Twelve Dancing Princesses

Playtime means being everywhere at once, nowadays! These are a few pictures of that madness...including the napkins I'm using as inspiration for her birthday (she got ahold of one and tried to take off with it) and one of my absolute favorite books as a child. I always loved the beautiful pictures, a little dark and very intricate...a major boost to my already rampant imagination and I hope to share all manner of imaginative adventures, literary and otherwise, with my smart-as-a-whip, energetic little(though increasingly growing) bundle of so, SO much joy.

<3 Katie

1st Birthday Planning

I can hardly believe that in March it will be a year since i popped her out of me! She's already huge, and all over the place and so crazy smart! It's hard to remember how tiny and quiet she used to be (and lighter and portable) and even harder to imagine how much bigger and smarter she's going to get very soon. Walking is fast approaching, as is talking (she already seems to understand and mimic a lot) which are both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

If you have seen my pinterest, then you probably are aware of my party planning obsession. I have yet to actually, totally plan a party (besides my own wedding), but I'm just itching to. Much like my wedding, Adeline's first birthday (and, I'm sure, subsequent birthdays) I plan on crafting from scratch. I've even begun some of the many, grand projects I have planned. Coming up with the theme was the hardest bit, not wanting to "waste" a fun kid theme on a baby who won't remember but still wanting it to be wonderful and imaginative and exciting for everyone else attending. As children, my brothers and I had a lot of memorable parties that my parents pulled off (I have awesome parents, just FYI), most notably (to me) my "cowboys and indians" party in the park with a giant teepee and my youngest brother's pirate party for which my father screen-printed pirate flags for each individual child. Parties like that were such a quintessential part of my childhood... and I want that for my children! So I started out thinking I'd do a "You are my Sunshine" theme, but now that seems entirely too simplistic for my daughter's personality and I didn't want to limit it too much. I also toyed with maybe doing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or  "On the Good Ship Lollipop", but those ideas didn't make it very far. So it morphed into a woodsy/bear/forest animals theme....I want to somehow fuse together woodgrain, black and white gingham, gold, and keep it colorful at the same time. I have these really cute hungry bear napkins that I found in Mackinaw City, of all places, that gave me the idea. I have four cakestands (and obviously another obsession) in various sizes and heights, as well as some gold chargers I plan on using as food trays, one even has a woodgrain pattern. There's a gold-painted faux-wood mirror, that will either be a tray or just decor, some gold tissue paper fringe tassels ready and waiting, and a giant cardboard 'A', all elements that will be put to some use. I also have my brother enlisted to create a fun little A-frame tent for the little ones to play in and I've been working on custom coloring sheets as well. All in all, the pieces are falling into place.

<3 Katie

Munchie & Mama on a Monday

Yelling contests, snuggles, sipping tea from a giant "mug"(actually a chili bowl with handle made for me by my papa) while she snores nearby...have I mentioned recently how much I love being a mommy?

<3 Katie

Happy New Year!

At first I felt as though, after seeing the barrage of facebook posts, making a definitive resolution would be a bit...what's the word I'm looking for? Overkill? Cliche? I'll just go with silly... especially seeing that I rarely have in the past. Really, though, setting goals is good (or so I've read). So here are a few of mine for 2013: obviously I'm going to continue being the best mother I can be, prayerfully and optimistically, I plan on finishing all of my little projects in the works (I already knocked out a few just today!) and I hope to be involved in many more creative endeavors in the coming year, and, finally, I'm making a goal to continue to pursue Christ more faithfully, and, particularly, I would like to keep praying more specifically (This was a bit of an 'AHA' moment, and so far my more 'specified' prayers have been answered very obviously, a topic I may or may not go into more detail about in the future). 

So, no weight loss/exercise/adventurous resolutions for this little mama...but, anyway, on the topic of crafty goals completed, today I worked diligently(for a few hours anyway) on finishing a few projects for Adeline's nursery...mainly arranging things and completing a found-object art piece for her room. All of this was, of course, made easier by Matt having the day off. Here are a few shots of the room in-progress.  

I suppose I should make a goal to finish her room before she is really able to make use of it, huh? 

All in all, this has been the very best year of my life! Getting to be a mommy is the greatest job in the world! I can't wait to celebrate her first birthday in March! Exclamation point! :)

A very happy new year to everyone!

<3 Katie