One Year Check Up and Birthday Party!

Today we went to Korbyn’s 1-year check-up. He is now 21.8lbs and 30 1/4 inches tall. Oh and we are also going to see an allergist because we are pretty sure he is allergic to eggs but just need to know for sure how severe it may be.

Here he is waiting to go back to the room.

Okay now onto big birthday party! I have to say I had been planning and doing stuff for his party since about Easter. When I first started thinking of his party I wanted to do a Cat In the Hat theme. I had found so many ideas on Pinterest. However, all those wonderful ideas overwhelmed me quite a bit. So instead I just went with a color theme: Teal blue and Orange. It was perfect! I still got lots of ideas off of pinterest. Two of the main blogs I went to are here and here. They both were cute.

This party was a very big DIY party for me. I made most of all the decorations including the wreath; banner; decorated the cupcake stand, and the party hats.

The instructions on how to do the banner can be found here.

The wind was blowing which made for a nice day but terrible for keeping things pretty.

The scrap fabric wreath I made. LOVE it. It turned out perfect. I think I will hang it in his room.

The birthday hats. Instructions on how to do these can be found here.

My sweet niece Bella

Laiken, Kirsten, & Jayci in their party hats. And I’m pretty sure that is Brayden but it could be Brody. They are twins and I can never tell them apart. I just know they are super cute boys!

The cake and cupcakes were made by my sister, Carrie. She does an excellent job and puts up with my neurotic issues on how it has to be perfect. Oh and she also made it without eggs since we think he could be allergic.

The cake-pops were made by Custom Cakes & Creations. You can find their facebook page here. Let me just go ahead and take a minute to talk about their excellent customer service. Y’all last week was so crazy with softball, dance, and birthday party stuff that I completely forgot to order the cake-pops. I went into the store Friday and asked if they could do these for me. The friend of the owners that was helping her said they could do something but wouldn’t be what I wanted. Well, I said thanks anyway but that’s okay. I called back about an hour later and asked if they could do something different and the answer was still no. Well, Cyndee the owner called me right back and talked to me and I’m sure noticed I was totally desperate and said she could do them but they would be all white with the colored swirls. Okay I said and was thrilled. Then I went to pick them up and they were PERFECT. I was so happy with them. Cyndee was so excellent to work with!!

Thanks to my husband who painted my once red bucket white so it would match the party! We served orange crush and water.

I did not get a lot of pictures of our party guests. I’m really bad at that but I just get busy with everything else.

Present time. He received some very nice toys and clothes!

Cake time! That is the hat that I made for him also. I’m surprised he kept it on but once he got his cake that was all that he was worried about!

Finally, Mommy and Daddy with the birthday boy. Sister, Jayci, was off running around somewhere…We had such a fun time at his little party. It was quick and to the point. I was so happy to do a lot of his stuff myself because it just made it more special. I am not very creative but I am resourceful enough to find out how to do things.

We thank all of our friends and family on coming out to help us celebrate our big boy turning ONE! I can’t believe it went by SO fast!

~ Kristen

Dance Party 2012

Whew…y’all I just have to say this past week was so busy. We had something every night this week. But this post is specifically about Jayci’s dance recital this year.

This years theme was Dance Party. It was very fun with lots of fun music and dances. Rehearsal was Thursday night and we had to be there at 4 and did not leave until right at 9. I know it’s crazy ridiculous but we do it anyway.

In fact, I was not going to preregister Jayci up for dance because I just wasn’t sure how much she was enjoying it. But after watching her at recital and seeing her in those sweet little costumes I couldn’t resist.

Anyway, she and all of her classmates did such a good job. They were beautiful ballerinas!

First we started out recital night by having Mrs. J put Jayci’s hair in a bun. I possibly could have done this myself but I really didn’t want to fight with her and it end in a bad night.

The perfect ballerina bun.

My sweet boys watching Jayci get her hair done.

Some of the beautiful cakewalk ballerinas before recital in the dressing room.

Jayci and her friend, L. They are so cute and funny together with all their posing.

My beautiful ballerina before recital.

One of my favorite things about recital is the before hand. When all the girls are backstage getting ready. Especially at this age they just love looking at themselves in the mirror in all their pretty costumes and glamour.

However, they are still little girls that love to play and have a fun time. Here they are playing ring-around-the-rosie. I will have to say they are perfectly trained ballerinas because when it was time to “all fall down” none of them did. They knew better in their pretty white costumes. HA!

My sweet girl and I

The stage…At the end of the dance some of the girls got on the cake and danced. It was very cute!

My ballerina and her flowers for doing so good in her performance.

I have decided next year we will take a family picture before recital. Because by the time it’s over I am a hot sweaty mess.

And just for fun here is a picture from last year. Korbyn was just a week old in this picture. My how we have all changed in the last year.

Later this week I will do a post on Korbyn’s birthday party. We had such a fun time. But for now I think I am going to bed.

~ Kristen

Dear Korbyn,

   You are now 1-year-old as of yesterday. I can not believe how fast this year has gone by and how much you have grown. From the first time I even learned that you were growing inside of me my heart started growing. And then I held you in my arms and I never knew how much love my heart could hold.

Someone once told me, “Love multiplies, not divides.” I completely agree with this. My love for you and your sister is more than I could ever describe to anyone.

You are the sweetest baby boy I have ever been around. Now I know I am a little partial but it’s still the truth. The only time you are not happy is when you are hungry. And even then if we give you a little snack you just go back to your chill baby self.

It is so fun watching you and your sister, Jayci, starting to play and have a relationship. She love you so much and tries to be a little mommy to you all the time. Sometimes you let her other times you fuss at her. But when she comes home from school or has been away for some time your face lights up. You love to crawl all over her and she will just let you do whatever.

I think that you know that you are supposed to be being a bigger boy now because today you started walking like crazy. You have been taking several steps at a time for about month now. But today you have started being fearless and walking everywhere. I love you being my baby but it is so fun watching you grow and learn new things!

You can say several words such as; momma, dada, bye-bye, hi, dog, and five (as in high five). One funny thing that you do is that your bye-bye wave and your hi wave is a little different.

You are still nursing some during the day and before bed but you are good about drinking milk or water from a cup as well. If someone would have asked me when you were just a few weeks old if I would still be nursing at a year I probably would have said no. But we have conquered lots of obstacles and will continue until we both decide it’s time.

Korby you have brightened our world so much since your arrival. I am so glad God made me your mommy.

~Kristen

Just me…

Hi! I’m Kristen and I write this blog. I am linking up today with Kelly’s Korner.

A little about me:

• I am a wife to a wonderful husband, Jay. Seriously, God could not have chosen a better man for me.

 

• I am a mother to a beautiful 6-year-old daughter and the cutest almost 1-year-old.

• I live in central Arkansas and am a pediatric nurse. I love my job and my patients.

Okay well that is just a few facts about me and my life.

~Kristen

Florida 2012

A couple of weeks ago we ventured out on a 14 hour road trip, both kids in tow, headed to Florida. Our first stop was to see my mom and her boyfriend then from there we would travel to Orlando.

The kids did excellent on the trip both to and from Florida. I was pleasantly surprised!

I’m going to stop right here and say this post is probably going to be mainly photos.

This was Jayci’s snack container (thank you Pinterest). Once it was gone she didn’t get anymore until we stopped for the day. I really thought she would eat it all fast but she made it last.

We spent a day and a half at Magic Kingdom and it was a lot of fun. Wednesday was not nearly as crowded as Thursday was. The crowd plus the fact that it was about to storm we decided to leave early and just go hang out at the hotel. *Pictures from Disney!

Jayci & Korbyn before we left for day 1.

Jayci & Korbyn with my mom, their Mimi.

The Castle from the ferry. We stayed off site so it was a heck of a time getting to the actual park.Just the Girls.The very first ride we did were the teacups and they were so much fun.I mean just look at that sweet face. She just looks so happy. This face made everything totally worth it!

Even Korbyn got in on a little ride action!My mom and Jayci waiting on the fireworks to start.

Jay and Jayci waiting on them to start. I had a picture with Korbyn and I but I am a hot mess so I dare not share that!

OH the Characters you will meet!!!

I think the picture with Chip and Dale is funny because Jayci has no clue who they are. She thought they were part of the Alvin and the Chipmunk gang…ha!

Jayci with all the princess. I just adore the middle picture of her and Cinderella! Melts my heart every time I look at it.

We also went to dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack. It is my favorite place to go if there is one around.

My silly husband at Joe’s.

On Friday, Jay, the kids, and I stopped at downtown Disney. That was a fun little place. It had lots of shops and restaurants. We ate at this place called the T-Rex. It was very cool and had dinosaurs all around The kids LOVED it. Even Korbyn liked watching the dinosaurs.

Of course I left my big camera in the car so this is on my phone. But this was a HUGE fish tank inside the restaurant.

Jayci with Lego Woody in the Lego store at Downtown Disney. It simply amazes me how they build these things out of legos.

Saturday we spent the day just hanging by the pool and just relaxing because we would be driving home on Sunday and Monday. It was a nice little trip. It went by a little to quick and felt like a lot of driving but it was fun and the kids had a great time! Well, I know Jayci enjoyed it anyway. Korbyn is just along for the ride.

Just a few pictures of Korby inching his way right into the pool. He loved the water. We had to make sure we stayed by him the whole time he was outside!

Overall, we had a very good trip that won’t be forgotten. We made lots of special memories that will last a life time.

~Kristen

Just a post about being Jayci’s mom

I had wrote this post in the beginning thinking I would link up to Kelly’s Korner. I had misread her title and her Show Us Your Life is all about being a mom to ALL girls, which I am not. Anyway, I wrote the post and I don’t want to delete it so I won’t link up but I will still post it!

Being a mother of a girl is something more than I could ever explain. It is challenging, chaos, and drama but it is also rewarding.

It is a challenge because Jayci is so strong-willed but rewarding because I wouldn’t have it any other way. I know as she gets older I will want her to be strong-willed and independent. However, as she grows sometimes I just want to pull her back to being my little girl where she needs me more than anything. This in-between stage has been difficult for us. Me letting her go and her trying to pull away and become a young lady.

Onto some more fun things about having a girl….Barbie dolls, tutus, pink and purple (anything), and now softball! I always have someone to go shopping or get mani/pedi’s with. She loves having girl days! In fact I think it is time to have one sometime soon!!

Oh and our newest adventure is doing different hair styles. I remember when it was just a small pony tail on top of her head. Here she is in her second birthday pictures.

And here she is now at 6 and all that hair. She doesn’t love for me to style it differently but every now and then I catch her on a good day and she will let me experiment.

I love watching her become a big sister. She is old enough where it is a joy to watch them. There is very little jealousy and she just loves Korbyn. Today she got him out of his crib though and I about had a stroke! She like to try and be mommy except when it comes to diaper changing…

This beautiful girl changed my life more ways than I could ever imagine. She came at the perfect time in my life. God knew what he was doing. She made me grow up and become a mother. There are always things I would do differently but I would never want to change anything about Jayci Leigh.

~Kristen