To My Avery, On Your Second Birthday

Oh my Avery.  My loud, spunky, giggly, attitude-y, rambunctious Avery.  How did we get here?  How did we get to the point that we're celebrating your SECOND birthday??  You should still be my cuddly infant.  The one that coos at the bugs on her carseat and is allergic to every fruit known to man.  Instead, you're a two year old.  A two year old that tells me when she's happy with something.  Or unhappy with something (mostly the latter).  I feel like I spend the majority of our waking hours together scolding you.  I feel like I'm constantly getting after you to share your toys, use your manners, not throw temper tantrums, use the potty, don't pee in your pants, don't empty mommy's makeup on the clean bedsheets....but I do it because I love you.  I love you and I want you to be a polite, fun to be around little girl.  I discipline because I want to know that someday, when I send you off to spend all day with a teacher or a babysitter, that I can rest easy knowing that I've taught you how to behave.  You're constantly pushing my buttons and testing your limits, but we make it through the day okay, right?  We have our moments where you come running up to me out of nowhere and hug my leg and say "Hold you please."  Then I pick you up and you squeeze my neck and say "I yuv you mommy."  And that's when I think my heart is going to explode right there.  My purpose in life is to be your mommy.  To kiss your boo-boos and find your lost Minnie Mouse doll.  To wipe your butt and wipe your tears.  There's nothing else I would rather be doing.  Because you make life worthwhile.  There's nothing like sitting with you for a couple of minutes and then listen to you talk and marvel at all the new words you've learned.  You are SO incredibly smart.  You pick up on things so quickly.  You can hold your own with the older kids in a room, which makes me so proud.  You're just like your daddy.  You're outgoing and not afraid to talk to anyone.  You make friends in the checkout line and tell them all about your fishy swimming at home in his bowl.  I honestly believe there's nothing you can't do.  I'm so proud of the little girl you're becoming.  Sure, we have our moments where I yell too much or you throw things in the floor just because you didn't get your way.  But we love each other and that's all that really matters. 

Happy 2nd birthday, my one and only Avery. 

Minnie Mouse Highchair

I'm sad.  This is the last of the "Avery's Minnie Mouse Birthday Bash" tutorials I'll be posting.  I hope if you're having a Minnie themed party of your own, you've gotten some ideas for your party too!  So, here it is, the last tutorial:  *drumroll*  a Minnie Mouse highchair (as seen here as my little girl chows down on her birthday cake)!

 I lucked out on this chair.  I had been wanting a cheap highchair for pictures to paint a bright color, like yellow or turquoise, until we decided that Avery would be having a gigantic Minnie Mouse party and this idea was born. 
Wanna know how to make one for yourself?  Here's what you'll need:

• Highchair (obviously)
• Black spraypaint
• Minnie Mouse polkadot fabric
• Foam circles
• Polka dot ribbon
• Hot glue gun
• Sandpaper

I found my highchair at Goodwill for.....get ready.....$5.  The legs wobbled a bit and it didn't have a tray to go with it, but it was FIVE DOLLARS.  I could deal.  It was also a little bit dirty.  So, step one was to sand the highchair down to remove all the stickers and junk that littered the arms and seat of this bad boy. 

After sanding, I began to spray paint. It took two coats of black spray paint (I bought the cheap Walmart brand) to cover the whole thing.



 

When the chair was spray painted and dry, I brought it into my house to add the Minnie skirt along the bottom.  Finding the fabric that perfectly matched Minnie's skirt ended up being the hardest part of this project.  I went to FOUR different fabric stores before I found the perfect print (Thank you JoAnn's Fabric).  I got two yards and it ended up being JUST enough, so get 2 1/2 or 3 to be safe.  I was sweating as I was coming to the end because I really thought I was going to run out.  Here's how to attach the skirt (and if my instructions don't make sense, hopefully the pictures will....I'm a visual person, not a descriptive one). 

 

Take your hot glue gun and put about an inch worth of glue along the chair and attach the fabric.

 

Now, put about a quarter of an inch of glue along the end of the fabric that you've just glued to the chair.  Fold the fabric back and glue it down. 

 

Repeat the above two steps.  You'll be creating a sort of ruffle effect along the entire chair. 

 

Once you've done a few "ruffles," you'll get the hang of how to do it.  Continue along the entire chair. 

 

When I first started working, I wanted a floor length "skirt" on my highchair.  Because I didn't get enough fabric, I had to cut it in half to have enough to finish the entire chair.  I like the finished look better, I think.  It's appropriate because Minnie doesn't wear a floor length skirt!

 

After you've finished the skirt, spray paint the two foam circles black (this will take MULTIPLE coats with a heavy hand because the foam soaks up the paint like crazy).  Then attach with a hot glue gun to the sides or top of your chair.  Glue a matching red and white polka dot bow to one of the ears and you have your very own Minnie Mouse highchair!!

 

I hope you all have enjoyed the entire Minnie Mouse series!  If you're interested, check out Avery's Minnie birthday invitations and envelopes, canvas bag party favors, personalized Minnie Mouse wreath and Minnie Mouse birthday bash recap (including a Minnie Mouse Cozy Coupe)!  Now, what to do for the 2nd birthday......



Minnie Mouse Initial Wreath

I promised you tutorials on how to make a few of the personalized items that I had included at Avery's birthday party.  I'm just not a "cookie-cutter" kind of party planner.  I'm not all for going to Wal-Mart and buying the package of coordinating plates, cups, napkins, table runners, candles, etc.  I'd rather have a handmade and from the heart kind of party.  I'm not knocking you if that's the kind of party you like to throw.  Lord knows, it's wayyyyy easier than the route I took.  But if you're like me, here's a tutorial on how to make your very own Minnie Mouse Initial Wreath.  It hung on the front door to welcome guests into the party and now is hanging proudly in Avery's room.  Ready to make one for the Minnie fan in your life?  Grab your hot glue gun and let's get started!

Materials needed:

• Styrofoam wreath
• 2 small Styrofoam circles
• Black cardstock paper
• Initial of your choice
• Small circle sponge brush
• Red and white acrylic paint
• Ribbon
• Hot glue gun

{step 1}
I started with my Styrofoam wreath and wrapped all the way around with a silk black ribbon to create the base for my wreath.

{step 2} 
After the wreath was wrapped, I took the two smaller Styrofoam circles (that had already been spray painted black) and hot glued them to the top of the wreath as Minnie's ears. 

{step 3} 
Taking the black cardstock paper (I picked glitter paper--thought it looked more "girly"), I cut out two circles that were the same size as the Styrofoam circles and hot glued them onto the front.

{step 4}
I painted my wooden letter A in cherry red to match Minnie's dress.  Of course, Minnie wouldn't be complete without her signature polka dots!  So I took a small circle sponge brush and white acrylic paint and added polka dots all over the letter.

{step 5}
I attached the letter to the wreath and made a bow out of red and white polka dotted ribbon.  It's not in the picture, but I added some leftover ribbon at the top for the wreath to hang from. 

And voila!  Avery now has her own personalized Minnie Mouse wreath.  I'm thinking about making a family sized one to go on the front door now......

Avery's Birthday Party Recap

You know when you get on Pinterest and you browse other people's blog posts about their child's perfect birthday party and how everything was completely awesome?  Yeah, my kid's party wasn't like that.  I had spent MONTHS agonizing over and planning this party.  I thought of every single tiny, minute little detail.  I wanted everything to go perfectly.  The reality was much, MUCH different.  It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did.  It rained.  The moisture in the air made it almost impossible for my dad to fire up the grill and make the food.  The air conditioner in my parent's house was thinking about going out.  Because the food wasn't ready, we opened presents first so people could leave if they needed to.....but Avery wouldn't have any of it.  She was cranky.  And overwhelmed.  And hungry.  Finally, the food was ready and people started eating.  Marty and I left the party to go take some professional pictures with the photographer that we'd invited.  Avery wanted none of it.  She didn't want to sit still, she didn't want to smile and she DID NOT want her picture taken.  It was the perfect storm.  Standing on the sidelines, I felt like the party was a huge disaster.  Until I started talking to some of the guests after the party.  No one noticed all the little mistakes and flaws that I was noticing.  Not a single one of them noticed that the food wasn't ready on time or that Avery wasn't in a good mood.  They loved the decorations, the cake and the presents.  I realized that I was expecting everything to be completely perfect and, when it wasn't, I ruined the party for myself.  I couldn't enjoy my daughter's first birthday party because I was worried about what our pictures would turn out like.  Lesson learned:  it's not so much about everything going perfectly.  It's more about enjoying the day and making memories with my daughter.  When I stop and think about that day, I don't want to remember everything that went wrong.  I want to remember the little touches I worked on to make her day as Minnie-fied as possible.  I want to remember her face whenever we gave her a personalized Minnie Mouse Cozy Coupe.  I want to remember all the people that came that loved Avery and Marty and I enough to want to celebrate the day with us.  That's what matters. 



I was really happy with how all of the decorations and little touches turned out.  Each little girl at the party got their very own Minnie Mouse canvas bag...complete with Minnie Mouse bubbles, Mickey ears, Puffs (for the babies) and sunglasses inside.  The drink container came from I Have a Favor.  Cake was made by a family friend, but inspired by a photo I found on Pinterest.  I made the decorations, Minnie Mouse highchair and wreath myself (tutorials to follow!).  But, out of everything, this was my favorite part:

An old Cozy Coupe, transformed into Avery's very own Minnie-mobile!  Have I ever mentioned how thankful I am to have a husband that, not only loves me unconditionally, but puts up with my crazy self and ridiculous requests??  I found this idea from a blog I was browsing and immediately knew that Avery had to have one.  I posted on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted to sell their old Cozy Coupe.  Twenty minutes later, I was the proud owner of one (isn't social media amazing??).  I confronted my husband with the picture and my plan and he got to work.  I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out and Avery LOVES IT.  She wants to climb in and out and honk the horn as much as possible.  Here's a better picture of it the next day:

Then, I got our pictures back.  My photographer works MAGIC.  I didn't think Avery smiled the entire time we were taking pictures, yet somehow she managed to capture some amazing pictures.  I'm still not sure how she did it. 

Looking back, Avery's birthday party was pretty amazing.  I'm the mother of a one year old.  How the heck did this happen??



Minnie Mouse canvas bags how-to

It's supposed to be an "Organize One Thing Wednesday" kind of day, but  I still have that specific project on my mind and I STILL can't find the materials I need.  Maybe this is the universe telling me that I need to learn how to sew so I can just make the idea myself.  harrumph.

Instead, I'm going to be posting one of MANY tutorials from Avery's Minnie Mouse themed 1st birthday!

This week:  Minnie Mouse canvas tote favor bags!
I knew I wanted to do something a little different than the plastic-favor-bag-picked-up-at-WalMart route for Avery's little friends.  I had a couple of canvas tote bags laying around...and the idea was born! 

Materials Needed:

• Canvas tote
• Black, red and white fabric paint (I prefer Tulip brand)
• Round sponge brush
• Medium sized paint brush
• Pencil
• Cereal bowl
• Small drinking glass

{step 1}
Find two rounded items to use for Minnie's head and ears to trace around.  I chose a cereal bowl and an orange juice glass.

{step 2}
Trace around items with pencil.

{step 3}

Using your medium sized paintbrush and black fabric paint, trace around each edge of the circles.  To make it easier, I squirted the paint out onto a paper plate for easier dipping.

{step 4} 

Fill in each square with the rounded sponge brush.  You could also use the regular paint brush to finish the entire Minnie head, but I found the sponge to be easier. 





{step 5} 
Add the details.  I free handed a big red Minnie Mouse bow and wrote each little girl's name on each of the bags with the white fabric paint.  But this is your bag....get creative!
Inside each bag, I added the standard party favors:  cheap, but fabulous sunglasses, Minnie Mouse bubbles, Minnie ears and a container of Puffs (for the babies).  They were a hit!  Of course, these don't have to just be for parties.  Make one for your little girl to carry to school or to use as a purse.  Or, if you're a grown-up Disney freak like me, make one for yourself!  Use it as a work bag, a diaper bag, a reusable grocery bag....the options are endless!!

Stay tuned for more Minnie Mouse party themed decorations and tutorials!!

Put your hands up! H54F {week 6}

It's Friday...it's time for my High Fives!  But.....are you ready for this?  Put up BOTH hands, because I'm giving you a high TEN!  Seriously.  This week has r.o.c.k.e.d. 

{one}

Saw this in my Real Simple magazine.  Kids were polled and asked to finish some well-known sayings.  This one made me laugh. 

{two}

Saturday was Cecilia Days.  During the "Almost Talent Show," my dad had to go on stage for a marshmallow stuffing contest.  The first one to stuff 20 jumbo marshmallows in their mouth won.  I always knew he had a big mouth. :)

{three}

 Marty and I went to the grocery for the first time in over a month.  I won't even talk about the total cost of our trip, but I will say that I got a TON of healthy lunches and snacks to help me on my "Hot Mess" journey. 

{four}

Found this on Pinterest and I'm OBSESSED.  I will be making a version for myself soon.  I miss Lexington/college/UK.

{five}

My kid is seriously obsessed with Mickey and Minnie.  This makes the "Disney-lover" side of me very, very happy.  I'm afraid we have an addiction on our hands.  Our current Minnie/Mickey related items are: 5 Minnie dolls, 2 Mickey dolls, one Minnie pillow, one Minnie cell phone, one Mickey cell phone and numerous clothing items. 

{six}

This has been my view for the week.  Our office flooded and my boss (aka dad) took it as an opportunity to rip out our carpets and let us remodel.  We've been painting...and yesterday, they were putting brand new desks together when I left!  The before and afters are gonna amaze you.

{seven}

As a blogger, I try to support other bloggers as much as possible.  If I like your blog, I'm going to become a follower.  I know how depressing it is to blog your little heart out, dream about blog posts, join link parties and still only have 26 followers. *sigh*  Anyways.  I've found a new blog/Tumblr account that I'm in LOVE with.  Check out http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com.  She's a girl that has a passion for baking and eating healthy.  I've gotten a ton of ideas for lunches, snacks and healthier living.  Not to mention this fabulous recipe for homemade and healthier PopTarts that I WILL be trying soon!

{eight}

Since starting my weight loss journey, I try not to obsess about my weight.  It's just a number, right?  But this morning, I was feeling so good, I wanted to weigh myself and see if I'd made a difference this week.  Down another .4 pounds!  Overall loss:  6.7 lbs!  Woot woot!

{nine}

Avery rode with us in the Cecilia Days parade.  She was waving with both hands, blowing kisses to the crowd and yelling "hi!"  Apparently, Marty and I have a future politician on our hands. 

{ten}

Avery's one year pictures are done!!  I can't wait to see the entire slideshow, but here's a little sneak peek. :)  Hard to believe our petite little girl is ONE!

High TEN for Friday everyone!!

A letter to my Avery...

My sweet Avery girl,

I can't believe you're already a year old!!  A year ago today, I was laying in my hospital bed wondering how I could ever love anything more than I loved you at that moment.  I'd known you less than 24 hours, yet you were completely perfect and I knew that I had been put on this world to be your mommy.  Over the last year, I've watched you grow and learn.  I've watched you develop a personality (and an attitude!).  It's so funny to watch you learn something new...you're so proud of yourself whenever you finally master it and you look over at your daddy and me to make sure we're watching you.  You're so smart (doesn't every mother say that??).  You bring joy to everyone around you--your personality is contagious!  Your entire family loves you beyond words and spoils you to no end....all you have to do is point and grunt and people go running to get you whatever you want!  It's been a joy to watch you learn different stages---rolling over, crawling and now walking!!   To watch you learn new words and phrases (your favorite right now is "I want that!") and use them more and more everyday.  You go nowhere without your Minnie Mouse doll and we quickly have a panic attack on our hands when you realize she's not in reach.  Unfortunately for mommy and daddy, you still don't sleep well through the night and don't nap much, but you'll learn!  You are the complete spitting image of your daddy---busy, can't sit still, into everything you can get your hands on and completely adorable.  I know you've only been in our home for a year, but I can't remember what life was ever like without you.  I thank God every morning that I get to wake up and spend another day watching you grow.  Nothing matters more to me than being your mommy.  I love you so much sweet girl.  Thank you for making your first year the best one of my entire 26.  Happy birthday.

Love,

Mommy