The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Our very hungry caterpillar turned 1 on Saturday and celebrate we did! When I first started thinking about her first birthday, I thought maybe I would just do something small but then once the planning started and I searched on Pinterest, the theme grew and we had a big fun shindig. And why not, our little caterpillar is the sweetest girl around and deserves to be celebrated in a big way!

The entire idea came from the Very Hungry Caterpillar book and we included almost all of the food that the caterpillar ate. I was lucky enough to have my mother in law in town and she was a huge help in pulling everything together.

This cupcake/cake was a labor of love and I think my fingers are permanently stained green but I love how the final product turned out.

My mother in law made that adorable sign!

One of my favorite pictures of the four of us.

She was ready to dig in and eat!

 The cake is a pretty funny story. The caterpillar's head was Maddie's "smash cake." However, she didn't exactly smash it like Ella did. In fact, she wasn't really sure what to do. She tasted some frosting and didn't love it and kind of sat there just staring at this large pink cake. But then once I cut it into smaller pieces, she gobbled it up so I guess she loves the cake part and not so much the frosting. Like Mike said, "she is the first child ever to not like frosting."

Just not so sure about this whole cake thing!

Starting to get into a little more! Frosting on the face and eyelashes.

I ordered this onesie with a number one on it with a caterpillar crawling across and Madeline below it. And of course our princess needed a matching tutu!

The big kids enjoying the green cupcakes!

Below are some pictures of the party!

 Uncle Court and Miss Laura made the trip for the party and Uncle Court got Maddie this new toy! Her very first ride on toy. With a little help and assistance, she can cruise around.

 But the one who REALLY loves this present is the big sis. She has been on it non stop since we opened it. We were blessed with a beautiful day on Sunday and she cruised around in the back yard.

It was such a special day and weekend. Madeline Grace came into our lives a year ago and truly completed our family. She has such a happy disposition and her smile melts my heart each day. I love going into her room and getting her up from sleeping and she flashes that huge smile. She is biggest cuddler and when she is tired, she lays her head on your shoulder and sucks her thumb and cuddles  right into me. I know she is growing up but I truly wish I could freeze her in time right now and keep her this sweet baby forever. But I know time marches on and she is growing and learning new things each and everyday and I do love seeing her little mind at work.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. Your Mommy, Daddy and big sister could not love you anymore!

Life in 2013 in iPhone Pics

2013 has gotten off to such a fun (and sometimes stressful) time and with two little ones and a dog to chase after, I don't have my big camera always with me but I always have my iPhone. Here is what we have been up to in 2013 iPhone style.

Our weather has been CRAZY this winter, one day freezing, the next warm and 70. This particular day was cold and there is nothing cuter than a baby in a winter hat!

And then you can see, it was warm and sunny a couple days later and we enjoyed the swing in the backyard.

Enjoying her new chair and Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa. PS-5 seconds after this photo was taken, she face planted on the floor.)

The night before my birthday, Jaime and went to Wine and Design and drank wine and painted our canvas. The actually turned out not too bad and it was such a fun night.

This winter we signed Ella up for gymnastics at the Y. She loves our trampoline at home and she is a little tentative when it comes to just about everything so I thought this would be a fun. She couldn't wait the first morning and then of course, scardy cat came out. It drives me a little nuts that she won't try anything in class but she sure loves the trampoline!

After the trauma of the stitches, her Daddy wanted to treat her to something special and it just so happen that the circus was in town that weekend. So, after she got the stitches out (which was worse than getting them in by the way), they had a Daddy/Daughter date to the circus and no trip is complete without cotton candy.

Mike actually said it was pretty neat and Ella raved about the whole thing.

She loves her baths

We met one of Ella's besties and her family for some bowling. Ella loved  it but it was  pretty much a disaster. Maddie wanted to get down and crawl which I would never let her do and Caroline's little brother running down the lanes. I don't we will be going back for another 5 years.

Since it doesn't look like gymnastics is going to be her sport, her Daddy bought her a real tennis racquet.

Grandma and Grandpa stopped by for the night on their way down to Florida and of course brought lots of fun presents for the girls. They loved playing in their new castle!

She loves warm days and swinging!

For Valentine's Day, one of Ella's classmates (and her boyfriend according to her) John had the class over for some fun and then they hunted for hearts around the yard.

John and Ella comparing their loot.

This little one is on the go lately. You turn your head for one second and she had crawled away and trying to play with something dangerous and now pulling up on everything. I seriously can't believe she is turning 1 in 3 days. This has been the fastest year and I am so excited to celebrate all things Madeline Grace this weekend.

Some days she naps, some days she doesn't but when she does, she likes to have 15 things in her bed with her. Today she napped with Ariel, monkey, froggie, her blanket, two babies, a book and a flashlight. But once she falls asleep, she sleeps hard and I sometimes have to wake her up but I love that sweet face when she is sleeping. It reminds me of her when she was a baby and not the 3 1/2 old she is.

So, that has been our life (mostly) in 2013. I still have to blog about their first Father/Daughter dance and our trip to Mexico sans kids but those deserve their own posts so hopefully more on those soon. Now, onto more party planning for this weekend!

One of those days

Monday was one of those days. You know those days that you wish you could just wave a magic wand and do over again. A day where you wish was just a bad dream. A day where you really earn your parenting stripes.

It started like most any other day. Wake up, dressed for school, eat breakfast, all going fine. We got on our jackets and were walking out the door. I would drop Ella off at preschool and then Maddie and I would head to the Y. Except we never made it to those places. We were walking out the door (on a flat floor) when Ella fell. Her hands were in her pockets and she didn't get them out in time to catch her fall so she fell directly on her chin. There was immediate shrieks and screams but Ella is a little clumsy and falls a lot so I didn't really think too much of it. But then I saw the blood, the blood all over the floor, on her jacket and coming from her chin. I quickly put Maddie down who was now crying also because Ella's loud screams were scaring her as well. But I had to get to Ella and stop the bleeding.  But I normally get light headed or pass out at the thought of blood or getting my blood taken so blood is not exactly my thing. But I got some towels to stop it and then I saw the large gash in her chin and I knew this was not an ordinary boo boo. I finally got the bleeding to slow and put two large band aids on it and loaded the girls in the car. I called the pediatrician and told them we were on the way and then called Mike and told him to meet us at the doctor.

Ella was pretty hysterical the entire way to the doctor, even though the band aids stopped most bleeding and we changed jackets but there was some blood on her shirt and tights. And we all know that Ella is not a girl that likes to be messy or dirty. We arrived to the doctor and they were amazing and took us back to a special treatment room. Mike came in shortly after that and we waited for the doctor. Since we didn't have an appointment, we had to wait awhile and everyone was getting anxious. Dr. Ankrah finally came in and determined that Ella would need stitches, four stitches to be exact. Ella was pretty good during the entire procedure considering she was a three year old getting stitches. They used a large needle to numb it (and by large, I mean really really large!) and since it was on her chin, the doctor wanted to make sure she got the stitches perfect so she needed Ella to be perfectly still while she did each one. Telling a three year old to be still while their face is being sewn up is hard but we finally got it.

We left the doctor's office with two new toys in hand and lots of dried tears but all fixed for the moment. Dr. Ankrah told us that stitches are a rite of passage and while we had hoped to skip this one, I guess with our clumsy girl, it was inevitable.

It was a long and trying day for all involved but our little girl was so tough and has been amazing since then. Not once complaining about it even though I am sure it sore. She couldn't wait to return to school today and show off her cool, blue stitches to her teachers and friends. We got back on Saturday to get them taken out and we are hoping that it goes a lot smoother then on Monday.

Showing off her new stitches and her new toy from the doctor, a new  flashlight! 

Back at home changing into new clothes

When you get stitches, you get to pick out whatever you want to wear and for this girl, it is a princess dress. So, she got to wear her favorite princess dress all day and I think it definitely helped.

So, yes, Monday was a day I wish I could rewind. Not to mention, once I got home, we had an incident with the laundry detergent spilling all over the floor. It was a day for the record books and one I will not soon forget but we all survived and I am super lucky to have such an amazing husband that dropped everything at work to come sit with me for close to 2 hours at the doctors and hold his little girls hand the entire time. Here's to hoping for much more boring days to come!

Off to Seabrook

Last weekend we headed down to Seabrook to spend the long weekend with some good friends for an extended birthday celebration. All week, it rained everyday in Charlotte so getting down to the beach and sunshine was so nice and it didn't hurt that it was 70 degrees on Sunday in January. I will take it! 

Every time we had gone down to the beach, we always take a group shot and this time was no exception. We added two cute little munchkins to the crew this time which made it even more fun. We had a gorgeous sunset for the picture and of course, Ella posing!

We stayed busy all weekend and spent as much time outside as we could. We brought down bikes and scooters and the kids loved riding around.

We headed to the marina for lunch

This little one is on the go lately. She is crawling all over the place and doesn't like to be confined for too long. She was so happy to be able to crawl all over the grassy field.

I mean come on, how cute are these girls? 7 little girls all ages 6 and under and sure to be BFFs for life (if their parents have anything to say about it!) The kids actually got along so well all weekend, shared toys, watched movies and just had so much fun playing together.

And she's off!

 Maddie got lots of love from everyone, She enjoyed hanging out on the deck in the sunshine as well.

Tracey and sweet Braelyn who is walking up a storm and hard to catch!

We had three amazing sunsets and this was our best attempt at a family picture, Maddie with her hands in her mouth and Ella in her pjs, oh well.

 Toasting to another fun day and great sunset!

 The guys all went fishing and low and behold caught three small sharks. Yes, I said sharks! I will think twice about swimming in that water next summer! Yikes!

 Soaking in the warm sunshine on the back deck

 Another night, another amazing view. This never gets old!

 Even the little ones enjoyed watching the sunsets and spotting the dolphins swimming in the water.

 Maddie is seriously the happiest baby (or least in my biased mind) and I love capturing all of her cute and smiley expressions!

 Check out those big blue eyes! Can you tell she was ready for bed? We all played so hard during the day and the kids crashed early and hard at night.

 The sun was shining all weekend, we had coronas in our hand and the kids were running on the beach in January. It really doesn't get better than that to spend your birthday weekend and we all had a blast. Can't wait to return back this spring/summer!

Christmas in Review

There is simply too much to blog about from Christmas so I decided to let the pictures and video speak for themselves. As you can see it was a fun, busy, magical and special time. Ella was all into Santa this year and really got it which made it that much more fun. Enjoy the video and hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with the ones you love!