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Palmer is One!

A year already!  I should know by now that these years fly by too fast, I just keep hoping that one day I’ll wake up and time will just slow down.  I can’t believe we have already celebrated our third baby’s 1st birthday.  Our precious little p-nut is One and we had so much fun celebrating his special day! 

The theme was centered around Palmer’s invitation which said, “One blue elephant, One red balloon, one little boy, is turning One soon!”  We decorated with red and blue balloons, had a blue elephant piñata, a bubble machine, bean bag toss, ring toss, and of course the duplo table.  It was such a sweet little party for our perfect baby boy.  He loved playing outside in the yard and eating as many snacks as he could get his hands onto.  His guests included Ben and Avery, Cohen and Henry, Ava and Conner, and Jack and Presley.  Happy 1st Birthday, Palmer Stephenson.  The light in your eyes and love in your heart makes the world a better place and each day with you is simply a blessing.  We love you more than you’ll ever know! 

When you end the party in just your diaper,  It’s safe to say it was a pretty good day!!! 

Palmer at One:  He is 22 lbs. of non-stop action, the boy is always moving (walking, running, climbing, dancing, clapping, waving), his puppy dog eyes twinkle all day long, his vocabulary consists of “da-da” (which means daddy, bye bye, and thank you) and we know which one he means by the inflection he uses when he says it, “ba” for ball, “ba ta” for bath time, “all du” for all done, “uh oh”, and “haa” for hot, when we ask for a kiss he gives us a big ol open mouth one, he falls asleep holding onto his Piggy and Bunny and when we get him out of his crib he grabs one of them by the hand to take with him into the living room, his favorite foods are all fruits, he especially likes watermelon and squeezable applesauce, Palmer loves going to My Gym with Leo, he signs “more” if he wants some more to eat, he can swim but when we go to the pool he prefers to hang out on the side with just his feet dangling into the water, he still drinks 3 bottles of milk each day, he’s constantly waving bye to people, he runs to mama and buries his face in my lap or neck if he’s scared of something, and he loves balls!  Palmer is definitely all boy and we love every inch of him! 

Isla Shea’s 5th Birthday

Close your eyes, blow out the candles, send dandelions to the sky with a whisper, throw a penny in a well, see a shooting star in the night, and make a WISH!

Isla’s wish themed party was a dream come true.  It really was my favorite birthday party of hers so far.  The guest list was made up of only the little girls in her Pre-K class and two other special friends who couldn’t be left out.  The party was on a Saturday from 2 – 4 and the smiles never ended.  When the girls arrived, in their prettiest dresses, I had cardboard letters that I had pre-modpodged with scrapbook paper for each girl to decorate with fancy gems and stickers. 

The color scheme was pink and aqua and I decorated with tissue paper pom pom flowers, star shaped confetti, flowers in a dandelion vase, a favorite saying of Isla’s on canvas, personalized M&Ms, a happy birthday banner, and of course tons of balloons. 

Each girl received handmade snow globes to wish upon each night before they go to bed and also a dandelion wand. 

Then the magic started…literally.  Isla really wanted Mr. Barry, the magician who regularly makes appearances at Palms, to perform at her party.  Let me just say he was Awesome!  I’ve never heard so many squeals of laughter and excitement before.  Isla was picked several times to be his “assistant.”  She soaked up every second of it. 

Little brothers loved it too!

“Russell,” the Rabbit, was the favorite!  Mr. Barry worked up quite a sweat but his hard work definitely paid off.  The smiles were priceless. 

After the magic show, it was time for cake and presents. 

Pure Joy!

For favors, I made each girl a necklace with a wish charm attached and they also received little butterfly rings along with their snow globes, wands, and decorated letters.  The party was a huge success and she’s already talking about next year. 

(Ava, Isla, Leo, Jessie, Natalia, Caroline, Karla, Riley, Addison, Megan, and Charlotte)

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl!  We LOVE you over the rainbow and back!

A glimpse of Isla at 5:  She can ride her bike without training wheels as long as we give her a little push in the beginning, she adores roly polies and is constantly hunting them down when we play outside, she loves her afternoon popsicles in the driveway after school, every morning she wakes up and grabs a box of cereal to munch on while John and I drink coffee in the living room, she still loves “pink and peach” bunny and sleeps with her every nap and night, I can still rock her to sleep for naps on the weekend, she buries her little head into the nook of my neck and falls asleep as I sing her lullabies, she can read and is a pro at “BOB” books, she makes invitations to “the ball at 2am” every night before dinner and hands them out to us at the table, she then puts on a recital for us dressed in her princess best as our post dinner entertainment, she says her boyfriend is Christian but he told her he didn’t want to marry her, she loves putting on lipstick, chap stick, lip-gloss, or anything that makes her lips shine, she prefers to wear a dress every day, her Sunday night pleasure is watching “America’s Funniest Town-home Videos”, (yes, she adds town in there),  on Wednesdays she likes watching “Guiliana and Bill” reruns with mommy, “Martha Speaks” and “Curious George” are her favorite morning cartoons, she is still scared of loud sounds and will run to me if a dog is ever within 100 yards of her, she loves having chapter books (one chapter a night) read to her before bed, some of her favorite foods are green peppers, extra cheese pizza, pnut butter and jelly, blueberries, smoothies, pirate’s booty, and gummies.  I could go on for days about my sugar bug.  She’s made up of such a pure joy for life and it’s contagious.  I’m so happy, lucky, blessed, grateful, over-the-moon that she’s all ours!