owns. Sometimes her baby is Annabelle, sometimes she is Carolina Crawford, and sometimes she's just baby. She carries her and her blanket with her wherever we go, and some mornings she won't come down for breakfast until she has fed her baby her breakfast in her highchair.

Ansley had been telling me she was ready to pottytrain for awhile, but I wasn't ready. :/ We decided to potty train her on MLK weekend since we had no plans and knew we could camp out on the homefront. My little girl really was ready too. We used that Pottytraining in a day or less method that we used with Addison, and the first day you pump them full of juice all day long so that they can keep practicing. Well, after 16 trips to "pee" and 2 "poops" and only two accidents, she thought she was trained. She's doing great, but that day and weekend wore me flat out. :) She wears panties all the time during the day and pullups at night. She's only wet her pullups 4 times during the past 5 weeks that she's been "trained," so I'm hoping we can wean her from those soon. Her only hard time is naptime. She sleeps in her panties during naptime, but she has had a few accidents. She gets so upset. Bless her. I couldn't be happier with how she's doing though, and we are so thankful.

Here she is at my mom's birthday party chowing down on her special cupcakes. Her allergies are the same, but she is doing so great, and I am finding new ways and products I can use to make sure she is always included at mealtime. We went to eat at Logan's the other night, and I almost got emotional--not really, but I did feel a little giddy-- watching her devour the peanuts as fast as Patrick would shell them. I remember a time in the not-so-distant past when I wondered if she would ever be able to eat "real food."

Who can resist a little girl with pigtails. NOT ME! Especially with this scrunched up nose grin. Her character loves are still Elmo, Dora, Angelina Ballerina, and Sofia. (Addison prefers Amber to Sofia... Seriously?!?)

One thing I notice about Ansley is her emotional maturity. She is keenly aware of people's feelings, and she loves to comfort and "check on" people when they are having a "hard time."

Yesterday, I was downstairs grading papers for my University of Phoenix Survey of Literature class, and the girls had gone upstairs to change their baby doll's clothes, and they didn't come back. It got quiet. Too quiet.  When I found Ansley, she looked like this (The left hand had already soaked in fingernail polish remover at this point). You should have seen her baby doll and Doc McStuffins...

 I put her in timeout, but she was just mad. She had no idea what she had done that was so wrong... She said, "Mom, I just painted fingers. They are so pretty." Pretty soon when the pink glitter polish wouldn't come off her skin and began to itch, she started yelling, "Somebody, PUH-LEEZ give me a bath!" Bless her little heart popping a squat in timeout.

Ansley has entered her 2's full-throttle, but I am thankful to say that they are mostly the wonderful 2's these days.

Oh the terrible, wonderful, bi-polar 2's. We have embraced you again in our household, this time with this little creature:

Ansley Carolina is my fiesty, inquisitive, and fiercely independent 2-year-old. She thinks that she's just as big and that she can do just as much as her big sister. From the way I fix her hair, to how we tuck in at night, she makes sure that she is on an equal playing field. She is so conversational. She loves to ask everyone what their favorite part of the day was, and she especially loves to tell us about her day at the dinner table.

Ansley is super affectionate, and she has become even more affectionate as she gets older. She is a nurturer and loves her babydoll more than anything else she owns. Sometimes her baby is Annabelle, sometimes she is Carolina Crawford, and sometimes she's just baby. She carries her and her blanket with her wherever we go, and some mornings she won't come down for breakfast until she has fed her baby her breakfast in her highchair.

Ansley had been telling me she was ready to pottytrain for awhile, but I wasn't ready. :/ We decided to potty train her on MLK weekend since we had no plans and knew we could camp out on the homefront. My little girl really was ready too. We used that Pottytraining in a day or less method that we used with Addison, and the first day you pump them full of juice all day long so that they can keep practicing. Well, after 16 trips to "pee" and 2 "poops" and only two accidents, she thought she was trained. She's doing great, but that day and weekend wore me flat out. :) She wears panties all the time during the day and pullups at night. She's only wet her pullups 4 times during the past 5 weeks that she's been "trained," so I'm hoping we can wean her from those soon. Her only hard time is naptime. She sleeps in her panties during naptime, but she has had a few accidents. She gets so upset. Bless her. I couldn't be happier with how she's doing though, and we are so thankful.

Here she is at my mom's birthday party chowing down on her special cupcakes. Her allergies are the same, but she is doing so great, and I am finding new ways and products I can use to make sure she is always included at mealtime. We went to eat at Logan's the other night, and I almost got emotional--not really, but I did feel a little giddy-- watching her devour the peanuts as fast as Patrick would shell them. I remember a time in the not-so-distant past when I wondered if she would ever be able to eat "real food."

Who can resist a little girl with pigtails. NOT ME! Especially with this scrunched up nose grin. Her character loves are still Elmo, Dora, Angelina Ballerina, and Sofia. (Addison prefers Amber to Sofia... Seriously?!?)

One thing I notice about Ansley is her emotional maturity. She is keenly aware of people's feelings, and she loves to comfort and "check on" people when they are having a "hard time."

Yesterday, I was downstairs grading papers for my University of Phoenix Survey of Literature class, and the girls had gone upstairs to change their baby doll's clothes, and they didn't come back. It got quiet. Too quiet.  When I found Ansley, she looked like this (The left hand had already soaked in fingernail polish remover at this point). You should have seen her baby doll and Doc McStuffins...

 I put her in timeout, but she was just mad. She had no idea what she had done that was so wrong... She said, "Mom, I just painted fingers. They are so pretty." Pretty soon when the pink glitter polish wouldn't come off her skin and began to itch, she started yelling, "Somebody, PUH-LEEZ give me a bath!" Bless her little heart popping a squat in timeout.

Ansley has entered her 2's full-throttle, but I am thankful to say that they are mostly the wonderful 2's these days.

Valentine Love: the wedding of Q and U, preschool parties, and pajamasall around

In my first year of the preschool world, the letter I was least excited about teaching was the letter Q. I was too short-sighted.  This week we rained on Noah's ark with q-tips, made quarter rubbings, took turns being the quarterback, wore queen crowns, and made quilts.

Today, however, on this lovely day of love, we did something extra special.  What better way to celebrate Valentines day than with a wedding--the wedding between the letters Q and U.  This was an impromptu wedding; I got excited while the kids were in chapel, and I hurriedly made cutouts of bow-ties and tulips, used the letter cutting machine to make q's and u's, and craft sticks to make bouquets for the girls and a way to hold the bow-ties for the boys (who, by the way, might have even loved this activity as much as or more than the girls). We lined them up, marched them in (to the Wedding March, of course), and then I officiated the ceremony wearing a queen's crown.  They giggled as they said, "I do," and told all their parents that they got married today at school as they showed up for the party.

After our wedding, my kiddos went to recess, and I snuck over to Ansley's party. Her sweet teachers made the menu completely Ansley-friendly--crustables, pretzels, grapes, oreos, and juice. They are so sweet and thoughtful. You see she eats in the high chair instead of the little table, and this is to prevent her from any milk or yogurt spills, or goldfish/cheese crackers that could come within her reach.  Thankfully, I don't think she even notices.

Her class activity was to make a Valentine's keep sake with all of the Valentine's from her friends.  She loves glue and is constantly asking to do a "project," so she was thrilled with this, and I was excited to get to do it with her.

Meanwhile, my party moms we decorating our table for my cute class.

The kids, of course, bypassed the "growing food" and went straight for the cupcakes. That made for a nice, amped up activity time. :)

These mustaches are all the rage, and my daughter has drunk the kool-aid.

Their crafts were to decorate their valentine bags, make monkey masks, and do these cool hearts with sticks. They played pin the heart on the heart, and then passed out their Valentines. That part was chaotic but fun. Ad is sitting with her two favorite buds below, Addison A and Ivy.

After school, we came home, and the girls were shortly surprised by these pretty tulips from their daddy. We have developed a tradition of getting Olive Garden take-out (we split the Tour of Italy and salad and breadsticks) and eating in the dining room on our fine China. Then we exchange our cards and treats.

This year, we did pjs all around. Patrick and I both needed some, and the girls legs have outgrown most of their pants, so we got them gowns.  We even got Kit one to match Addison and Ansley's baby doll some pjs also.

Ansley definitely loved her treat, but nothing could compare to sweet Addison's reaction. She got emotional and told us that she had happy tears in her eyes, and thanked us for including Kit on Valentine's Day. I have never seen a little girl more excited for bath time and so giddy as she put on her new gown. I have definitely drunk the kool-aid on this American Girl Doll world.

Here are my pretty flowers from my sweet husband. He knows that tulips and Italian food are the direct routes to my heart, and I loved waking up to these this morning.

We have had the chance to go through all of our loot (I got some from kiddos too!), and I picked these two as the most creative ones of the year.  The one on the left is a little hard to read in this picture, but Hayes' Valentines said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bug." Ummm, precious.  The one on the right came from my sweet kiddo Josh. It is brownie mix and a spatula, and you can read the card. Again, too cute!

Now the countdown for Spring and Spring Break begins...

In my first year of the preschool world, the letter I was least excited about teaching was the letter Q. I was too short-sighted.  This week we rained on Noah's ark with q-tips, made quarter rubbings, took turns being the quarterback, wore queen crowns, and made quilts.

Today, however, on this lovely day of love, we did something extra special.  What better way to celebrate Valentines day than with a wedding--the wedding between the letters Q and U.  This was an impromptu wedding; I got excited while the kids were in chapel, and I hurriedly made cutouts of bow-ties and tulips, used the letter cutting machine to make q's and u's, and craft sticks to make bouquets for the girls and a way to hold the bow-ties for the boys (who, by the way, might have even loved this activity as much as or more than the girls). We lined them up, marched them in (to the Wedding March, of course), and then I officiated the ceremony wearing a queen's crown.  They giggled as they said, "I do," and told all their parents that they got married today at school as they showed up for the party.

After our wedding, my kiddos went to recess, and I snuck over to Ansley's party. Her sweet teachers made the menu completely Ansley-friendly--crustables, pretzels, grapes, oreos, and juice. They are so sweet and thoughtful. You see she eats in the high chair instead of the little table, and this is to prevent her from any milk or yogurt spills, or goldfish/cheese crackers that could come within her reach.  Thankfully, I don't think she even notices.

Her class activity was to make a Valentine's keep sake with all of the Valentine's from her friends.  She loves glue and is constantly asking to do a "project," so she was thrilled with this, and I was excited to get to do it with her.

Meanwhile, my party moms we decorating our table for my cute class.

The kids, of course, bypassed the "growing food" and went straight for the cupcakes. That made for a nice, amped up activity time. :)

These mustaches are all the rage, and my daughter has drunk the kool-aid.

Their crafts were to decorate their valentine bags, make monkey masks, and do these cool hearts with sticks. They played pin the heart on the heart, and then passed out their Valentines. That part was chaotic but fun. Ad is sitting with her two favorite buds below, Addison A and Ivy.

After school, we came home, and the girls were shortly surprised by these pretty tulips from their daddy. We have developed a tradition of getting Olive Garden take-out (we split the Tour of Italy and salad and breadsticks) and eating in the dining room on our fine China. Then we exchange our cards and treats.

This year, we did pjs all around. Patrick and I both needed some, and the girls legs have outgrown most of their pants, so we got them gowns.  We even got Kit one to match Addison and Ansley's baby doll some pjs also.

Ansley definitely loved her treat, but nothing could compare to sweet Addison's reaction. She got emotional and told us that she had happy tears in her eyes, and thanked us for including Kit on Valentine's Day. I have never seen a little girl more excited for bath time and so giddy as she put on her new gown. I have definitely drunk the kool-aid on this American Girl Doll world.

Here are my pretty flowers from my sweet husband. He knows that tulips and Italian food are the direct routes to my heart, and I loved waking up to these this morning.

We have had the chance to go through all of our loot (I got some from kiddos too!), and I picked these two as the most creative ones of the year.  The one on the left is a little hard to read in this picture, but Hayes' Valentines said, "Happy Valentine's Day, Love Bug." Ummm, precious.  The one on the right came from my sweet kiddo Josh. It is brownie mix and a spatula, and you can read the card. Again, too cute!

Now the countdown for Spring and Spring Break begins...

Love is in the Air

We have been Valentine-ing it up over here. Last week we did a bunch of nothing since we were ALL sick, and so this week we have been trying to have us some fun.  Since we completed our Valentines pretty early this month, we have spent today playing games, baking, and getting our nails all fancified.

I found this cool pattern/conversation heart activity here, and even Ansley could do some of the basic ones. I wanted to try it out with Addison to see if it would be something fun to do with our class tomorrow. Both girls loved it, and I caught them both sneaking some conversation hearts in their mouths too. :)

Then we decided to make some heart-shaped cookies. Ansley can tolerate Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix since it just calls for one egg, and I use her special butter. Even though the girls have some cute kitchen aprons, they insisted on wearing their Home Depot ones. I asked why, and Ansley shrugged and said, "the pockets." Addison said, "Look, there's even two of them." Lol. Who can argue with that?

They even got to help decorate them too!

Addison woke up this morning requesting some "fancy hands." Ansley said that she wanted "hands like Savannah." So here we go.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you celebrate all of the love in your life!

We have been Valentine-ing it up over here. Last week we did a bunch of nothing since we were ALL sick, and so this week we have been trying to have us some fun.  Since we completed our Valentines pretty early this month, we have spent today playing games, baking, and getting our nails all fancified.

I found this cool pattern/conversation heart activity here, and even Ansley could do some of the basic ones. I wanted to try it out with Addison to see if it would be something fun to do with our class tomorrow. Both girls loved it, and I caught them both sneaking some conversation hearts in their mouths too. :)

Then we decided to make some heart-shaped cookies. Ansley can tolerate Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix since it just calls for one egg, and I use her special butter. Even though the girls have some cute kitchen aprons, they insisted on wearing their Home Depot ones. I asked why, and Ansley shrugged and said, "the pockets." Addison said, "Look, there's even two of them." Lol. Who can argue with that?

They even got to help decorate them too!

Addison woke up this morning requesting some "fancy hands." Ansley said that she wanted "hands like Savannah." So here we go.

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you celebrate all of the love in your life!

November Recap

November was a fun month for our famil with even more Birthdays to celebrate, Addison's first preschool program, and all of the Thanksgiving festivities. Below was our cute little pilgrim:

We enjoyed some cool, crisp fall mornings, hiking at Radnor with our family.

Addison tried her first cheeseburger. She decided she was ready and "Mc-loved it."

Ansley is tolerating peanut butter--something I wondered if I would ever say about my allergy-plagued sweetie! Yay for another protein source. She loves eating "butter jellies" for lunch now.

Loving on my little turkeys here.

Savannah turned 5 this month. Can't believe how fast the time goes, but we went to the park on her actual birthday and then...

went to the ballet studio to celebrate her party. How cute are these cupcakes below? And how sweet is my sister for ordering them dairy and egg free. Ansley sure enjoyed hers. :)

I found Ansley like this one morning, and she said she was going to potty train all by herself. I was pretty wowed, but then it has come to a halt after she fell into the big potty a couple of weeks ago. She said, after that, that she was never going to potty train. Planning on trying for real after Christmas.

Sweet little church girls. This was on Ansley's first day of Bible Class. Now that she is 2, there are no more random sippy cups of milk in her classroom. I am helping to teach her class and am loving watching her soak it all up.

Addison had her first preschool program. Her (and my) class dressed as pilgrims and they sang some sweet Thanksgiving songs. The picture below is at the end where all of the classes sang together.

Most of my cute little pilgrims.

Our family of 4 after the Thanksgiving Feast.

Sweet cousin best friends. It has been so special for them to be at the same school this year, and they are about the cutest indian/pilgrim pair that I have ever seen!

My girls' preschool Thanksgiving art that made it to the fridge.

For Dad's birthday, we all participated in the Viva la Diva 5K. My favorite memory of this day is Addison's relfection on it.  She thought that the race itself was Bear's birthday, that the thousand or so participants in it were invited to his party, and that all the post race snacks were his refreshments. She even danced with the dancers and got a treat bag, and she says she wants a "race birthday party" next year. Love the way her mind processes things!

I hosted my Bunco group for November's party, and I was excited to set my table.

Our Thanksgiving recap: flying kites, making teepees and fun snacks, eating good food, and dancing gangham style.

Our family's thankful tree all full of blessings. This became our most special part of our day and our dinner conversations and we're trying to come up with a way to keep it going all year long.

The girls sporting their cool Auburn/Alabama football hats from Aunt Andrea gave them on Iron Bowl game day.

We celebrated Daddy turning 30, and we are so grateful to have such a loving, fun, hard-working leader of our family.

We also had a family photo shoot at Radnor Lake and captured the girls at 2 and 4. Aaron Yung truly captures my girls personalities, and we are thankful to be his friends and his clients.

We had a full and fun November, and I didn't want it to escape documentation. We are enjoying our advent season as well and hopefully there will be some more posts ahead to document that,

November was a fun month for our famil with even more Birthdays to celebrate, Addison's first preschool program, and all of the Thanksgiving festivities. Below was our cute little pilgrim:

We enjoyed some cool, crisp fall mornings, hiking at Radnor with our family.

Addison tried her first cheeseburger. She decided she was ready and "Mc-loved it."

Ansley is tolerating peanut butter--something I wondered if I would ever say about my allergy-plagued sweetie! Yay for another protein source. She loves eating "butter jellies" for lunch now.

Loving on my little turkeys here.

Savannah turned 5 this month. Can't believe how fast the time goes, but we went to the park on her actual birthday and then...

went to the ballet studio to celebrate her party. How cute are these cupcakes below? And how sweet is my sister for ordering them dairy and egg free. Ansley sure enjoyed hers. :)

I found Ansley like this one morning, and she said she was going to potty train all by herself. I was pretty wowed, but then it has come to a halt after she fell into the big potty a couple of weeks ago. She said, after that, that she was never going to potty train. Planning on trying for real after Christmas.

Sweet little church girls. This was on Ansley's first day of Bible Class. Now that she is 2, there are no more random sippy cups of milk in her classroom. I am helping to teach her class and am loving watching her soak it all up.

Addison had her first preschool program. Her (and my) class dressed as pilgrims and they sang some sweet Thanksgiving songs. The picture below is at the end where all of the classes sang together.

Most of my cute little pilgrims.

Our family of 4 after the Thanksgiving Feast.

Sweet cousin best friends. It has been so special for them to be at the same school this year, and they are about the cutest indian/pilgrim pair that I have ever seen!

My girls' preschool Thanksgiving art that made it to the fridge.

For Dad's birthday, we all participated in the Viva la Diva 5K. My favorite memory of this day is Addison's relfection on it.  She thought that the race itself was Bear's birthday, that the thousand or so participants in it were invited to his party, and that all the post race snacks were his refreshments. She even danced with the dancers and got a treat bag, and she says she wants a "race birthday party" next year. Love the way her mind processes things!

I hosted my Bunco group for November's party, and I was excited to set my table.

Our Thanksgiving recap: flying kites, making teepees and fun snacks, eating good food, and dancing gangham style.

Our family's thankful tree all full of blessings. This became our most special part of our day and our dinner conversations and we're trying to come up with a way to keep it going all year long.

The girls sporting their cool Auburn/Alabama football hats from Aunt Andrea gave them on Iron Bowl game day.

We celebrated Daddy turning 30, and we are so grateful to have such a loving, fun, hard-working leader of our family.

We also had a family photo shoot at Radnor Lake and captured the girls at 2 and 4. Aaron Yung truly captures my girls personalities, and we are thankful to be his friends and his clients.

We had a full and fun November, and I didn't want it to escape documentation. We are enjoying our advent season as well and hopefully there will be some more posts ahead to document that,