SHE'S TWO!!!

My baby turned 2 today. There are times it seems like it has flown by and other times it seems it hasn't! I think Lauren is a wonderful 2 year old. She is my "wild" child, but deep down she is a sweetheart. Tonight she had a wonderful Miss Spider Sunny Patch Party. (I will have lots of pictures to post soon!) She loved her party and all her friends! I think she had a great day.
So she will have her Dr. appointment next week for the specifics, but here are the things that you probably really would want to know:

1. I have heard her count to 13, but others have heard higher
2. She is speaking pretty clearly with some phrases, such as "I love you", "Night, night, mommy", "More juice (milk), please", "Your welcome", "Thank you", (she is very polite) "My turn", etc...
3. She eats well with a spoon/fork and can drink out of a small regular cup
4. Her favorite food is "roni and cheese" (macaroni & cheese) She also likes applesauce, bananas, grilled cheese, garlic bread, spaghetti, Life cereal, waffles, and ice cream!
5. Her favorite show IS the Fresh Beat Band (I must admit, I sort of like it too) She also likes Barney and Sesame Street
6. She likes to do gymnastics with her sister in the living room. She does the cutest little "bridge"
7. She LOVES the Little Gym and likes to swing on the bars
8. She also LOVES her daycare and likes her music class
9. Her best friend is Addison
10. She loves to read books, play with balls, dance, and paint
11. She also likes to NOT sleep at night, but at this point I have almost gotten used to it.
12. She is still potty training and is getting better all the time
13. She is such a doll at age 2 and we are very fortunate.

I remember the day she was born very well. Her birth was soooo much easier than Sarah's was and I remember it stormed that night. (We are expecting storms tonight, too) Lauren was such a sweet baby when she was born. Precious and so beautiful. Happy Birthday my love!

Award

So this is a relatively new concept for me....getting an award for my little journal I like to call my blog! My friend Holly over at 504 Main was very nice to send me a little award the other day. Thank you , thank you! Holly is one of my friends and fellow wedding colleague from LA. She no longer lives in the LA area, but is the author to many wedding books and a fabulous wedding coordinator! She also has another blog all about weddings. Please check this one out Hip Weddings, too! Holly was the first person to give me an opportunity in the wedding business and the one that hooked me up with my first wedding related job. I owe a lot to her for showing me the ropes and believing in me when I had no wedding experience. Having done my own wedding by myself counts for something, but we all know that just because you plan your own, does not make you the next Martha Stewart or Colin Cowie (even though we think we are!) So Holly was great at giving me opportunity and teaching me a lot. We had lots of fun back in the day doing weddings in LA!

So anyway.....back to the award. I have been bestowed with the Friend Award.

The rules to this award are:

*This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming.

*These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.

*They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.

*Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. *Please give more attention to these writers.

*Deliver this award to other bloggers who must choose others to pass it on to and include this *Cleverly-written* text into the body of their award.

So I have chosen to pass this award along to a couple of my other blogging friends.

Jenny - The Blah Blah Blahger - I have chosen her because I think she has an awesome blog with lots of great postings on many different great topics. I know that her blog is something she is passionate about and I just want to support her.

Ryan - America's Bridget Jones - I have chosen Ryan because I think her blog is unique and tons of fun to read. Her take on certain topics is just hilarious and generally spot on.

Both of these ladies were fellow AXO's with me in college and I have enjoyed their blogs very much! Congrats!

Really, the best award I can have, though, is just to know that people enjoy reading what I have to say. So please sign up as a follower and thanks for the support!

Nina's Bridal Shower

Last weekend was a weekend of hosting parties! On Saturday the 26th, I hosted at my house a kitchen themed bridal shower for my future sister in-law. The theme was a fun idea that one of the other hostesses cam up with. We basically included a recipe card in with the invite. Guests were asked to include a recipe along with the gift that could be used in that recipe. It made for a cute twist on the gift giving and she walked away with a box of all new recipes to try with her new cookware! I played off the kitchen theme by putting together centerpieces that were kitchen canisters that said "flour", "sugar", "coffee", and "tea". I then gave out little thank you gifts that were measuring spoons that had the "recipe for a happy marriage" written on them. Along with the kitchen theme, I played off the pink and brown colors in the invitations for my decor and food. It was a very successful shower. We had about 18 guests and they all had a great time and enjoyed the Italian sparkling wine! Here are the pics and the details!

The Hostesses

White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

The Details:
Theme: Kitchen with Pink & Brown colors
Food: Fresh Fruit with poppy seed sauce, spinach Parmesan dip, strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette, finger sandwiches (pimento cheese, turkey & Havarti cheese, ham & Swiss)
Cake: White Chocolate Raspberry from Nothing Bundt Cakes
Drinks: Pink Lemonade, Iced Tea, Italian sparkling wine with raspberries

Happy Birthday to my Charlie!

Today is my hubby's 40th birthday! I can't even believe that! I was successful at throwing a surprise party for him on Monday night at our house, so we have kinda sort of already celebrated! The party theme was "Prehistoric". I got the idea from another blog that I read, Jackaroo Love. I cannot take full credit for the theme idea, but I did play off of it a little different! It was a perfect theme for him since I am always kidding with him about his age. (We are 7 years apart!) Anyways...before I get to the party details...I just want to say that I love this man and he is the greatest husband, father, son, brother, best friend, anyone could have! He IS my life and I am so thankful that I met him 13 years ago this November!

Here he is...the love of my life.....


Now onto the party details....I decided to throw his party on Monday, mainly so all his buddies could attend that work on the weekend. Charlie works out of town on the weekend, for those of you that don't know, so a Friday or Saturday was out of the question from the get go. So his surprise party was the first and last surprise party I will ever throw! It was so hard keeping it under wraps and so much work to get him out of the house and to stay out of the house! It was by sheer miracle that it worked out perfect! We had about 18 people come and even one of his friends from LA made the trip! I would have hoped more of his CA work buddies could have come, but they sent great videos with birthday wishes and "roasts", that it was hilarious entertainment: entertainment that took place at half time of the Cowboys game. I had no idea when I planned the party that the Cowboys would be playing that night, but it worked out great b/c my hubby LOVES the Cowboys and thankfully they won, so all was right with the world!

Here are the pics:





The favors and cake: Boston Cream Pie

The favor for the night was a wine cork with a fern on the top. The label read...Don't "wine" about turning 40, but a cork in it"


Charlie with his buddies Wayne, Richard, and Wade.

Charlie's family: Rob, Nina, Jack, Jetta, Chad, and Mark

My family: Randi, Taylor, Jim(my dad), and Myrtle

Charlie and his brother, Rob


Me with the birthday boy!

Details:
Theme: Prehistoric, but not extinct!
Food: Blue Mesa Grill
Crab cakes, steak quesadillas, bacon wrapped shrimp, pork taquitos, guacamole, chips & salsa
Cake: Boston Cream Pie (his favorite)
Drinks: Beer, wine, sodas, and his signature drink: Jack and Coke

Be back blogging soon...

I am currently in the midst of planning 3 parties at my house in the next 2 weeks, so my blog postings have been almost non-existent. Once I get through these parties, I will have lots to post and will get back on track! What is on the party planning menu you might ask? Pink/Brown inspired kitchen bridal shower, my hubby's surprise 40th b-day party (yes, he never reads my blog, so he won't see this!) It is a prehistoric theme, then my Lauren's Miss Spider Sunny Patch 2nd birthday party!

Well gotta go...

Susan and the Rain

It has been raining nonstop (not kidding) since Friday evening here in the Dallas area. Having to keep kids entertained at home for an entire weekend reminds me of this book that my mom would read to me when I was little. It was written in 1947 and I still have this book. It is called 'Susan and the Rain'.


It is about a young girl who plans to spend her day out at the farm doing things outside. When it rains, she turns very sad, until she receives a package in the mail with the cutest little plaid raincoat and umbrella set. Complete with rain boots. She ends up loving being able to go outside and enjoy the rain.

I attribute the fact that I LOVE rainy days to my love of this book growing up!

JJ's fun Giveaway

Hey all 5 of my readers!!! My friend JJ who has a great blog has just posted a giveaway in honor of her 1st 100 followers. GO HERE TO CHECK IT OUT! Also..spend some time checking out her awesome blog and photography website!

Congrats to her on her 100+ followers. I aspire to have that many followers one day!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

We had a pretty laid back Labor Day weekend this year. Charlie was home, which was nice for a change. We spent Saturday taking advantage of some sales and purchased a new washer/dryer! I am so excited to get them on Thursday! Then on Sunday, we took the girls to breakfast and then had Charlie's family over for BBQ and swimming that afternoon. The girls had fun swimming and showing off their gymnastic talents! It was non-stop forward rolls and cartwheels for about a half and hour! The adults enjoyed a little drinking, a lot of eating, and a little corn hole. It was a pretty typical holiday for us. FUN!