Pinterest Thursday

I've been trying out recipes on my Pinterest Food board lately. I have so many recipes waiting to be devoured. We have been trying to eat more at home and finish up food we've bought. I've fixed two recipes this week and both of them had buffalo chicken in the title. They contained some of the same ingredients but were different.

My all time favorite buffalo chicken recipe is a dip. I started making this recipe 5 years ago and it's still my go to for appetizers. The other two recipes I tried were Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese and Buffalo Chicken Ring. I didn't care too much for the ring, but the mac and cheese was delicious!

Whatever Wednesday

I started this post yesterday and I'm just getting around to finishing it.

I'm finally relinquishing my control to keep my daughter neat and tidy while we are out. IT'S. JUST.TOO.DIFFICULT.ANYMORE. This may surprise some of you, but I can't stand for C's outfits to have stains on them. I doubt there is anyone else out there like me. ;) For awhile I only brought food with me that I knew wouldn't stain. Now you may be wondering why I didn't just use a bib. I wish it was that easy, but somehow the bibs made her more messy. I'm starting to embrace her getting dirty and just going with it. She seems to enjoy it.

I've also decided that I'm never going to have a clean house. I can try my best to tidy up, but I'm never going to have the place that is always clean and ready for guests. I will always have to do some last minute cleaning and hiding of things when people come over and I'm ok with that.

Oh and am I the last person to know that Katie Holmes and Jamie Foxx are dating???

12 Months

12 Months 

Seriously, this past year went by way to fast. I wish I could pause time and freeze you at this age. I can't believe how much you have grown and changed over the past year. We love you Charlotte Lucy and are so excited to see what this next year brings. 

Happy 1st Birthday!

Height: 28.3 inches long; 13.5th percentile

Weight: 16 lbs. 10.5 oz.; 7.7th percentile

Head Size: 17.9 inches; 58th percentile

Diaper Size: Cloth diapers, Lengthwise second to smallest size, still size 2 in disposables, but that's about to change.

Clothes: You are still on the petite size. Anything from 6-12 months fits and that's fine with me as we are getting more wear out of your clothes. Depending on the brand some of your 12-18 month clothes fit, but I think we'll be extending our 12 month clothes for awhile. 

Sleep: Still a rockstar sleeper. No complaints here. 

Eating: We are still eating lots of puffs/crunchies, yogurt and strawberries. You tried blackberries, teddy grahams and fruit snacks. You LOVE fruit snacks!! We started mixing whole milk with breast milk this month to get you use to the taste. You have taking to it well and we haven't noticed any reactions. 

Mommies Milestones: You have taken a few steps, but still prefer to crawl. You figured out how to crawl on your hands and feet. You went to the splashpad and kiddie pool and love the water. 

1st Birthday Gifts

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

I saw this cute idea on Etsy and wanted to recreate something to capture Charlotte at this time in her life. I thought it would have been cool to hand something out like this at her b-day party, but quickly realized this was really for me and I'm sure no one else cared. So, I saved the money and made one for myself. 

Week with cousins!

At the beginning of August Charlotte and I traveled home to Missouri for a week. We were planning to have her 1st birthday party in CoMo at my sister's place so when she asked if we wanted to come in early and watch baby Henry for a week we jumped at the chance to spend more time with family. For the most part Charlotte ignored Henry except when he was lying on the floor. And she loved playing with Harper's toys while she was at school. In the evenings the girls had a blast playing. Charlotte also enjoyed watching the doggies and I swear she would bark back at the dogs. We had a great time visiting our cousins and can't wait to see them again. 

Brother and sisters

After bath drinks.

1st Birthday party!

The 1st birthday has come and gone and so had the 1st birthday party. I had so much fun planning this party and putting everything together. Six months ago when I started pinning ideas I couldn't decide on just one theme. I wanted to incorporate everything I pinned into one party. I soon realized this party could quickly spin out of control. After narrowing down a few ideas I finally decided to go with a Hot Pink/Orange/Gold theme. It's girlie and summery and most of the ideas I had pinned were things I had seen in these colors. I kept going back and forth between having someone design the invites or trying my hand at them. In the end I created my own. I really like how they turned out and I was able to use the background for other party decor. 

I knew I wanted to have several bunting banners and garland to decorate with. Being the crafty/frugal person I am, I knew I could recreate them myself. It took some planning and time to finish them before I left but I'm so happy with how they turned out. I kept the table decor simple and used the treat bags as balloon weights, along with Charlotte's monthly pictures and yarn wrapped ice cream cones. (I don't think I have any pictures of them, but you can see them behind the bags in one of the pics. 

I also wanted to create a cute sign to let people know where the party was, especially for our out of town guests. Too bad the out-of-towners both got lost on their way there. I forgot to take a picture of the sign outside but, this frame was set up and had balloons tied to it. I really love the way it turned out. I was disappointed that it wouldn't fit in our suitcase. I scored the frame at Hobby Lobby for 50% off. Someday it will look adorable in Charlotte's room. 

Since we had invited the kids to bring their swim suits to the party I didn't plan any games or activities, but I did want to have some sort of takeaway (other than candy) for the girls. I thought a headband bar would be the perfect idea. I love, love, love this idea. If you know me you know how much I love a good headband. The girls could choose a headband and add a flower of choice. I didn't get any pictures of the girls wearing them, but they were cute. 

I went back and forth between bar-be-cue and pizza for lunch and in the end decided on pizza. We ordered from our college town's famous pizza joint, Shakespeares, had homemade wings, homemade Rich and Charlie's salad, delicious garlic bread and a fruit bowl. 

Since it's summer I wanted to have a fun treat for dessert. I loved the idea of a sundae bar. I'm not a big cake person and wanted to do something different. I think everyone really enjoyed the sundae bar. I did make one splurge and buy sundae cups and wooden spoons for the ice cream bar. I stamped "enjoy" on each of the spoons to add some flare. 

A friend of my sister's made the smash cake for Charlotte and it turned out adorable. My MIL also made ice cream sundae inspired cupcakes. 

Lastly I wanted to have a mini candy bar. I know they are the new trend at parties and I couldn't resist having one at Charlotte's. I tried to keep with the pink/orange/gold theme in my choices. I think it turned out well and we still had lots left over. The only thing that did not turn out was the cotton candy. I had bought CC at Sam's and wanted to pretty it up, so we put it in the pink polka a dot bags. By the time the party rolled around the CC had disintegrated. 

Ok, now time for some pictures of the birthday girl and guests.

We had a great day celebrating with friends and family and are thankful for to those that traveled to the party. I do have one piece of advice for those planning a special party - hire a photographer or designated someone to take pictures. We did get lots of great pictures, but we don't have any of mom, dad and Charlotte or Charlotte with her cousins or grandparents. Those are the only pictures I wish we had someone take for us.

Hope you enjoy!