Thursday, April 19, 2012

"Whooooo's 1?" Lola's 1st Birthday Party!

Ok, so I know I am not the most "on top of it" blogger, but I never thought it would take me this long to do Lola's birthday party post! If I'm being honest, chasing around this very busy almost 13-month old wears me out, and when I do get those breaks, sometimes the last thing I want to do is blog. BUT, I have been very excited about sharing Lola's birthday party with you! (whoever you are?)

Anyways, I can't really describe in words how special this day was to me. It was up at the top of my "favorite days" list, next to her actual birthday. I don't know why, but there is something very special about your first baby having their first birthday, and kind of celebrating my first year of motherhood as well. It was such a milestone year for us, and Lola is the biggest blessing I could possibly imagine, so I LOVED taking a day to celebrate her, and just who she is.

I worked my TAIL off getting ready for this party. And there were definitely times I questioned why I was spending so much time preparing for a party that my daughter would never remember? But in my head all I could think was, "Lola is so special to me, and I just want this party to reflect how special she is and celebrate all that she has brought to our lives this past year." I really did think that constantly, honestly. So I hope the party came across that way.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day, made even more beautiful by the loved ones that surrounded us. I truly couldn't have asked for more. (Side note: I'm very grateful that is was such a nice day, because we were able to have much of the party in our backyard rather than our small house. My biggest fear about this party was what we were going to do with all these people if it rained! Because of this fear, we did our very best to keep the list small, but with our big families, that was hard to do!)

Here are some pics of the special day! It was an owl theme: "Look whoooooo's turning 1!"

The table with all the goodies





Owl cupcakes I made


Owl S'mores I made


Smash Cake!


Owl paper lanterns I made (Noticing a theme? Lots of handmade things here thanks to Pinterest!)


We hoped this was the REAL theme of the party. So true!


Photo garland with all her monthly "chair" pictures


Yummy Uptown Popcorn with paper cones covered with pics of Lola!


Owl party favors--these were a labor of love, but love how they turned out!


The front of our house decorated


Up-close of the front porch decor. The sign says, "Whoooo's 1? LOLA!"


The backyard decor


Flowers on the tables outside


Up-close of the flowers outside


Pom poms in the trees


Good friends Alli & Taylor with little Payton Schmidt!


Some of my sweet high school friends


More guests


Papaw and Lola!


Grandmother (Lola) with Lola! So happy Grandmother & Papaw came


"Lola's 1!"


Our good friend McKamy Zuniga. These kids were playing hard!


The Herrington's, including little Jackson


About to sing Happy Birthday!


Trying to encourage her to dig in. She wasn't really feeling it.


"I'm one!"


Charlie Henkel and Hudson Nutter playing in our new sand and water table


More high school friends


Taylor & Payton Schmidt and Jordan & Halle Pearl Wheaton:)


Can't believe my baby is 1!


We got some seriously cute presents!


Ready for summer!


"Lola Kate Spade" :)


Got to have the bloomers with her name on them!


Uncle John & (Almost) Aunt Kate!


My SIL about to pop with baby Gracyn! She was born April 4th.


Fancy, mom, & Lola. Birthday girl was POOPED!

I hope these pics show what a special day it was. I had so much fun, and a big thanks to all those that made it so wonderful! Happy 1st Birthday sweet Lola!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

::12 Months!!::






On Saturday, March 24th, my Lola girl turned 1 year old!! It was honestly a very surreal feeling, but a very happy one too. Since her actual birthday was on a Saturday this year (thank you Leap Year), we got to have her Birthday party that afternoon, and it was SUCH a happy day! I will do a separate post on that later...

So my BABY turned 1! This was an awesome month, probably my favorite. We didn't cut ANY teeth this month, hence why it was my favorite! Lots of happy days and sleep-filled nights, yay!

Here are some highlights from the month:

-- Lola started walking 100% of the time this month. Previously, she was taking lots and lots of steps, but if she would fall, she would crawl. But one day, that changed! When she would fall, she would stand up again and keep walking! And she's never looked back! She has definitely mastered the art of walking...and she is keeping this mama very busy!

--Like I said, no teeth this month, but I can already see the next 2 coming. At least I got a month off!

--She pretty much averaged 13 hour nights this month, going down around 8pm, waking up around 9am. She also continued with her two 1.5 hour naps a day. Mama is very grateful, baby!

-- Words she is consistently saying are: light, hat, dada, Teddy (our dog), duck, dog, woof, moo (when she sees a cow). I'm sure there are more, but that's all I can think of. Still doesn't call me "mama"! :(

--Lola is still a great eater! She loves feeding herself, and is pretty good at it! Although, I have to admit, cleaning up that highchair 3x's a day is getting to be a pain. Oh well...

--We had her 1 year check-up this week complete with 4 shots and a blood draw, yuck! It was pretty awful. Her 1 year stats are:

Weight: 22lbs, 8oz= 75%
Height: 30 1/2"= 90%
Head: 17 3/4"= 50%

The last 2 doctor appointments she has been 90% for weight, so even though she is still a chunk, we can see she is starting to lean out from all that walking!

--Lola is still in size 4 diapers and wearing 12-18 month clothes

Lola, thank you for giving us the best year of our lives! I have loved just about every minute of it. I can't believe we used to do life without you. What did we do with all our free time? You make life so much better, and you make me smile more than I ever have before. Love you with all of our hearts, sweet girl!

Birthday Party post coming up! It was such a wonderful day!!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Bathroom Makeover!

Our house is old. Like, built in the 1950's old. So needless to say, there are some parts of this house that have likely NEVER been updated. Our hall bath was one of those places. We have been dying to remodel it, but weren't looking to spend $5,000+ to do so. So, we found a way to make it LOOK as if we completely remodeled it, but the only thing we tiled was the floor. The rest of the tile was "painted" with a substance called amorpoxy. It's basically a super heavy-duty paint that won't mold and lasts for 10+ years. And it is MUCH cheaper than re-tiling, of course!

Here are the BEFORE pics of the bathroom:

Peach "vintage" tile on floor, countertop, shower walls, and wainscot


White cabinets, old mirror & light fixture


Disgusting, stained original tub!


Cannot believe we even used this tub! Pouring straight bleach on it wouldn't even budge these stains.


And now the AFTER pics:

All tile was painted white


Painted cabinets a taupe color, new mirror & light fixture


Looks like a new tub, but it was just painted!


Another view of shower, and new blue/grey paint color on the walls



New tile looks like carrara marble


We are loving our "new" bathroom!