hallie's 1st birthday party!

we celebrated hallie's 1st birthday last month with a simple little family party.


you know the saying "april showers bring may flowers"? well, hallie is our little may flower, so i went (very, very lightly) with that theme for her party. see? there's some flowers on the cupcakes, and flowers on the napkins. :) told ya it was a very, very light theme! as the party guests arrived, they wrote a blessing to hallie on a little flower and added it to the vase.


i love hallie's bouquet of blessings! this bouquet will have a special place in her baby book with special words from those that love her dearly.


hallie helped decorate the table with her toys. :) i forgot to take a picture of the mexican lasagna that i served for dinner!


did you see those sweet books on the bookshelf in the picture above? oh, you didn't notice them? here's a closer look:


my grandmother who lives out of town sent some money to hallie for her birthday, and i was able to pick out some classic books that can hopefully withstand the love of a toddler.

hallie loved this balloon! our sweet little friend lily gave it to hallie on the night of her actual birthday, and it survived until the party! (and there were even flowers on it!)


we all piled in for a quick family picture... couldn't get the birthday girl to smile, despite the many, many family members behind the camera doing their best to make her giggle!


and then it was time for cake! hallie was ready to grab that cake!


so we sang to our sweet birthday baby...



and we all cheered for hallie to dig into her cake! aaaaaand she sat there. not exactly sure what to do.



"this is mine? this big heap of sugar is mine? i'm so confused."


i cannot stop laughing at this picture! hallie's hair looks pink because of the reflection off the cake plate, and i just can't help thinking that auntie kim gave my birthday baby a little hairdo!


hmmmm, where could i find some kids that could show hallie how to eat her cake? oh! here they come!


"oh, so you just stick your fingers in there? like this?"


i love how she loves her big brother and sisters!


"ok, ok, everybody back away... this is my cake!"


it was mama's turn to enjoy some cake with hallie.



i thought she might eat more if i gave it to her...


ok, well if she's not gonna eat the cake...


not much damage done


my baby saying "all done"


after cake, it was time for presents! hallie's cousin karina heard that she was going to need some toys for the water this summer...


and auntie kim crashed the party and brought hallie a super cute phone.


hallie pulled the ribbon off of these books with no problem, and i adore the next picture of her looking up at caroline!



the big girls are super excited about hallie's little splash pad from mommy & daddy! (i gave up on getting hallie to look at the camera at this point.)


yay for this water table from gram! it's actually a sand/water table, but we are going to maximize the water part since it is blazing hot here in florida! :)


is this not the cutest little house from the rest of the grandparents?? it sings to you and talks to you and even has a lightswitch that you can turn on and off. my favorite part is the doorbell. the big kids obviously love it just as much as hallie!


nana also brought this huge balloon to the birthday girl!


my plan was to take some pictures of hallie in the yard with the balloon, but the poor thing met its demise before i could make that happen. :( oh well. but i love this picture of amelia smiling from ear to ear with her sister's balloon!

here's a few pictures of some of our precious family who came to celebrate hallie. some snuck out too early, and i guess i was still distracted by hallie's cake! :)




this past year has FLOWN by, and we are just so excited to see what God has in store for this little girl. she is full of joy and determination, and she pretty much wins the heart of anyone who sees her do her little head tilt and smile combo. :) we praise God for our precious hallie girl, and we just don't remember life without her!

happy birthday, baby girl!

mother's day blessings

brian was so incredibly sweet to give me this hydrangea for mother's day. i cannot wait to plant my beautiful flowers and enjoy them year after year!

oooook, so.... when i started organizing this post about mother's day, my beautiful hydrangea pictured above was alive and well... only because it was less than 24 hours from the moment it entered into my possession. things quickly went downhill from there (in the hot florida sunshine), and before i knew it, i had a shriveled up, ugly reminder that i kill plants. often. thanks to the lowe's guarantee, we were able to exchange them for a healthy plant that is now living safely in my shady backyard. thanks to my facebook friends, i learned that hydrangeas love shade and water. got it. i will probably still kill the poor plant, but at least this one has a better shot of living longer.

sorry, back to mother's day... we enjoyed a gorgeous day at the park for mother's day! it wasn't too hot, and we didn't have to cook or wait in line forever at a restaurant! sounds like a great day to me. :) i loved spending the day with these sweet ladies!


this blog does not have enough space to share what my precious mother means to me. to say, "i don't know what i would do without her" is quite an understatement. she is my cheerleader, my voice of reason, my sanity, my friend.


and these little munchkins just brighten up my days. :) i am forever thankful that God gave me these sweet children. every day as a mother is not rainbows and cupcakes, every day brings its own challenges, but ohhhh, every day brings its own blessings, too. my heart is just so full.


these two beautiful ladies also put a smile on my face!! the blessings just continue. :)


aaaand the silliness does too! (can you tell that heather thinks kristie and i are a little nuts?!)



this post is supposed to be about the moms, but i just had to include this sweet picture of pappy with his youngest granddaughter.


the grandkids all brought flowers for the grandmothers... they made a great centerpiece!


after the picnic, we dropped by brian's grandmother's house for a few minutes to deliver her flowers and card.


i love this picture of brian's mom and her mom!


what a mother's day gift! brian's grandmother with all five of her great-grandchildren! we are so thankful she moved to our town so that we can see her more often and celebrate her in person.


it was a wonderful mother's day! i am thankful for the mothers in my life, those related to me as well as those who might as well be. :) praising God for His continual blessings.