One Year in a Flash! (Ava Kate's first birthday party)

Whew!  We survived the 'big day!'  Just wanted to share a million few photos from Ava Kate's birthday party this weekend!

First, I will explain a bit about the theme (One Year in a Flash) and how I decided on it. 
For months, I was scouring the internet (mainly Pinterest) looking for the perfect 'theme' for my girl's first birthday party.  I knew I wanted it to be girly but I also wanted something 'different,' I just didn't know what exactly...  One day, I happened upon this party and immediately loved the idea!  But I knew I wanted to 'girly' it up and do things differently but I liked the theme itself.  I thought it fit perfectly since I love to take pictures and I really do feel like this past year has gone by in a flash.  So, anyway, I emailed my blogger friend Ashley about designing her invitation and we got started brainstorming about colors, designs, etc...  I am in love with how the invitation turned out and it was exactly what I wanted!!  She did a wonderful job!

Visit Ashley's Etsy shop, Paper Dime Design to see more of her adorable creations!  On the back of the invitation, I included a photo of her so people could (if they wanted to) frame the 5x7 picture instead of tossing the invite ;)

So, now I will show you lots and lots of pictures from the party and kind of explain things as I go, I suppose!

There was so much that I wanted to do and didn't or did differently mainly because I am a procrastinator...  But for one, I wanted to use a piece of furniture we have for the cake table.  It wasn't going to be big enough for the cake, candy jars, cameras, flowers, etc..so I had to use a regular folding table.  Kinda sad I didn't get to go through with my original plan but oh well. 
I used my dad's vintage minolta camera and an old camera my grandpa gave me as props.  I love how they looked on the cake table with the flowers and a framed copy of her invite.

The cake was inspired by a cake I saw online that used filmstrips as a border but it had a giant, dslr camera on top so we changed a few things and I LOVE how it turned out!!  I created the filmstrips in photoshop and my friend Adrienne made the cake.  It turned out perfect!! 

(photo by Taryn Yager)

I wanted to include a photo banner from her first year so the night before her party, my sweet hubby cut out all the paper frames from cardstock and I created this to go above her cake table.  Jeff also painted the frame pink so it would coordinate :)

I love this poster also created by Ashley, you can order one for yourself in her etsy shop!!  We printed it at our local Office Depot and I mounted it on a foam board I got at the Dollar Tree.  Super easy!  I also ordered paper straws, cameras, lips and mustaches to create cute little props for our photo booth.  The photofetti was adorable and fit perfectly with the theme.  The vintage camera cutouts were purchased from this lovely etsy seller and the lips and mustaches were from here.

 I made her onesie after I saw one on Pinterest that was selling on Etsy for $20.  I knew I could make it for cheap but it ended up being a little time-consuming and possibly would have been worth it to just pay the $20 ;)  But I liked the idea of it being made by me for memories.  Her headband was made by my friend Jacquie.  Check out her cute Etsy shop!

(photos by Taryn Yager)

My wonderfully talented and thoughtful bestie, Taryn, brought her camera and took lots of pictures for me at the party.  She did this even though she brought her 3 year old and is 27 weeks pregnant.  I am forever grateful to her for this wonderful gift because I barely touched my camera once guests started arriving!  She took these beautiful pictures....  If you'd like to visit her facebook page, here's a linky :) 

more photos by Taryn.  We had a photobooth and I set up my dad's camera on a tripod with a remote so people could snap their own photos.  It was fun!  (this was another thing I dropped the ball on, I wanted to make a really cute background for it but didn't...instead my mom was trying to put up streamers last minute but people still had fun with it and that's all that matters, I suppose ;)

Here she is smashing into her cake and loving every minute of it!

(photos by Taryn Yager)

Here is big brother having fun with party favors ;)
(photos by Taryn Yager)

The favors said "thank you for a picture-perfect birthday" and it was. 

(photos by Taryn Yager)



We had an inflatable for the kids and served Taco soup and pb&j for the little ones.  We had lots of help from my parents who helped out so much with setting up, keeping the food table stocked and loading up the cars after. We also had some friends and my sister-in-law stay to help us after and we are SO grateful.  I hate to think of how much work we would have had without all the help.  It was a long and stressful but fun day and we had a great time celebrating with our little girl!  
All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

She's One.

Yesterday was bittersweet.  My baby girl turned one.  I have no idea how this year went by so fast!  What a wonderful year it has been watching her grow and develop a (sassy) little personality! 
I took my camera in her room when she woke up to capture her on her birthday morning...

 

We had a fun-filled day including cupcakes, a couple little presents and the plaground.  She loved it all. 

Here she is killing devouring eating her cupcake.  I have never seen a baby just inhale a cupcake so fast.  I mean, usually they kinda pick at it, maybe eat the frotsing.  Not my kid.  She doesn't play around with food.  At all.  I had planned on just letting her have a bit of frosting and that be it but once I saw how much she was enjoying it, I couldnt' take it away.  Plus, she would have went ballistic if I tried...

 

 

She ate the entire thing. 

 

Hayden wanted a picture of her with his tablet...

 

 

I also had a couple little presents for her to open that day. 

 

 

I knew a tea set would be perfect for her because she loves dishes and utensils.

 

She is turning into a big kid too fast...taking lots of steps, saying "uh-oh," her first real word besides "mama, dada" which I kinda consider jibber-jabber but I suppose they are words too ;) 
I don't have her measurements yet but I'm thinking she is close to 20lbs :) 

Her party is saturday and I'm a very stressed trying to get everything in order for that!  :-/  I'm excited about it though, can't wait to see everything come together.  I'll post pictures of that sometime next week!

All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Sibling Love

I feel like a broken record whenever I begin a post lately but I have, once again, been neglecting my little blog...  I am really going to try to be better.  This year has just been a bit busy adjusting to life with two kids :) 

Today's post was inspired by Hayden.  Every day I watch him be the best brother he can be to his baby sister and it melts my heart.  He truly is the best brother ever and I love the way he loves baby girl. 

He is continually giving her hugs, kisses, extra lovin'....

And as much as he loves her, she loves him back.  She thinks he is the funniest thing ever and adores him.

Don't get me wrong, he is a typical 3 year old boy and he will occasionally snatch a toy from her that he doesn't want her to have....

But he loves to hold her hand in the car (whether she likes it or not) and tells me to "leave her alone, mommy!" when I tell her "No, no!"

He has been wrapped around her finger since the day she was born...

And though I know they will have their fair share of fights...

I'm looking forward to watching them grow up together as lifelong friends.

All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is less than a week away!  We are getting ready to head to Indiana to see my family for a week or so.  I'm not a fan of road trips but it's nice to go home for Christmas.  I hope we get some snow for Hayden to play in (after we get there, of course!)

Yesterday Hayden had a little playdate/Christmas party with his friend.  Another one of his friends was unable to come because she is sick and we missed her and her little sister.  So, it was just the two of them but I think they had a great time judging by the constant giggles and smiling faces!

I'd been seeing those adorable snowmen milk bottles all over pinterest and decided to make them.  So cute!  There were lots of sugary treats and even Hayden's elf, "Big H" was there. 

For the past several days I have been holding my kids a little tighter, hugging them a little longer, kissing them a little more and just being completely thankful for every moment I have with them. My heart has been so broken for those families that lost their children in that horrible tragedy and I am consumed with grief for them. I'm praying that God gives them a peace that passes understanding as they walk through this dark valley.


So lucky to be mommy to these precious kiddos!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Yarn Ball Christmas Wreath

Wow, it's been a while since I posted.  I've been slacking lately!  I have seriously been the worst blogger this year :-/

Well, I have a Christmasy post today :)  I made a wreath for the front door again this year and have had a few people ask how I made it so I wanted to share it with you! 

I've seen my picture frame wreath from a couple years ago a lot on pinterest and it makes me happy to see that people liked it so much!! :)  This year I did something a little more whimsy.  It all started when I was black friday shopping with my sisters in law and saw a yarn ball wreath at Target.  It was adorable and $20.  I didn't want to spend $20 so I decided to make one.  I got my yarn at Joanns and used coupons.  Would you believe I got all this yarn for $7???

 I got the wreath form (18 inch but you can do any size) at the dollar tree (love that store.) So I had just over $8 in the supplies (less than half of the Target wreath!)

I considered getting styrofoam balls (they even had them in packs of 4 or 5 at the dollar tree) but I would have needed TONS and this would have made my cost in supplies way too much.  So, I decided to crumple up old magazine pages and wrap those with yarn to start my balls :)

I took these pictures when it was dark, excuse the terrible coloring...  Anyway, I added pages to make some bigger forms, tried to make a few different sizes. 
To start covering in yarn I just added a dab of hot glue to the paper and attached the yarn, started wrapping.  I tried to turn the ball continuously to get a more random/messy look so that the yarn wasn't all going in the same direction.  I just wrapped and wrapped.  Didn't add glue as I went along, just glued the end when I was finished with the ball.  They hold together fine. 

 

This was a bit time consuming!  I made LOTS of yarn balls....  LOTS.

I chose to do four colors and tried to keep the same number of balls in each color.  Then, I just started attaching.

I would suggest maybe deciding how you want to place the balls before you start gluing.  I didn't do this and kept having to even it up.  That was frustrating. 
I made tiny balls to fill in the gaps, add filler in spots that needed it. 
Just keep adding till it looks the way you want it.  I didn't take a lot of pictures of this process but didn't think it was necessary. 
Once it was done I added some plastic glittery snowflake ornaments (also from the dollar tree) and I think it really finished it off.

I love how it looks on my red front door :)

Merry Christmas and here's to hoping that I get better with this blogging thing :p
All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!

Fall Happenings

A little look at what we have been doing so far this fall season!

Adding some fall touches to the house...

Are those pink pumpkins not awesome?  My mom and I spotted them while at Kroger last week and she got a few for the house.  I LOVE them! 

hello cute, pink pumpkin! ;)

Call me crazy but I'm keeping some seeds from these guys in hopes that I will be able to grow some for next year...we shall see how that adventure goes!!!

Speaking of my mom, she surprised us with a visit this past wednesday!  The doorbell rang and there was a pumpkin sitting on my doormat.  Hayden was pretty excited about the pumpkin that came out of nowhere but then grandma came around the corner!  She stayed till Sunday and we had a great visit!

And of course it's not fall without some festive treats...

Mom brought a recipe for these pumpkin cheesecake bites so we had fun making (and eating) those!  Then sunday I made these chocolate covered marshmallows to share.  The hubs made quick work of the ones I kept!

Baby girl was loving the pink pumpkin atop the kitchen table, it was too cute. 

Now before you start thinking I'm a bad mommy leaving her on the table, you should know my mom was sitting right next to her in a chair, see? ;)

I just can't get enough of all things fall!  Got my fall-ish scented candles burning daily now, hope they last till after Thanksgiving when it's time to get out the Christmas stuff.  What?  Can't believe it's almost time for THAT! 


All photos taken by Kristen (blog author) unless otherwise stated. Do not copy/save or print without permission. Thank you!