So Much To Do, So Little Time

Well it's official. I am a stay at home mom. Friday was my last day and I am three days into this new gig. Of course I caught a cold that showed up on day two which is really putting a dent into my list of things that need to get done. Belle's birthday party is on Sunday. A lot is done, but a lot needs to be done as well. Plus three days after her party we leave for Disney. So there’s that too.

Between cleaning the house, getting ready for the party and getting ready to leave it's been crazy. I am excited for her party. Belle loves Doc McStuffins so we decided to have a Doc party. Only there are no Doc McStuffins party items. And it's really hard to find Doc merchandise. So I googled, and went to Pinterest and while there is nothing on google worth even thinking about and some things here and there on Pinterest, I have had to come up with this party all on my own.

I like how everything is starting to coming together. I have made everything with my handy new Cricut machine. I love that thing. Makes crafting so much easier. I can't wait to put it all together on Sunday. I will definitely be posting pictures.

Also between planning the party and making decorations I have been getting ready for our trip. All of our reservations are made everything is booked and paid for. Now I am just getting ready for the 2 car drive down to Florida. I have been picking up stuff here and there for Belle in the car and have been making some new things for her. We have a ton of stuff and I don't think she is going to get bored at all. I have a couple more things to pick up and finish making. When we come back I will have a post about our road trip and how everything went over in the car. Plus a tutorial. Yay!

For the next few days I will be in full party mode and trying to get ready for a 10 day trip.

Celebrating With the Mouse!

We had a fabulous trip. So much fun but it went so so quick. To me the whole trip is a blur. Before we left we were already planning next years trip, and I already can not wait for it. This was our third time going the same exact week. This year it was way busier then it has ever been. Busier to the point that we will give it one more go next year and then think about changing the week we go.

We had some really great expierences while we were there. Belle was scared of the characters, and most of the rides, and for the first hour the hotel room (not sure what that was about). But as the week went on she got better with the characters and the rides. Oh and she was calling our hotel room our house.

We wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom early on our first day which we did and actually got us the position to be the first family of the day to meet Mickey and Minnie. It was awesome but sadly, Belle was not amused by Mickey. She cried the entire time.

We had Belle's "first haircut" down at the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street USA. Another truly great experience. Belle loved Dumbo, the Carousel (of course) and It's A Small World. She loved the tram from the parking lot to the front of the park and the monorail was called a ship all week.

We had a great time at the Magic Kingdom, but sadly her first day was filled with her being scared and getting use to all new things. Belle wasn't a big fan of the Princesses the first day but major props to all the Cinderella's we met over the week who took their time with Belle and talked with her and made her comfortable. It was amazing!

At one point we made the decision to do Mickey's Philharmagic. Probably not our best move with how Belle had been on all the rides that day. It resulted in Belle and running out of the theater and waiting in the gift shop for it to be done and daddy and grandma to come out. Belle was gifted Minnie's kitty Figaro because we could not get her to put it down and it made her feel better. She brought that cat every where the rest of the week.

We had a really nice dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern with a great waitress. Belle received her own dish of ice cream and was sung Happy Birthday too. She hammed it up with the waitress and it was one of the two meals that she actually ate really good at.

After dinner we took Belle on Pooh, the Tea Cups, Dumbo agian, the carousel a few more times, and It's A Small World. She loved all of them but probably Pooh.

We tried to head out the park before the fireworks started but got stuck in gridlock on the bridge heading towards Crystal Palace. Belle managed to fall asleep during the fireworks and we got to see about half the fireworks before they got everyone moving.

Up next, a breakfast date with Princess Belle!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy. I miss you more and more every day. I wish you were still here with us to see your beautiful granddaughter growing more each day. I wish that you could have gone to Disney with us and ride the Haunted Mansion with us.

I love you and miss you terribly. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of you and wonder if you are here with us. Are you watching over us? Do you play with Belle? Can you see how big she has gotten? Can you hear the things that come out of her mouth?

I know you are having a great day up there partying with Elvis and your friends and family members that have been waiting for and have met you up there this year. Have a wonderful day daddy. I miss you! I Love You!

Happy Birthday Isabelle

Isabelle,

My baby girl. Your actually not a baby anymore. You are my little girl. My little lady who turned two years old today. These last two years have been absolutely wonderful, and I cannot imagine my life without you sweet heart.

You are so smart and growing leaps and bounds every single day. And you are so, so happy. Unbelievably happy all the time. Every day I catch bits of myself and bits of your father in you. But sweetie, you are completely your own person and I wouldn’t change any of that. I love the little lady you are becoming. So sweet and loving, and such a little helper.

Isabelle, I am so lucky to be the one that you call mommy. You are beautiful inside and out and I love the little person you are growing up to be.

Today, Isabelle, we are celebrating you. This trip to Disney World is for you, and I hope you are having the time of your life here.

I love you baby girl. Enjoy your day!

Love,
Mommy
xoxo

Minnie Mouse Galore

Saturday was Belle's 2nd Birthday Party. Where has the time gone that we have celebrated my baby's second birthday? I have been planning Belle's party for months. Month's of ideas, weeks of work, and hour's of putting everything together. And in a blink of an eye it's over.

We are completely blessed by all of our family and friends that love Belle and came to celebrate her. She is a very loved and spoiled little girl. Mommy and Daddy spoiled her completely with the best Minnie Mouse birthday party ever.

Belle found the chocolate covered pretzels before the party even started.

There wasn't a place you could look that didn't have pink, black, or Minnie Mouse. From the beautiful birthday girl herself, to the ceiling, to the walls, right down to the cake. Everything was perfect and my months of planning really paid off. I couldn't be happier with how everything came out.

Belle had the time of her life running around with her best friend. She loved the giant Minnie Mouse that mommy and daddy got her as a surprise. And the cake. The beautiful cake was everything I had imagined in my head. It looked amazing and tasted amazing. I couldn't have been any happier!

I made Minnie Mouse gift bags for the kids and they came out perfect. The bags were filled with lots of goodies and the kids loved them. Plus my mom made minnie mouse ears for all the girls.

Belle and her best friend!

Mommy and daddy got her an American girl baby doll that she adores. She had it for two seconds and was giving it hugs and kisses! Plus, Mickey and Minnie sent Belle a special birthday gift. They heard that she was coming down to see them in a week so they sent her a suitcase filled with goodies for our very long road trip down to Disney.

Our beautiful little girl was spoiled with the mountain of gifts she recieved. I still can't belive all the love this little girl gets from everyone in our lives. Thank you to all of our family and friends for celebrating our girls day. She is very loved by all of you!

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Invite

This year I made Belle's invites. After a couple different ideas, and printing about 3 different times this is the finished product. I can't believe my baby girl's second birthday party is Saturday already!

Ribbon Topiaries Tutorial

When researching cute ideas for Belle’s birthday I found ribbon topiaries. They are so cute but I wasn’t about to spend $30 plus dollars on just one. I looked around online and found instructions for them that are simple. So I got the bright idea to make a couple for Belle’s party. I made two before I decided to make this tutorial. They are simple but can be time consuming.

What you need:

Styrofoam Ball - whatever size you prefer

Straight Pins

Wooden Dowel

Ribbon – lots of ribbon

Flower Pot – or whatever you prefer to be your base

Flower Styrofoam Block

Tulle, cut paper, anything you want to use to cover the Styrofoam block

Step 1:

This is probably the most time consuming. You have to cut you ribbon. I cut mine into to 3 inch strips. Because I don’t really care about being exact my strips range from 3” to about 4 1/5”. They do not have to be perfect. You are going to need a ton of ribbon for one topiary. For this one I used 3 spools of 30 feet ribbon, 2 spools of 5 feet ribbon and some left over ribbon from the first two.

To get a better idea of how much I used. On the first topiary I made it was about an 8” diameter ball. I used 6 different spools of ribbon ranging from 5 feet to 12 feet. I had about 5 strips left over.

My personal preference when making three of these was to not use too many different kinds of ribbon. If I used to many it looked cluttered and a mess. My favorite is the first one I made. I used 6 different ribbons and used a smaller ball.

Step 2:

Now that your ribbon is cut you can start pinning them to your ball. Take your first ribbon, roll it so the two ends overlap and the ribbon makes a circle. Take your straight pin and stick it in the middle of the overlapped ends. Take the ribbon and push it into the Styrofoam ball. Keep doing this in any pattern and order you want until the ball is completely covered.

Step 3:

Take your styrofoam black and push it to the bottom of your flower pot or bucket. If you are using a flower pot that has a hole at the bottom you are going to want to glue something on the inside to cover the hole. I cut a paper plate and glued it in.

Step 4:

Take your wooden dowel (I painted mine since they were unfinished) and stick in to the bottom of your Styrofoam ball. If it is lose you may want to hot glue it. Once the ball is attached you can stick the dowel into the block in your flower pot. This needed hot glue as well. Without it mine leaned a little.

Step 5:

I used pink tulle in the flower pot to cover the styrofoam block. I also tied a ribbon around the flower pot to dress it up a little. Fluff up any ribbon that looks flat and enjoy!

Super easy and so cute!

Happy Birthday Patrick!

Happy Birthday to the most amazing husband, wonderful father, and the greatest best friend I have ever had. Happy Birthday Patrick. I hope you have a great day.