The Baby Shower

We couldn't be more excited that our friends are having a baby!  Loving Husband is pretty stoked that his good friend is finally joining the ranks of parenthood - I'm certain his elation is totally positive - and nothing to do with commiserating even in the slightest.  ;-)    As mentioned in my decor and design post, Angie and I,  had a lot fun planning, prepping, and hosting a lovely shower and I enjoyed photographing it as well!

Due to an unexpected military deployment my built in childcare (the husband) was not available.   Since Mae had been sick all week she just wasn't up for grandparent watching (which is where Ace was off to for the day!), away from mommy all day, and so she joined in on the girlie fun - and what a great girl she was!  I could not have been more proud by her self-entertaining, minimal clingy-ness, and general cuteness!

Mae trying some grapefruit Italian soda.  She made a face, but she went back for more!

The lovely mommy-to-be joined us after sneaking away upstairs to relax a little bit while Angie and I set up, after all the party was at her house.  :)   It worked out nicely.    People began to arrive and we enjoyed some food and chit chat and then got the party started with some balloon popping, followed by presents!  Who doesn't like to start with presents? :)

After presents it was on to our activity of headband and hair bow making that was done at a leisurely pace while some enjoyed more snacks, picture taking, etc..

Eventually the boys returned from their 'man-date' and I grabbed a shot of the parents-to-be. 

It was an excellent party, the new baby has a LOT of new books (from us and others!) and I cannot wait to meet their baby girl sometime next month!!

A Sister for Kaylee

I have been woefully slacking in the announcement department.  I'm not sure why, but I would be remiss if I did not document the arrival of my second niece with equal fanfare and excitement that I did when Kaylee was born!    Megan Alexis was born March 6th weighing 10lbs 11oz and 22" long. 

She arrived early, but healthy and happy.   They kept mommy a bit longer to help make sure that her blood sugar was acting appropriately, but I think Jennifer would agree that the delivery of Megan was a much more idyllic situation than her first delivery with Kaylee.    Hooray for happy and healthy. 

Grammie was probably equally if not more excited than the proud parents.  You see, grandbaby #4 was the first that she got to meet BRAND NEW!   Yes, with both Ace and Mae they were over a month old before she got to meet them, and when she met Kaylee she was nearly two months old, so to meet hour-old Megan was a special treat and a special experience just for Grammie and Megan to share. 

Megan has of course been thriving and at her one month appointment was pretty similar in weight but had stretched long, just like her daddy.   She is a good sleeper and I am told she loves to be hugged and cuddled.  

When Megan was just a few days old, I finally got to *meet* her... via Skype.   Sadly it hasn't worked out just yet to make a trip there personally.  Still trying to work that out.   Ace and Mae both enjoyed seeing both of their cousins.

Megan has already enjoyed her first holiday and season change which has included evening walks with the family, trips to the park with her big sister, mommy and other Auntie, and lots of warm weather to get used to.  :)

Kaylee is a great big sister and loves her sister and Derek is loving being a dad of two.  Here is my favorite picture of my little brother to date.   Cuddling in the rocking chair with his two daughters.

Welcome to the world, sweet Megan!   I've enjoyed every picture of this little girl that I've been given and can't wait to meet her in person!  And after nearly two months they have finally given me a family of four picture!  

The Piñata Playdate!

About three weeks ago, Mae had her first birthday party and at the same time is when the snow began to fall that remained for about a week around here in the NW.   It was pretty epic, both party and snow... but there was a lonely little owl piñata that sat unused.   It was decided a playdate would be scheduled for the party guests so that the excitement could still be had.  As it worked out delaying the piñata fun was a good idea, because two extra friends were able to be in attendance that would have missed the party regardless of the snow! V strung up the piñata, decided the order and away we went! 

There were enough strings to be pulled that everyone was able to go twice - in fact even after all the strings were pulled all the loot had to be shaken out.  You see the loot that was in the piñata wasn't candy (that tends to have some weight)  but more crowd friendly items for the 3 and under crowd.  AKA non-choking hazards!   It was filled with party themed rubber ducks, plastic slinkies, star shaped sunglasses and mini Frisbees.   All were great hits and just enough loot for the little ones to care about. 

There was a decent enough frenzy when it was time to collect the loot that it was amusing, especially as some of the younger ones (my daughter and the twins) were enjoying putting other items like fridge magnets, etc..into their loot bags.  :)    Lots of fun was had with all the items in the piñata - and a few that weren't.

Ace decided after some time had passed, while everyone was busy playing with their loot that he'd go survey the piñata and take inventory to see if there was anything left in the piñata - and he scored himself an extra pair of sunglasses.  :)

It was a great afternoon filled with lots of kiddos playing together, running around the house, and for a moment all being seemingly healthy!    Seven kids all able to be in the same room together - hooray!  Although both of mine today now have icky coughs, so I apologize if the other five are developing them too and we were the carrier monkeys - I suppose it's nearly impossible to avoid, but hooray for symptom free piñata playdate!

We joked it looks like Mae is thanking everyone for coming.  :)

2011 in Pictures

Becky's Baby Shower

My best friend is having a baby! I am so excited for her and that's why I was so excited to make her presents, decorate and help host her shower in California. Yes, that meant two plane tickets, traveling by myself with two kids on a cross country flight, and a host of other complications - but not for one second was it not worth it! I wouldn't have missed it.... I might have Skyped in because tickets at one point were over a $1000, but thankfully they dropped in price and we were able to make it to California to celebrate Baby Ben and his upcoming arrival!

The shower was great, she got a lot of nice things!


Games were played!

Presents were opened!


Friends were seen!

Lots of fun was had!

My kids were well behaved and loved by many!



I can't wait for Baby Ben (we hope he's a Ben!) to arrive!! August 12th can't come soon enough! Prayers for mommy and family as the time nears and they welcome this little baby into the world! Lots of love to them all!!

Baby Shower Decor

There are only so many ways one can decorate for a baby shower - the unique *new* way is to create a diaper cake for the 'center piece' of the shower. That was done for mine and I loved it! You get diapers, toys, and a lot of other fun stuff in the mix that way and it makes for a stylish design. But it's been done, I didn't want to do it again. Also been done is the 'Bath Cake' I came up with this idea for a friend's shower that was contemplating cloth diapering (I think that's why I did it... maybe I just wanted to steer away from the diaper cake then too... I digress) but I'd already done that, so I was on the hunt once again for something NEW and DIFFERENT! And thanks to Pinterest once again I came across this idea: a diaper wreath. What fun! There were multiple places I could hang one or two of these and so I gathered supplies upon reaching California and got to work.

I bought 2 straw wreaths (they were the cheapest, but they also are quite bulky so size 1 diapers were a bit tight on them, but I made it work) and left the plastic wrap on them, no need to get straw in perfectly usable diapers! I opened the diapers up, wrapped them around the wreath and then tied them on using tulle. A few of the diapers I attached a toy directly to them and on one I attached the multiple-monkey bib before I attached it to the wreath. All the other toys, bibs, etc I simply added and attached to the tulle and diapers in various places. I used standard wreath hangers to put them on the door and wala a little something different to decorate part of the room for the baby shower. :)

Mommy and Daddy both have decided that while 'jungle' is the theme they really like the monkeys best and so I set out over these last few weeks to find all sorts of monkey clothes in green - mostly consignment and for great prices! One package of cloths pins and a roll of ribbon later and you have some excellent decor and additional gifts for baby to wear later!


On the mantel where gifts would be placed below, I placed the pennant, a picture that I had taken at Becky and Dave's maternity shoot I did for them, a $2.50 wood letter 'B' that I got from Target and some every popular these days 'subway art' with all things 'boy' related.


Becky also wanted to have birthday cards for baby Ben for each of the first 18 years of his life signed by all of those that attended his shower. No not every person signed every one, but some did. ;) But what a cute idea - plus it made for additional cute decor.


Food is also a must at a baby shower and while it can be done in elaborate set up and design, and I left that department to Becky's mom to be as creative or practical as she felt led to be. However, a punch bowl really should be festive at a baby shower - so with Becky's mom gathering supplies to make the punch, I bought two 'hot' ducks (the kind that tell you whether water is too warm for baby to be in the bath tub) and a bathtub punch was made, using this recipe.


Finally I decided to give balloon animal making a go! I saw them on Prudent Baby for a birthday party where she used them as decor and I thought they were super cute. I figured 'they can't be that hard' ... they're not, but they do take patience. I made Loving Husband read the book and then I simply followed his verbal/visual instructions rather than reading them from the book. There were plenty of duds, pops, and no bananas actually made it to the decorations ;-) but I thought they added a fun whimsical note to the party... even if most people thought they looked like puppies. Siigh ;-)

I had a lot of fun coming up with less traditional, but still very baby-esque decorations. Momma-to-be was very happy with everything and she had a LOT of loot that made for it's own element of decoration before she tore through it all! Congrats to the newest addition, Becca!

A break from the heavy stuff...

For more of the precious and fun stuff. :) I recently acquired a new camera. I've been salivating for YEARS over DSLR cameras. I've used them, I oggle over other people's shots, and I have had an unhealthy love for them... ok maybe not quite that dramatic... or maybe so. ;-) Needless to say - I've wanted one. It finally became an option recently - and I am now the proud owner of a Canon Rebel T2i and two lenses the 18-135mm and the 50mm f/1.8 II. I'm lovin' them both! I've been able to capture some great shots.



First shot out of the box using the 50mm lens
On auto and flash was used. The crispness was so exciting to me. Now to be fair to my point and shoot - it has a pretty good quality as well... but I have way more control with this camera and that's what I've been wanting for so long... so I got the little girl out of the car seat and got to shooting! :)


Loving the 50mm

I played with the settings and enjoyed seeing how I could get the bokeh just how I like it. I also love the picture on the top right - she's got the expression of THAT camera is way bigger in my face - what's going on?! hehe Ace came home with dad a little while later and I was able to see how well the camera did with action shots! Let me say AMAZING!


A few days later I decided to enjoy another photoshoot with Mae during Ace's nap. It was great. :) Mae loves to look at the camera which is great for capturing shots - and 3.2 frames per second certainly ensures I'll capture a good picture. :)


This is Mae last Monday at the beginning of her bout with RSV


This boy has no 'baby' left in him at all!
A good opportunity to play with the camera a bit more was the dedication of every one's favorite twins! Yep Blana's twins were dedicated last Sunday and it was great to be able to attend and capture some shots their event. :) This time during the dedication I broke out the 18-135mm lens so that I could get some zoom action.

I'm so excited for all the adventures to come that I'll be able to use this new camera to capture lots and lots of memories. :)

I was a fair distance away to capture this, so smiley Kaylee!