Random Cell Phone Pics :)

I have some cute pictures from my cell phone and even though I post them on Facebook, I thought I'd blog them too. I'm so thankful for a camera phone, since I can take pictures throughout the day, without lugging around my big camera.

Maddie's new favorite show is Jake and the Neverland Pirates, on the Disney channel.

Mike gave her some special paper and she immediately wanted to draw all the characters from the show. :)

We had our first ever parent-teacher conference and it went so well!

The teacher is a sweetheart and had so many great things to say that afterward, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. She loved it!

She's also started staying an extra hour on Thursdays so that she can eat lunch and play with her friends. I was hesitant to do this (even though it's only an extra $4!) because I thought it'd be too long of a day, but she actually gets mad when she doesn't get to stay long on Tuesdays!

We're still teaching Sunday school once a month and Mike is so, so good at it. As my energy level drops, he's just stepped up and the kids adore him. :)

Maddie got to celebrate her friends' 4th birthday (sweet twins Mia and Jacob!) at a cupcake place. She loved it!

I got to celebrate Spring with a crafting night with girlfriends! My friend Amy hosts these once a month and it's so fun to get together and make cute projects.

And finally, Grayson's artwork got hung above his crib! I've actually rearranged it since this picture was taken (surprise, surprise! haha) and I think it turned out great!

I think that's it! Well actually, there's like, I don't know, 20 more, but I won't bore you all. Ha!

Grayson's Baby Shower!

Oh my goodness, what an amazing baby shower was thrown for Grayson this weekend!

I was (and still am!) so totally overwhelmed by the love and friendship shown to Mike, Maddie, Grayson and I this weekend. It was the cutest shower ever and such a fun day.

My sweet friends that threw the shower, Monick and Jenny, totally outdid themselves with an all-out nautical-themed brunch. There were so many yummies, including quiche, fresh waffles, fruit, and...

buttercream frosting shots!

They truly know me! Ha! I ate so many of these little beauties that I am not looking forward to my next weigh-in at the doctor's! :)

We were blessed with such beautiful weather and everything was just decorated so cute. I wish I could share all the pictures. Monick took over 70 and it was very hard for me to narrow it down to just these!

Mike brought Maddie when it was time to open presents. She was totally overwhelmed by the large crowd of people and headed straight to her Nana for some snuggles. :)

Maddie sat on my lap (and on the floor) to open all these amazing gifts. I know I said it before but really, overwhelmed is the only word that describes this! It makes me all teary when I think of all the love showered upon us.

Maddie was also totally spoiled and got a ton of big sister presents!

My love :)

And, my sweet, sweet hostesses, Monick and Jenny.

I could never thank them enough for this day. I remember this time last year, when I was throwing showers for friends and my heart was just breaking that we couldn't get pregnant. I remember Monick saying that as soon as we got pregnant, she'd start planning my shower.

And, she did. :)

There were also so many helpers and I'm thankful for all of you, too. It was just a surreal day and oh my goodness,

we're having a baby!!! :)

Another Baby Shower!

The baby shower team of Brandie and Jill has struck again, this time for our friend Heather and her soon-to-be-born-baby Carter.

It was a lovely day and Brandie snapped some lovely pictures!

I made these wooden blocks for Carter's room. Mike bought a 2x4, cut them to size and sanded them down. I then painted them and used the Cricut to cut shapes and letters.

I love how these turned out and can't wait to make some more (as soon as I save up enough money to buy my own Cricut!).

Brandie made the beautiful tissue paper pompoms...

And delicious cookie dough cake pops!

Clearly, I loved the cake pops. I'm not even going to pause to count up how many of these babies I ate today.

And, my sweet girl (who has had a couple of cranky days now; we're looking forward to a low-key weekend!).

Anyway, we can't wait to meet you Carter!

Party's over. You can come out now. :)

Baby Shower!

This weekend, I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for my sweet friend Monick.

Really, I should say that Brandie and I had the pleasure of throwing the shower because I could not have pulled it without that girl! She is unbelievably creative!

Here are some pictures from the day...

I borrowed a Cricut to make goodies, one of them being this banner. The Cricut is an amazing little machine and I have certainly enjoyed playing around with it!

Monick and me!

These are the little favors I made. Aren't the jars adorable?! I made the tags with the Cricut and filled them with Monick's favorite candy, Sour Patch Kids and Skittles.

How gorgeous are these tissue paper pompoms?!?!

I can not take one ounce of credit for these (wait, I did purchase the materials! Can that count?! Ha!) because Brandie made every single one of these.

We hung them from the ceiling on fishing line and they just made the whole room pop.

I think I want tissue paper pompoms in every room of the house!

We played a game to see who could use baby Annalise's name and come up with the most words (there were almost 150 options!).

I think the winning score was 32. :)

Lots of yummy appetizers...

And sweet treats!

Two things about this picture.

Well, three actually.

1. A game to guess how many blocks there were

2. Another Cricut creation

3. I want to start collecting glass jars. I am in love with them and want a huge collection. Ha! This little guy is number one in the collection.

We also attempted the trendy cake pops.

I say attempted because they didn't really turn out as cake pops.

We couldn't get the cake to stay on the stick throughout the frosting process.

But, it didn't really matter. They became stick-less cake balls and were absolutely delicious.

The party planners!

I know she'll probably roll her eyes when she reads this, but I couldn't have done the shower without her. I could write a whole post about Brandie, but I don't know if she'd like that. What I do know is that life has taken the two of us on some crazy adventures and I am so happy and thankful that we've weathered storms together.

Not that the shower was a storm.

There actually were supposed to be storms that day but instead, we were blessed with beautiful blue skies.

Anyway.

So now, we wait (only three more weeks!) to meet sweet Annalise!

Thanks to all that came and made it such a special day for Monick!

ETA: I can't find the exact link of the tutorial we used for the tissue paper flowers, but here's Martha's version. They're all pretty similar, though.

And, the tiny jars totally came with the black and white polka dots on them. Didn't I luck out?! Michael's sells them in packs of twenty. Very adorable!

A How-To on Throwing a Great 'Up' Party

If you haven't seen the Disney Pixar movie, Up, we highly recommend you do just that. It came out on DVD on Tuesday and we were super excited to get our copy.

Up was the first movie that we all saw again, as a family, back in May. For that reason, it holds a special place in Mike and my hearts and Maddie, well, Maddie fell in love with Kevin (the big bird) the moment she saw him. And so, to commemorate the DVD release, Mike suggested that we throw an Up party.

And tonight, we did just that. Here's how it went...

First of all, have your nearest two year old help bake a Kevin cake (she only refers to the movie as, "The Kevin Show"). Frost and decorate cake during said two year old's naptime, thus ensuring that all sprinkles stay on the cake.

To appease the now-angry toddler (because you did decorate the cake without her), go purchase balloon-themed plates at nearby party store (and pray that they give her a free balloon).

Tie lots and lots of balloons all around the house. Make sure that your house doesn't fly away, like Mr. Fredricksen's did.

Prepare party favors by having a very talented and computer saavy husband cover some Hershey bars (Kevin's favorite food, in case you didn't know) in festive Up wrappers.

For a fun party game, prepare a picture-clue scavenger hunt, hiding clues from places like the piano to the potty (Ha! In case you were worried, the potty clue was fun AND clean!).

Stash the scavenger hunt treasure (Dug and a giant candy bar) in play kitchen.

Have a little friend create cup sculptures. Then, listen to the little friend tell you to not take pictures until they're all filled with lemonade (that wasn't happening, thus the crabby expression).

Prepare buffet of food...

Turn on the movie, grab your favorite Poppa (or Annie or Megan or Nana or Grandma) and cuddle up! Enjoy!!