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Our Notebook

  So, like many out there, one of my favorite movies is, The Notebook.  The best part for me is how the love story is kept in an innocent journal.  That, along with being ever so influenced by my Amazing sister in law, Dawn Casas, who also blogs, (check her out on  http://flylittlebirds.blogspot.com/ ,it is super sensational!),  I began to keep a journal for my daughter. In this journal, I write a letter on her birthday detailing all that has become of the past year (sticky notes and my notes app have become my bff's), so far there are only two letters :)  This second birthday, however, I couldn't stop writing.  There was so much she accomplished, and overcame.  As a consequence, I discovered that this is helping me truly acknowledge, enjoy, and give thanks daily for the admirable and awe-inspiring individual she is growing up to be.  I have not yet decided when I will give this book to my daughter.  It may be on her 18th birthday, when she goes away to college, when she gets married, I don't know.  What I  do know is that those days will be here sooner rather than later.

A Mommy Worries...

 This year we took an out of the country vacation to Oaxaca, Mexico.  Being that my daughter was only twenty-two months old, and never been out of the country,  I, by nature, began to worry.  How will she deal with the flight? Will the elevation affect her?  What will she do on a plane for five hours? Will she tolerate the food?  What if she gets sick there?  Will she miss her bed?  Should I bring diapers or buy them there?  But what if she gets a rash? And on, and on, and on.  So, naturally, I overpacked, brought our whole house and then some, and paid a hefty $300.00 extra baggage.  Not exactly a smart traveler.  But in my defense it was our first time, and I was not going to take any chances.  We were flying 3,000 miles away after all.
 Following great advice from my close friend (thanks G!), my overpacking and tons of prayer, we made it.  My friend recommended that we have coloring books and other activities for the plane ride, and also that we have a drink ready for takeoff and landing (this would reduce the chance of ears plugging).  Worked like a charm.  It also helped that we booked the red eye and my daughter slept the whole way there (and the plane ride back home too!).  She had an amazing time bonding with her extended family, which she was meeting for the first time!

Boarding line smiles :)

Boarding the Plane at 1:00 a.m.

 Our seats were the last row on the plane which was perfect, and close to the restroom :)

 Last day fun day at the ranch, with all the cousins :)

Sugar & Spice & Everything ... Dinosaur

As much as I know that my toddler will go through stages, this one really threw me for a loop.  She has developed a focused attraction toward dinosaurs.  Here I thought, my sweet little girl, whom I have inundated with pink, frill, dolls and everything princess, has begun to take a stand on her own excitement.  So, being the ever respectful parents that we are making our best effort to be (and boy is it tough) we have let it be...
This past summer we vacationed in Palm Springs for a few days and on the way home we made a stop at the Dinosaur Museum in Cabazon.

 Needless to say, this was the highlight of our trip.

 Contrary to what the picture shows, we really weren't trying to give her away.  ;)

 The museum was great, the temperature not so much but like that really matters to a two year old!
Check them out when in the area cabazondinosaurs.com/

And of course we needed a bedtime story.

Two Early for Thanks?

For a while now, I've had my daughter write her own thank you cards (with my translation included as well).  Being grateful is important to learn at a young age.

 And it is super precious as well...

Tutus & Ties 2nd Birthday

This whole blog idea seemed like a good one, but it sure takes discipline to keep it up.  My first and last post was eight months ago! Not exactly what I had in mind.  Here I am now, and hard to believe, posting about my little girl's second birthday.  This birthday party planning was not as intense as the first.  With a much smaller budget and less planning time here is how my ideas came together...
I personally like the idea of themes for a birthday party.  After much deliberating my good friend Geneva gave me the idea of a tutu party since my baby was turning 2.  Genius!  The color scheme was bright pink and bright green with white polka dots.

The birthday banner... I love making these :)

The cake table and goddie bags.

The tissue paper flowers were fun to make and quite easy. 

This is an idea I found on pintrest.

For the center pieces (another idea from Geneva)
I found these flower pots at our local 99¢ store.
I added the ribbons and the silk flower pens.
The pens were made by a friends mom.
These also served as favors for guests to take home.

The birthday cake had an individual piece
and cupcakes all around.
A big thank you to Lupe for this awesome
and delicious cake from Sams club.

Games included dance freeze, musical chairs,
water ballon toss and pin the tie on my uncle.
Making the poster board and ties to stick on was fun.

After the water ballon toss the boys got a tie t-shirt
and the girls got their tutus.  My husband made the
t-shirts with fabric paint and I made the tutus.

The birthday top had my daughter's name and the number 2.

A pink tutu and pink sparkle tiny toms finish the look. :)

It is astonishing how fast time has gone by.  Planning for my baby girl since day one has been so wonderful even therapeutic as crazy as that sounds.  There is something magical about being into details :) Especially when it's for a loved one.  Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed :)

Come and gONE....

I knew from the beginning that when I had the opportunity to plan my child's first birthday, I was going to plan!  The idea of ladybugs came to mind thanks to my amazing sister who calls me ladybug.  She says that although a lady I sure can bug! I had ten months of planning this ladybug first birthday and I had a blast every minute of it.  And, sure enough as I knew it would happen, it was Come and gONE before I knew it...
Here is my little ladybug's 1st birthday... enjoy :)

I bought these invites at Target and added the ribbon and mini ladybug stamp (from etsy.com)

Center pieces were formula cans that I saved.  I spray painted them, added ribbon (ladybug ribbon was purchased at Costco) and fresh flowers.  I placed green water foam in the cans to help the flowers stay fresh longer.  These also served as favors for guests to take home...

 The final set up before guests arrived.....

Setting up was a lot of fun and work! A big thank you to my nephew Brandon who did all of the balloon  work...

This was one of the food tables.  I found these food tents at our local swap meet and added the felt ladybugs around them...

The banner was one of my favorite projects.  I incorporated the polka dots and the red, black and white color scheme.  If you look closely, the stamp I used for the invites, was also used on the banner. 

I made this board with some of my daughter's first.  Guests really enjoyed looking through all the pictures...

This was my daughter's seating area.  Her portrait was a hit...

This is a close up of her high chair.  I had left over tule and felt ladybugs and at the last minute thought about decorating her chair...

The goodie bags were sown together by my husband.  We had black for boys and red for girls.  Theses were also a hit because the bags are reusable!

For our outfits, my daughter had an embroidered onesie (made by a co-worker) with her name, a number 1 and ladybugs, her tutu and we all wore red Toms.  I had a ladybug shirt made for myself and another for my husband that had a ladybug picture and said, "Real Men Love Ladybugs" these were made by my husbands co-worker.

Daddy's girl....

The two tiered cake was surrounded with flowers and ladybugs.  It was delicious.  I purchased this at Sing Long Bakery in Santa Ana, Ca.

One of the entertainment activities was pony rides... nothing to do with ladybugs, but the kids had so much fun...

I hope you enjoyed. It was such an amazing journey to plan and couldn't believe how quickly it had come and gONE.