Back To School Shopping

Growing up one of my favorite things about going back to school was going shopping with my mom and getting lots of new outfits. I know Ryan could care less and he doesn't technically go to school, but I just can't resist. However, since it is still hot as heck outside and we have a ton of clothes that still fit I know it's a little silly to buy a bunch of new stuff. I decided to only purchase one new little outfit for now and then get more when the weather changes. I haven't made my final decision yet but there is a lot of cuteness out there so I though I would share some of my favorites!

Nordstroms doesn't really have a ton of great stuff for boys but every once in a while I find some things that I love. They just started carrying this new line Tucker + Tate and it is pretty adorable. It's a mix of modern style with playful and preppy - perfect for my little bug! I thought these shirts were adorable and then adding the vest...I die. 

Obviously a jacket won't really work for the beginning of the school year but maybe come October/November...we will have to see.

And of course I found some items that I fell in LOVE with at Crew Cuts.

This adorable vintage chambray shirt is so stinkin' cute! 

They also have some great long (and short) sleeve t-shirts...apparently I am into green and blue. 

I also love their polos...

 

In general I am not a huge fan of polos with stripes - I guess it reminds me of what every single guy wore in high school. Just a tad burnt out on that trend...but every once in a while I see some stripes that I like.  

Of course you can't go back to school without grabbing a little something for football season. The Gap now has collegiate T's for the little ones! I haven't been to the Co-op in a while, but last year I couldn't find much for little boys. This shirt is cute...might need to pick it up before Saturday.

Oh and the shoes. I almost forgot. I have already been shoe shopping twice for the little man and I ended up bringing both selections back. In the end we decided on the following:

I should have just got these from the beginning - they are so adorable!

We also needed some new tennis shoes and these bad boys were the winners. I liked the dark gray and blue, but what really sold me was how they moved Ryan. He tried a few pairs of shoes on but these were the only ones that got him up an dancing...he was so excited I knew we had to get them! 

37 Weeks

I have officially made it to my 37th week - it is the most pregnant I have ever been. Makes me wonder how much longer I will stay pregnant. Half of me wants to go all the way until September 15th...and the other half says I'd be fine going into labor tomorrow. Who knows....I am not technically ready as I still haven't finished packing my hospital bag, or found the infant car seat or bought any newborn diapers among all the others things one might do to prepare for a new child...so perhaps I should focus on that.
How far along? 37 weeks 0 days

Total weight gain/loss? 28lbs to date

Baby size:  Baby estimated at 6lbs and 11oz today

Exercise: I should probably just remove this question...

Maternity clothes? Yup - doing laundry a lot more since I have so much less that actually fits

Stretch marks? Still safe here...

Sleep: Still waking up for the bathroom a few times a night

Best moment this week: Date night with Kevin for my birthday!

Miss anything: Ready to not feel uncomfortable all the time...

Movement: Baby still boogies around. I really don't remember Ryan moving this much...or him jabbing me like this baby does! 

Food cravings: TCBY vanilla shiver with peanut butter cup...been craving this for the last two days but still haven't  had a chance to go get one...perhaps tomorrow

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Duh

Gender predication: Obviously no idea, but I am so excited to find out. I can imagine my life as a mommy to two sweet little boys and know how much I would love it. I love seeing pictures of my friends little boys - brothers are so darn cute! Of course a little girl would be so amazing. I love the idea of having a little girl and all the little girl things that come along with it....dresses, bows, dance class ect...Honestly I will be thrilled either way! It seems like we have been waiting forever but it is also so exciting to know that it will be revealed sometime in the next 24 days!!! 

Labor signs: Nothing to report here 

Symptoms: Same ol stuff...heartburn, back pain, and tired in general. 

Wedding rings on or off? Off

Belly button in or out? Out

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Building A Home

I have been meaning to start a more consistent post dedicated to the fun yet (I hear) stressful process of building a new house but clearly haven't done it yet. It's a long process and I think pretty interesting....hope you do too!

I was trying to come up with a cute name for these posts but that hasn't happened yet (open to suggestions) so I will keep thinking on that....until then I will catch everyone up!

Taking you back...

We had always planned to stay in our current house (which we LOVE)  for five years and then knew we would probably need more space. This past January we reevaluated our five year plan and changed it to four :) With the baby on the way and the space already closing in with all of Ryan's toys we figured why not. We decided we could at least get our house on the market and see what was out there.  We took the months of January & February to get it ready to go on the market. After finding a realtor we put it on the market early March.

So the house was listed and we had showings - now to see what was out there. We did a lot of looking online so we knew what existing homes were available but we also wanted to see some of the new construction that was going up. It really only took that one day of looking around for us to realize what we wanted to do - and that was to build.  There just wasn't anything we loved and we felt that at the price point we were looking at it was worth more to us to create something that we loved versus settling on something that was already existing.

We always considered building as an option and actually even knew who we wanted to use as our builder. After looking at some new builds around and getting a sense of some of the other builders in the area it made our decision even easier.  We met with Jeff Baron of Jeff Baron Homes and knew he would be the perfect builder for us.  He actually built our neighbors house and we really have loved everything else of his that we have seen. Everyone who has used him only has wonderful things to say about him and the building experience. He does everything completely custom and really listens to what you want. Sold.

So the first step was actually to find a lot to build on. Easier said than done I might add - there isn't much land available in the area where we want to be so our options were limited. Luckily our realtor had the inside scoop on an awesome lot that actually happens to be only three blocks down from Kevin's sisters family. We have always loved their street...and the fact that the lots are HUGE were a major plus. It wasn't so easy though...it took about two months of going back and forth to finally secure it. Let's just say the owner wasn't as excited about having to sell it.

Oh and did I mention that there is an existing house on that lot? Yup - and a renter. So now we are landlords. When we closed on May 30th we gave the renter a 90-day notice to terminate the lease - so he has until August 31st to relocate. We actually needed those 90 days to 'create' a house to build - so timing worked out perfectly.

Once we finally closed on the lot we began working with our builder on plans for the house. In our planning meeting with Jeff we discussed the total budget, square footage, needs/wants, and overall style of the house. Kevin and I had been looking around and one of the styles that popped for us is Hill Country Modern. What does that mean? Well, we love the Texas Hill Country stone, layouts (not a cookie-cutter box on box type floor plan) as well as the warmth it portrays, but also enjoy some of the more modern clean lines and neutral colors...but nothing too sterile or cold. It's really what you want to make of it I think. Heck, I probably will mix in a few other styles...but that is the overall feel we were going for. Once he had everything he needed Jeff took everything to the architect to create to preliminary sketches for us. It took about two weeks to get the first concept and from there we tweaked until we got exactly what we wanted.  I think there were a total of about five revisions. Once we agreed on the final floor plan (early August) our builder took about two weeks to bid out the jobs - basically building the budget.

Below are the initial sketches....we really loved the overall concept (and have stuck with it) but A LOT has changed since these were drawn. I haven't decided if I want to post the finalized plans yet...maybe at a later date.

                                  

Where we are NOW

So on August 12th we meet with the Jeff & Ryan to discuss how everything netted out. This meeting was long and very detailed. Again, it doesn't include the final final costs for everything since there are no final decisions on materials, hardware, flooring, fixtures, ect - Jeff had to used average costs. Some things we will probably spend less on and some things we will probably spend more on but for now there is just an estimated place holder so that we have something to take to the bank.

It took about a week for us to digest it all and make sure there weren't any major changes we needed to make before we approved it. Once we approved it, it was submitted to the bank for approval. And that's where it is now :)  This process is expected to take about three weeks.

In the meantime Jeff has already scheduled demolition of the current 'Vandy' (nickname for new house) house to occur between the 7th and 15th of September. I hope it happens on a morning where I can take Ryan over there to watch - I think he would love to see all the cool construction trucks working!

Although we don't have official approval from the bank we did have to make one of our first house design decisions last week - the windows!  Our house has A LOT of them. I believe we have FORTY-EIGHT windows and NINE exterior doors - talk about some natural light. Makes me excited. Usually it doesn't happen this way but the window company was running a sale and it saved us a substantial amount of money to go ahead and buy now versus waiting until later.

Anyhow, makes things real when you have to decide on style and color for windows...before you officially decide on exterior colors/materials. We have an idea of the colors and materials we want to use for the exterior so we feel pretty confident in our window decisions...we ended up deciding on windows that are very similar to the house below (also one of Jeff's builds).  The pattern on the windows is called Prairie and the color is Chestnut Bronze. Doesn't really sound hill country or modern, huh? lol

So that's where we are for now. Hoping to hear back from the bank in a few weeks and if all goes as planned we should be breaking ground around September 24th! Lot's more decisions to make a long the way so I will keep everyone updated!

Ryan's First Trip to the Dentist

Little man loves brushing his teeth but the only issue we have is that he likes to brush them himself...and by brushing I mean wetting the toothbrush and sucking the water and toothpaste off of it. So I was a little worried about what the dentist might say about his teeth. 

I have heard so many different opinions on when you are suppose to make your first dental appointment. Some people say six months after the first tooth comes through. The AAP recommends at one year...and I think our pediatrician told us at his 18 month appointment that it was probably time. He pointed out how close Ryan's teeth were - which just means it's a lot easier for cavities to form. I ended up waiting until he was two....basically because I just kept forgetting to make the appointment. Anyhow, it was a fun little visit and Ryan seemed to enjoy it.

Cute little welcome board

We are seeing Dr. Kogut and he is located right downstairs from our pediatrician which is super convenient for us. The office/staff is very impressive. They are super organized and everything seems to flow perfectly. The entire staff is so darn peppy and happy - they seriously must drink happy juice...I mean it was Monday morning and everyone was all smiles. It was almost like a Disney movie or something. They had a great little play area in the waiting room that Ryan found right away. 

We didn't have to wait long before they called us back for his appointment. They took us to a little room and explained everything they were going to do. Ryan saw this monkey right away and started making monkey noises and jumping around. He was quite excited. 

Anyway, he sits straddling me and then I laid him down on this cushion thing so that his head is in the techs lap. She brushed and flossed his teeth and he did so well. After she was done Dr. Kogut came in and he did a fluoride treatment and checked for cavities. All good. Yay!

Oh an in between the tech and the dr Ryan did some dancing. Why not?

Afterwards they gave Ryan a balloon and a gift bag - such a fancy dentist! Anyhow, Ryan loved it so hopefully all of our visits will go this well!

More dancing on the way out...

Dolfin Swim School - Aqua Yoga

If you haven't had a little laugh today...here's a free giggle!

Ryan has been taking swim classes since March at Dolfin Swim School . We really love it there - all the teachers are super nice and the facility is new and clean. Anyhow, one day after class a couple weeks ago the owner, Ms. Linda, asked if I wouldn't mind posing for a picture. She is going to start teaching a new Aqua Yoga Pregnancy class and needed a pregnant model for some pictures. I thought she would just get a picture of me...being pregnant. lol. Honestly I didn't really think much about it. When Ms. Linda busted out her book of pregnancy yoga poses I was a little frightened - there was a lot poses that involved laying in the water with your legs open - very birth like poses to say the least...I asked to do something with a little less focus on the crotch. Thank goodness. I had no idea how much I would be seeing my goofy face all over the place but am much happier it is my face and not my crotch! lol!

Anyhow, I about died when I saw this advertisement show up in my facebook feed. (Perhaps my years working at an advertising agency have made me a bit of a snob when it comes to ads.) I debated posting it on my blog but decided why not? I can laugh at myself too!  Plus, I think the class might actually be cool so posting it could actually serve its purpose. Check out their website if you are interested!

Anyhow, back to the picture. First of all, my pose is so random.  Do you like how I have my legs posed? I am so yoga. And my arms...so graceful. Honestly I die. I die when I see it because I look like such a goofball. My hair is a wet mess (which needs to be highlighted horribly) but what can you do? When we headed to class last week Ms. Linda was so excited about showing me the marketing pieces I couldn't help but giggle some more. She is so darn sweet and truly excited about how they turned out. Hey - I'm happy to help out.

So yup - that's me. The new face of Aqua Yoga for Dolfin Swim School. Don't I scream yoga?

Moving Sale

On Saturday, which also happened to be my 30th birthday, we hosted our first ever yard/moving sale. We really weren't sure what to expect but in the end we chalked it up as pretty darn successful. We were able to get rid of everything AND we made some cash in the meantime. Not a bad day!

The Prep: 

An email to some friends to see if they wanted to participate - they did, score!

Piled up stuff for garage sale as I started packing for our move

Purchased a permit to have a garage sale from the City of Dallas (I had no idea that the City of Dallas requires you to buy a permit to have a garage sale. That, and you aren't allowed to put up any signs except ONE in your own yard. I was a little worried that no one would come but I didn't want to get a $200 fine for illegally advertising!)

Posted ad on craigslist and a couple of other garage sale websites that I googled

Made one sign to post in yard

That's all!

Sale day:

Woke up at 6am & started moving stuff outside

Sale officially started at 7am and lasted until about 11am. We had a pretty steady crowd and all three couples that participated made a decent amount of cash. 

When it was over we donated everything that was left to Christian Hospitality. They came and picked everything up so we didn't have to worry about it!

Hot items:

Jewelry - everyone was asking for jewelry and watches. I had no idea that would be so popular. 

Electronics - my friend Terra sold a DVD player for $15!!! We thought she would have to give it away!

Furniture - it definitely draws a crowd

Clothing - we found $1 is easiest and most popular...it's really hard in the beginning to think about how much you spend on that item of clothing and the fact that you are basically giving it away at $1 but then again if you don't wear it or it doesn't fir what is the point of keeping it. Lindsey and I had a hard time selling our jeans for $5....when people scoffed at our price we said BUT THEY ARE DESIGNER! Haha no one really cared. I think I ended up selling some True Religion jeans for $3....oh well.

Really all categories of items sold but I guess I would say home accessories were probably the least popular. They still sold...but we had most of those items leftover in the end. 

Helpful tips:

Don't waste your time pricing items. People will just ask you. One thing that surprised us is that a lot of people didn't try and bargian. They would ask the price and if they thought it was too high they would just put it down instead of trying to get it cheaper. It was best to say the price and if they reacted that way ask them what they wanted to pay. Sometimes it worked...sometimes it didn't.

People come EARLY! I always heard this but I guess I just didn't expect it. We had our first customers outside before we were even out! Those are the ones that know what they are looking for...which is kinda nice because then you can tell them if you have it or not. Locating it is another issue....

Honestly the whole thing was a good experience. We didn't have to put much time and effort into it and we ended up getting rid of all of our stuff.  If you are thinking about having one I would totally do it!

36 weeks

How far along? 36 weeks and 3 days (taken Tuesday)

Total weight gain/loss? 26 1/2lbs

Baby size:  Baby sites estimate around 6lbs but we will get official estimate next week at my Wednesday appointemnt. I can only assume that baby is larger than Ryan was (when he was born)!

Exercise: Nothing official but I still think running around after a two year old counts as exercise!

Maternity clothes? Yes....and some of them are starting to get a little snug!

Stretch marks? So far so good

Sleep: Same ol story...and it will only get worse before it gets better :)

Best moment this week: Picking Ryan up from Sunday School when the teachers told me that he sang and danced during music class and they thought it was the cutest thing ever! I mean - of course it was, but it's always fun to hear it when others think what your kid does is adorable too!

Miss anything: Missing not having to pee every 5 minutes...or feeling like someone isn't bouncing up and down on your bladder. 

Movement: Yes, I feel like this baby moves so much more than Ryan ever did. I definitely get the kicks up under the ribs which I never felt with Ryan. I am pretty sure Ryan was stuck in one spot and didn't move much...this baby is head down but flips from side to side. 

Food cravings: Just a little bit of everything. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Yes

Gender predication: ?

Labor signs: Nothing that I am aware of these days. I feel pretty great and think this baby is going to take it's sweet time. 

Symptoms: Tired, back aches and heartburn... Other than that things are pretty darn good. 

Wedding rings on or off? Off

Belly button in or out? Out

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

The Greatest Show on Earth

The circus has been in town a few times since little R was born but he hasn't been old enough to warrant taking him - until now! I was so excited about taking him to the circus and couldn't wait to see how he would react to all the action.

We got there about 30 minutes before it started so we could go down to the floor and check out some of the performers and animals before the show. We arrived just in time to see Asia the elephant - Ryan was a huge fan!

 

Wondering where that elephant went off to....

He wasn't quite sure what to think of the clown

We did a little more walking around - found the souvenir area and picked out a little baby elephant.

Little man loved the circus. He sat so quietly and was glued to the stage....he loved everything about the first act. 

During intermission we walked around a little bit and grabbed some food. When we got back to our seats Ryan was kinda over the whole thing. He wouldn't really sit still and wasn't really interested anymore. I knew the elephant act was coming and that he would love it so we battled through...and of course when those elephants took stage he was hooked! 

The elephants were my favorite part too!

Ta-Da!

After the elephants we high-tailed it outta there. I don't think we missed much so it wasn't a big deal. Ryan had a great time and is now obsessed with elephants. He brings his little baby elephant everywhere and loves to sleep with it too. Can't wait to bring him back next year!

Project 366 - week 33

Sunday, August 12: Ryan loved the circus!

Monday, August 13th: Dressed like mommy at Little Gym

Tuesday, August 14th: Realized I forgot to take a picture...so I snapped one of my desert

Wednesday, August 15th: Loving the car at JumpStreet

Thursday, August 16th: Playing with Charlie and Ford

Friday, August 17th: Hamming it up at the pool

Saturday, August 18th: Getting a little work done on daddy's computer

Project 366 - week 32

Sunday, August 5th: Bob looking worried about something...
Monday, August 6th: Ryan decided he was obsessed with the monkey bars. He says Mon-key...and then makes the sound. He was so excited to swing on them and basically wanted to do that all class long
Tuesday, August 7th: Ethan made Ryan a cape
Wednesday, August 8th: Dressed like a fireman at the Children's Museum
Thursday, August 9th: Found Ryan naked! Huggies are way to easy to remove...
Friday, August 10th: Bustin' a move at Toys R Us
Saturday, August 11th: Painting up a storm at Truly's birthday party

Baby Bumps & Names

Yup - still bigger than last time! 

After last weeks weigh in (and also just feeling a little blah in general) I decided to try and eat a little healthier.  Really the two main things I am doing is giving up chips (which I have been devouring every day with lunch) and trying to tune down the ridiculous amount of sweets that I have been inhaling. 

Giving up the chips hasn't been very difficult - it's the sweets that are killing me! I just had to turn down fresh Tiff's Treats....I am insane! Every night after dinner my cravings start...so I had to find healthier deserts. I was just trying to replace my chocolate chip cookies with fruit - not so much a fair trade. I quickly realized I needed something a little more exciting so we had strawberries, angel food cake and fat free whipped cream...I definitely missed the ice cream but it did the trick. Oh and we had strawberry banana smoothies the other night...I made mine a little thicker so it was ALMOST like eating ice cream. It will be interesting to see if this has any affect whatsoever on my weight gain.

So enough of that. On to baby names. We definitely haven't decided on anything for sure but we do have a few names we have been throwing around that we both like. I better bring our list to the hospital so we don't forget!

Boy Names:

William

Grayson (probably would go by Gray)

Graham (I have a feeling if we go this route I will be calling him "my little graham cracker" at some point...is that weird?)

For middle names we like Michael and Miller

Girl Names:

Cora (after my great grandmother)

Elle

For middle names we like Grace and Nicole

I hope once we meet little baby it will be easy to decide on a name! For now it seems so weird that we don't have one picked out...but it kinda goes with the "unprepared" theme that we seem to be going for. 

Let the countdown begin...

So yesterday marked the 30 day countdown until baby arrives. I say thirty days because that is the max time it will take for baby to arrive, as I will be induced on baby's due date (Sept 15th)  if he/she hasn't arrived yet.

Anyhow, we are going to be packing quite a bit in these next 30 days...I haven't lost it yet but I might be getting close if we can't find a rental soon!

:: Finding a rental house - Yup, this is still a to do on our list. Everyone, especially Kevin, keeps saying don't worry we will find something. Well honestly I am getting tired of hearing that - I know we will find something - it's how much we are going to have to compromise that I am worried about. There isn't much out there AND it is extremely difficult to find a 7-month lease! Everyone thought we were nuts building a house while I was pregnant but that is cake compared to moving in the 11th hour to an 'imaginary' rental property! Do I sounds stressed? It's because I am...this makes me want to cry when I think about it too much.

:: Packing/Moving - We will definitely be hiring movers but call me a slight control freak because I have this unexplainable desire to pack up my own things. I just want to know where everything is and I know if someone else packs I won't know. I have a system going and while it isn't the fastest packing job it makes me feel better. I feel good with my excel sheet (or whatever apple's excel product is) open and detailed list of everything that I have packed.  We won't need EVERYTHING in the rental so it should alleviate having to repack everything come March.  Of course if I do go into labor that will all go out the window :) So I am just taking it day by day trying to pack things up. 

:: Garage Sell - I have only started packing the kitchen up but it is amazing the things I have found that I probably haven't touched since we moved in - four years ago. So I decided to make a pile for a garage sale. I don't know how much stuff we will end up having so I invited some of our friends to join us and bring over anything they want to sell as well. I have never had a garage sale but as long as we can get rid of this stuff then I will chalk it up as successful!

:: Closing on Miller house (Sept 12) - It's still a little nerve racking trying to sign a lease when you haven't officially sold your house but I guess that is just what people do. Really the only last hurdle is the appraisal. Our realtor feels confident that there shouldn't be any issues with it so hopefully things will continue to run seamlessly. Ideally we would like to wait to sign a lease until we know the appraisal has gone through but apparently the banks are backed up so the appraisal is taking longer to get done. Luckily it hasn't been an issue yet since we haven't found a rental!

:: Finalizing plans for new build - A couple weeks ago we finalized the floor plans so the next step is the big ol budget meeting, which happens this Sunday. Over the past two weeks our builder bid out the plans to contractors to get pricing and once everything is back they put it all together for us and we go through it all to make sure it is what we want and that it falls within the overall budget. Since I have never done this before the only way for me to think of it is by using my past life as a media planner to think of it - it's like going through all the proposals from the sites and fitting together the best overall plan for the goals and staying within the budget. Once we approve this then we submit it to the bank of approval, they will have to do an appraisal and then if everything lines up we should be on our way to actually building!

:: Demo house on new lot & start building - After we receive approval from the bank then we can get this build started. Fist up will be to demo the existing house on the lot. This should happen mid-Septemeber but now knowing that banks are backed up I am starting to think it might be delayed...oye! Hopefully I am wrong but honestly I am not too stressed about this at all.

:: Celebrating my 30th - Ok so we really already did this but I had to sneak it in. We are actually planning to have a garage sell on my actual birthday but I hope to eat some cake at some point!

:: Celebrate my mom's birthday! - My mom's birthday is exactly a week after mine - we usually make the trip down to Houston but obviously that won't be happening this year. I was hoping to celebrate by moving into a rental but we will have to see what happens. Oh and there will be cake too!

:: HAVING A BABY - Hoping that everything happens in this order and we are settled in a rental by the time baby decideds to come. I really am so excited to meet our new little family member but haven't had a ton of time to focus on it - which I guess can be good in some ways. It sure makes this pregnancy go by fast!

And I think that is all for now. Off to check out another rental....

35 weeks

How far along? 35 weeks and four days

Total weight gain/loss? 24lbs+

Baby size:  Baby measured at 5lbs 10 oz (almost the size Ryan was when he was born!)

Exercise: Not so much lately

Maternity clothes? Yes, and I can't wait to get back into some normal clothes...mainly because I will have more options. I have just been wearing the same things over and over and over again....

Stretch marks? Still good here but still have some time left! eek!

Sleep: Still waking up 3 or 4 times for the bathroom. Otherwise I think I sleep like a rock and don't move an inch...seriously...rolling over is a monumental effort at this stage - it doesn't really happen in my sleep anymore.

Best moment this week: xxx

Miss anything: Being able to do things without completely 

Movement: Pretty active little baby still- mainly at night when I am trying to go to bed!

Food cravings: I have been going through grapes like nobody's business. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope

Have you started to show yet: Yup

Gender predication: Going with boy...especially after today's sonogram pic! I think the little face shot below looks like a little brother for Ryan!

 baby profile

Labor signs: Nothing really. I feel great...pretty sure I am going to end up being induced on my due date (Sept 15) which I am actually totally ok with! I need the extra time!!!

Symptoms: Heartburn, exhaustion and the back pain has started up again.

Wedding rings on or off? Keeping them off because I am scared they are going to get stuck on my fingers and cut of circulation! haha

Belly button in or out? Out

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy!

Airplane Party Details

If you are looking for party action and people shots check out this post. Otherwise you can find all the details for my little man's airplane birthday party below!

Once I had the venue and date set I reached out to Carli at DimplePrints to see what we could do for Ryan's Airplane party. I used DimplePrints for Ryan's Red Wagon 1st birthday party and loved how everything turned out so I was excited to use them again.  I purchased the full biplane party package and she also made a lot of custom items for me. Love working with her! I love how Ryan's invitation turned out!

Of course I checked out all my favorite party blogs and pinterest for inspiration and ideas. One of my favorite parties that I saw was on the Amy Atlas Blog and I recreated her runway tables for Ryan's party. 

My wonderful husband assembled the model biplanes that lined the runway.

Each place setting had a placemat, silverware, party hat & small water (all printables from DimplePrints). I also included a little wooden airplane for the kids to assemble and decorate with markers, crayons and stickers. 

The sweets table was one of my favorites! I created the backdrop ahead of time and just popped it up once we got to the museum - all about making things easy! The pennant banner was from DimplePrints but I added the letters (cut from my cricut). I also used my cricut to cut the airplane and clouds out. 

As you can see I had some issues with the cotton candy clouds - they started discinigrating on me! Clearly I do not know the secret to keep cotton candy fluffy! Seriously, like 5 minutes after they were out they shriveled up so I just threw them away before guests arrived. Oh well, I would say at least I got a good pic but I really didn't - they look really sad. 

Sweets:

Cupcakes with Fondant AirplaneToppers

Airplane Sugar Cookies

"Cloud" Cotton Candy

Candy Bar

                                               

Our party guests had a variety of food to munch on. Since the party was from 10am to noon I added a few breakfast items to the food cart.  Adults (and kids) could grab from the food sitting out but I also made "In-flight" lunches for each of the kiddos to make things a little easier. 

Food Served:

Tea Sandwiches - central market

Penne Mozzarella and tomato salad - central market

Kolaches

Sausage and Cheese Donut Sliders (a party pleaser!)

Fruit and Dip

Cheese & crackers

Kids "In-Flight" Lunches included PB&J or Turkey & Cheese sandwich, Pirates Booty, Annie's Organic Fruit Snacks and a Juice box

My beverage cart also looks a little sad. The drink dispenser that I bought (from Target for $8) started leaking so we had to move it off to the side. Luckily it still worked and people were still able to grab a drink from it. I had thought about doing cans of soda like they do on airplanes but I already had too much to carry in so we kept it simple with just water, lemonade and iced tea. 

On the welcome table I displayed recent pictures of Ryan (taken by ChelleCates Photography) and his party invitation. 

I also created a photobook on snapfish with pictures taken over the last year. Guests were asked to leave a little message for Ryan in it. (I did the same thing last year and plan to do this every year for him). 

Each little guest went home with some aviator sunglasses that I found at The Children's Place. All guests went home with a bag of candy from the candy bar.

 Some more details...

Vendors/Credit:

Ideas/Inspiration: My Airplane Pinterest Board

Printables: DimplePrints

Cookies & Cake: Society Bakery

Cupcakes: Sams

Cake Topper: Created with Cricut

Fondant Airplane Toppers: Created using mini airplane cookie cutter

Wooden BiPlanes: Amazon.com

Wooden Model Airplanes: Discountschoolsupplies.com

Chevron Table Runners: Fabric from Etsy

If you have any questions on where I found something or how it was made shoot me an email or leave a comment! Thanks for stopping by!