Gold and Pink Princess Birthday Party

We celebrated Delilah's birthday a couple days early, on June 6th. After seeing my friend's cute little one wearing a crown in her 1-year-old pictures, it only took me about 0.6 seconds to decide to copy her idea. A couple Pinterest minutes later, and I knew it had to be a pink and gold princess party for my little girl. The funniest part is when I was pregnant and found out I was having a girl, I couldn't wrap my head around all the girly things and I said things like "I will never call her a princess and do super pink-y girly things. That just sounds cheesy and gross." ... Well, here we are a year later and I'm totally eating my words, embracing all things pink and sparkly and princess-y! With no further ado, enjoy these pictures from her party:

First, just some customary pictures of the table spread in all its glory. I decorated it with pink and gold circles cut out of paper (thank goodness for my neighbor and her Silhouette!), a simple white tablecloth, and lots and lots of white (and a pink) picture frames full of the gorgeous photos we got taken at FotoFly studios earlier in the week. The amazing little crown cupcake toppers were a steal from Topper and Twine on Etsy and made such a big impression for the cost! I made the cupcakes myself out of a white box mix (after failing miserably at making cupcakes from scratch, yikes!) topped with a delicious buttercream frosting kissed with pink food coloring. I also made the little "wand" treats by using prepackaged vanilla wafer cookies with strawberry frosting dipped in melted white chocolate, also with a hint of pink food coloring. Then I finished it off with a paint stroke of dry gold pearl dust for a finish fit for a princess.

I borrowed this cute frame with a magnet board inside from my friend, but what a great idea! Just take any frame and fill it with a magnetic background for a very quick, easy, adorable magnetic surface! Her little girls love to hang up their pictures on display in their room. And finally, Delilah's wonderful, Pinterest-inspired smash cake! To alleviate stress, I asked my friend who is an awesome cake-maker-and-decorator to do the cake for me. She baked the two little 6 inch rounds about a week in advance and froze it. Then, the day before the party, she came down with the flu... so rather than make her decorate while she was sick, I decided to try it myself. For my first time trying this technique, I'd say that it turned out pretty darn good... definitely NOT a Pinterest fail!! :)

Here's my living room, mid-party. It's full of happy friends and babies. And it makes me happy to see all that happy. :)

Post-apocalyptic party living room. Ha. (There's Kimma talking to Grandma)

After we ate some of the delicious treats (may I mention we also served lightly buttered and salted white popcorn, those pink and white Mother's animal cookies {a HUGE hit with my 3 year old son}, and a veggie tray just to counteract all the sugar), Delilah got to smash her cake. She was in a pretty grumpy mood since the party happened during the time she would have liked to take a nap. However, after smashing the cake she perked right up and was happy for a few hours. Thank you, cake induced sugar rush! And, as usual, I couldn't pick just one or two cake smash pictures, so here's 5. ;)

I think she looks sooo stinking cute in her crown from Love Crush Bowtique on Etsy and her tutu/onesie from Onesies for Elliott. I mean, really, what did people do before Etsy and Pinterest!? <3

I think her toes even got a little taste. :) She was very matter-of-fact about her cake eating. It was all business and no play. No hesitation either. It may have helped that she got to dig into a cupcake during her photoshoot earlier in the week.

After a bit of cake cleanup, it was present time! 

Here is sweet Chloe, Delilah, and big brother Charlie. Friends Chloe and Millie brought her this little Fisher Price Cinderella princess carriage where the horse moves front to back when you push it along the floor. So cute! We love girly toys since we don't have very many of those (yet).

She also received a fun stuffed dog that plays music and teaches about body parts (ears, tummy, hands, feet) and colors, as well as her first little baby doll complete with disappearing milk bottle and sippy cup. Grandma and Grandpa Shipp brought some fun little trinkets and an adorable white lacy romper from Old Navy. Kimma and Bebop bought her the cute little pink Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair with her name on it. Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Cummings gave her a little pink ball and a chunky farm puzzle a couple weeks later since they weren't able to make the trip for the party.

Look at those adorable little friends... Millie (who's just 2 months older) and Delilah. Millie LOVED Delilah's chair, but D was good to share with her. Overall she had a fun little birthday party and it's so much fun that she's already ONE!

Creepy Crawly Bug Themed Birthday Party

Charlie's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so he got to have his 3rd birthday party on his actual birthday! Hooray! Once we decided on the bug party theme, I got to work taking Charlie's 3-year-old photos, making the invites, and delivering them to friends and family. I also got to work making plans for the food and the cake! This year's cake was a 3-layer chocolate boxed cake with chocolate frosting between the layers, but then I covered it with a homemade semisweet chocolate ganache and oreo crumbs to look like dirt. We topped it with some awesome plastic bugs I found at my local dollar store. That cake was SO delicious. I need to use ganache more often!

Most of the people we invited were able to make it this year, and so for a few days before the party I started to panic that we wouldn't have enough room or food for everybody! Fortunately, with the help of my friend Chelsey (who is an AMAZING party-thrower!) we pulled together all of the cute bug food ideas I found on Pinterest.

Like these classic worms in dirt (crushed oreos, worms, and chocolate pudding mixed with cool whip and more oreos):

Babybel Cheese Beetles (partially unwrapped Babybel cheeses with a blackberry stuck on using a toothpick) and Ants on a Log (celery sticks filled with peanut butter--or, in my case, sunflower seed butter--and topped with raisins):

Caterpillar Grape Kabobs (grapes on a skewer with mini chocolate chip eyes stuck on with chocolate frosting and frosting antennae):

Chips and Bug Guts (aka chips and queso - velveeta cheese plus rotel):

Since I focused so much of my efforts on the food, I didn't put up much decor. We bought some bright-colored balloons, left up the bats hanging from my ceiling that were there for Halloween, and put all sorts of little bug crafts, toys, and decor on my dining room table. I'm pretty sure the kids had a blast and made all sorts of crafts (and a mess!) on my table! :)

After everyone enjoyed their food, it was cake time! Charlie's face totally lit up when we started singing to him and Trevor brought the cake over with candles all lit up!

I was so proud that he successfully blew out one of his three candles this year! And also proud that I caught the moment it happened on camera! :)

He worked at it a little longer, and then Trevor came over to help him finish blowing them out. He's still working on his blowing skills. He tends to blow with an "F" sound shaped mouth (upper teeth on lower lip) instead of an O-shaped mouth. Haha :) You can kind of see what I'm talking about in the picture above.

Soon after we all devoured the delicious chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cake (mmmm!), it was time to open presents. Charlie got so many awesome gifts from his thoughtful family members and friends! This big dump truck was from my friend Chelsey and her daughter Jade (far left in this pic). He also got some awesome books, tractors (even a remote control one!), a bucket of gadgets from Grandma, and lots of great things to play with!

Probably his favorite gifts from his entire birthday were this cool kid microscope that he got from his cousins and the plastic blocks that encase real dead bugs from his friend Aunika. They have these blocks at the local Curiosity Museum and Charlie loved them when we went with Aunika and her mom Brittnee, so that's how Brittnee got the awesome idea to get him some for his birthday. Such a cool gift! And totally up my little scientist's alley! :)

The party started to thin out and die down a bit and Trevor and his friends went to the basement to play a few games of ping pong. :) It was such a fun day, despite the fact that Charlie truly embodied the concept of "It's My Party and I'll Cry/Pout/Scream if I Want To!". He was such a little meanie to any kid who tried to take the bugs he was playing with at the kitchen table. He would scream at them and cry until he got it back. I was quite embarrassed, but later realized it probably would have been a good idea to mentally prep him for his birthday party before it happened. Now I know it's good to tell him that friends are coming over and they are going to have fun and he needs to share his toys BEFORE it's happening to him!

You can tell in this photo how he was pretty worn out (both physically and mentally haha) by the time the party was over. See his little pout/sassy face?

We sure loved having everyone there! It's always a lot of work to throw a party, but we have so much fun that I always think it's worth it by the time it's all over with. And mostly, I still LOVE having a house to throw parties in! Thank goodness for that!

Here's me with my sweet 3-year-old! Oh, if only I weren't on the verge of a blink, this picture would be perfect! Happy Birthday, my boy!

A Carolina Christmas

Our flight to North Carolina on Christmas day evening went really well! We had a direct, non-stop flight from Salt Lake to Raleigh and it was glorious! With enough snacks and the saving grace of the iPad, Charlie did wonderfully. We arrived in NC around 11pm or so and drove back to my parents' house so Charlie could go to bed after saying hi to everyone. A couple hours later, Trevor and I went to bed too (around 2am EST). Unfortunately, only about an hour or so after that, Charlie woke up crying, so I gave him some Tylenol and helped him fall back asleep. That only lasted for 45 minutes. From about 4:30am on, he was up crying because he was in pain and he was SO tired and just wanted to sleep but he couldn't because his ear was hurting him. He had been getting over a week-long cold that had finally subsided, but flying on the airplane caused fluids to get into his ear canals and he got an ear infection. It was SO sad and hard not being able to do anything to help him until the doctor's office opened at 8am. It was also so hard not to get any sleep after all that traveling. We went to a local instacare when it opened and got the beloved prescription for some antibiotics. Poor Charlie was so tired, he finally passed out in Trevor's arms while waiting for the doctor, just to be awoken minutes later when the doctor came in.

This picture shows the difference between my happy boy on Christmas morning, and my tired, sick boy just 24 hours later. Quite a big change in such a short time. :(

Over the next week, he was on a regimen of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Zyrtec, and antibiotics to help with the pain, bacteria, and fluids. At least he was feeling back to his normal self within a day of getting the drugs!

Sometime the next day, we got to open our presents. Charlie wasn't too interested in the actual opening part (still!), but he did enjoy the gifts he got, especially the Mickey Mouse figurines from Uncle Mike!

Later in the week, after extended family from my Mom's side arrived in town, a few of us - me, Trev, Uncle Don, Caroline, and Margaret - decided to go to the local UNC basketball game! (We would have gone to Duke, but it's about 10x more expensive!). This was our view from our seats in the upper stands. The game was an easy one for Carolina to win, so it wasn't super interesting, but it was still fun to have the experience!

Trevor was pretty excited to see Michael Jordan's  jersey hanging from the rafters!

And we also were the LAST ones in line to get a picture with UNC's mascot, Ramses! (Darn it, I'm half blinking!)

After the game, we drove around campus for a minute and Trev and I got a couple pictures snapped at the old well on campus. Tourism at its finest. ;)

Other Christmas activities included roasting hot dogs and s'mores over a backyard bonfire, singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and eating cake, eating lots of delicious fresh mex food made by my Dad, and playing lots of games of nertz!

The weather was also pretty nice while we were there, especially compared to frigid, snowy Utah, so we spent a couple hours one day at Pullen Park, letting Charlie play on the playground and ride the carousel and choo-choo train! He really just loved it all, even though he was very ready for a nap when we were done! :)

At some point during the trip we went to Albemarle for a day to visit Nana and Granddaddy and my Dad's side of the family. I really can't remember what part of the trip it happened in. We did so much in just 8 days that it's all a bit of a blur when I try to pull it up from memory! Charlie loved seeing Nana and getting to play with all of her toys.

For New Year's Eve, we (Me, my Mom, my Dad, Mike and Trevor) rang in 2014 rather low-key by watching the Texas A&M vs Duke football game, where Duke lost, sadly, but just barely at the end. And then we watched the ball drop on the big screen TV in my parent's basement while sipping some sparkling cider. We are party animals!

We also visited the Marble's Children's Museum one rainy afternoon for a couple hours. I'm pretty sure Trevor liked it as much as Charlie did! Haha :)

The flight back home also went very well, and fortunately it didn't cause Charlie's ears to start hurting again (thank you Zyrtec and antibiotics!!). Here's Charlie looking so grown up in his OWN seat on the plane:

We had so much fun that it took me a few days to get enough energy to get back to normal life! Sometimes you need a vacation after your vacation, and here's me the next day after getting home in my sweats and no makeup to prove it! :)

Merry Christmas (and New Year's) 2013!

Christmas Morning

After putting Charlie to bed on Christmas Eve, both Trevor and I were SO excited for Santa to come and leave presents under the tree. We just couldn't wait until the next morning when Charlie would see the new surprises waiting for him!

Finally, the next morning came. We went in to Charlie's room together and told him that Santa had come and he had some fun new things to play with! But first, he had to be patient and let us change his diaper. Sweet face :)

Finally, it was time! Here's his reaction upon rounding the corner and seeing everything (Sorry it's all so blurry... bad lighting combined with being too excited to check my settings means that all the photos turned out pretty crappy. Oh well, at least it's still documented!)

Needless to say, he was pretty excited about all the new things laying out for him to play with!

A grill, just like Daddy's!

Trevor showed him how to put ketchup and mustard on his food.

Lots of new hotwheels cars and a new car mat!

Vroom vroom.

Overall, I'd say he was a pretty happy boy. And that made us, as parents, pretty happy too!

We also got to open the presents wrapped under the tree and our stockings, which included the letter revealing the girl gender of our new baby! Some other notable gifts were socks, clothes/PJs, and a Mickey Mouse book set with electronic pad for Charlie. Trevor got a wallet... and it's funny because I honestly can't remember any of the other gifts at the moment. :P In our stockings we got lots of treats and Trevor gave me some yoga gear and a cover for our new iPad he had won at work.