Baby Book Shower

 Little baby Park is scheduled to join us in September and we are all super excited to meet him! To help his mommy prepare for his arrival we hosted a story-book themed shower. It is safe to say that baby Park's library is complete!

 

There were eight of us hosting this shower - once we agreed on a theme the whole thing kind of fell into place. It's so much fun planning a shower with a group - everyone has their "thing" they like to do and luckily we don't overlap too much! It works out perfect for me because I would much rather focus on decorations/games than worry about food.

 

I really love the way this table turned out! Such a cute little shower theme!

 

Here is a close up of the book mobiles that Shannon made - and she swears they were easy to do. They looked awesome!

 

And she also made these book wreaths with the leftover book scraps. So crafty! I wish I would have gotten better pictures of them. 

  

The invitation was ordered off of Tiny Prints

 

Shannon also made the book garland and the flower arrangements! 

In case it wasn't obvious - all of our food coordinated with a children's book.  Get ready for an obscene amount of food.

 

Yummy cheese plate from Central Market 

 

Lauren created a yummy breakfast taco bar! My boys love Dragons Love Tacos and wanted to make sure that we weren't serving any spicy salsa. I assured them it was mild and that we weren't expecting any dragons. 

 

 

 

Zoe's chicken kabobs!

 

Yummy almond cupcakes made by Aunt Haley - she ordered the toppers from Little Hope Cakes on Etsy. Aren't the adorable?

 

Trader Joe's cookie bark in some of Ryan and Grayson's construction trucks for the win! 

And of course there was a mimosa bar...can't forget the bubbly!

 

And apparently we were all so taken with the food and decor we didn't really take any pictures of people! oops! Here are a few I snapped. 

 

Shannon, Lindsey & Nat

 

Katie, Lauren & Darlene

 

Heather with her sweet baby girl Avery and Kellie

And a couple from Lindsey's mom. She also took pictures of Lindsey opening gifts but Ms Lindsey didn't send me any of those...

 

Lindsey & LJ

And just in case you didn't get enough food we sent everyone home with an adorable cookie made by (waiting details from Courtney) in Frisco. 

Birthday Pictures with Chelle Cates

 

On Friday we headed out to Chelle Cates new studio for Hayden's one year photos! I was a little unsure on if I wanted to do studio pictures as I typically love doing outdoor ones...however once I arrived to her adorable new studio I knew that I had made the right decision (more on that to come)!

 

Sweet little girl hammed it up for the camera...and went through about four outfit changes. Successful morning if you ask me! 

 

I love this little Birthday Darling outfit from Lola & Darla. My friend Jenni found their shop on Instagram and I quickly snatched one up! Speaking of instagram and shopping, oh man....it's trouble!

 

I love these sweet photos that Chelle sent me right after our photo shoot so that I could have them printed for her party - so sweet! Can't wait to see the rest of them! 

12 months - Hayden

So I kinda missed Hayden's 11 month post...oopsies! Here are a few pics from 11 months (well 11.5months)

And then she turned ONE! It's crazy to know that we are done with the 'baby' stage. It makes me sad but I am also excited to move forward on to the next stages with all of these crazy kiddos. My heart is full.

Baby girl - 12 months

Favorite Foods: Little lady is still a fan of most foods...hopefully it will stay that way but I won't hold my breath. She tends to like things at room temperature - like blueberries. She loves them but one morning I gave them to her (from the fridge) and she kept putting them in her mouth, squishing them and then spitting them out. It took me a little bit but finally realized she only likes room temperature blueberries?1? Speaking of that...I tried to warm some up by popping them in the microwave and they started sparking! WTH...I was a little scared so I don't want to try it again but really? Has anyone else ever experienced that? 

 

She loves ice cream but apparently isn't a huge fan of cake. She wasn't huge into her smash cake. 

Words:  Ba....when she sees a Ball or Bob she starts saying "ba ba ba ba" so I think she knows but she just can't quite get the whole thing out.  She has also said da da and ma ma. I think she knows what they mean but isn't uber consistent with them.

Favorite Activities: Walking/pushing a walker. And it doesn't have to be a "true" walker. She will push anything that will move...laundry basket, chair, side table...watch out. She does love her new baby stroller walker and is so proud when she gets it going good. She is also pretty talented at navigating and getting it unstuck from corners ect...big girl!

She loves music class (just like her brothers did) and I can't wait to start her in Little Gym this fall. I have no doubt she will love burning some energy there! 

Favorite Things: Ball popper and now all of her baby dolls! She also still really loved balls. She will chase a ball around for a good 15 minutes and be truly entertained. 

Least Favorite Things: Staying still for a diaper change. Ugh. It's a battle every time. seriously. This and putting her PJs on are my least favorite things to do with her. It is like wrestling a snake...that screams.

And since I already threw that out there as one of my least favorite things I will say I also don't love bringing this one to the pool or splash park or really anywhere where she crawls around on the ground and puts crap in her mouth (when I am without kevin). Seriously...taking all three kids to the pool is no joke. The boys are fine but this little one takes some serious energy. If she's not headed head first into the pool, she is scrounging around on the ground looking for anything to put in her mouth...or walking along the chaise lounges until she finds an unattended cup with a straw to sip out of. Good times :) The splash park just grosses me out because there is so much nastiness on the ground and she loves to stick her fingers in the drain area and scoop things out. yuck. no more splash park for this little one. 

Signature Moves: Her dancing. She will bust a move anywhere and even on command. It's pretty great. She typically shakes her hips but every once in a while she gives us a shimmy...and its amazing. 

She is so close to walking and I really thought she might grace us with her first steps on her actual birthday...but that was just a dream. As soon as she realizes that she is on her own she quickly squats down and goes into a crawl.

She loves her brothers and is so happy when they are around. Since she is so much more mobile they aren't always as trilled with her presence. Especially when she wants what they have.  Typically this is if they are on an ipad. She usually wiggles herself right over and starts poking the screen or in some instances will yank the whole thing away from them. She plays to win. 
I swear one of her favorite times of the day is bedtime...she LOVES bath time and really LOVES running around naked after bath time. It is like 15 minutes of naked crazies running, giggling and goofing around. When bedtime books come out she wants ohsobadly to be interested but she usually crawls around and all over everyone or on top of the book...grabbing at pages...just can't stop playing quite yet. She looks at the boys like...come on, someone play with me! I'm not ready for bed!

Little Hayden is so much fun and such a perfect addition to our sweet little family. I love watching her grown and learn. Love our sweet little girl so much!

Ryan's 5 year Interview

I had so much fun "interviewing" Ryan this year. He was really into it and actually excited to answer all of my questions! Grayson was also super into the whole thing so we knocked his "interview" out too...but I'll wait to post his! Check out Ryan's answers from previous years:
Age 4
Age 3

1. What is your favorite color? "Bright Red"
2. What is your favorite toy? "Stomp Rocket"  
3. What is your favorite fruit? "Watermelon"  
4. What is you favorite tv show? "Curious George"
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? "PB&J"
6. What is your favorite outfit? "t-shirt, short pants & underwear"  
7. What is your favorite game? "Zingo"  
8. What is your favorite snack? "Yogurt"  
9. What is your favorite animal? " A moose"  
10. What is your favorite song? "Shake It Off"
11. What is your favorite book? "The Give Away Tree" (The Giving Tree)  
12. Who is your best friend? "Audrey"
13. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? "Donuts"  
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride in my Jeep
15. What is you favorite drink? "Milk & OJ"
16. What is your favorite holiday? "Easter because that's when..." and Kevin and I thought he would going to say something about Jesus but it ended with..."you get a lot of chocolate." hmmm perhaps we need to step up our church attendance
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? "nothing"
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner? "Salmon"
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? "Greek Meatballs" (Kevin requested this for his birthday dinner so now both of the boys decided that is what they want too)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? "A dentist"