Charis received several things from Crocodile Creek for her birthday this year. I stumbled across this company on Amazon and quickly fell in love with their products. Charis received a cute lunch box, cool place mats and bouncy ladybug ball all of which are wonderful! I really like their products as they are bright and pretty educational. I also really like that they are a little outside the normal box. I am a big fan of different! I just wanted to share this fun site with you! Enjoy!

Saturday’s big birthday celebration went well and by the end there was paper everywhere with gifts mixed in and little kiddos with weary eyes longing for their nap time. I count that a pretty fun party! We awoke to sprinkles outside which was sad to our Mama and Dada hearts as Charis so loves to be outside but with plan B in action (having the party inside) we set to work with the balloons and decorations. Charis was loving all the balloons and as I was hanging them she was loving the tape dispenser that I did not realize that she had found! With friends and family arriving her excitement mounted and her happy dance began. Lunch was yummy as Brad braved the weather to grill hot dogs which were wonderfully yummy but the kids were not to fond of lunch as they had all spotted the cupcakes (better known as dup….dakes to Drew) early on. After lunch and the yummy dup…dakes (pictures to come soon) present time began. Charis was not super into her gifts she was still really enjoying all the fun and fabulous people who were here but we did proceed. All that was left at the end was Charis crashed out on the floor asking for bed. This is one of my favorite pictures from the party!

I am on a role tonight! I think that I feel the pressure of the birthday approaching. Here are the pictures of Charis’s birthday outfit as promised! The embroidery design is from one of my favorite sellers on eBay Tyme2Stitch. Enjoy!!!

Well, I finished it just in time! Charis’s party is approaching and with a little encouragement from Brad I sat down tonight and finished up the doggy quilt. I am really excited with the way that it turned out. It is a little boyish but I love the fact that Charis picked out the fabric! I think that she will be really excited when she sees it at least that is my hope. Everything is coming together for her little birthday party. The lady down the street just dropped off her birthday outfit yesterday. It is too cute! It is pink capri pants with a little wrap shirt and I am going to embroider a doggy on it (I ran out of time to make it myself). I will try and post a picture of it as well when it is finished. I do need to work on the cupcakes probably Friday night but other than that I think that we are ready for the festivities to begin and just in time might I add!

We had a good practice tonight at what life will be like with two little ones. We had Charis’s friend Maddie over and granted she is not a baby at almost 14 months but still two at anytime is practice at this point. Maddie arrived around 4:00pm and we all went on a wagon ride. This was probably the highlight of Charis’s night. She does love her wagon and to take a friend along with her was a blast. They both had their little drinks in the wagon cup holders and their little wagon seat belts on (wagons have come a long way). It was too cute! After the prying from the wagon we all came in and played for a bit. Charis was really good with Maddie and would bring her toys she even did pretty well with sharing. It gave me much encouragement for Cai’s arrival! I sat the girls in the highchairs to get dinner for them and a few minutes into the preparation I hear screaming. Pictures flash through my head of Maddie having a broken bone the one time that her mom entrust her into my care but it was Charis. We have a discussion almost every night as she sits in her chair (it is like a highchair top that fastens onto a chair) about keeping her legs down but she had used her legs to push her seat backwards. The chair hit the wall and did not make it all the way to the floor which I was thankful for as it could of been worse. Charis was pretty shaken and there is a large dent in our wall now but we all survived and that was the key thing. I did get dinner on the table for the girls and they were fed so that was a good thing. You learn that it is the little things that you do that feel like such a huge accomplishment some days. Brad made it home and we just played for a good bit before bedtime. Charis was a huge help in picking things up and moving things for Maddie. She surprised me with how much she listened to me and how much she was really willing to help this was so encouraging to me. Bedtime got shaky as Charis was quite tired after chasing Maddie around so much. I asked Charis if she wanted to go night night first or put Maddie down and she chose to put Maddie down. We got Maddie into the pack-n-play and then we were off to put Charis down. We could tell that she was a little fragile. Brad and I both sensed that she had a fear that we were going to go party with Maddie once she was down but we chatted with her for a bit and loved on her a good deal and we made it out of her room without a total meltdown. Everyone is asleep now and resting soundly which is a praise. Brad and I are pretty pooped but reassured that two is doable which is a good thing at this point since Cai is headed our way. Maddie’s parents will pick her up later tonight so Charis will be sad to see that she is gone in the morning but she knows that Cai’s arrival is approaching and there is something to look forward to in that.

I am a big fan of cupcakes! I have decided to stick with cupcakes for the kiddos birthdays for now and with Charis’s birthday approaching I am trying to think up something fun for a cupcake while sticking with the doggie theme. Last year for Charis’s ladybug themed party the cupcakes just came together when I started decorating and I am hoping for that this year as well. I have several thoughts in my mind so I am excited to see how they turn out. I think that I will stick with the same cupcake recipe as it is the tastiest little cupcake that I have found. I am usually a huge fan of the Pillsbury Confetti Cupcakes but they do not come close to touching the Strawberry Cupcakes that a friend shared with us. You use real strawberries in the icing and in the cupcake so you can see why they would be tasty. Here are a few pictures of last years cupcakes as I try to get my creative juices flowing!

I love the bed! I am not super particular about my bed as just about any bed will do but I am pretty particular about my covers. Every morning I am faced with dragging myself from the bed! It is a large and daunting task but I do usually eventually manage. I have always had this problem! Always so sad to leave the wonderful confines of the bed. Well, Charis is starting to reach an age where Brad and I can see more and more of her little traits coming out…the past few weeks I have noticed her wanting to linger a little longer in her bed. I would let her play with her stuffed animals for a few minutes while patiently waiting to pick her up and get on with the day. Today was the first day that I saw my bed issue in my little girl. As usual I went in to get Charis out of the bed. Being happy and chipper in the morning is another very hard thing for me after all I just ripped myself from my bed but I approached Charis happy and chipper. I asked her if she was ready to get up and she responded with, “No!”. She proceeded to ask me to place her covers neatly over her which I was happy to play along with as in the past it has just taken a few minutes to pry her from her bed. After making her so cozy (should of seen this one coming from a mile away) I asked if she was ready to get up and again she responded, “No Mama! Charis cozy!” I decided that this could take awhile and I proceeded to go and get myself ready and dressed for the day. I left Charis’s room with no protest on her part! I took my time and eventually came back to find Charis just laying there on her back staring up at the ceiling laying under her covers just as I had left her. I had to laugh as I totally saw myself in her! She chose to lay there a bit longer then I played the Mommy card and pulled her from the bed as the day needed to get under way. Isn’t it funny the little things that little ones love. It is especially amusing when they are the same things that we love! Charis does love her bed! I often refer to it as her happy place. She can be in the worst mood at night but as soon is she is cozy in her bed with her stuffed animals and particular blankets Brad and I can listen to her sing and talk for a very long time on the monitor often up to an hour. She is happy there in her bed just like her Mama.

It’s that time of year again. With Charis’s birthday approaching it is time to make the birthday quilt! I thought that it would be pretty neat to start a tradition of making a quilt for her every year. Nothing huge just something small to celebrate her. Last years quilt has been loved which blesses my mommy heart. She sleeps with it every night and it has been through the wash so many times that it is starting to fray a bit. This year the quilt will have a doggie theme as that is the theme of her birthday party and she does love doggies! It is not as girly as last years quilt but Charis did help to pick out the fabric. By pick out the fabric I mean she saw some doggie fabric at Joanns and would not put it back so we got to buy it! She is her mothers daughter! Here is a glimpse of the fabric and I will post pictures of the finished project hopefully before too long. I just have to get started first!

Yes, it was another lovely trip to Joanns! I went to buy more fabric to work on Charis’s quilt for her birthday(more to come on that soon in another post) but I just saw some lovely fabric that happened to “hop” into my cart. I just cannot figure out how these things happen! Both fabrics are by Alexander Henry again (he designed the Apple and Pear fabric that I posted about a bit back) the fabric on the left is called “Birch Blossoms” and the one on the left is called “Beach Stripe”. I am not sure what they will become but they were way to much fun to pass up! I have a serious fabric problem! Gee!

Our house is slowly but surely turning blue! We have been a pink household for so long but with the time of Cai’s arrival approaching and the grandmothers in full swing things are definitely turning to blue. The sweet ladies in my circle at church had a small shower for us which was a blessing this week! It is fun to see the little boy clothes and try to imagine Cai in them. Then there is all the wonderful practical items that they have come out with since Charis’s birth.

Charis is starting to understand a little bit more about Cai. She loves seeing my growing belly and touching it while saying, “Cai” over and over again. She will even give him kisses every now and then. The other day she pointed to her tummy and said, “Cai” so we had a chat about how Cai is just in Mama’s tummy. I added the bumpers to Cai’s bed as well over the weekend which had come off of Charis’s bed when she out grew them. She seemed excited even though they were once her bumpers. I explained to her that they would keep Cai safe while sleeping so that he would not bump his head. Now she talks about, “Cai’s bumpers, no bump head!”. It is neat to see her catching on little by little.

I am very anxious for his arrival even though Brad reminds me that we still have a good wait ahead of us. I am just ready for him to be here and us all to live life together. I am just excited to see what that will look like. I know that the Lord will carry us through all the transitions but I am just ready to live it. I am learning to live these days to the fullest not wishing them away though. My time with Charis is very sweet and I cannot believe that we are quickly approaching birthday number two! Wow! Maybe the pink will win out yet. I am very thankful for both of the kiddos and even though blue is not my most favorite color it is sweet to see glimpses of it around the house now!