Throwback Thursday: First Day at Sweet Peas Village

Dear Em,
This was you at age one & a half. It was your first day at Sweet Peas Village almost four years ago. You ran into your very first classroom & yelled, "Hey, new friends!"

I can't believe you're graduating from Sweet Peas this week & next week will be your last week at the dear school we have all come to love. I've cherished your moments & all of the learning & growing you have done at this school. This is almost too much for me to handle. Why does time insist on speeding by the way it does?!

I love you so,

Mommy

Glimpses of Love & Happiness

Dear Em,
Your Aunt Gina is amazing. She is absolutely magical with pictures & videos. She truly has a gift. Last year she made us the most incredible (& wicked long...we have so many pictures) video montage of your first year.

We've watched it so many times, & every time it is so sweet to watch as you grow from a little squishy to a toddling one year old. It's probably your very favorite video.

Here's a shortened glimpse of your first year...

Imagine our excitement when I received an online link to your second year montage on Tuesday night. It is one of the most precious gifts we've ever been given.  I can't tell you how long your Aunt Gina must have spent on it. Your daddy & I laughed & teared up as we watched you dance & spin & twirl & laugh &...well, grow. We watched our very favorite photos & videos & listened to our most loved songs. It was such a special moment to snuggle with Daddy & relive so many of our precious moments, moments of such love & fun & happiness.

The next morning, you & Nonnie snuggled up with me as we watched your second year together. Your eyes sparkled as you clapped your hands to the music & watched all the images. As soon as it ended, you asked to watch it again. Later, Aunt Gina asked you what part was your favorite, & you said "Me!" Seriously, BEST PRESENT EVER.

We're so lucky to to have your aunt Gina in our family, but for those who don't have a photo & video magician in the family, she has an esty site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BixMontage.

We actually just watched it all again & laughed & smiled just as much as we did the first time. I truly think memories are the most precious gift of all.

I love you so,

Mommy

Birthday Party for Little Loves: Garden Party Decorations

Dear Em,

This is a four part Series covering your Garden Birthday Party. You can also read about the Garden Party Invites, Garden Party Favors, & Garden Party Food. 

I'm in the middle of putting together your garden themed big-girl bedroom, & it's fun to think back to your garden themed birthday party (what I should really be doing is putting together your birthday party we're having in a couple weeks, whoops). I wanted simple, but fun decorations that went along with the theme. Just having the party outside gave us much of what we needed. Our backyard is green & surrounded by leafy trees. I wanted to add fun & whimsy & pops of purple, green, & yellow too. I was psyched when I found these tissue paper pom-poms. They're easy to DIY, crazy inexpensive, & a fun way to bring pops of color to a garden party.

First I bought lots of tissue paper from the craft store & then I set out to make 20 cute poms. Making 20 of them can be really time consuming, but I was lucky to have my mom, sister, & cousin staying with us. We sat at the dining room table together & chatted & laughed while we filled the table with poms. They didn't look exactly as amazing as Martha Stewart's. We had a tough time making them into full circles. Instead, they were kind of half circle poms, but I still think they looked super cute.

The morning of the party, we filled the yard with tissue paper pom-poms. Of course you helped.

Your grandma made a banner at work using the yellow & purple colors. You loved the butterflies & flowers. We had a flower covered box to put cards in. We covered the tables in green & purple table cloths & added bouquets of flowers to the top of the tables (which helped in keeping the table cloths from blowing away). It was cute & simple & fun.

The best decoration of all was the beautiful little flower who giggled & danced & smiled as she ran all around the party.

You weren't just a cute little flower, you were pure sunshine to everyone who came. Watching you play & squeal with delight to have all of your friends & family to play with all at once...it made my heart happy. I have a smile on my face just thinking back on it.

Tune in next week for garden party favors.

I love you so,

Mommy

Our birthday girl a year ago

Dear Em,

I finally learned how to post videos. Well, your auntie learned how. She had to make a blogger account just so she could teach me to click on the video symbol...um, duh. Whoops.

So, today I thought it would be fitting to post a video of you from one year ago. It's so amazing how much you've changed in just one year.

Wishing you an amazing birthday today.

I love you so,

Mommy