Gracie's Golden Birthday

There's nothing that I love more than a good celebration. Living life on a budget means that we don't do tons of extras throughout the year for our kids. Aside from special occasions, birthdays and Christmas, my kids don't get a lot of extra toys during the year. (However if you saw my house, you'd think that we give our children toys for every day of the week that ends in the letter "y") I try and make birthdays special because they are just that: special. They're the one day of the year where we focus on that person and how happy we are to have them in our lives. 

First birthdays are no exception. I know that there are a lot of naysayers who pooh-pooh large first birthday celebrations because the celebrant won't even remember the party. In my mind, a first birthday party is as much of a celebration of the parents as the child. You are celebrating all of the milestones that all of you have achieved together that first year. 

As the momma who gave birth and breastfed the birthday girl for 365 days, it's a celebration of me too! Because if you've breastfed for any duration of time, you know it takes commitment, perseverance and the will not to quit just because it's inconvenient. Maybe it's a bit selfish, but when that birthday candle is blown out, I'm raising a glass to myself too.

I don't think I throw "huge" parties. Yes, all of my kids' birthday parties are themed (Lucan's: crabby first birthday, The Hungry Caterpillar, Milk and Cookies) but they aren't extravagant and they are all DIY. Gracelyn turned one on December 1, so it was easy enough to decide on a "golden birthday" theme with pink accents. 

I designed the invitations in canva, which I've become pretty familiar with after using it for work. $2 investment and I was done. Like I've done in the past, I had everything printed at PC Print Center in Urbandale because it's super easy, convenient and they've NEVER screwed up anything of mine before. 

One easy way to add color to any party is to purchase colored disposable tablecloths. It's cheap, adds a lot of color and you can throw it away when it's all said and done. Another easy way to add impact is to make your own confetti out of scrapbook paper and a large circle punch. The confetti circles served double duty as I also stuck two together and sandwiched a toothpick in between to serve as my cupcake toppers. I had originally bought cupcake toppers from Hobby Lobby but returned them as I wanted to save a couple of bucks and knew that it would be a cinch to make them myself (or con my mom into helping me make them hours before the party. Because if it's a party I'm throwing, there's going to be last minute stuff to do!) 

Glitter is like a bug infestation. It gets everywhere and anytime you think you've cleaned it all up, you find more. I glitterized a paper machie "G" which was kind of a process. First I had to spray paint the entire letter gold with two thin, even coats (and by me, I mean Lance. He thought I would end up accidentally spray painting the car. I started waving the can around wildly, which in turn made him very nervous so he took the can from me. It was my plan all along.) Then after the spray paint dried, I layered a coat of decoupage glue and then dropped glitter in small batches all over. THEN after all the glitterizing (yes, there's more) I shellacked the thing with extra shiny top coat. 

When I glitterized (yes, I know it's not a real word) the small jars it was about the same process except I started off by taping off the areas that I didn't want glittered with masking tape. I did a layer of decoupage and then glitter and then shiny top coat.  

The "one" banner was leftover from Lucan's birthday party. #recycleforthewin

I had a friend make the gold glitter "Happy Birthday" and "Gracelyn" banners using her cricut machine. I'll use them again for future parties. I also think that the use of balloons is another "big impact" item for any party.  

Gifts!

Slightly smashed party hats from Target. Kids love them.

Drink bottles borrowed from Molly.

Gold paper straws from Amazon.

The cost of pink carnations was more than I expected or felt was fair. Carnations are supposed to be "cheap" flowers! 

Cupcakes from Target (Lucan just leaned over and said "those cupcakes were DELICIOUS." And he was right. The key is buttercream. Who am I kidding? Buttercream is always the answer.) I borrowed cake plates from my friend Nicole (who has a surprising number of cake plates) to add height to the food table overall. Varying the height of foods on any table adds interest. 

My MIL helped out and brought tortilla rollups! My mom and I made the chocolate covered strawberries. Those were the most expensive strawberries in the world. We won't talk about it. My tips chocolate covered strawberries: 1) make sure the strawberries are super dry. Like I dried them with my blow dryer. 2) don't get water in your chocolate when you are melting it. There's no recovering from chocolate water.

Years ago, pre-budget, I had randomly bought some peony decorative paper items from Target and I finally got to use them for her party!

Lance also spray painted some larger jars to be used for cutlery. 

I've been really good about taking Gracie's monthly birthday picture (not so great at making sure I get her monthly post done at the same time, but that's neither here nor there). I purchased gold polka dot card stock and mounted each picture and then strung them all together with gold ribbon for a banner. I always have bright visions of actually having the baby books complete and photo books printed off. Bright visions. Not reality. 

Momma and the birthday girl.

Fun fact: Gracie was not a fan of the party hats. Not at all. This was her face when Lance strapped one on her. It's a good thing I talked myself out of buying her a $20 birthday crown. 

Total dismay.

Once again, we have a child who wasn't particularly interested in smashing their smash cake. Lance put a dollop of icing on her nose, but that was about the extent of her interaction.

Let's talk about the birthday girl's outfit. I think every birthday girl needs a tutu. Because if anyone deserves to wear a tutu, it's a birthday girl. I surprisingly found this particular tutu at Hobby Lobby. I bought the  pink onesie there too with the intention that I would customize it. Well, like all good intentions, it didn't happen. 10 days before the party I just decided to buy an iron-on off of etsy. Easy peasy. Except it didn't come. And didn't come. And didn't come. The Saturday of the party I had already emailed the seller multiple times and really wasn't getting very far. She had sent me the tracking info but the post office never updated it so all it showed me that it was in Florida until that Saturday morning. I ended up calling our local post office and with ZERO customer service skills they found the package was out for delivery. At 3 pm, our mail was finally delivered and by 3:45 pm our party girl was dressed and ready for her 4 pm party. I know this is a #firstworldproblem but I wasn't keen on getting stuck with a gold glittery heart one and no birthday party to wear it to. 

Still not a fan of party hats. Especially over a headband. Thanks Lucan for styling Gracie.

I like to think of myself of getting wiser with age and experience. I'm not sure if it's true, but I like to pretend. Knowing that we would be providing supper to all of our guests, we bought pizzas from Papa Murphys ahead of time. Monday - Wednesday you can get their $5 faves (large pepperoni, sausage or cheese) and on Tuesday you can $10 larges on any pizza. My parents spearheaded the pizza baking leaving us to chat and mingle with everyone. We served a simple salad along with carrots. I bought cupcakes from Target. I did make white chocolate pretzel rods and my mom helped me with the chocolate covered strawberries. Originally I wanted to do some sort of signature drink but Lance quickly insisted that you serve pop with pizza. Lance's aunt and cousin also took pictures for me once the party began so I didn't have to worry about being behind the camera. 

I hope you enjoyed your tour of Gracie's Golden Birthday party!

Gracelyn: 11 Month Update

I had a small "moment" the other day when I realized that Gracelyn will be a year old next month. She's still my tiny tot! How can she be a year old already!?

Sleeping: Towards the end of October I decided that I was tired of doing a 10:30 PM feeding so I stopped. I knew you weren't nursing much at that time, that it was just more of a habit then anything so I decided to end it. For a couple of days you would wake up at some un-Godly hour, but that has evened out and "typically" you will sleep until 7 AM without problem. Thank you. That's all I can say. We're continuing with two naps - morning nap around 9:30 and an afternoon nap around 1:30/2:00. The afternoon nap is what I like to refer to as #naptimehustle. You've never seen me in such a flurry of activity. Because I know once you wake up, everyone is *mildly* spastic until suppertime and dad gets home.

Eating: We are progressing to bits and pieces of everything. It appears that you love saltier foods, which I find odd. Just today you had part of a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. You ate it like a champ! But when you are done, you are DONE. You drop pieces off the side of your chair like they don't exist and like no one will notice if they're out of sight. But you are doing a better job of feeding yourself and that's great. We'll do a breakfast of something easy (graham crackers, etc) and a lunch of whatever leftover we're dining on. You seem to LOVE scrambled eggs and weird stuff like meatballs. It's very odd. But you'll eat anything off a spoon that's been pureed. You get prunes every other day and that's seemed to ease our poop disfunction.

Wearing: 9 month clothing. I pulled out all this winter 12 month clothing the other day and I have no idea if you'll actually wear it. At 10 months old you wore the same Halloween costume that Lucan wore at 4 months. That's a comparison! Socks continue to be your nemesis. And my nemesis for that matter too. You always are pulling off your socks and crawling around the house with one sock on. As a result, I have sixteen single socks. No pairs. You are starting to pull on your headbands a bit more too. But because you don't have enough hair for people to automatically assume "female" and because I don't dress you solely in pink, headbands are good when we're out in public.

Playtime: Playing with electrical outlets. You are obsessed. This month you also developed your need for a lovey, which is the brown tag blanket I made for Lucan. You have your favorite ribbons and your fingers will follow all around the edge of the blanket until you find the one you love best. You also enjoy taking things out of containers (ie: Lucan's Halloween pumpkin with the candy or his tool box). I enjoy putting all the toys back in their respective containers. NOT.

Milestones:

Social: Your voice is growing louder and more active. When you want something and are not getting it or if you think you are being ignored, you lift your voice to be heard. You are interested in the world around you and will investigate your limits if we aren't paying attention.

Teeth: your first tooth on the top is coming in! You have 2.5 teeth and are drooling like crazy. You have another half tooth starting on the top.

Physical: crawling really well with a little butt wiggle. You also pull yourself up to your knees to see what's going on around you. You did start to feed yourself, but with that also comes with increased food pickiness which is not cool. You enjoy dumping over the cat's water dish, much the same as Lucan. It's the cleanest spot in our whole house.

Nicknames: Gracie Boo. In honor of Halloween :)

Grr.... I'm going to get you!

Sometimes being the little sister is hard. 

My baby pumpkin and Spidey!

Posts from Des Moines Moms Blog

Hi friends!

I hope you are following me over at Des Moines Moms Blog and supporting me as the Sponsorship Coordinator. I have two posts over there this week that I'm very proud of - starting a freezer meal group and my perspective of adoption as an adoptee. Two very different sides of the coin, but that's me - multifaceted!

31 Things in October

31 Things I'm Grateful for in October

This month, by far, has to have been the easiest months to list things I have been thankful for!

1. The privilege and absolute delight of attending City Moms Blog Network's Sister Site Conference in Dallas. Not only was I kid free, the conference all spoke to all of my love languages: cool free stuff, awesome food but quality time with quality people. It was fantastic and one of the highlights of 2015.

2. Family helpers. My MIL came and helped with the kiddos the 2.5 days I was gone and my parents came and helped later in the month so Lance and I could go to another ISU football game.
3. Cooler fall temps.
4. Leaf walks with the kiddos.

5. Lucan got really good reports at his preschool parent-teacher conferences. His teacher is really sweet and like a fun grandma-type of lady. You can really tell she loves each of her students.
6. Pregnancy announcements in the form of answered prayers.
7. Glittery leaf decorations from Target.
8. Honeycrisp apples.
9. Seeing baby Gracie start to feed herself. Another question I'll be able to check off her well-child visit.

10. Apple crisp.
11. Watching my favorite trees turn red and orange.
12. Sleeping in.
13. Discovering the Jamie Ivey podcast. If you like girl talk, books and hearing about your favorite bloggers, this podcast is for you. I'm looking at you Andrea C. and Ally V.I.
14. Precious babies being born.
15. The book of Joshua. I'm in a Tuesday morning Bible study and while it's not exactly what I expected, it's exactly what I need. God has a way of working like that.
16. Wednesdays with friends. Wednesdays is no-preschool day so I'm always making a point to do something with a friend. It's good, but busy.

17. Trunk or treat.
18. Adorable kids in their adorable costumes. Mine included.

19. Reeses Peanut Butter pumpkins. Not the orange/white chocolate ones. Those are gross imposters.
20. Having family photos done. While it's always slightly stressful, it's always worth the stress for the memories captured.
21. Pumpkin sugar cookies. Not the best use of my precious nap time minutes, but delicious.
22. Having the wisdom of being the second-time mom. First-time mom Kara is slightly appalled at the things she's letting her second born get away with.
23. Discovering that I can reserve specific magazines (HGTV November 2015) at the library.
24. Hearing Lucan pray, unprompted and on his own before lunch.
25. Krispie Kream doughnuts.
26. WINNING a LilyJade bag.
27. Tailgating with friends.

28. Graphic tees
29. Keurig coffee. Best $50 I spent on maternity leave.
30. Good books.
31. Grace and forgiveness.

Gracelyn: 10 Month Update

As Dr. Gina pointed out, I'm behind in my updates. So as a nod to accountability, here goes Gracie's 10 month update (note: Gracie was 10 months old as of Oct 1).

10 months is a good age. Gracie is mobile as she's now crawling forwards and backwards. I'm not sure if there's anything cuter than seeing a wee one wiggle her little butt as she's crawling happily towards you. It's just really precious to see someone so happy to see you - happy enough to get where they are going on their own accord!

Sleeping: Same as 9 months - two naps and to bed around 7:30 PM every night. If we push it much past 8ish, it can be dicey. Lance hates that you are a belly sleeper. Ever since you learned to roll-over, it's been belly sleeping all the way. Halo's mantra of "back is best" is clearly not being observed in our household. Your bedtime ritual is thumb in mouth and clinging onto the ribbon blanket I once upon a time sewed for Lucan. He never took to it, so it's yours! Now that you aren't at daycare your naps are sooo much better. You are never going to be a rockstar napper like your brother, but since you were once only napping a total of 45 minutes total, I'll take it. You will even go down for a nap in the pack and plays at church nursery which is awesome-sauce. Your morning awake time varies from day to day - sometimes 6 AM (yuck) and sometimes as late at 8 AM. 

Eating: Sometimes I try and give you chunkier food then you prefer. And you let me know that you aren't a fan by fake coughing and choking. You are getting marginally better at feeding yourself. Marginally. You will occasionally stuff a puff in your mouth. I tried to feed you a dried apple. You choked and sputtered all over with that one. Still nursing, but that's dialing down. If I can figure out how to get you to take a sippy cup, we'll wean around one year. You eat just about anything pureed - applesauce, pears, peaches, prunes, carrots, peas, beans, squash, sweet potatoes, yogurt, bananas, smashed avocado. I gave you sliced strawberries. You must have thought they were poison so Lu ate them. 

Wearing: 9 month clothing and some 6 month stuff still. At some point I thought that it would a super idea to buy 4000 size two diapers on sale. You could probably be sized up to size three diapers, but because we have an entire box and one sleeve left of size two diapers we'll be stuffing you into them until the end. It's a rookie mistake and I should know better. 

Playtime: there aren't many toys in the house that weren't first Lucan's. But at your age, no one really cares about what "toys" really constitute. You spend a lot of time taking some brightly painted wooden numbers that belong to a Melissa and Doug clock in and out of a christmas tin. You also like to knock down Lucan's legos, magnatiles and blocks which really irritates him. Shredding paper is fun too so we have to be careful about what's left on the floor otherwise one of Lu's treasures gets destroyed.

Milestones: 
Teeth: two on the bottom! This was a big deal. You are a pretty good teether, so I have nothing to complain about. 

Social: So serious. You are watchful and take everything in when we are out and about. Your family is your favorite. If I have to leave you are okay with dad, but if both of us are gone you get sad for a moment or two. If I leave the room or walk by you without picking you up, you whine until I do pick you up. It makes getting supper made really challenging. 

Physical: crawling like a champ. You like to touch things and really examine them. Especially my jewelry. You are pretty quiet overall, but you do a thing we all refer to as "the Gracie Growler" where you have this guttural sound you make which is pretty funny coming out a petite thing like you. You move things from hand to hand and are able to do pincher fingers to pick something up. But still not feeding yourself. You expect someone to put the food in your mouth for you. 

Nicknames: Gracie, Gracie Beth, Gracie Lu, Gracie Girl. A gal that I met from Louisiana commented that Gracie Beth is a very southern name. I like it. I think being southern is the equivalent to being a lady :)

The serious face.

Lucan doesn't get monthly updates so he doesn't really understand why I'm not taking pictures of him. I let him get in on the action at the end. It was homecoming and superhero day, hence the outfit and mask. 

Dressed in her ISU gear for the game against Iowa. ISU lost. There's always next year. 

Dressed in brother's hand me down jammies and playing with his dump truck.

A chinful of drool due to teething. 

It's not often she falls asleep on one of us, so we take the snuggles when we can get them.

Molly's babe, Hannah. Isn't she a cutie?

This is Lance's cousin Sarah. I think that Gracie was confused by the woman who looked sort of like her mom, but was clearly not her MOM. 

Budget Changes & a Miss Money Bags Cash Wallet Review

Realistically, a budget is a flexible, ever-changing beast. Much like a toddler :) Now that I'm working from home and not in your typical 8-5 job, our budget has evolved too.

If I'm being honest, when I was working outside the home, I had a tendency to "treat" myself to a breakfast sandwich (because it was $1.65 for a bacon, egg and cheese on a biscuit) or to a cup of soup during lunch because I deserved it. Having an in-house cafeteria at work was kind of my kryptonite.

Now that I'm home, our budget has shifted. We no longer have the daycare expense (hello - second mortgage) but I don't have my weekly income either. My in-house cafeteria is MY KITCHEN. Meaning if I want something, I'm the one buying the food and cooking it. Trust me, breakfast sandwiches are less alluring when you have to make them yourself.

Because I don't have regular workplace chatter about upcoming trips or weekend plans, I'm hearing less about the cool things other people are doing. Honestly, that's a pro and con to being a home. I miss the slightly inane workplace aisle chatter. I'm less connected to all the cool things going on outside of my inner circle. I'm missing out on things but much of the time I don't even know it.

And because I'm subsisting on a steady stream of tee shirts and target shorts, my fashion IQ has also decreased. I've tried to implement a fall capsule wardrobe but I really am not digging it. Said fall capsule wardrobe is squashing my inner creative shopping fun. That's a post for another day. But online shopping is always tempting as well as building up my graphic tee collection. Because I can legitimately wear cute graphic tees everyday and no one thinks it's inappropriate for a work from home mom.

But our household food consumption is up overall because I've become consciously aware of the fact that if I don't buy fruit and vegetables, Lucan won't be eating any. Yesterday I also bought him animal crackers because he "really, really needed them." Yet once we got home, the box went unopened in our overflowing pantry.

K-cup budget is up too. I need coffee. And creamer. I could tell you I miss work coffee but that's a big fat lie.

Weirdly, hand soap expense is up too. What is it about preschoolers and their incessant need for at least 3 pumps of soap? And like I've previously mentioned I've become a paper product nazi. Lu is only allowed one napkin per day, maybe two if we're having soup. I make him put his tissue in his pocket if I feel like there's room for more snot in it.

We eat a chick-fil-a a lot more. Mostly because they have a play area and I have lots of coupons. But overall I eat out less per week because eating out means that I'm taking Lucan out to eat too #nothankyou

And there's less Target wandering too because between dropping Lu off for preschool and trying eke out a morning nap, there's just no time for that.

Our healthcare expenses have evolved too now that Lance is carrying all of us on his plan. Yikes, insurance is not cheap. We're also trying to plan for taxes better too since I'm considered an independent contractor and don't have taxes being pulled out ahead of time. Lance is happy that the Traverse has gotten to stay parked in our garage too as he's been driving the LHS back and forth to work. That car never dies.

This month has been an expense doozie: we had to pay to have our furnace/air conditioner serviced (because overly hot Kara is a crabby Kara and as I've reminded Lance "happy wife, happy life") and now we need to replace a car tire (not my fault, first time ever!) Last month I convinced Lance to spring for an expensive tri-membership (Blank Park Zoo, Science Center, Living History Farms) so that was an expense too. Life is just full of expenses.

We are still doing a cash budget because it's good accountability. I'm loving the handmade, colorful cash envelope wallet from Becky at Miss Money Bags.

Love the bright happy colors which makes parting with my money so much easier (lie).

The large wooden button is really nice too. It's kind of a statement piece. 

And while it might be hard to see from my photos, the fabrics have gold threads interspersed through them. Super pretty.

Best of all it's functional and so much more practical then using ACTUAL paper envelopes. That just begs for me to lose them. It would be really hard to lose this handy cash wallet. Becky thought of everything here - there's slots for credit cards/business cards/ IDs as well as a zippered pouch for change. It's a one-stop cash wallet shop!

Sturdy and colorful. Each "envelope" has a spot to label which category you are spending out of. I highly suggest that if you are looking for a different way to store your hard-earned cash, you check out Becky's Miss Money Bags etsy store. So great! You can also connect with Becky on Instagram too!

I received my cash envelope in exchange for my review. Opinions are all my own. 

Gracelyn: 9 Month Update

A cuter baby never lived - said every mom. I know I felt the same way about Lucan, but I really do believe that my kids are exceptionally cute. Of course, I'm exceptionally biased. I know that if I only comment about how adorable Gracie is, I'll give her some sort of feminist complex about a woman's value only being in her appearance, but for now I'm going to go with it. My baby is adorable. 

Sleeping: Two naps and to bed around 7:30 PM every night. Naps can be a little sketchy, especially the morning nap because I try not to let our lives be dictated around nap schedules. Because we have a set "routine" on preschool mornings (Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri), I have to make sure that you sweet sister are up by 7:40ish to nurse and be out the door no later than 7:58 AM. As a result, most mornings you are ready for a nap by 9:30ish. This translates to a couple of errands in the morning before a quick nap, another nursing session and then back in the car to pick up Lu from preschool. Afternoon nap tends to be a bit longer, which is great because it ensures me some time to get a few things done while I pray for the golden unicorn - "two kids napping at the same time."

Eating: I'm still getting you up around 10:30PM to nurse once more even though month after month I say that I'm going to stop. Each grandma asks about that too. I know. But it's hard to feel like I should drop a nursing session when you are such a tiny peanut still!
We nurse around 5 times a day. Solid food is your friend. At 8 months we implemented a schedule of prunes every other day and it has greatly improved your digestive system. We typically feed you 6 ounces of food at lunch and anywhere between 6-8 ounces for supper again. I've done a mix of store bought food and homemade baby food, really whatever I have time for.
You aren't interested in feeding yourself. Period. I'm sure that some would say you are "lazy" but I'm just going to accept it and be fine. You'll feed yourself at some point. There is no baby-led weaning in this house.

Wearing: 9 month clothing and some 6 month stuff still. Baby girl has short legs so they don't seem to be outgrowing pants all the fast.

Milestones: No 9 month shots! Wohoo! But you do babble and you are starting to pivot, roll and do what we affectionately call the "butt wiggle." The butt wiggle entails you getting up on all fours and trying to unsuccessfully crawl. People ask me if you are starting to walk and I very promptly tell them NO! You are barely crawling. You also scoot - but only backwards. If that counts, then yes, you are crawling. When I change your diaper, you delight in being diaperless. You throw your legs into the air and kick, kick, kick. Lucan spazs out when you roll around on your changing pad and he thinks you are going to fall off. Thumb sucking seems to be dissipating a bit. I like to think it's because I'm there for you and as a result, you don't have to self-soothe as much because you aren't at daycare. This could be wishful thinking, but I'm going with it. You very much love your tag blanket I made for Lu - it's your lovie.

Social: Some mom anxiety. I've started dropping you off at the nursery for Bible Study and surprisingly, you do very well. You spend a lot of time looking at the other babies and being very watchful and observant. I just think that might be your personality. You are quite ticklish so if someone does fish nibbles on your back or anywhere really, you giggle madly. Baby giggles are simply the best. They really are.

Physical: Your peach-fuzz hair is growing longer. Not really thicker, I'm being truthful with myself, but definitely longer. I can really tell this around your ears after I've taken one of your headbands off. It's all flat and wonky.
No teeth.

Height: 2 ft, 2.25 inches (6th% percentile)
Weight: 16 lb, 1 oz. (14th% percentile)
Head: 44 cm (51st% percentile)

Fascinated by her Bannor Toys Tree Rattle. 

Standard solemn expression.

Little smiles :)