Minnie Birthday Party!

For Emery's 2nd birthday she had a MINNIE MOUSE PARTY!

This one was so much fun to plan.  From the balloons, to the cupcakes to her cute little Minnie ears…I think we should have a Minnie party every year! 

The Details~

 The balloons were perfect.  Including this 3ft Minnie!  I'm sad this is the only picture we got of her but it was so windy we were just trying to keep her at the party!

Of course I have Pinterest to thank for these cute Minnie ears.  They were a big hit (even with the adults!)

I made these picture cubes for the tables as take home gifts for the grandmas where I displayed pictures of Emery from her first two years.  And the Minnie cupcakes were homemade chocolate with homemade cream cheese frosting.

And the banner!  I made this about a month before the party and had it hanging in our living room.  Yes, I do realize the 'h' in birthday is missing (taken by the wind!).  For a closer look check this out.

Our Guests~

The Birthday Girl and Daddy!

Emery's friend Brooklynn…she came in full Minnie wear!

Some of her Aunties (Mommy's friends).

 The Outfit~

Her shirt had a large "2" with a Minnie mouse and her name.

The Playground~

 McCormick Train Park in Scottsdale is not only a great place to have a party but it's full of fun things to do!

Playing with sissy!

Brooklynn and Mandy

Emery and Mommy

Sissy and Papa

~THE WHOLE MINNIE CREW~

 The Train Ride!~

 Sissy in the caboose!

The Carousel~

This is all she wanted to do!  "Ride the horsies Momma!"

The Goodies~

Cake Time~

 Presents~

With lots of help from her friends!

 The whole group

Pooped after presents!  

 The End~

Emery had such a wonderful 2nd birthday!  Despite being sick the week before she was a trooper for her Minnie Mouse Party!  I couldn't help myself with these last pictures.  After everyone had left she ran around with her balloons saying "Happy day!!"  And that it was!

Valentine's Day love

I'm sad that the day has come and gone.  I love all of the pink and red and girly things that surround us in the month of February.  Flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals and just being spoiled on Valentine's Day!  This is some of the love we shared this Valentine's Day…

The hubby woke up to this…a little surprise from me! :)  I did the girls doors too, but they had there's down and were playing with them before I could snap pictures.

Breakfast and school lunch making...

 Two year well check!  (still can't believe it!)

And my after work surprise!

He knows me best! Chocolate and peeps (I'm so glad they make them for almost every holiday now!!)

We hope you all had a wonderful day and were spoiled like us!

Our love story

Our love story has been quite a whirlwind.  As most would say who know us, its been fast, breath taking, up, down and well, the best thing that's happened to us (yes, I can speak for him here too, after all that's what us wives often do :))!

Nathan and I met in March of 2009.  We met online on a site called OkCupid.  Yes it's true and not really unheard of these days but I don't think either of us would have thought we'd end up here.  I was working two jobs, finishing my Master's program and so over the typical dating scene.  A girl needs variety right?! I started exploring my options and with my busy schedule online dating seemed to fit right in.  SO after a number of blind dates as I like to call them (really catastrophes and hilarious stories to share with my friends), I came across a very handsome fellow.  I even made the first move…that's right, after reading his profile and seeing his pictures I sent him a 'wink.'  Ha ha…I can't help but laugh thinking about it.  Well I'll spare you the details but one message lead to multiple messages, daily, then a phone call, then a large phone bill and then our first date.

Our first date was at Macaroni Grill.  I told Nathan I loved Italian food on one of our many long phone calls and he listened (much like they all do in those first phone calls :)).  I had my girls outside and ready just in case, just a phone call away, and headed into what was the one of the first of many wonderful nights with this man!!  

Nearly 3 years later…we have become the best little family!

He's my husband, my best friend, my supporter…my forever valentine!  He makes me happy, laugh like crazy, frustrated and even mad but all of that is what makes him my better half!!

I Love You Babe!

Look who's TWO!

My BABY girl!

I'm so lucky that this sweet, funny, smart and caring little girl calls me Mommy!

She says 'bless you' when someone sneezes…

Asks to 'cuddle cuddle'…

Says her prayers…

Loves her sissy and wants to be a big girl just like her…

Never stops talking (like her momma)…

Loves to color, paint and be creative…

Feeds her puppy (with help from sissy)…

and warms every heart she meets!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY EMERY!

Hey there twenty nine!

That's right, twenty nine.  Looks different when you type it out like that; but yes, I just turned 29.

I had such an amazing birthday this year, surrounded by my closest friends and family.  Although I'm another year older all I can think of is how lucky I am to be a daughter, wife and a mother (among many other titles of course!).

I had a wonderful night with Emery and the hubby.  

They spoiled me with cake and presents!

And my parents spoiled me too, even though they couldn't be here (I miss them so much terribly!!)

 Then on the weekend Nathan planned a wonderful Sushi dinner with all of our friends and a night out!  

Oh how I needed this!!  

My lovely ladies!

and my love <3

I'm such a lucky girl!  Happy Birthday to me!

What day is it?

I can't believe it's only Wednesday!!  This week has been is so long already.  Do you ever have a week where you've planned things ahead of time…errands, appointments, dinners, and even crafting time (for Emery's party of course) and NOTHING goes as planned.  Well this is one of those weeks.   And yes, it's still a work week for me! 

Poor Emery ended the weekend/ started the week off with a stomach bug.  I am not great at handling vomit so boy was I glad that this one lasted less than 24 hours!!

This was Sunday...

We stayed home Monday to recover.  And by the looks of things we were on our way back to my perfectly planned week…

Tuesday consisted of taking Emery to daycare, work, dinner and then…SICK!  Poor baby woke up in the middle of the night with a high fever and couldn't fall back asleep.

So here we are on Wednesday, 104 temp and headed to urgent care.  :/  Luckily Daddy was home and went with us.  

Of course urgent care wasn't very urgent and we didn't learn anything about her illness we weren't already expecting.  I ended up calling grandma and we came up with a more likely prognosis that I plan on having her pediatrician look into tomorrow.

 Still Wednesday but after tylenol, motrin and a cool bath!  Jamba juice, goldfish and a donut hole!  Don't judge us, it was all she would eat.  

Here's hoping that Thursday is a much better day!  

Almost TWO party prep!

 It's almost party time! Our little sunshine is almost TWO!  I just can't believe it.

But before I can get too teary eyed the planning has to take place!

All this little girl can think of right now is Minnie Mouse so a minnie party she will get!

I started this weekend with the banner.  I got my idea from Pinterest (of course!) and the creativity spun out of control from there.

Here's the banner that gave me the idea:

And here is my finished product!

I'm beyond happy with it!  And of course we had to hang it up because it's too pretty to just fold up until the party! :)

Here's how I made it:

I got black and pink solid card stock and a few 8 1/2 X11 patterned sheets that reminded me of Minnie Mouse.  I started by cutting hearts with an old Creative Memories cutting system I have. 

I cut them in both the pink card stock and patterned paper.

Then I found a canister in my house that was the circle width large enough to fit the heart within the circle.  I didn't have a stencil large enough.

 I then glued the hearts in the middle of the circles with craft glue.

Next I set out letters spelling 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMERY.'  I wasn't feeling like I wanted to hand make each of the letters so I found these cute letters at Joann's.  They were inexpensive and just the perfect size for the banner.

Then I used the craft glue to adhere each of the letter into the hearts.

Next I took two different types of 1/8 thick ribbon and cut 2" inch pieces.  I then took a single hole punch and put a hole on each side of each circle.  Then I began to tie each letter to the next.

Lastly for the Minnie Mouse heads I used a large circle and cut out two smaller ones to make a template.  I then traced it on black card stock to make one solid piece.  I used the same ribbon that I tied each letter together and created a small bow which I then glued on.  Finally I attached a Minnie at each end and in the middle.  The banner was quite long so I decided to attach her name under happy birthday and it actually makes the banner lay flat and even when it hangs.

Yea for Pinterest! Yea for being crafty this weekend and YEA for Emery's party!

(more details to follow ;))