Carolina's First Birthday Party

Carolina's first birthday party was just perfect!  I had so much fun planning it and joked that it was really my party.  I'm sure she'll make her requests for future themed parties but I was happy to do this one all in my taste.   

We felt so blessed to have our friends and family join us in celebrating her first year.  Most of the kids were little so they would be able to play together and play with her toys.  It was a Saturday morning party so everyone could come and then get on with their day.  

There were so many details but one of my favorite parts was Carolina wearing the bloomers I made her for her newborn photos.  I made them a little big when I was still pregnant (not on purpose!) but it worked out.  She wore some costume pearls that my Nanny gave me a long time ago.  

 I loved having all the little babies crawling and running around the house and it was so adorable to see them interacting with each other.  See the homemade birthday cards from some sweet "older" friends in the collage below.  And just look at the little chat by the window.  I wonder what they were saying.

I know that nobody expects a gift when you are coming to a birthday party but it was fun being creative and putting together the beach bucket gifts.  My favorite thing was a stamp pad and little card for the kids to make art on.  The next day was Father's Day so I thought I was helping out there!

 You can't see them, but I had beach balls hung up through the house and a float as the centerpiece on the table.  I did use Pinterest a lot for planning but my goal was to not spend too much on decorations.  I mostly used what I had.  The most I spent was buying 9 beach balls for 99 cents each.  We also invested in a long table that we can use at holidays as well.

The cake was my masterpiece!!  I love having an excuse to bake and decorate cakes.   I thought I would make a healthy cake for Carolina but in the end, aesthetics won out.  I wanted a pretty cake more than a healthy cake.  Fortunately, she didn't eat hardly any of it.  She touched it and then pushed it over on the floor (on a sheet)!  We all still ate some though even though I made cupcakes for the guests too.

Carolina has been such a joy to us, it's indescribable how much we love her!  I'm so excited that I have more parties to plan for her and a lifetime to love her.

First Birthday Party Plans

I am so excited about Carolina's first birthday party!  I've been googling and pinterest-ing for a few weeks now piecing together what I want to do.  It's not until next Saturday but I have been working on things a little at a time.  

Today I had some help though and it was wonderful!!  I had a little assembly line going to put together mason jar tags and water bottle labels.  Having a teenager full of hot air helped blow up a lot of beach balls too.  I'm so happy I didn't have to do that.  Thanks guys!

Carolina had fun playing in the beverage containers. 

There was even an official goldfish taste test to see which ones I want to serve.  

Can you tell it's a summer beach party theme?  It's a loose theme but I wanted something that would be simple to do.  It all started with the party favors, which are adorable.  

I'm one of those crazy Moms who wants her baby to eat a healthy cake.  I tested this one out because it uses bananas as a sweetener, so no added sugar.  It's kind of like a banana bread and really good.  I still have to test out what icing I'm going to do with it but I'm thinking whipped coconut cream.  I realized this idea of healthy everything is going to be an uphill battle when I saw they are serving marshmallows to the 1 year olds at VBS next week.  

For the guests, I am making strawberry cupcakes.  I baked these today and the icing has real strawberries in it.  After sampling these, I think I'm going to go with a vanilla cake and strawberry icing though.  The strawberry cake competes too much with the icing.

 These are my blue mason jars.  I love them!!  I deliberated over whether to buy them or not because I really don't need any more glasses.  I decided that we would use them a lot in the future and Gustavo really liked them too.  

There was a lot of experimenting with what to do about names on the mason jars.  I have a limited amount 12 blue and 12 clear so people can't just lose their glass.  I was going to do sticky labels but they might sweat off.  Hopefully this will do the trick.  

A friend made water bottle labels at my baby shower and I was completely enamored with them.  They make everything look so much more elegant!  I googled some free templates and found these which go perfectly with beach ball colors.  I just used packing tape to put them on.  So simple and free!

I'll be working on a lot more little details through the week.  I'm having so much fun planning for her first party.  It's a great distraction so I don't have to focus on how a year has passed and how it can be that my little baby is turning one.

Sob.

Three Summer Shoes

from here

I've been online shopping and in person shopping, buying and returning for a month now looking for my perfect summer shoe line-up.  Getting out a little every day with the baby has helped me so much and I do love a good shoe hunt.  

I used to think that more options was better but I actually don't like to have a lot of shoes anymore.  I still have plenty but I used to have more, many more.  I would go shopping with an open mind looking for a deal and the shoe possibilities would play out before me.  Now I need my shoes to fit into my real life and not my fantasy life.

 Of course I still would love to buy them on sale but I put them through rigorous testing now to see if they will come home with me.  Or rather I should say stay home with me since I return often after having them at home for a week or so.  I try them on with different outfits throughout the week to see if they are going to work for me.  

My Critera:

Comfort

Style

Multi-Use

Goes with almost everything

Will wear them a lot

Trying them on at home with different outfits is an important part of the process for me.  Obviously I like the shoes when I buy them, but that doesn't mean they are going to fit in with my lifestyle or clothes I wear.  Let me tell you my Converse story.  I have always wanted a pair and I got the dainty style of grey Converse that are so adorable.  They are the same Converse cool but less clunky.  

I tried them on with so many outfits and realized three things.  One, they pinched my little toes.  Two, they made my feet feel claustrophobic in the heat.  Three, I probably wouldn't reach for them that much to wear.  So instead of keeping them and wasting money on something I wouldn't wear often, I decided to return and maybe try again another time.  

So here are the shoes I finally decided on.  I know they won't make the pages of Vogue but this is what works for me.  I'm a pretty casual kind of girl.

First shoe is for all around comfort in my day to day life.  It's hot here in Houston and I need something that I can slip on and also lets my foot breathe.  I wanted it in yellow but they didn't have my size.  Aerosoles can be kind of orthopedic looking but I love the squishy soles.  I always look for their flip flops first.

Link

I have loved my winter Sperrys so much that I decided to get some summer ones.  All this shoe planning started because we have a vacation to Kiawah Island and Charleston coming up and we will be biking and walking a lot.  I got the classic ones so I wouldn't have to worry about coordinating them.  

Link

These are my dressier sandals.  I don't really dress up all that much but if I do wear a dress I think they'll be ok. 

 I rarely wear heels.  Have you got the message that I like to be comfortable?

Link

I wonder if all this analysis is too much?  I'm always trying to balance spending money on the right things with having the right things when I need them.  I want getting dressed to be easy and non-dramatic when there is a time crunch.  Anyone else know what I am talking about?  Closet meltdowns?   Yeah, I'm trying to avoid those buy proactive shoe hunting.  And that's how you sell it to your husband.

Easter Pictures & a Fab Dress

I hope it's not too late for Easter pictures. 

I love these Daddy-Daughter photos!  G is such a sweet and caring man.   He is going to be such a great Papa too.  She may want me more now because of the milk situation, but I know one day she'll be a total Daddy's girl.  I'm not going to lie that it might break my heart if she wants him more than me.

Carolina loves to eat her shoes which is starting to become a problem.  

 I'm glad you can't see my dress because it does not at all coordinate with the family.  It was a minor major crisis in our house that morning.  

 I bought this aqua dress at Janie and Jack and she has worn it for all sorts of important occasions.  First was her baby dedication, then she wore it for Christmas in Puerto Rico, then Easter and she still has many more wears to come.  I love a versatile dress, even when it's for a baby.  I try to buy her stuff extra big so she can wear it a lot.

The Target dollar spot has become an essential stop by every time I'm there.  Bunny ears, yes please.

This was baby dedication in October 2012.  G loves my really blonde hair but it was an accident on my last hair appointment before giving birth.  That is what happens when you show a picture of Reese Witherspoon.

This was Christmas 2012 in Puerto Rico.  I had to have the matching sunglasses.  The whole outfit is very Caribbean don't you think?

It's amazing how when you wait to download pictures from your camera, they all of a sudden seem like ancient history.  Goodness how time flies!  

*This post is brought to you by Carolina pulling all the tupperware out of the kitchen cabinets.

Catching Up

The baby is napping, finally.  It seems that I haven't been blogging lately.  Oh, I have though.  It's just been in my head.  I blog all the time in fact.  I may not remember what I started with going from one room to another though.

This little one has been keeping me busy.  

There are so many things to share but there need to be more naps.  She's never been a good sleeper.  I know, I know baby wise, sleep training, blah blah blah.  Let's just say I've learned a lot about myself.  

How about a list?

1.  I'm not as organized as I thought I was.

2.  I'm not a disciplinarian, in fact a total baby enabler.

3.  Coffee is my BFF

4.  I don't like to hear crying, which leads me back to lack of naps...

So, since we last talked, this has happened.  It's been awhile.

Yes, my child who turned 11 months a few days ago is walking.  She's walking everywhere now.  Crawling is so last week.

Can I just say that dressing my baby girl is one of my favorite things in the world?  Every morning we go to the closet and say "What are we going to wear today?"  Accessorizing her outfits is of extreme priority as well.  If we don't have a bow that matches, many hours of looking on Etsy ensue.  

We have a lot of shoes, but I just ordered her one pair in navy blue for the summer.  They are her multi-tasking, go with everything shoe, however she kind of ruined the front part by eating them in the car yesterday.  I just had to laugh when she smiled at me with blue dye on her face.  I was a little mad though.

That's all for now.  Welcome back, me.

Until next time nap.

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Our Care-o-leena Grace

She was born on Father's Day.

Carolina Grace

June 17, 2012

6 pounds 11 ounces

18.5 inches

Perfect!

We are so blessed and enjoying every second of her

...for almost 3 months now. 

xoxoxo