Charlie Grace is THREE!

Charlie Grace is three today! We love this little girl with a vengeance, and cannot even believe she's three already. This morning, I went back and read about her first birthday and second birthday parties. It's times like these that I'm ultra grateful for taking the time to record these milestones. I love looking back and see what's changed, and what's stayed the same!

Here's what you need to know this year about our stunning little girl:

She loves:

art | babies | gymnastics | carbs & cheese | her family

This year she:

had her first trip to Disney World | became fully potty-trained | started tumbling

She's not a fan of: 

falling asleep alone | driving Beckett's gator | tomatoes, grapes, or avocado

This year, she will:

do preschool at home with mommy | use her passport for the first time

Today, we're actually headed to Indiana for Nicole's wedding! The kiddos are staying behind with the grandparents, but we wanted to celebrate our favorite girl before we headed out, so we got up early and made it happen! She woke up to a pile of presents and the most epic unicorn balloon a 3-year-old could wish for. Her reaction was perfect!

We opened gifts first: both gymnastics-themed. She got her very own wedge mat so she can practice at home, and a new leotard to go with. I'm pretty much obsessed with little bitty leotards, so the fact that I kept it to just one is a pretty big accomplishment. 

After present opening, we made breakfast with all of her favorite foods: carbs, sugar, strawberries, & sausage. Pancakes with sprinkles and candles?! YES, PLEASE. She called it her "special food."

Tonight, Grandma and Papaw plan to do it up right, and celebrate with some of our friends and family. We'll actually miss our daughter's birthday party (whoops!), but we know that they'll shower here with all the love and celebration she deserves!

Happy Birthday, Charlie Grace! We love you!

A Glittastrophe

Parenting the first child did not prepare me for parenting the second child. Charlie will be three in August and I still haven’t gotten the hang of TWO. You see, Beckett was not a mischievous child. I mean, yeah - he ate dog food no matter how much real food I fed him... but other than that, it was a pretty straightforward situation we had going. I would say, “markers are for paper.” And then he colored ONLY on paper. Isn’t that how that’s supposed to work? Charlie disagrees. She seems to think tables and floors and brand new white Apple Keyboards make a fantastic canvas for markers - especially permanent black ones. And yesterday when I said, “glitter is only for mommies” she verbally agreed (I even got a “yes, ma’am”), but this morning I came down to the most exploded sparkle situation you have ever experienced. Yes, this is a dust pan full of glitter.

So what happened was: yesterday I crafted for Nicole’s upcoming bachelorette cruise (wooo!) but wasn’t even close to done with my to-make list, so I left the supplies on the table so I could finish today. Don’t worry - I obviously told the kids not to touch.

I want you to imagine my face right now. Present Day Me is looking at Yesterday Me like I’m a total idiot. DENISE. YOU ARE NOT A ROOKIE. GET IT TOGETHER.

The house is covered in glitter. Two children and two dogs have made it their mission to track it everywhere. It’s in every room upstairs and down. In my large floor rug. On the dog beds. On my bookshelves!

I’ve quarantined the children to their rooms and have been periodically vacuuming the bottom of my feet in a vain attempt to minimize the dispersion. Four hours of cleaning and I’ve decided to embrace it. Our new family motto will be, “Leave a little sparkle wherever you go.”

Charlie Grace is Two!

I know it's been said, but time just really goes by too fast. As I was preparing for Charlie's second birthday, I found myself perusing old pictures of her and it truly seems like another lifetime that she was a baby! It's only been TWO YEARS!

Last year, we did a big Garden Party for Charlie's first birthday. We went all out and it was just dreamy. This year (and all years between 1 and 5) we decided to keep it "simple." I was made fun of for my version of simple, but how about you do your thang, I'll do mine. ;)

Charlie is currently baby & bear-obsessed, so instead of planning entertainment, we decided to head to Build a Bear! We invited our besties and spent the morning bringing our newest fuzzy friends to life! This was SO MUCH FUN and absolutely brilliant. No prep, organizing, or clean-up. Total blast for both kids and adults. And we walked away with some stinkin cute new friends. 

We let the kiddos take their time exploring the store, choosing the details of their new friends, and just enjoying the morning. If you don't know this crew, Rubie is the daughter of my college roommate and bestie, Rachel. And Penny is the daughter of Brian's college roommate and bestie, Josh. All of us got married in the same summer and then we all had girls around the same time. How stinkin sweet is that?!

After Build-A-Bear, we headed home, where the house was ready for some more festivities! We had a Mac and Cheese Bar (macaroni + bacon + pulled pork = Charlie's favorite foods) and a donut "cake" (meaning a cutie stack of donuts from the local shop). Low prep, high impact! Add a few balloons and streamers, some messy confetti, and voila!

When the time came to sing happy birthday, she melted down and fell to the floor. Don't ask. I have no clue what got into her. She seems to have a flare for the dramatic. She recovered quickly when it was time to eat her doughnut! She only ate the toppings, though. Weirdo. 

Between two sets of grandparents and two sets of aunts and uncles shipping gifts down in advance, this sassy two year old had quite the stack before her guests even arrived. She made out with a TON of new babies and accessories... all of which she thoroughly enjoys.

We are INCREDIBLY grateful to have this spunky, chatty, two year old to complete our little family. She's everything I imagined and more. I cannot wait to see what her future holds! Happy Birthday, Charlie Grace! And thank you to all of our friends and family for making this day so perfect! 

Charlie Grace's Garden Party First Birthday

Once upon a time, I pretended like I wasn't going to go all out for Charlie's first birthday. I was convinced that our lives were way too chaotic and it would just be easier on everyone if we did something very small and simple. But then reality set in and we admitted to ourselves that there is no. way. that we are letting our only little girl's first birthday go by without celebrating in true first birthday (and Denise) fashion. So Charlie Grace's Garden Party was born.

I've always wanted to host a garden party and our current backyard was the perfect little setting. This party was so much fun to plan! I found the invitations, Charlie's dress & headband, and my skirt on Etsy. We ordered the cakes and fresh flowers from small shops here in town. We borrowed white table cloths and a couple of friends and my mom helped put together a beautiful spread of breakfasty type snacks.

Of course, we also had to have a mimosa bar. Because if you're over 21 and required to hang out at a first birthday party on your Saturday morning, you should at least get a mimosa (or 3).

We also had Stuart from Everbright Photography come out before the party to take some official first birthday photos of Charlie Grace (and crew) as well as the party. We did this for Beckett's first birthday and were so glad we did! Stuart did a FABULOUS job capturing our special little day and I was so grateful to know that we would have plenty of photos but didn't need to worry about taking them ourselves!

The [artificial] flowers for the kids table, high chair, and chalk board sign came from Hobby Lobby. I made those flower crowns! Are you totally impressed!? They took ENTIRELY TOO LONG and I definitely do not recommend it. Still, it was fun to see the kiddos play in them, even if just briefly.

I wish we could have cute parties like this all of the time! It is such a rare and sweet blessing to just be able to spend our mornings relaxing with people we love... and sitting around drinking mimosas!

Generally I'm really frantic and stressed during a party. There is always a million things to do. But I was pleasantly surprised when we were completely done with preparation and hostessy stuff by the time the guests had all arrived, so I was able to spend my morning enjoying our guests and celebrating my sweet birthday girl.

Charlie Grace kills me. This little girl is so full of spunk and sass. Unfortunately, she was a bit "off" this morning (of all mornings!) and spent a lot of time just snuggling her Uncle Russ. Then she fell asleep mid party! Luckily, she got all of best parts out of the way before she conked out.

We expected her to totally demolish the smash cake. She was a bit hesitant so we all pitched in to help her get started. Beckett was not shy at all. He took this brotherly duty seriously.

When it came time to open gifts, this girl perked right up. You'd think she'd done this before! Of course, she's totally spoiled and was showered with love and goodies. We're so blessed to have such an incredible support system, even in our "temporary" home! We were sincerely blown away by the group that came out. We love these people!

We are still blown away that this little girl is a year old already. We're also very grateful that we took the time and energy out to make this special little party happen. In the midst of chaos and exhaustion, it was a very sweet reminder of what is really important. Thank you to all of our wonderful friends & family who were able to attend. And happy birthday, Charlie Grace!!