Sunday, June 24, 2012

Hoot, Hoot...It's Harper's Birthday Celebration

Howdy Y'all!

Warning:  This post will be full of pictures!  :)

We hosted Harper's first birthday party this weekend - I feel like I have been working on it for months after I put her to bed each night.  What in the world am I going to do with my time now??


The owl invitations - they were a lot of work, but turned out so cute.  I got the template here if you want them for yourself.


Then, the decorating began...Pinterest was my friend when I was planning for the party.  I don't think I would have come up with any of this on my own.


I loved Harper's cake!  We got it from Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville, AR...I love that place!



I made a couple of banners - a birthday banner to hang behind her cake table and a picture birthday banner that we hung on the mantle.  I love how the picture banner turned out and it may stay on the mantle for awhile.  It is made of my favorite picture from each month of Harper's life.





I decided to put the gifts in the foyer as people came in the door so I had to spruce up that area as well.

(the sad thing about this picture is that these gifts are only from us, my parents and my sister)


I was on the market a few months ago for an antique wooden highchair because I wanted to have it painted for Harper's birthday - I love how it turned out.  You should have seen it before - it was UGLY!  It was red and not so cute.  Thanks to JJ Sparkles for making it look adorable!


You can't have a party without food...right?  I didn't want to have a ton, but I wanted some cuteness with it so we had owl shaped sandwiches and owl shaped watermelon (and yummy cookies from Rick's Bakery too!)





I really wanted to have a Photo Booth too so I gathered some props at dollar stores, raided my closet and my families' closets and used the Cricut machine to make a few too.



How cute is the birthday girl?

My parents

 My in-laws

Me and my husband

Me and one of my best friends, Crystal

 Crystal and her husband, Jacob

 My sister, the birthday girl, my niece and me




There were lots of other cute photos at the booth as well, but I am already making everyone look at a ton of pictures so I just picked some of my favorites.

Harper LOVES cake!  I think she could have sat there all day in her highchair eating cake and more cake and more cake.



Our little family!



Then, it was time to open the presents because it was going to take awhile...she got so many presents even after the invitations said No Presents Necessary.  Not one person listened.  :)



Harper's Grandmother and GrandStan (my in-laws) got Harper an amazing gift - a quilt made from her clothes.  Some of the outfits have very special meaning and I am sure Harper will love it so much when she grows up.


We had a house full of people and it was so nice of everyone to come out and celebrate Harper's birthday with us!




I completely forgot about the pinata until most of the kids had already gone home.  Whoops!



To send everyone home with a little bit of appreciation, Harper gave out these little buckets as a party favor.  They turned out cute too...but again, a lot of work!


Harper had been enjoying all of her gifts - and now we just have to find a place for all of the new things she got this weekend.




And, I couldn't end this blog without thanking my parents, my sister and my niece.  I am pretty particular about things so they didn't help a ton with the decorations, but my mom did all of our laundry (lots of it), my sister and dad helped with the food and shopping and Hailey was a huge help with Harper.  My family rocks!


I just can't believe that Harper is 1 and I am sure that she will be 2 just right around the corner.  I love that sweet little girl!

Toodles!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Look Whooooo's the Big O-N-E!

Howdy Y'all!

I can't believe the day has come that Harper has turned one.  This year has flown by - I can't believe how fast!


Harper is a walking machine!  Two weeks ago, she just started walking and hasn't quit since.  She cracks me up because she refuses to crawl even in situations where it would be much easier.  She is a strong willed little girl that has stolen my heart.


She is wearing size 12m and 18m clothes.  The other day I put her in some pants that were a bit tight on the legs and she looked like a little Frankenstein walking around the house because she couldn't bend at the knees.  She is wearing size 4 diapers and a size 3 shoe.


Harper gave up her pacifier on her 11 month birthday and we haven't looked back.  I am so proud of her!  She always seemed to be so dependent on it, but she is doing so well without it.  I must admit that there are moments that would probably be so much easier if I would just pop the pacifier in her mouth, but we have never given into temptation.  Yay us!


Harper doesn't have much hair, but you can see what she has in the picture above...and it is blonde, almost white.  She still has blue eyes too - actually, they are very similar to mine where they change between blue and green.  I love that she has a little piece of me.


Harper doesn't say much - she is pretty quiet most of the time, but she can say Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Dog (she actually says Dog-Dog), Uh-Oh and her newest word is PaPaw.  We were face-timing with my parents a week or so ago and she said PaPaw when she saw my dad.  It was just so sweet.


She has transitioned to whole milk and it was an easy transition.  Of course, I don't know why I would be shocked by this because she will eat anything!  Her favorites include Mac and Cheese and Grilled Cheese...smart girl!  Who doesn't love cheese?  Oh yeah, her daddy!


Harper loves to read books and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Einsteins.  She actually doesn't watch the whole thing, but she loves the music in each of the shows.  She loves to clap along to the Hot Dog song.  We have also found out she loves the song Mean by Taylor Swift.  She just sways and smiles when she hears that song.


Harper and I had the best day today - we visited the snails downtown, rode in Mr. Sam's pick-up truck, visited the 5&10, went to the library to read some books, went to Barnes and Noble for a free birthday cupcake and ended the afternoon at a local toy store.  She fell in love with a baby doll so we had to bring her home (she did have a $10 gift certificate and some birthday money from my aunt JoAnne).  :)  She is so sweet with her baby dolls, but there are some things she still needs to learn before she becomes a mom.  Babies don't belong on their heads when they are in the stroller, Harper.

We love you Harper Aline!  This year has been amazing and we wouldn't change it for the world.

Toodles!