Little Monster Birthday Bash - Decorations

Saturday, February 16 we celebrated C's 1st birthday with a big 'ol party.  A party that I had been thinking about and planning in my head since, oh this past summer.  That's when I found and painted his Jenny Lind highchair.  Then the real planning began in November and the weeks just seemed to fly by leading up to our drive from KY to VA with a Tahoe packed full of decorations including 2 huge plastic bins on the back of our hitch too.  We still aren't entirely sure where we're going to put Baby W2 when they arrive and we make a trip back to VA!

C's party had 40 people including kids.  We had 5 who were 1 year and younger, 1 2 year old and 2 3 year olds who came, plus their parents, great aunts and uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents and a couple close family friends.

We originally thought we'd be able to get into my parent's neighborhood clubhouse Friday after 5pm, but found out on Thursday that that wasn't correct, we couldn't get into the clubhouse until Saturday morning at 8am.  The party was set to start at 11am.  It was a LONG day for RCW and I.

I'll start letting the pictures do most of talking now...

Up first, dessert!  My sorority sister MJ with All Cupcaked Out in Richmond, VA did C's smash cake for his photoshoot, party and the cupcakes.

Just to be sure we had enough sweets, I bought a pack of brownie bites from Sam's Club and used gel icing to 'glue' candy eyes on the brownies.  The table also had a bowl of Goldfish and bowl of Cheerios for the little ones to enjoy throughout the party too.

There were 45 cups with glued googly eyes on them.  Googly eyes on EVERYTHING!  I used old formula cans, orange boas and googly eyes to make utensil holders.

One of the things I regret - we didn't get a picture of the food table.  I snapped all of these once we were done setting up, but before we put the food out.  Under the first collage of C's weekly pictures was the food.  We had chips, a veggie tray, fruit tray with an awesome fruit monster that RCW carved from a watermelon and 3 trays of sandwiches from Penn Station.

We set up a ball pit for the kids.  It was a big hit, despite what RCW claimed was my Kentucky version - 500 balls in a kiddie pool.  (Sadly the first ring acquired a hole in transit from KY to VA, but it still worked and the pool was only $12!). We also had a ball toss or monster photo op that I painted on cardboard and Melissa & Doug's Monster Bowling for the older kids.

C's second weekly photo collage.

Newborn, 3 month, 9 month and 12 month pictures of C in googly eye monster frames plus a game for adults - "How Many Photos Do We Have Of C From His First Year?".  Answer, 3,740ish and growing as the day went on!  My cousin Katie won with an answer of 3,000. Her prize was a $10 Target gift card.

I used a sketch function to change our clip art monsters in to coloring pages for the older kids and some of the adults too for entertainment.

Poor bare tables, but once guests were sitting and eating they were full!  I made monsters from Dollar Tree sponges, googly eyes and pipe cleaners.

My monster wreath - orange boa wrapped around a foam wreath with googly eyes glued on.  And another game for adults - "Who Does C Look Like?".  There were pictures of me and RCW on either side with C's birthday picture in the center.  The guests were to put a stick on my side or RCW's side.  Sadly, only about 10 people played.

The favor table.

Inside the bags - bubbles, Monsters, Inc fruit snacks, monster stickers, monster 6 inch blow up beach ball and small plush monster toy.

Looking into the party room.  Another hit with the kids was that little monster airwalker balloon in the corner.

Showing off C's highchair.  Sadly, I apparently didn't know how to use our flash appropriately in a few of these shots.

 

All in all, I was pretty happy with how things turned out and looked.  I will say, I didn't have a clue what the layout of the clubhouse was going into this and I felt like I had SO MANY decorations all laid out on our kitchen table, then we got there Saturday morning and the room swallowed things up a bit.  I don't know what else we could've made or put out though.  Once the guests were there, the place was full anyway.


Up next, C's smash cake experience! 

Birthday Party Prep

C's first birthday party is this weekend.  Again, HOW did that happen so quickly!?  We decided back in October to do a monster theme.  And I went a little Pinterest crazy with ideas.

Then we decided to have his party back 'home' in RVa so C could be surrounded by all of his family.  Its such a special day for a special little man it felt right to pack it all up and drive 9 hours to VA to celebrate.  As I pack up all my creations and the little man and the three dogs and stuff for RCW and I at 32 weeks pregnant, its beginning to feel a little less right.  But I know it will all be well worth it come Saturday afternoon!

I made some monster decor for his party - frames, sponge monsters for tables, a monster wreath, and formula can monsters that will hold forks and knives as well as a painted cardboard monster that can double as a ball toss and photo op. 

C was thrilled to see everything and giggling and wanting to get into all of it!  As much as I'm not looking forward to a 9 hour drive, I am super excited to decorate my parent's neighborhood clubhouse with everything and see how it all comes together with my homemade decorations, tissue pom poms and pendant banners and the pièce de résistance his aqua Jenny Lind high chair.  As I said we're packing it all up to head east!

Happy almost birthday little man, I know you won't remember this, but hopefully you'll love looking back at all the pictures when you're older!

Wee Bit Obsessed...

With how these pictures turned out!

We had C's 9 month photoshoot this morning with our one and only photog - Little White Whale's Sarah.  This was the first shot we tried with C in his husky pjs and Santa hat loving being able to play with the lights, finally, after weeks of being told not to touch the Christmas tree!

Needless to say, even RCW agreed that the trouble of creating our own backdrop was well worth these results!  And just to give you guys an idea, creating the backdrop meant almost totally clearing out our bedroom, the one room in our house with decent natural lighting.  Yup, even the bed was propped up against the wall and everything other piece of furniture besides the dresser was moved out.  Then we hung a king sized white sheet on the wall and hung white lights on white wire from an old curtain rod.  1,200 white lights!  That we didn't purchase until the night before because we weren't thinking and originally grabbed white lights on green wire, so at 8:45pm last night I was running to KMart, the only place I could find online to guarantee they had white lights on white wire.  Bought 8 boxes, which we hung 6 and C played with 1 of.  And proceeded to hang to lights at 9pm last night, which is way past our normal hours of productivity!

But well worth it to see these images.  I'm pretty sure I could stare at them all day.  And I can't wait to see the rest of what Sarah captured once we changed C into a more formal outfit, brought in the huskies and old fashioned colored bulbs too!

The Hunt for a Jenny Lind

If you all couldn't tell I'm pretty obsessed with having photos taken of our family and C.  We have already bought a package deal with Little White Whale Photography to have pictures taken of C at 6, 9 and 12 months.  Then, perhaps I'll calm down and just do yearly or bi-annual pictures of him.  In addition to loving me some photo shoots, I also love looking for ideas on Pinterest.  And getting creative after seeing ideas on the blogs of yall too!

Do you guys read Darci over at The Good Life?  I honestly don't even know how I found her blog, but I've been following her since before her 'mini' was even created.  I love her writing style and her sense of style.  I email her often to ask about things and I'd like to think if we knew each other IRL we'd be friends and lets our boys have play dates.  

Anyway....Darci did a project for her little J a while ago.  It involved finding a Jenny Lind high chair and spray painting it orange for his first birthday.  I loved it.  Orange is kinda RCW's color and if you couldn't tell from C's 3 month photo shoot we've been smitten with the color for him too. So seeing this orange high chair made me want my own.  Now.

A couple weeks ago I started the search.  How hard could it be?!

I went to Craig's List and typed in Jenny Lind High Chair and one popped up that someone wanted to sell for $25 and they lived about 15 minutes away from us.  Easy peasy!

Until I got the email back that it was already sold.  

Finding this high chair became my mission.  I was searching CL in Louisville, Lexington, Western Kentucky, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.  Nothing.  Then I started searching all over Virginia because certainly my parents would go pick it up for me.  Nothing.  Then I started looking in North Carolina, maybe we could pick it up on the way to the Outer Banks later this summer.  Nothing.  At one point, I did find one located about 20 minutes away from the hometown of a coworker in North Carolina.  I knew my coworker was going back home this summer, perhaps she could bring it back for me.  But even then, when I emailed the owner of the high chair said someone was coming to look at it tomorrow and she would let me know.  Sure enough, the next message from her was "its sold".

RCW and I spent 2 weekends scouring yard sales around town.  While we didn't find a Jenny Lind high chair we did find Jenny Lind style cribs, cradles, beds and changing tables.  Of course, right!?  

One day driving to work I saw a large sign for an Estate Sale.  I was anxious all day and after picking C up from school, we headed down the twisty road to the estate sale.  I pulled up, left the car running with my sleepy C in the back seat and told the man sitting in a garage I was looking for something specific, a Jenny Lind style high chair.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  (I get that often!)  I elaborated, "A Jenny Lind style high chair, from the 70s or 80s, you know like what you put a baby in to feed them?!"  He finally spoke telling me he knew what I was referring to, but this estate sale was an online auction.  People were coming to pick up what they had already purchased, not to buy things.  So then I felt like the stupid one.  But in my defense, perhaps the large sign on the side of the road should have read: "Estate Sale Pick Up" with arrows instead of "Estate Sale Auction - Furniture! Antiques! Collectibles!"

RCW encouraged me to keep searching CL and to put my own 'wanted' post up.  So I did.  I posted in Louisville and Richmond.  And much to my surprise the same day I posted, I received an email that someone in Louisville had a Jenny Lind high chair that needed to be refinished and she would sell it to me for $8! 

WHAT?!

So last Friday after C's 4 month check up we headed to this stranger's house where she was going to leave the high chair on her front porch and we were to leave the $8 under her doormat.  It was exactly what we were looking for and because I was so excited and thankful, we left her $10.  I actually offered to pay her $25 or $30, which is the going rate and she declined.

So now we have this lovely high chair in our possession and the real fun begins.  What color do we paint it?!  If we had a girl, it would be easy - PINK!  But with our little man I'm just not sure. We will use it for his 12 month pictures with a smash cake - you have all seen them on Pinterest.

While I know what I want for his 1st birthday pictures, I don't have a clue what theme I want for his birthday.  For me, its still a bit early to be planning that out.  So I don't know a color scheme or anything, but want this high chair painted asap so I can swoon over it and maybe even use it with him in every day life!

Our options are:

Copying Darci and going with orange.

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Sticking with the aqua theme of C's nursery and what we used for everything involving 'Baby W'.

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Or going with a tried and true boy vibe with a bright dark blue, this particular one is called peacock blue.

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So what are your thoughts? I know no matter what we choose pictures and birthday fun will be fabulous for all!  And whichever color we go with, I'll just tie in to whatever theme we decide on later in 2012.  Do you have a favorite?  Because right now I'm just torn.  I love them all!

Do you have a Jenny Lind high chair?  Did you know they were so popular for such purposes?  And seriously, please comment and tell me which color you like best!

Baby W's Winter Wonderland Shower

This past weekend RCW and I ventured back to RVa, in the snow and ice no less, to celebrate Baby W. My mom and sister in law had been itching since our September beach trip to throw us a shower. I went back and forth on the topic many times, but in the end gave in to my family's wishes to host a shower to celebrate Baby W. and honor me. The reason I wasn't overly excited about a shower is I just don't like being the center of attention. Hard to believe from someone who shares their most intimate life details on the internet, but alas I don't. But, I knew this could be our one and only pregnancy and I should live it up so right before Thanksgiving I gave in.

My mom, sister in law and aunt all got together and planned the most amazing shower for us! We are so blessed to have such amazing and generous family! The only thing I did contribute was the invitation because I'm OCD like that. I bought some custom clip art off etsy and created the invitation in Publisher and printed at VistaPrint. I was really happy with how it turned out and that it matched our nursery theme.


When I arrived at my aunt's house on Saturday, I was blown away by the decorations. They really went all out to make the shower a very festive winter wonderland!


My sorority sister in RVa makes cupcakes on the side. They're amazing and delicious and I've used her twice before. If you're in or near RVa and looking for cupcakes for a party or event, please let me know and I'll get you in touch with her. She's talented and the cupcakes are super yummy!


The shower started with some mingling and enjoying appetizers - hot spinach dip with pita chips, Chick-fil-A nuggets and dipping sauce, cheese tray and I'm not sure what else because I was busy chatting with everyone and didn't get a bite of a single app.

Once people had nibbled a bit, my mom and aunt told everyone to gather in the living room for a couple of games. They passed out individual note pads and pens. The first game was that everyone had to list as many baby items in 5 minutes as they could think of. It was pretty funny to see everyone trying to think of things from my mommy of 2 friend to my single and lives in DC friend. Mommy of 2 won that game with 42 items. She said she simply went through her house room by room writing things down and thinking about what was up and down the aisles at Babies R Us. My single and lives in DC friend stopped after 3 because she didn't have a clue.

The second game was similar. My mom read off nursery rhymes leaving a word or two out and people had to fill in the blanks. Some were easy like: "Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her ____ ____ ____" (answer: curds and whey), while others were some people hadn't heard of before or we think the Internet gave my mom the wrong lines like: "Rub a dub dub, three men in a tub. ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____" (answer per my mom's source: And how do you think they got there? - answer most of us thought was right: And who do you think they be?) A friend of my MIL's won this game, as she should have since she is an elementary librarian!


Once the games were played we all got to eat a yummy lunch. I had told my mom something like beef stew would be tasty. In my "I don't cook" mindset, I thought she'd buy a large can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew at Sam's Club and warm it up in a crock pot. Oh no, my mom thought I was talking blasphemy when I said that. She found a recipe and made it all from scratch. She made a test batch last week which she passed around to my dad, aunt, uncle, brother, sister in law and grandma for taste testing and when it was deemed delicious, she proceeded to make 3 crock pots full for the shower. Surprisingly, most of it was eaten and RCW and I only came back with a small container of leftovers! We were some hungry ladies and the homemade beef stew was delicious. Along with the stew they had mini corn bread squares or buttermilk biscuits. Again, I was chatting away with everyone and scarfed down a bowl of stew standing at my aunt's kitchen counter.

Once everyone had eaten, we decided to go ahead and open gifts because some people needed to leave a bit early. Again, I was spoiled, or Baby W. was spoiled. I can't say thank you enough to our family and friends for their generosity for all of the gifts they've given to us!

One of the big surprise gifts came from Auntie M, she was the Maid of Honor in our wedding and a dear friend to RCW and I. She's more like a sister than anything else. Her mom, who was also invited, but lives in Oklahoma and couldn't attend, have a contact at Coach that affords them wonderful deals. Thus, we'll be toting around a gorgeous patent leather gray Coach baby bag! Thanks Auntie M and her momma, J. Yall are too good to all 3 of us and already spoiling Baby W. to the finer things in life. Auntie M also sent Baby W their very first gift way back in August, a Tiffany and Co. bank.


We did include on the invitation a request for a book instead of card. No one seemed to complain about it and most people brought Baby W. a book. He/She has quite the collection now and we're thrilled!


One of my favorite gifts came from my cousin S, who is also due with a baby in June. She found 2 bibs from Cafepress that had huskies on them! Love love love!!


After we finished opening all the gifts, the party whined down. Guests chatted and enjoyed cupcakes and we took some photos. Here are the 5 preggos at the shower - I know, something was in the water in 2011! From L to R: my cousin S who is due with a baby girl on June 10, my sister in law A who is due with our niece, Makayla on April 20, myself due with Baby W on February 29, my cousin K who is due with a baby girl on May 19 and my sorority sister C who is due with baby boy Aiden on May 4.


Then we got a snap of the hubs family because he did arrive and make an appearance to say hello and thank you and load up the car at the end of the shower. From L to R: my MIL, me, hub's grandma, Bebe, SIL A, SIL M and RCW.


Obligatory hand on belly picture with Auntie M.


Sunday night after we arrived back home in Louisville and unloaded the car, RCW and I hung out in the nursery and he got to reopen everything that had been packed into gifts bags for us to travel home with. Again, we were super spoiled!


And RCW's biggest question after all of this was, "Does Baby W. REALLY need all this stuff?!" I guess we'll find out soon enough. I think we are truly set, except for continuing to build our cloth diaper stash, but that's a post for another day.

Ornament Swap

This year I decided to get in on the action of some blog swaps for the holidays. I joined Laura over at The Luckiest in Love's 2011 Ornament Swap.


I was paired up with the lovely Megg from The Life of a Not So Desperate Housewife. A few days ago I got a package in the mail all the way from WA and was super excited to open it. Inside I found the most adorable ornament for our tree!
Included was a note from Megg saying that her family always had a bird's nest on their tree because it meant to bring good luck and fortune in the year ahead. I found this online: An old German Christmas legend was that great happiness and good fortune came to those who chose a Christmas tree with a bird's nest in it's branches. Now many families include a bird's nest in their tree for the same good fortune and luck in the new year!

I had never heard of this tradition before, but am happy to start it! Thank you, Megg!!

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My gift to Megg included some goodies - candy, hot chocolate mix, Christmas pen and notepad.

Along with her first ornament. I wanted to send her something of Louisville, our adopted hometown. Louisville's symbol is the fleur de lis so I found a classic, albeit very New Orleans Saints, looking ornament for her tree that will hopefully remind her of Louisville when she puts i up every year.

Then I sent a DIY ornament. I read through Megg's blog and saw she was a big Harry Potter fan. I decided to attempt making a cute HP ornament for her. I know you've all seen these ornaments with wedding or baby shower invitations, they are fun, cute and super easy to make. For Megg's, I copied the last page of the final HP book (my own copy) and then used a copier to make it a bit larger and easier to read. Then I cut the page into small strips, curled around a pen and put into a glass ornament. The final touch was tying some Gryffindor colored ribbon around the top for a bow and to add some color. Ta da!

Last 3 images taken by Megg

So there ya go! A super fun and successful 2011 Ornament Swap! I wanted to get in on the action this year because I couldn't guarantee I'll be up for it next year with a 9 month old in the house! Did you do the Ornament Swap? Or do you have any ornament traditions?

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

First, thanks to all the ladies for the words of wisdom and advice and encouragement yesterday! As always I would be lost without this community of support and I know as we go into the final weeks of pregnancy and then having a newborn at home, I'll be leaning on yall even more! Thank you :)

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Second, I committed to Becky and Aly's Christmas link up and so without further ado, please enjoy the decorations adorning our little piece of the world in Louisville!

When you walk in our front door, this would be the site that greets you. Including a prime spot for some mistletoe. Very nice to have when hubs or I walks in the door from a long day and is greeted by the other!

Then there is our tree. Its currently missing a topper. We remembered we didn't love last years and apparently tossed it while cleaning up in January. Oops. We haven't made it to Hobby Lobby find a new one. Add that to the to do list!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...we are quickly running out of room, but can fit 1 more up there for Baby W next year. Hopefully, by the time #2 comes around, we'll have a bigger house with a larger mantel! And yes, our overall Christmas theme surrounds penguins and huskies - would you all have expected anything less?!

Click on this image to see things in better detail! Close ups on the mantel, our Husky Nativity scene, as well as our very first nativity and our brand new and adding to it Willow Tree nativity. Along with some other decor that sits on the kitchen window sill and some pieces that sit on top of our book shelves.

And the pièce de résistance...all of RCW's hard work, the outside of our house. He climbs the roofs, has a diagram of where lights should go and plugs should connect and makes the end of our street a bit merrier during December. But, I will admit, we are THOSE people and he leaves the lights on the tree branches year around. And honestly, I didn't realize it the first year until summer time, so we roll with it!

Close up of our sled pulling huskies and penguins hanging out in the yard.

If you're linked up too or just have a post with your own decorations, let me know! I love seeing how others celebrate the season!

Look Hoo's Having a Baby Boy!

Maybe us, maybe not, but this baby boy is our newest nephew, Mr. Noah. He's due to make his arrival in January and we couldn't be more excited! He will be the first grandchild on RCW's side, followed closely by our baby and then a third. Noah is RCW's sister's baby and RCW's brother's baby is due in April. There was obviously something in the water within the family!

Christi (RCW's sister) is having a baby shower today, in good old RVa. RCW and I decided to go home to be there. When our first nephew, Cole, was showered in August 2009, I flew home (on my mom's dime) for a quick 24 hours to attend his shower, a month before our wedding, no less. Its important to me to join these celebrations. Since we didn't have the extra money ($350 roundtrip 1 person) for a plane ticket, we decided to make the drive back. While still costly in time (8 hours one way) and money, driving means RCW can go and so can the pups (no boarding costs!)

So this morning, RCW will be hanging out with his brother while I attend an owl/woodsy themed shower for Christi and Noah. Here are the details:

Christi's invite suite designed by Paper Dolls Design in VA. You can find them on Facebook.
I wasn't proactive when the invite arrived, but luckily the designers were. Here is a picture of how the suite looked when I opened my invitation a few weeks ago. Oh so cute!

Source of Invite Pictures

So, now the goods. I may have gone slightly overboard. But A) my love language is gift giving and B) I love shopping for the little ones in our family and our friend's little ones too. Not to mention, since I can't buy a lot for our baby since we don't know the sex, I'm making up for it buying little boy things for Noah! We don't know brother's baby's sex yet, but I can't wait. Then I'll have another little one to shop for and spoil. Not to mention our friend, Deb, is due in just a couple of weeks with a little boy and there is a bag of goodies on our kitchen table waiting for his arrival!

Everything except 1 gift was off Christi's registry. I am a huge believer in give them what they ask for! I know from our wedding, it was a bit annoying that we put so much time and energy to creating our registry and people gave us random gifts that weren't things we needed or wanted or could return. At least with the registry, people wanted it at one point and if they change their minds it's easy for them to return it and get something else, or cash back. Ok, off my soapbox on shop from a registry if it exists!

After talking with RCW, we decided to get Christi her diaper bag and fill it with goodies. It was either that or buy one large gift. Since RCW knows my shopping habits lately he figured even if we got one large item, I'd still buy other little things so he went with letting me buy a lot of little things from the get go. Smart man!

Here's the diaper bag getting ready to be wrapped up. You can also see the 1 item not from her registry, a tag lovey personalized for Noah. It was purchased from etsy shop Twigs and Tweets. I will go ahead and admit, I may have a slight etsy addiction.

Here's a top shot. We filled the inside up and then got things to put in each outside pocket too.


And the goodies inside. Bottles, wipes, diapers, onesies, gowns, a safety and grooming kit, Noah's personalized OWL tag lovey and a shirt she registered for - I hope I didn't upset the other aunts by snapping it off the registry! But how could I resist?! And I just realized I must have accidentally deleted the images I snapped of the bibs and burp cloths that are also hiding away in pockets. Oops!


Once I had the bag all situated, it was time to find gift wrap. I think we all know I'm a tad OCD so I had an image of her big box of goodies wrapping in owl wrapping paper. I mean owls are super popular right now so it shouldn't be that hard. Well, after stops at Target, Wal-Mart, Hallmark, Factory Card & Party Outlet and Toys R Us I gave up. I will also admit, while searching for baby boy owl wrapping paper I was also on the hunt for Elmo wrapping paper for our other nephew Cole's 2nd birthday gifts. No where had either, except thankfully Toys R Us did have an Elmo gift bag for Cole!

After an afternoon out searching, I came home to Google. Luckily, I found some online at World Market which happens to be about 10 minutes from the house. It was perfect! I ran out, bought it and found out it wasn't regular wrapping paper, but kraft paper. RCW didn't think my wrapping plans would work so he decided to do it himself. That was fine with this preggo! I sat on the sofa in front of him supervising and snapping pictures.


And here is the final product! Eek! Perfection for her theme, right!? And yes, I realize no one else will care about the wrapping paper pattern, but I had it in my head and had to make it become reality. Its the little things in life. Please tell me I'm not the only one like this!


I'll try to snap pics and post a few of the actual shower so you can see everything. I've been told by my MIL that there are creative geniuses at work for this shower and it's going to be fabulous. After seeing the invite suite, I have no doubt!

Also coming soon, to shower or not? I'm torn on this issue for our little one, but I'll explain my points in a post all its own. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!