{Tea Party}

This weekend we celebrated Miss O's birthday with a tea party!  We had some lovely friends and family come to our home to play, decorate sugar cookies (yum!) and watch O open her birthday gifts.  There were 5 precious little girls dressed up in tutu's and one very handsome little boy in a tie that came to make Miss O's birthday bash one to remember!

The table was set with a random assortment of tea cups I found at Goodwill, plus a few special tea cups my grandma, Nanny as I call her, had collected over her 90 years.  The tea set in the middle was my mom's when she was a little girl.  It was in remarkably good shape, aside from one saucer that my mom broke many, many years ago, that Nanny glued back together.

The candy buffet was so much fun to put together and included:  candy canes, jelly bellies, chocolate nonpareils, cotton candy, gummy alphabet letters, rock candy, and pop rocks!  Each party guest got to take home a bag of their choice of candy from the buffet.  By the end of the party, I know my mommy friends were thrilled to get to take home just a little more sugar for their little one!

The best part was watching all the little girls decorate their sugar cookies.  The tea cups on the table were filled with different colored sprinkles and we used squeeze bottles filled with royal icing to squeeze the icing onto the cookies.  The kids did a GREAT job with this!  And, of course, after each cookie was decorated, it was immediately eaten!  

The cake turned out better than I could have imagined!  I emailed a picture of what I wanted to Patty Cakes in Highland and this is what she came up with.  So cute!  A special thanks to my sister for transporting this work of art all the way from Highland to Lee's Summit!  And, for the record, this cake tasted as good as it looked!  Miss O wanted red cake, so inside all this yummy blue icing is a delicious red velvet cake.  I was somewhat surprised, but even after eating all those cookies and icing, everyone still wanted a piece of cake (thank goodness)!

I have always been a big fan of birthdays.  My mom always knew how to do birthdays up right!  I hope I can carry on this tradition with my own kids, making each birthday special, celebrating their lives, and just making a big deal out of the day they were born.  After all, my children are my greatest gift - why not let them know that?

{A Letter to My Baby}

Dear Miss O,

I am so excited to celebrate your birthday with you.  I just can't believe that you're 3 years old already!  Birthdays will always be a big deal around here. Your birthday is a very special day.  It is the day God blessed us with you.  There’s nothing better than celebrating the day someone you love so much entered your life.  I remember the day you were born just like it was yesterday – I think every mommy has their child’s birthday forever etched in her mind.  You were a dream of mine for a long time, and the day you came into the world was one of the happiest of my life.  You have taught me so much about the kind of person I am and the kind of mommy I want to be.  You have filled our home with so much laughter and fun.  I am so thankful for you!

 

The Divine Miss O's Birthday - 12.16.08

This year brought about some big changes for our whole family.  Your baby sister was born and that was a big adjustment for all of us, but you did such a great job.  You were so patient with Mommy as I learned how to juggle the responsibilities of two precious babies.  You were so wonderful about playing by yourself when I couldn't give you all my attention and you have always been so very gentle with B.  It warms my heart to see you stroke her hair, or hear you sing her a song.  She loves you so much and looks up to you already.  You're a great example for her to follow.  You're already a wonderful big sister!

Miss O's 2 year pictures by Captivated Photography 04.01.11

I know most parents think their children are smart, but seriously, you are extraordinary!  Your memory boggles my mind sometimes!  You are working on reading simple sight words, and you're great with patterns.  You LOVE jigsaw puzzles.  Seriously.  You ask daddy and me to play puzzles with you at least 10 times a day.  You're so good at them, in fact, that you sometimes pretend not to know where the pieces go, just to see if we're paying attention.  Your vocabulary is growing daily.  I feel like you are just like a little sponge, absorbing everything you see and hear.  It's fantastic!  It's a little scary and kind of exciting to see how proficient you are with the iPad - technology will be a big part of your education.  Colors, numbers, shapes, and the alphabet are no problem for you.  You were able to identify and tell me all the letters of the alphabet by the time you were 18 months old!  You used to tell me when you saw every stop sign - "oppy-gon (octagon), stop!”  I know it's silly, but I get a little sad when you learn how to say those cute little "-isms" the correct way.  'Oppy-gon' tuned into octagon, 'ubble-do' turned into W, 'cuggle' turned into cuddle, and 'granuja' turned into granola.  It makes me smile, just thinking about your sweet little voice saying those silly words over and over again.

'Nina' and Miss O practicing writing their letters on the iPad - 10.22.11

Your daddy and I are so proud of the lovely little girl you are becoming.  It has been so fun to see how much you have changed and how much you have learned over the past year.  I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you as you begin preschool, adjust to your big girl bed, and master the whole potty thing (which you are rockin’ at right now, by the way – and mommy couldn’t be happier – keep up the good work!!).   

Miss O & Baby B at Bass Pro Shop after seeing Santa! - 12.15.11

The day you were born was the day my heart forever started walking outside my body.  You are nothing short of a miracle, and you are so loved!   

Happy Birthday, Baby! 

Love,

Mommy

{Half a Year}

So, my sweet Baby B is 6 months old.  That means she has blessed our lives for half a year.  I know mommies say this all the time, but really, where did that time go?
On one hand, I find it mind boggling that 6 whole months have passed.  She has gone from a tiny, delicate newborn to a sitting, rolling, squealing, laughing, grabbing, wiggling, ball of energy!
On the other hand, it seems as if she has always been here.  She completes our family and it's hard to remember what life was like without her.

Here's what B has been working on this month:

-at her 6 month well-baby check she weighed 14lbs 15oz, and was 26" long

-she is still grabbing hair and earrings with great precision

-she LOVES her jumperoo

-nothing makes B giggle like listening to her big sister sing (so cute!)

-because of a few issues, we postponed feeding her rice cereal or oatmeal - instead, she got to start eating fruits & veggies

-she LOVES pears!

-B is constantly jabbering and imitating sounds she hears

-she turns her head to sounds and voices