All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: Birthday


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Party!

Before I get started, it is important that I tell you that I did not take a single picture at the party.  Not ONE.  My good friend, Denise, was there and she took photos of the whole thing and I don’t have those yet.  She is an awesome photographer (she does all of Matthew’s photos) so I’m excited to see the photos!  With that said – what you see below are photos I took either just before or just afterwards – but nothing during.  I don’t even have a  photo of my cake table!!!  I will post a slide show once I have the “real” photos  😉

The party went really well – I am pleased!  I was disappointed that we weren’t better drink and food hosts – we left it as a, “serve yourself, feel free to get into our fridge,” kind of party (which isn’t like us), so that was frustrating, but that’s OK.  I prefer to serve people drinks just because – hey – I invited you to a party and I want you to relax and have fun and let me do the work!  BUT – there was too much to handle to be able to do that.  B noted that for the next party, he wants to hire a bartender and I agree!

We had some food, but we didn’t go overboard because the party was at 2:00 and we figured people would have eaten beforehand.  We got our pulled pork started too late and I was of the mind that if it was ready in time, then great – but if it wasn’t, then we’d have it for dinner with my sisters (did I tell you that my sisters came from out-of-town?  SO NICE!  And when I say out-of-town, I mean out of STATE!).  Well, it wasn’t ready and that did not stress me out one bit.  We had homemade artichoke dip and guacamole (B makes the best guacamole), a fruit bowl (strawberries and pineapple because I hate melon), and cake.  Oh, we had TONS of cake!

The only cupcakes left after the party (besides a whole box in the fridge). I cannot tell you how much I loved those pom poms!!!

We had 67 RSVP’s and 60 people came.  Only two families didn’t come who said they would – and a couple of families left a child or spouse at home that we were expecting.  I’m totally shocked by the turn-out.  We’ve hosted tons of parties and usually have about a 75% turn-out rate from those that RSVP as ‘yes’ (and if you’re wondering – yes, I have analyzed this data over the years as it helps me plan food and beverages for subsequent parties!).  The turn-out was huge and our house was not huge enough  😉

There was a glitch that worked out in our favor.  The bounce house guy never showed up.  This actually pleased me because it was 90 degrees outside and there was no way that thing was going to get used in this heat!  So I didn’t even call to ask where they were because I was supposed to pay them by cash or check, so I wasn’t out any money.  YAY!  And then?  Our neighbors were here for the party and when I told them about the bounce house situation, they brought theirs over from their house and set it up in our basement.  They have an in-home daycare (we tried to get Matthew in with them but they were full – and then I quit work anyway) and have the bounce house in a room in their daycare.  They had it in our house and setup within 5 minutes.  We owe them a major thank you!  The bounce house was a HIT!

Neighbors J and D save the day by bringing their awesomely HUGE bounce house to our basement for the kids!

We had a ton of balloons and that made me very happy!  I have no idea why I became so obsessed with having lots of balloons, but I did and they sure did make the house look festive!

Two of the 5 balloon bouquets – with balloon weights that no one noticed. HA!

The house was sweltering hot by the time everyone was here, and I kept telling people to go to the basement because it was much cooler down there, but only the kids and a few adults went down so the upstairs was packed!  We made the mistake of forgetting to put Matthew’s big toys away (jumper that we don’t even use, hit two activity tables, and his ride-on truck) so the kids that were upstairs were huddled together taking turns with the toys.  It was actually quite cute!

Matthew LOVED having so many friends over.  He was in heaven – absolute heaven.  He didn’t get fussy even once (at least that I noticed) and he mingled with everyone throughout the whole party.  Here I worried that we (I) were doing this all for ourselves but it really was one of his favorite days.  He had his fun cousins here, his best friends, and countless adults to blow kisses at.  I just can’t believe what a great sport he was through the whole party and then afterwards with our late guests (my sisters and nieces and nephew stayed with us – 6 overnight guests to play with!).  He had no afternoon nap, so he slept very soundly!

Matthew did not like the cake.  He made a pretty good mess of himself with the frosting, but he spit the cake out faster than I’ve ever seen him spit anything out before.  GOOD BOY!  I am anxious to see the cake photos because he was super cute with it!  His favorite part of the entire party (and this brings tears to my eyes) was when the entire house sang “happy birthday” to him.  He applauded as we all sang and continued applauding until we were done singing.  It was precious (and so memorable!)!

We have way too many toys in this house now, thanks to our wonderful friends!  Matthew was not into opening his presents but we had plenty of kids on hand to help out.  B’s coworker’s son, who is 9 and crazy about Matthew (which is so fun to see from a 9 year-old boy), distributed his gifts to him, one at a time.  Two of his most un-secret admirers opened his gifts for him and ooh-ed and aah-ed at his presents, trying to elicit excitement out of him.  HA!  They gave him kisses in-between gifts.  🙂  One of Matthew’s favorite girls recorded his gifts for me and I so appreciated that!  I seriously loved every minute of it!  I loved watching all of the kids rally around him to help him open gifts and celebrate!  It was so special!

I’m not sure that there is anything else to record – or at least until I get the photos which will surely jog my memory.  I’ll end this post with what were the most memorable moments to me.

  • Matthew’s terrific mood throughout the day
  • Our very generous neighbors who saved the day!
  • The entire house of 60 people singing “happy birthday” to my son!
  • The endless sea of children who helped Matthew celebrate in each of their own little ways
  • And my most favorite memory is of Matthew reaching up for me after he’d tried his cake, and him smearing frosting on my face and in my hair.  I proudly wore that frosting for quite a while  😉


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To My Sweet Boy

Dear Matthew,

The party is over.

The house is picked up.

Our guests are gone.

And you, my boy, are no different today than you were yesterday.  Thank goodness!

You still snuggle with me.

You still love to nurse.

You would still rather sit in the shower with me than do practically anything else.

You still blow kisses and wave hi and bye-bye.

And you’re still my baby.  You’re not a toddler… yet!

What You Love:

  • Your Daddy
  • Your Mommy
  • Your plethora of friends – you are the happiest, most social baby I have ever met (and I’m not just saying that because you’re MY baby!)!
  • Your kitties, Lily, Jackson, and Janie (you especially love Janie!)
  • Your pillow
  • Your Boo monkey
  • BOOKS!  Oh my, you love, love, love books!
  • Kissing everyone and many things (like favorite pictures in your books) with a big, wide, open mouth!
  • Blowing kisses
  • Engaging everyone in conversation wherever we go
  • Clapping!  You clap for yourself, for Mommy and Daddy, for your friends at the gym… for EVERYONE!
  • The pool – or any other place where you can be wet (like the shower, a slip-n-slide, a sprinkler, the tub…)
  • Everything you eat – you are the best eater ever!  We get comments from people everywhere we go about what a great eater you are!
  • Guacamole – I have to call this one out because it is your favorite!
  • Yo!Baby yogurt.  You pitched the biggest fit at the grocery store yesterday when I put it in the cart and didn’t feed it to you on the spot.  HA!
  • Getting into the tupper.ware drawers
  • Playing with and eating toilet paper
  • Mango
  • Your activity tables
  • Dancing
  • Hip hop and rap (much to Daddy’s chagrin!)
  • Your two favorite friends, Rachel and Claire
  • Naps – not going down for them, but you love the rest they bring you (you’re a GREAT napper!)
  • The computer and mobile phones – you can’t keep your hands off of them (and Daddy loves letting you play with them, which is not normal but is super, SUPER nice of him!!!!)

What You Don’t Love (I won’t say ‘hate’):

  • Diaper changes – even if you’re filthy and stinky
  • Cake – you spit it out immediately (but not the frosting)
  • Being dirty (yay!)
  • Long car rides
  • Being in the stroller for too long
  • Going down for a nap
  • Being away from either Mommy or Daddy – but you get over it rather quickly because you’re so darned social!
  • Your jumperoo – you do not like being contained!

As you can see, sweet boy, you are so happy and you like most everything.  I was hard-pressed to find things to put on the “Don’t like” list.

You have brought so much joy and love to Daddy’s and my life – you have completed us 100%!  We had spent 5 years together before you were born and though they were wonderful years (we had lots of fun and have so much to tell you!), our best year has been the one we’ve shared with you.  You are our best friend!

As you know, we worked very hard to get you.  It was a long road with years of tears and frustration (especially for Mommy).  The minute we found out we were having YOU, all of that sadness went away and we’ve been nothing but happy ever since!  We would go through those difficult times over and over again if it meant that we’d get you in the end each time.  We both love you to the ends of the world and back again – and that will never, ever change.

Happy birthday, my little bunny.  I love you so much!

Love,

Mommy


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Birthday Eve

I lied yesterday.  I wasn’t done crying.  I held it together all day – and then we got home from dinner and I fell apart.

I know nothing is changing – Matthew will be the same baby tomorrow as the one I just put to bed – but oh my heart hurts.

B and I were talking about what we were doing a year ago tonight.  We were getting ready for our scheduled c-section and were unable to sleep, anxious to meet our baby the next morning.  It was a bittersweet night, though, because as anxious as I was to meet Matthew, I was dreading the end of my pregnancy.  I was dreading it because I loved feeling him moving inside me – I always had my little buddy with me – wherever I went.  Not a moment went by that I wasn’t aware that I wasn’t alone, and I loved that.  I knew I’d miss that – and you know what?  I really did for the first few weeks.  But – having Matthew in my arms was better than having him in my belly and tomorrow will probably be similar.  Having him growing and learning new things just makes him more and more fun.

B did say that last year at this time, he didn’t know he’d be sitting on the floor a year from then, with a duck in his mouth and pushing a turtle car.  HA!  B always knows how to lighten the mood!

I kept Matthew up extra late tonight.  I just wasn’t ready to say goodnight to the past year.

Goodnight, sweet, wonderful year full of memories.  Goodnight, best year of my life.  Goodnight, beautiful, loved, cherished boy.

Goodnight, sleep tight, Mommy’s going to miss you tonight.


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One

One night left.  I have one night left of having a baby who is under 1 year old.  I cannot believe it.

But there were no tears tonight over it.  No.  I’m done with the tears because the truth is, Matthew does just keep getting more and more fun every day.  People tell you that this happens, but you don’t believe it because this time,right now, is the “funnest” he’s ever been and how can he be even “funner?”  But he does get “funner,” each and every day.

  • Three months ago, Matthew wasn’t doing, “so big.”  He is now – and it provides endless cuteness to our days.
  • Two months ago, Matthew wasn’t clapping.  He is now – and it cracks me up every.single.time.
  • A month ago, Matthew wasn’t walking.  He is now – and I can hardly keep up!
  • Four weeks ago, Matthew wasn’t jumping off the edge of the pool into my arms.  He is now – and it makes him (and me) so happy!
  • Three weeks ago, Matthew wasn’t sure if I was Mama and if B was Dada.  He is now – and it makes us both smile endlessly.
  • Two weeks ago, Matthew wasn’t giving away kisses to everyone he met.  He is now – and everyone loves it!
  • A week ago, Matthew wasn’t blowing kisses.  He is now – and it melts my heart.
  • Yesterday, Matthew wasn’t bringing his empty cup to us to fill up with water when he was thirsty.  He is now – and I am so proud of my big boy!
  • Today, Matthew wasn’t…. oh, I wonder what this one will be  🙂

I finally understand what everyone is talking about.  I will miss my baby, but I know that I’ll have a terrific, even “funner” time with my new toddler!

Napping on me for 2.5 hours today. I was in heaven!

Fresh up from his nap in Mom’s arms. Stoic boy – he’s got a pretty nasty cold.

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B just went down to try to fix our hot tub (we can’t seem to get it warmer than 97 degrees) and he made the point that it’s nice outside and a 96 degree hot tub isn’t a bad thing on a hot night – that 101 could be too hot.  So he asked me to join him and I’m going to – because these are the moments that make life wonderful!  (I haven’t been in it since before we were pregnant and I really miss our hot tub chats.)


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Birthday Madness!

I am in full-on birthday mode!  I created a new page on my blog of all the things that need to get done, and have been done so far.  I still have much to do, but B and I went through the list tonight and he likes what all is planned, and is very supportive of helping me find the time to finish up the rest.  I wasn’t going to do a couple of things, but he wants the party to be a huge, fun bash as much as I do – so he’s added to my list.  HA!  We used to entertain like CRAZY (full-blown, 100+ guest lists, extensive food selections, endless drinks, SO FUN!), so we’re both pretty excited about this!

You can find the list here.  I’ve included pictures of the things completed so far.

I am never so happy as when I have a party, or an event, or a project to plan the hell out of!!!  🙂


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Birthday Party Progress

I had a night alone.  B is out of town for the second night in a row, and Matthew is sound asleep.  It’s late – very late – but I’ve been working!

So I’ve been thinking about how to weigh down the balloons for Matthew’s party.  Being the person I am (perfectionist, anal retentive, detail-oriented, annoying-as-all-hell) , I don’t want the generic weights you get at a party store.

I was going to make these cute little felt animals and weigh them down with something, but I couldn’t figure out how to weigh them down enough and – well – I’ve never made felt animals!  Now is not the time to try something completely new that involves sewing – even if it’s simple sewing.  I’ve never sewn anything.  This is what I was thinking of copying doing:

After deciding to scrap the felt animal knockoffs ornaments, I was back at the drawing board.  Believe it or not, I must be the only person on the planet with this problem because the internet was no help at all – not even Pinterest.  I searched Etsy, Pinterest, and Bing (because Google is not allowed in this house for business reasons!!) and nothing came up other than boring old fake present/gift weights.  NO!  So I got to thinking.  What could I do?  What could I do?

I settled on the fake present/gift idea because – well – I’m running out of time and I don’t want to be stressing over something that no one will even notice at the party (other than me, of course).  This is one of those details that is solely being done for my own satisfaction.  No one else will even care, let alone notice.  So I hoofed it down to the basement (I hate being alone in a basement – even our finished basement) to the gift closet to see what little boxes I have.  And I found these fabulous little jobbies!

These were used by my friend, Denise, last year when she gave us ornaments for Christmas with Matthew’s photos on them.  My mind got to churning.. yes, yes… this is perfect!  I was going to weigh them down with rocks from our plant beds out front – but then I found a Zip.loc baggie full of those red glass beads that I’m sure we all have used sometime in our decorating past (don’t ask me why they were in the gift closet… I don’t know).  You know the ones – little drops of colored glass to fill a clear vase to then stick fake flowers in?  I brought them upstairs and got to work!  Once I found my container and weights, I knew exactly what I was going to do!

Step 1 was to text Denise to see if she had 2-3 more of these little boxes.  We shall see what she says tomorrow.  If not, I need to know where she bought them!  Step 2 was to fill them with red glass beads that no one will see (I clarify that because red is not one of our party colors).

Step 3 was to pull out the Cri.cut machine and get to work!  I made 3 big animal cut-outs (because I already had 2 made), put them together, and tested them out.  Final products are below.  The animals aren’t attached yet – I’ll probably do that just before tying the balloons onto the hole at the top of the box, but you get the idea!

I am pleased!  I can check this project off the list!  Now all I have left to do is:

  1. Order/buy balloons
  2. Buy plates, utensils, etc.
  3. Make decorative pom poms for entry, mantle, etc.
  4. Glue letters and animals on banner
  5. Buy beverages/food for event
  6. Decide on favors or not (I really, REALLY want to give the big kids sparklers and the little kids bubbles, but I’m not sure if sparklers would upset parents or not)
  7. Cook food (if we’re doing more than cake – still not sure)

This list looks long, but it’s nothing compared to what I started with!  Progress was made tonight – and the mess from it is put away.  Bring on the next project!


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I Cheated

This post is one big confessional.  Get ready.

Confession 1:  I cheated on my paleo diet – just two days in.  I honestly tried not to, but here is what happened.  I packed a 100% paleo lunch to take to the pool yesterday.  Raspberries, nuts, paleo trail mix, and a peach.  Wonderful, wholesome snacks.  When I got there, there was a huge sign saying, “no outside food or drinks.”  I am a rule-follower – to a fault, quite honestly.  I don’t like to rock the boat – rules exist for a reason (you can imagine how much fun it was being my mischievous friends growing up!).  My friend asked if I thought that rule applied to our kids and I said, “hell no!  What can I possibly feed a baby from their menu?  Sure, most babies eat chicken strips and fries, but not my baby.  They can shove it if they tell me I can’t feed him his real food.”  But for myself – I just can’t be that bold and disregard their rules.  I gave some raspberries to Matthew while nibbling them myself but I was starving.  STARVING.  I had a chocolate chipwich.  If you don’t know what this is – you’re probably better off!

I then continued to blow the entire day since, you know, it was already messed up by the chipwich.  I stopped at McD’s as Matthew napped in the car for an hour+.  Holy hell – this is one big, fat FAIL!  Surprisingly, for dinner, I was good and ate nuts and berries since I was pretty full from my sinful lunch.

Confession 2:  I am not making Matthew’s birthday cake.  (I cringe as I type that!)  Here’s why.  I was going to order cupcakes anyway, and just make the two-tier cake myself.  However, I am not a baker – I am a cake decorator.  Why spend the time making and frosting a cake when I can better spend that time making decorations and tasty food?  When I was picking out cupcakes, I saw their “adult flavors” for cakes and figured this is a good opportunity to get a freaking AWESOME cake for the adults and then simple cupcakes for the kids.  It’s easy, then, to say, “kids, you can’t eat that cake but the cupcakes are all yours – knock yourselves out!”  The adult cake has one tier of orange mimosa and one tier of strawberry daiquiri.  Oh yummy!  They are not decorating it at all – it will arrive as just white cake – white frosting, white piping.  I have my cake toppers to make it beautiful, yet tastefully simple!

Confession 3:  I was struggling with the SAHM thing.  Don’t get me wrong – I was always loving it – but holy hell – I was pretty bored.  I just need to put that out there because I don’t think that feeling is uncommon.  We spent time with my friend and her daughter last week at the indoor pool, then went to baby gym on Saturday and Monday, then the pool yesterday, and we’ll have play group tomorrow and the outdoor pool again on Friday.  I am much happier with this type of schedule and fun interaction for both Matthew and me.  Today is my “chill day.”  We may go to the indoor pool, we may go to the mall, we may go to the park.  I have no idea – but we will get out of this house.  We must get out of this house every single day.

Confession 4:  We are cancelling the Seattle trip.  I put the decision on B since he was the one who was sort of down about our last trip.  I said that I wanted his expectations to be met with his next trip and I feared that if Matthew and I came along, that he would be let down because of limitations.  I was not going to make the decision for him – I don’t believe in doing that.  I would have fun no matter what we did out in Seattle, but I know that it can be hard to have fun when you have a baby with a strict nap schedule and bed time.  I don’t need to be busy on vacation.  B does.  So I left it up to him to decide.  Secretly though (and here’s the confession), I was hoping he’d cancel.  Here’s why.  1)  I would be traveling back with Matthew on a plane by myself, and given how he screamed in the car coming back from Minnesota, I feared for myself and everyone else who would be on that plane.  2)  We would only have a hotel room (not a cabin or suite) and that would mean silence for us during nap time and bed time.  That isn’t fun for anyone.  3 – and this one is a little crazy)  I am not comfortable traveling on a plane without B – knowing that if something happened to that plane and us, that B would be left childless and a widow.  If we’re going to take a family vacation, then we travel together for the entire trip.  If the plane goes down, we all go down together.  This is insane, I know, but it freaks me out.  It works the other way too.  If B’s plane would go down without us on his way back, that would be awful.  Just awful.  I know he travels often for work and that’s always a possibility (even in cars) – but it would be different as he came back from a family trip situation.  B cancelled the trip, as I knew he would, and I confessed all of this to him upon that cancellation.

Well, I feel much better now!  Thank you, internet, for listening!


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Documenting the Process

This will be boring to everyone but me.  Since I’ve documented the party process thus far, I wanted to document the cake prototype.  The circles will be mini tulle poms – my Etsy gal agreed to make them for me!!!!

I could not be happier with how this is looking to turn out!!!


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“Hello, Lover!”

I was on vacation over the weekend – which was a long weekend for us – and had no internet connectivity.  This was painful for me only when nursing Matthew or rocking him before a nap, because that’s when I usually get caught up on my blog reading.  When I got home, I had 52 new posts in my reader.  WOW!  I got caught up last night and am ready to do some writing myself!

Our trip was fantastic!  We went up to Wisconsin where we rented a nice, large cabin that has enough room for at least 6 adults.  I don’t share space well (not well at all, actually) so if we share a cabin with anyone else, it must have a bedroom for each couple because I just can’t handle the whole, “I’ll crash on the floor or sofa,” approach to travel.  I am too old for that.  HA!  Actually, I think I’ve always been too old for that.  We had 5 adults and Matthew – and it was perfect!  Matthew slept pretty well considering he was in a new place.  The first night was rough, the second one was not, and then the third was rough again because we moved to a different bedroom so it would be quieter for him.  He napped on schedule for at least an hour each time while we were there, and fell right back into his routine here at home.

We just hung out – and cooked.  Boy, did we cook!  The kitchen is fully, FULLY stocked with every pan, utensil, and gadget you can think of so all we have to do when we get there is go to the grocery store and settle in.  We sat around and chatted, shopped in town, soaked in the private hot tub, and took Matthew for walks.  It was great!

I needed this trip.  I seriously needed it.  I’m not one to get the travel itch but I was ready and needing to get away.  I can’t even say why I needed to get away, but I did and it felt so good to hit the road.  We hit the road again in less than two weeks to go to another favorite place and that will be fun!

Here are some photos from our trip!  Nothing but sunshine, fun, and friends!

   

 

 

 

So… I’ve been working on Matthew’s birthday.  I’m a little embarrassed that I’m so into this, but what the hell – he’s my baby who I fought tooth and nail for and I’m going to celebrate him!  His birthday is pretty much on my mind 24/7 – and I’ve rethought the cake, the cupcake toppers, and some of the decorations.  All of this has been “rethunk” for the better.  I’ve made things easier.  Much, much easier.  I don’t want to stress myself out to the point that I don’t enjoy his party once it gets here, so I’ve simplified some things.

For those of you keeping track, I am on my third cake idea and I think I’ve settled on the design.  I better have, because I made the cake topper tonight!  When I got done, I literally said out loud, “hello, lover!”  * I am so happy with how it turned out!  Take a look (and yes, that is my staging foam cake that is to scale (circumference only – not height!)):

I have contacted a gal on Etsy to custom create some tulle pom poms that I’ll put all around the perimeter of the first cake tier.  I hope she’ll do them for me!  She is also going to make tulle cupcake toppers for me and maybe a little tulle banner thing-y to put above the topper.  We’ll see.  That may be too much.  I am a firm believer that “less is more” (I do NOT get this from my mother.  Her mantra is “more is more.”  HA!).

So I am going to make the infamous tissue pom poms that you see all over Pinterest and Etsy.  I tried it out tonight and it is easy peasy – so I added it to the list of things to do.  They will be hung from the entry chandelier and also placed on the mantle.

I got the proofs of Matthew’s birthday invitation photos.  The gals are working on the design now, but here is a preview.  This is not the one we’ll select because he’s not smiling, which is too bad because I just LOVE the angle and setting of the shot!  I want to do this same type of image for my sister’s and my business and put all of our kids in the photo.  This is a photo of my computer screen, so it’s not good, but you get the idea.  This was taken by my good friend, Denise, from White Linen Photography:

Here is the shirt I got done for Matthew’s big day.  I love it!  Again – thank you to Etsy – this time Heather Lynde at Lullaby Loft:

Once I’m done with this birthday party, I get to plan my friend’s baby shower!  I have her party all planned out up in my head and just need to execute it with the help of 3 other friends.  I love this stuff!

* If you’re a fan of “Sex and the City,” then you know where this came from  😉


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What I’ve Been Up To

This is what I’ve been up to.  OMG – this thing took forever to figure out (I’m a perfectionist) but once I had it figured out, it was a snap to do!  This will go above the table during the birthday party, and then up in his room afterwards.

On a side-note, my little sister found my blog.  No biggie – I’d mentioned it to her but hadn’t sent the address.  She found it via her Etsy store – apparently someone clicked the link to her store from my blog.  She hadn’t seen the referring link (my blog) before, so clicked it to check it out.  So hello to you, Lewis, in case you’re still reading!!!

Back to my little project – I am doing this same type of thing for my friend’s baby shower.  Now that I know what I’m doing, I’m going to get started!  I am estimating that each one of these little dandies takes about 3 hours of time, start to finish.  This one took much longer, but because I was figuring it out along the way.

Next up for the big birthday?  Cake topper and animals for the forest scene on the cake.

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And another side-note… but really this deserves much more than a side-note (but it’s not my news to share, so I’ll keep it a blurb here).  I still want to post about my first Mother’s Day because B went all out!  However, my day was devastated with the news of the passing of Ainsley Knepper.  If you don’t know her story, please honor her memory by clicking over to her mom’s blog and offering a bit of love and support.  Jen is the very first blogger I ever READ, let alone followed.  I’ve been following her for over 3 years now.  I don’t know her IRL, but I sure have known and loved her story.  I do not love this part of her story – it is rather heartbreaking  😦