First Birthday Party

After weeks of planning outfits and party details, the day was finally here! I pretty much had everything done and ready to go but what I didn't plan for (even though I should have known it was coming) was for my baby girl to get sick two days before :( Josh was sick earlier in the week and we had been trying to avoid it spreading but sure enough, it did. CeCe had a [constant] runny nose and it hit me the following day. Luckily the busy-ness and excitement of the party pulled us through! CeCe did great and the party was as close to perfect as possible!

We had it at Indoor Safari Park in Southlake, TX! It was such a neat place and the kids had such a great time! There were toys and activities everywhere! I would highly recommend it for a party or just to have fun for a day with the kids!

Very cute and yummy cupcakes made by Kelli Jordan!

They start the party off with a Birthday Parade! They hold noise makers and say Happy Birthday while walking around the place!

Safari Train Ride!

Mechanical Animal Rides! CeCe rode the leopard :)

Happy Birthday to you...

Face first! (And no we did not practice this!)

Presents!

It was such a fun time and a perfect first birthday! Thank you to everyone that came and that played a part in the planning!

A special thank you to my mom who was a HUGE life saver the last couple of days when I had so much running around to do while CeCe and I were both sick :)

Wiggly Holiday Party

I receive a weekly e-newsletter from Around Town Kids Frisco, an online resource guide for fun family events going on in Collin County. Today they had a private event just for readers at the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco. It was free for children under age 1 and adults. The events were to include a reading by a local children's book author, door prizes, crafts, a play area called Wiggly Playscape (bounce house/obstacle), and a photo-op with special guest Santa and some of his friends. So my friend, Erin, her daughter, Anna, CeCe and I loaded up and headed over there!

Although I think the girls had a good time, it was a bit of a disappointment. Well, I say that, but it was probably just geared more toward older kids. They just weren't able to do much. There was a small play area suitable for 18 month olds and younger but it really wasn't any better than my living room. And we never did see Santa nor any of his friends. However, we were still able to get some pictures with some Christmas props. And CeCe being the adventurous girl she is, tempted the Playscape but I couldn't get in there to help her. So it didn't last very long. Maybe we can take them back when they get a little older to get the full experience!

handMade Monday

Here are some Thanksgiving-y items I found!
(click the picture to be directed to the shop page)

Felt Turkey Bag from henryandarthur's shop

Thankful Candy Corn Treat Bags from MaterialPursuits's shop

Thanksgiving Ticket Banner kit from DuctTapeandDenim's shop

Thanksgiving Tree Leaves from BetweenHitchingPost's shop

Handmade Turkey Tee from MaxandEllie's shop

happy Monday :)

State Cross Country Meet 2009

Yesterday was the state meet in Round Rock, TX for Cross Country and after both the girls and boys teams of Lovejoy won second at regionals, they were state bound!

Josh was leaving with the team Friday morning and I really wanted to go but I knew driving 4 hours in the middle of the day by myself with CeCe would be a challenge. So I decided to head out Thursday night hoping she would sleep the entire way. Luckily we were able to drop Tony (our dog) off at Josh's cousin's for the weekend which was a HUGE help for me. The drive down was not bad...I only had to stop once to check C's diaper. Although she didn't fall asleep until 9:30 (her normal bed time is 8pm) she did great. And it really set the mood for the entire trip! We got into Austin around 11pm and stayed with our lovely friends, Justin and Jenni Balthrop.

Friday ~ CeCe and I loaded up and drove to Canyon Lake (near New Braunfels) to surprise my mom! This time the surprise didn't go quite as planned. She had just started to do some shopping which was about 30 minutes away so we had to wait for her to get back. It was too pretty of a day to be inside so we just decided to run some errands. I could only stay until 5pm at the latest so it was just a short day trip. It was fun and CeCe did great! UNTIL the ride back to Austin to meet up with Josh and the team for dinner. It was a little over an hour drive and all but about 15 minutes of it was spent listening to C scream in the back seat. I know it was a combination of her not wanting to be in the car any longer, being sleepy, and hungry so I really felt bad for her but by this time, I was on overload. And the worst part was as soon as we got back to Jenni's, it was only for a quick change than back in the car. THANKFULLY, Jenni kept C entertained in the backseat watching Elmo videos on her phone and listening to Britney! Dinner was great! CeCe was excited to see her daddy...as was I! On the way back home, it was Lady Gaga that entertained CeCe and she actually put her to sleep!

Saturday ~ The day of the meet. Jenni, CeCe and I headed to the park and once again, what a BIG help Jenni was. We got there and decided to skip the shuttle ride because it would have been too much trouble with the stroller and made the LONG walk to the start line. We met up with Josh for a bit before the races started! Then we didn't see him again until after we found out that both teams walked away with Silver medals and State Runner-Up trophies! They improved so much since last year and we were all so excited! It was an emotional day for sure! GO LEOPARDS :)

After the meet, we ate a DELICIOUS lunch at Rudy's BBQ. The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth tender and juicy. I could eat it everyday! Josh saw the team off then we all headed back to the Balthrop's, ate some yummy cupcakes, took short naps then headed home!

It was a VERY successful trip! CeCe was such a trooper and I survived :) I'm so proud of my husband for leading their team to victory. And I love and admire his passion for this sport. He puts his heart and soul into it as he should and it has paid off. We're going for the Championship title next year!!

handMade Monday

This is a new thing I've been wanting to do so I hope you enjoy. I browse etsy quite a bit mostly of girl things for my daughter but I will also look for other random things every now and again. I would someday love to jump on the bandwagon and open a store but first, I'd have to become somewhat creative and crafty and second, I'd probably have to learn to sew. So for now, I'm just gonna appreciate the work other people put into their craft and continue to just be a buyer/browser. Mondays will be for showing off things I find that I think are fun and cute and wish I had money to spend on!

My first shop I 'heart' is Three Yellow Starfish! She makes clothing items for boys and girls.

Some of my favs are her pinafores (pinnies):

I had one made for CeCe's first birthday party coming up in a couple of weeks. It's safari theme so here is a sneak peak of the fabric. (We're having pictures taken on Wednesday so as soon as I get them back, I will share!)

I also love her Ruffle Bottom Bloomers:

I had a pair made that are almost exactly like these only one of the ruffles is a different fabric. I'd like to think that my fabric choices inspired her to make more and put them in her shop but I'm sure she had them in the works already!

And I think her Newsboy Caps are deliciously cute! I don't have one yet...but hopefully soon!

Honestly, I could buy one of everything in her shop but that would probably mean going without food for longer than humanly possible, so for now, I'll just dream about one day having CeCe's closet full of these adorable pieces. The fabrics she chooses are genius and I just love each and every one!

Oh and don't you just want to nibble on her models in the pictures?!? So precious!

She's local to the Dallas area so become a fan on facebook and stop by one of the craft shows she attends and say hi!

i heart etsy

I was browsing etsy and found these on momerath's shop. So fun!


"An alternative to your real family. ... A framed photo collage of Stick Figure Man and his relatives."

"The three toddler food groups, now in notebook form. A set of three recycled paper notebooks."



If you love etsy too and you live in the Dallas area, plan on going to the Jingle Bash

Our lil' girl isn't so lil' anymore...

There are so many things our little angel has been doing lately. It's so fun watching her grow up!

*Walks all over the place - she started at 10 months and has completely mastered it now!
*Uses her sign language - ones used most often are milk, all done, and bath
*LOVES to dance
*Walks around and "talks" on her cell phone
*Points to things she wants
*Can say Duck
*Gives kisses and hugs
*Nods her head 'yes' when we ask her about things she wants
*Walks over with a book in hand wanting us to read it to her - her favorite is Alice and Wonderland
*When she gets done with her food she'll try to hide the leftovers in her chair or drop it off of the side thinking we're not watching
*Plays peek-a-boo or "Where's CeCe" by putting her hands over her eyes (peeking through her fingers)
*Drinks from a straw in a real cup (but can't seem to figure out how to work the straw sippy cups)
*And basically copy cats everything we do. She just amazes me...and she's not even 1 yet!



On another note: The time change has done a number on her schedule. She's been waking up between 6:15 and 6:30am which is no fun for me. To try and get her back on her normal schedule we have to keep her up to her normal bed time when she is ready to go to bed an hour early. So far it hasn't been helping...she goes to bed at her normal time but still wakes up early. I hope she adjusts soon for her sake and mine!

My Lil' Sunshine

Here are some pics I took of CeCe walking around out on the balcony. The weather has been so nice this week so I've been leaving the door open and letting her and Tony enjoy some fresh air!

Halloween 2009

We had a fun Halloween this year! Our friends, Josh and Tasha Fitzgerald, had a child friendly party and it was awesome!

CeCe wore her Duck costume and waddled around the whole night!

She loved climbing their stairs and getting into all of Grant's (their son) toys!



They had mini pumpkins for everyone to decorate! We put our funny face on it and had it all finished but as soon as CeCe got hold of it, all it had left was its snag tooth grin!

When everyone decided to go trick or treating CeCe couldn't make it any longer. It was passed her bedtime as that point so we had to leave. But it was a great time and she had such a blast on her first Halloween!