You know what's REALLY weird?

Getting your period for the first time after 22 months & remembering where you keep your tampons.

Oh ya. YOU DON'T HAVE ANY. oops.

I haven't had "it"since November, 2009. The last cycle before I got pregnant. How weird is that?!

  I so didn't miss it.

Welcome back, old friend. Notttt.

Aren't you glad you opened this post? ;)

MY, oh MY!

We have some big news to report...

no, i'm not pregnant. sillies.

claire is CRAWLING.

Yep. Full on movin' all over the place.

if you're new here, you're probably thinking "uuhh, she's a year old. shouldn't she be close to walking by now?"  ya. She's ONLY crawling..... nothing is wrong with her. promise.

Last Monday, I was sitting in her room while she played. I look up & she's on all four's rocking back & forth & before you know it, she took a couple of little crawls!! I silently squealed while Tweeting "SHE JUST CRAWLED". Then? She didn't do it for the rest of the day, so I thought for sure it was a fluke & hubbs thought I was making up stories :)

But sure enough, the days passed & she got more and more confident & faster. & I am now growing grey hair ;)

I fully attribute this progress to the Early Intervention program. I am SO beyond thankful & impressed at how well Claire has taken to her therapist & excersises.

She's also sitting up on her own from laying down. Something she wasn't doing a few weeks ago. We JUST lowered her mattress because she is able to kneel up to he rails now. This is also, HUGE progress.

I just love walking into her room in the morning and seeing this sweet face sitting up all by herself.




Here's the proof: sorry about the absolutely awful quality. Filmed on my iPhone. also? she's crawling towards music playing on hubbs' iPad. Kids these days & their technology. ha.

Now, I'm off to "baby" proof this house. I've been waiting so long to say that.

Claire, you rock, little girl.

Happy Tuesday :)

{As Promised} The Party Deets.

The Party was held at our home last Sunday, September 4th, and it was awesome.

It was the first time I had ever put on a party since moving to this house a year ago. I honestly had a blast planning everything, but I'm very relieved it is over with. Shit is stressful! I told myself I wouldn't go all out for this, but I ended up going overboard {to my standards! I am SO not a party planner!} & I am glad I did. Even though she won't remember it, I have pictures & memories for a lifetime!

The theme was "Our Little Sunshine" & I incorporated yellows, light pinks & white in the decor.



When I first started thinking about themes a while back, I was absolutely inspired by this awesome 1st birthday party thrown by one of my favorite blog momma's &even though I don't "know" her, I felt inclined to ask her permission to go off of her idea. She said yes :) THANKS, KATIE!

I also got A LOT of inspiration here.

All of the cutouts {except for the pennant banners, which I made} you see are from Love the Day Designs. Lindi was so great. I just ordered & paid for the pdf file, she e-mailed it to me & I printed them off & cut everything out.





Food: We went pretty casual & served lunch
Turkey, ham, cheese{s} & rolls for sammiches
My mom's famous salad {I'll post the recipe sometime. Foodgasmic.}
Homemade mac' n' cheese {ya. I cooked. pick up your jaws from the ground}
Chips/dip



Drinks:
Mellow Yellow {I had to be cheesy with the theme}
Chick-fil-a Iced Tea Lemonade {mmmm}
Water
Beer
Chardonnay {duh}
Mimosas {were a total hit, since the party was held at noon :)}

Dessert:
Local Bakery cupcakes. YUMMM!
Gooey butter cookies. Sister made those. OMG. To die for.



Party Favors:
"1" Sugar cookies from Local Bakery wrapped in cellophane bags w/ribbon.


Sunflower Smash Cake:
White cake made by my amazing little sister.

Party Attire: {pre-smash cake}
Light Pink, yellow & white dress from Target {$6} that I randomly bought when I was 18wks pregnant. How perfect!  She wore a party hat while opening gifts, but that stayed on all of 5 minutes.

Also, these tiny pink ballet flats, that we picked up at a little boutique a few weeks ago.



Everything went so smoothly! Claire woke up from her morning nap right as the guests were arriving, so she was in a great mood. She totally knew the party was for her. Such a little diva ;)

The Guests helped themselves to drinks and we had a slide show of C's first year playing on our t.v. in the background for people to watch while Momma & I were putting the finishing touches on lunch.
{I would put it on here, but it's 20 minutes long, ha!}.

We did the normal party routine: ate, & socialized, did gifts and THEN, it was time for the Smash Cake.



Oh, the Smash Cake. We sang Happy Birthday while Claire just stared at all of us, then I presented her with the cake. I was TOTALLY convinced she would have nothing to do with it. Boy, was I wrong. Good thing I stripped her down to her dipe beforehand! She was ALL OVER IT.

Promptly following the cake, the guest of honor was escorted up to the bathtub to get cleaned up & to take a nap. She was beat from all of the festivities. She didn't even get to say goodbye to most of the guests!

Following her nap? A post Birthday Party photo shoot. After everyone was gone. We found out that day that she LOVES balloons. So cute.

See the picture of the three of us? That is only the second picture we have EVER taken as a family. And? the angle absolutely sucks. Boo, hiss.

And then we tried out our new toys while momma finally got to sit down. and eat.


All in all, it was a fabulous day. Next time, maybe I won't put so much time into the decorations. I don't know why I expected people to actually notice them. I mean, I practically got arthritis from cutting out everything & NO ONE EVEN APPRECIATED THEM. HAHA!

Hopefully you enjoyed the Party re-cap ;)

Also, check out my AMAZING sponsor's website. She's CONSTANTLY adding the most adorable things!! 

Back by popular demand :)

So, since so many from Twitter wanted me to update, I figured I'd get my lazy ass on my laptop & do it. 

Hehe.

So here's what's up:

*Claire is ONE. 12 months. Over 365 days old. {wearing 6mo pants, 9mo tops, 12 mo jams} Ha!

*Still going strong with the E.I. {Early Intervention}. She's making SO much progress! SHE PULLED UP TO STANDING ON HER OWN THE OTHER NIGHT! AND, she's actually getting into the crawl position on a regular basis. HUGE PROGRESS. You may think this is nothing for a 1 year old, but for her, it's big! 

*We have her 12mo check up on monday. No clue how much she weighs or how long she is. 

*Since she's 1 now, she thinks it's ok to throw temper tantrums and refuse fruits & veggies & eat only crackers, cheese & bread.

*Speaking of Claire, she has had *the* nastiest diapers lately. Teething? The cow's milk? Whatever it is, it's naaaasttyyyy. 

*We are one day THREE of no bottle!  She's drinking a mix of breast milk & cow's milk out of sippys now. YAY! It was a hell of a lot easier to cut the bottle than I thought it'd be.  

*Fall is just around the corner, and I am SO not ready for it. I normally crave the autumn weather, scents &  comfort food, but this year? I'm not. I honestly think it's because I was in such a hard place this time last year {dealing with the post partum}, that I want summer to stay forever. 

*Her birthday party was this past Sunday. And, it was AMAZING. Just how I thought it would be! But one thing I learned? I much prefer being a guest over being a hostess. That shit is stressful. Also? My kitchen isn't big enough for 20+ people. You know, since that's where everyone hangs out ;)

*I've been suffering from a weird stomach thing since Saturday. NO, I'm NOT pregnant. 

 I haven't really been able to drink or eat anything for 4 days. EVERY TIME I take a bite of anything, I feel like I'm going to explode. I am SO hungry, but can't eat. I had blood work & an ultrasound done yesterday, so I'm hoping I get some answers today. I wouldn't be surprised it's ulcers. I have been SO stressed about everything lately. Don't ask why. Just very high strung. 

*I'm so over my blog design. It's super outdated & boring. But? I don't have the time or money to make it cute. So, I guess I'll deal with it.

*I *will* have a Birthday Party Post up by Monday. Swear. Hold me to it. Plenty of pictures for all.