Saturday ramblings...

This is the second week in a row that I forgot about pizza Friday and didn't remember until Saturday. So we ordered pizza tonight - like we did last week - and I'm considering moving pizza Friday to pizza Saturday.

My poor kids have been taking turns being sick lately. Molly and Crosby were last week and now it's Presley. Her tests came back negative for strep & mono but it could've been too soon to test for the latter. She's on antibiotics because it really does look and seem like strep. Hopefully it is and the meds will knock it out.

Crosby is 9 months old. We've made it this long in our breastfeeding journey and when I think about how protected he is with the extra immune boost from my milk it makes me want to carry on nursing him after his first birthday (which is just over 2 months away). I'm conflicted. It'll be nice to continue on that relationship while he's still so little but it would also be fantastic to have another part of my body back to myself after being pregnant or nursing since summer 2011! It'll definitely feel like the ending of an era for me and while there are so many things to look forward to in that upcoming chapter, I am still apprehensive about leaving it all behind. So, we'll see where we end up when we get there!

Oh man and Molly is three!!!! I have been meaning to write about this but of course I just haven't been real into that lately. This kid is still giving me a run for my money but it SEEMS like we're turning somewhat of a corner lately and MAYBE leaving the "terrible" behind us in the twos. Her vocabulary has been bursting here lately and that helps her to express herself so much which helps her feel less frustrated. Or so it seems. She's getting so big BUT Tony noticed her 3 year measurements in the garage were just about the same as Presley's 2.5 year measurements! So seems like she will be more my build. Maybe? I'd like to take the girls to go see Cars 3 sometime soon maybe as a late birthday thing... but we'll see about that. As much as I'm so so so so so apprehensive and just SAD about sending Presley to kindergarten in the Fall, I am really looking forward to the time with Molly!

My best friend Betsy is getting married in May. I'm so happy she's so happy and even more excited to be there for her on such a special, beautiful day in her life. I can't lie that I'm really super excited to get back to the Quad Cities and see some familiar faces and eat at some of our favorite places!!! Even though it's still pretty far away I'm already looking forward to some Quad City pizza, Ming Wah, La Flama, and so many other places. It'll be the first time all 5 of us head up there, too. And before that will be Bets' bachelorette trip and I can not wait!!!! I haven't seen this much of her in the longest time and it's seriously just what I need.

I recently caved and fell in love with LuLaRoe thanks to my childhood best friend selling it and I am addicted. The clothes are beautiful and most importantly COMFORTABLE! And perfect for everyday living. I'm having a LuLaRoe party next weekend and I can't wait to get my hands on some new stuff and for a nice little ladies night!!

I'm currently listening to "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" and I've said it before but maybe not enough that this is my favorite CD of all time, I believe. It is so easy to listen to and I feel like they got everything just right. The music. The lyrics. The mood. The flow from one message to another. Up, down, mellow, jam... it's just great to listen to.

I can't stop trying to plan our way to Disney lately. And I really don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. I wish I could make it work for September 2018 or February 2019 but even those seem unattainable for us. And Presley has really become an even bigger Disney addict than me!!! I love it. But we've created a little monster. She cannot wait to get back and here I am saying the same thing so I suppose I don't blame her. She is so incredible and so understanding when I explain it's because of money. We talked about the various ways they can help us get to Disney and one of them was to not buy any toys unless it's their birthday or Christmas (which is honestly how it should be anyways) and so every time she asks for a toy in the stores I'll pause a moment and she'll remember what I asked of her. She'll go, "Oh! Oops!!! I forgot. No toys so we can save our money!" I just love her so so much.

It's officially been 17 years since I last saw my dad which feels just as long as it sounds.

Anyways. That's it. Brain is now (mostly) empty. My plans for the rest of the night: shower, watch One Tree Hill, and sleep. Goodnight everyone.

Birthday Party!

Wow.  First, let me start off by saying my family and I are so supremely blessed with family members who are friends and friends who are extended family members to us.  The gift of their time and love is better than anything and that was more evident tonight then ever before.  Second, we survived the party!  And we all had a fantastic time!  Until the end of the party, at least... right before we left, Presley really got upset because she was SO exhausted.  She skipped her nap today (must have been excited for the party!) and thus, her nighttime crash came a little sooner and was a bit stronger!  I felt so bad for her because we still had to pack up the car and go home before I could feed her and put her to bed.  She was such a trooper, though, and really went along well with everything today, whether it was running pre-party errands or the different aspects of her party, she did great!

I felt too busy occupied (if that makes sense?) at the party to really think about the implications of Presley turning one - and I don't think the reality of it all will hit me until her real birthday or maybe even after that.  I haven't even stopped to think about the fact that Wednesday will be my last "monthly" birthday update for Presley.  Just thinking about that makes me want to cry a little bit!  I have really enjoyed watching her grow so rapidly and can't believe on all the "lasts" that have just slipped right past us without realizing it would be our last.  (For example:  Last time she napped on me regularly... at the time I worried too much if she would ever be able to nap in her crib - so much so that I didn't soak up those little moments enough.  Last time I could set her down without her moving.  Last time she fell asleep while I was rocking her in church while at mass... etc.)  I will definitely have to find a way to keep documenting the new things she learns as time goes on.

Now, onto the party! 

We had her birthday party at a local pizza parlor and invited some of our friends and family members.

Presley's Invites from Shutterfly

Most of the guests lived in town but we also had a few from out of town - my cousin Breanne, her husband Dustin, and their son Emory (who we are going to spend Father's Day with this year) came from Milwaukee to party with Presley and my aunt Jill and uncle Chuck (who we love to visit every Easter/Thanksgiving) came from Huntley!  We felt so lucky to have them there with us.

I also got crafty and made a few decorations from ideas inspired from Pinterest!  What did parents do for fun and creative ideas before this website?!  I bought 3 packs of party hats on clearance at Jewel Osco a few weeks ago.  They had an okay design to start out with but I bought them so I could make Minnie/Mickey party hats.  This required spray painting them black, cutting circles & bows out of cardstock, adding ears and bows to the hats, and they went from this...

To this...

Awesome tutorial found here!

I also crafted together a "chalkboard" poster board full of Presley's stats.  It didn't turn out anything like what I initially envisioned, but I do like how it turned out (for the most part).  But I definitely had fun making it, that's for sure!  It was nice to just sit for a moment and think about the things Presley most enjoys.

Original inspiration for this found here

At the party, Presley had her first taste of pizza!  I think she liked it but it was hard to tell since she will pretty much eat anything we give her these days.  She also had her first real dessert and had it all to herself!  I say "dessert" since her cake turned out to be more like pudding than anything else!  I tried to make it as "healthy" as possible (bananas instead of eggs and apple juice concentrate instead of sugar) but it just didn't turn out so much like a cake after all.  Nonetheless, she seemed to really like it - which is no surprise because she has always loved bananas.  (Maybe we will have to make her a better cake for her actual birthday this Wednesday.)

Presley with my mom & her #1 balloon!

Presley and Jaime - a friend of mine from high school

Presley and Megan - another friend from high school!  Presley and I miss our weekly play dates with Megan and her nieces.

Beautiful smiles!

 

Presley and her daddy!  This is the only picture I got with Presley's party hat on - she didn't care for it.  You can also KIND of see the dirt cake cups I made for dessert for the party guests, idea from here.

Hat is gone!

Me and Presley!  She's also wearing the tutu I made for her. :)

Presley getting out of her cake-covered clothes

Dressing her in her back-up clothes... she looks pretty tired already!

We can never seem to get all six of us looking at the camera at once!  Almost!
L to R:  Megan with Alli, Me with Presley, and Erin with Molly.

We take turns looking away/looking at the camera!

Presley and Becca - a former work friend of mine from the YMCA who was also in our wedding party!

Presley and my best friend, Betsy, from high school.

Presley with Ashley & Jake - a great friend from high school and her fantastic husband.  They're expecting a baby boy this summer!  Couldn't be a more deserving couple.  :)

This is when we were saying goodbye to everyone and the long day started to hit Presley!

Presley with her Grammy - this picture is hilarious.

Presley with Jess - one of my very sweet friends!

And man, did Presley get some spectacular gifts - her friends really do know her well!  From adorable outfits to interactive toys (and several awesome Disney gifts!) she is going to be a busy and happy bee.  My cousin took video of Presley digging into her "cake" so I will need to cut it down a bit and then upload a portion to my blog.

Ending this hectic but very awesome days feeling so lucky.  Thank you to everybody who came out for our little baby girl's first birthday party - you guys make our lives so much happier and bless us with all you are!  And to everybody reading this, we certainly love you as well -  thanks for being such a special part of Presley's first year as a baby and our first year as parents!!!  Well... almost a complete year... still a few more days under that year mark. *sigh*  But like my friend Sean said... it's really just a drop in the bucket in the big scheme of things!

****update****

Here are a couple still shots from the cake video!

Her reaction just after the first bite!