Savannah's Lemonade Party

As you may have read in a previous post, my baby girl turned three just a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to share some pictures with you from her super cute party! It is so much fun to have a little girl and get to do girly things like this. The theme that I decided to go with with "Cupcakes and Lemonade."

I used pink and yellow decor, lemon candy, mason jars, burlap, and lots of lemons for my sparkling strawberry lemonade and for decorations! 

This was my first time making the tissue pom poms and I think next time I'll try to make them a little bit more full, but I love how whimsical they look. Perfect for a birthday party or a shower!

Food was just finger food - sandwiches, chips and dips, and cupcakes of course! 

I made pink lemonade cupcakes. They were very yummy! I love lemon desserts! You can find the recipe here on this awesome food blog. 

But the best part of the party wasn't the decorations, or the food, but the company! We invited just a few people who are special to Savannah and she had a fabulous time.

She just smiled and took it all in as we all serenaded her with "Happy Birthday..."

I'm so thankful to all of our dears friends who came, and I'm especially grateful for the blessing of having grandparents living close by! I know that Savannah will treasure these memories when she is older.

With Papa and Ju-Ju. (My mom and dad.)

Letting us know she is three years old! 

By the time I was able to get a picture with her she was over pictures...so Craig snapped this random shot. I may have a little bit of a bittersweet expression...I was probably thinking how I can't believe that my baby is three years old and definitely not a baby anymore! How time flies...

With Grammy and Grandpa (or Pi-paw as Savannah says - Craig's parents.)

And finally the measure of a successful birthday party...the birthday girl fast asleep on the couch. Priceless.

Easter Eggs-stravaganza

Tomorrow is Easter! One of my favorite holidays. I'm starting to feel that I may say that about all of them. I do just love holidays. Anticipation, traditions, and time with family.

Coloring eggs has always been one of my favorite traditions. Though this week has been very busy, we made time to color eggs (twice.) I love it as much as the kids!

We gathered up some of our best friends - my niece and nephew, Brevin and Allie, and our neighbor, Ella. I filled mason jars with all kinds of beautifully dyed water (with lemon juice instead of vinegar to make the eggs more pastel.)

And the fun began!

Patience is the hardest part. Waiting on those eggs to turn just the right color takes lots of it!

After round two we moved our little eggs-travaganza in the house because it was getting pretty hot. (We have had such an unseasonable warm spring this year.)

Finally our eggs were finished and looked like perfect Easter colors to me!

 Happy Easter tomorrow! No matter what your traditions - getting dressed up, going to church, hunting for eggs, or eating a big dinner with family, remember the reason we celebrate! "He is not here (in the grave), He is risen...just as He said..." (Matthew 28:6a.)

Its a bird...Its a plane...

I am sorting through vacation pictures this morning feeling amazed (and a little ashamed) at how much time has passed since I last blogged. I could give you all of the reasons and excuses but I am not going to waste time updating you on my schedule. Just know that March was one of the craziest months of my life. If only I had super powers! If I were super-mom and I were faster than a speeding bullet I'm sure I could get so much more accomplished! At any rate, it has been almost a year since I started blogging and I still absolutely love this little project. I have no intention of quitting. Sometimes, since I'm not super-mom, I just have to take a break. I have almost completed the editing of my vacation pictures. I am extremely grateful to have them because they were nearly completely lost (another long story and another reason I haven't posted them yet...)  While I finish up the last of them, I thought I'd share this little photo series with you and maybe bring a giggle to you on this Wednesday. So, without any further ado... Look, its a bird...no, its a plane....no, it's Super Savannah!

I wish I were this fearless! She is definitely a thrill-seeker. Love how she was even posing for me.

 Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. More pictures and posts coming soon. I'm glad to be "back."

Butterfly Fly Away (Happy Birthday Savannah)

Some of you may be wondering if I took a two week vacation. Not at all, but coming home from vacation completely overwhelmed me. I came home to an extremely hectic week (and I'm still going strong.) I want to share some details about our vacation but my first post has to be about something more important. My baby girl is three turns three tomorrow...three. It just doesn't seem possible because I'm sure it wasn't that long ago that I brought her home.

Three years ago today I was being discharged from the hospital - yes you heard that right! After almost a week in the hospital trying to get early labor stopped the doctor gave me a final thumbs up and said that my contractions had finally stopped and I could go home. This was my third time being admitted, but this stay was the longest. I was so ready to go home - even though bed rest would be strict. I was 33 weeks pregnant. You may recall that this was the week in my first pregnancy when Landon was born. After being home for just a couple of hours I felt the contractions start again and become extremely regular. I dreaded going back to the hospital knowing that once again the doctors would begin the fight against what my body wanted to do...this meant some nasty drugs and labor that did not result in a baby. However, this was the last time I was have to endure it because Savannah was determined to beat her big brother's entrance. She came just two days earlier than he had.

 I got to the hospital around 11:00 p.m. and although the doctors and nurses did their best to stop her, Savannah Mackenzie entered the world at 8:04 a.m. weighing 4 lbs and 3 oz. I remember feeling so elated that I got to hold her for a few minutes right before they took her to the NICU! Her stay in the NICU at Children's Hospital here in Knoxville lasted for 21 days. The nurses took such good care of her and I was there as much as possible just as I had been with Landon!

Savannah's journey home was a longer than Landon's because she had a few bumps in the road, and came home with a heart monitor. I am so thankful for the health of my children after the rough starts they had! I love the picture below...I thought Savannah looked mischievous right from the start (...I was right!)

My baby girl finally came home on April 11th and completed our little family perfectly. She was the sweetest baby and to this day brings so much joy to our home!

I sang to Savannah in the hospital too. I decided she should have her own song and began singing the one that I still sing to her at bedtime every night.

Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be,

Can't go far but you can always dream,

Wish you may and wish you might, don't you worry,

Hold on tight, Promise you there will come a day, 

Butterfly fly away...

Happy Birthday to my little butterfly... Please don't fly away too quickly. Love you always, Mom.

Vacation Anticipation

 

Aaahh, the anticipation of vacation. The countdowns, the planning, the packing...its half of the fun! In just a little over 24 hours we will be making our way to sunny Florida for a week of family fun in Orlando. (I asked Landon to give me an excited face and that is what I got.) The kids are so excited and I really couldn't sleep last night just because of excitement and the lists I had going in my mind.

Normally we vacation a bit later in the spring so I am truly looking forward to being poolside when its sunny and just 75 degree! (Notice I said PoolSIDE...if the kids want someone IN the pool they'll need to talk to their Dad about that.) Thank goodness for heated pools right? Here Savannah is excitedly sharing that there is just one more day in our countdown.

I have a lot of important decisions to make before we leave...you know really crucial stuff like what color to paint my toenails and how many pairs of flip flops to take... Decisions decisions...

One thing that seems odd is not having printed paperwork everywhere. My planning has all been done online so I have it all on my Kindle. Yay for technology! Condo confirmation, Disney details, maps, a couple of good books, and a music playlist - all here in one place.

Today has been spent making last minute preparations. After a lot of searching and not having any luck finding a cute pair of denim shorts at a good price (its just a bit too early in the season for sales!) I decided to make my own today. I plan to make the cuff semi-permanent with some Heat-n-Bond. Gotta love a good pair of cutoff shorts!

Now my bags are packed... Since I was packing for three of us I did a little bit each day this week so it hasn't been too overwhelming. I can't believe I'm actually done early! Okay, so this isn't my actual suitcase...Its just much prettier than mine...

Here is my actual suitcase. Landon and I are both packed in one but Savannah got her own. I hope to update my blog with photos throughout the week but you know how it is once you get away, so if I don't return for a week, you know where I'll be be...soaking up some sun or chatting with Cinderella!