Baby

It is absolutely unbelievable to me that Elizabeth will be 2 in just a couple of weeks. My heart actually hurts and flutters if I think about it too much. Two years already. I feel like I just brought her home from the hospital.

And then, I feel like I just had her 1st birthday party last week. Has it really already been another year? No way. Time is flying by WAY too fast, and as much as I soak up every second of every day with her, it still takes my breath away.

As we prepare for her 2nd birthday party, I thought I’d better finally show pictures from her 1st party. It seriously feels like it was just last week, so I’m sorry I’m just sharing them with you!

We had a polka dot cupcake theme! She was really still too little to care, but I sure thought it was cute. As a little word of caution, these were my preblogging days, so the pictures aren’t great.

Her birthday was on a Thursday so I of course had to make her cupcakes for her actual birthday! This was her first ever taste of cake! Needless to say, she loved it! My niece and nephew helped me make them!

After we got her cleaned up, we let her see the present from us! It was a dollhouse from my Mama’s that I refinished! To this day, she LOVES it! And I love that Mama had a little part of it!

I made her invites and all of the labels. Saved a ton of money doing it myself.

Here are some of the treats! Icecream cups (so much easier than scooping), chocolate cake pops, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with my top secret frosting!

the birthday girl emerging from her nap and getting dressed to see it all for the first time! I put a clothes line of pictures from her first year on the back wall, and made the pompoms from tissue paper.

I designed all of the labels and cupcake toppers in Microsoft Word and just printed them on cardstock (same for invitations).

She wasn’t so sure about her smash cake!

We served pizzas on the back deck that was also decorated, so that the kids could play in the yard. We had little pools and play stations set up for them to run around and play on out back. But apparently, I didn’t get any pictures of that!

LOVE my girl! Cannot believe she’s already 1 and almost 2.

Her outfit came from this Etsy shop whom I LOVE! We’ve ordered several things from her!

I love you, Elizabeth! It is sooo hard for Mommy to believe that you’re another year older already. You are definitely the most incredible gift God could have ever blessed us with. You are amazing and smart and sososo beautiful! You have your BB’s eyes, my stubbornness, and your Daddy’s persistence so we all know you will do BIG things. It has been pure joy, the past 2 years. I wouldn’t trade a second of the time with you for anything in the world. I hope that one day you know how much I love you, Bean. You are my sunshine for sure!

Since Mini is 1 now, I thought I’d do a recollection of things that I would not have wanted to do without with her, or when she becomes a possible big sister.

Here’s a compilation of things that she and I both loved!

*Comfort & Harmony Bouncer – she didn’t so much love the bouncer itself, because quiet frankly I couldn’t sit her down for more than 15 minutes at a time when she was still li’l enough to stay in it. (Keep in mind that she was mobile and crawling at 5.5 month). However, she LOVED the vibrator that was removable. I had to tuck it under her swaddled feet and later against her side until she was probably 9 months old, and even now, sometimes to put her back to sleep I’ll cut it on.

BaaBaa Sheep – was definitely a favorite of hers! She loved this toy! And still does! It was definitely her favorite for a good while. And then we lost it, and had to wait to order a new one… It was quiet dramatic.

Rock & Play Sleeper – I loved this! It was small enough to travel with (remember, we made a 16 hour road trip, and took her to church camp when she was 3 months), move from room to room, and it folded up so easy! It was the perfect size for her li’l immobile body, and I’m sure it’s size was comforting unlike a big overwhelming crib/pack&play. It allowed her to sleep right beside me until she was 4 months old when she started turning over more and generally outgrew it. They have it in several colors now, but only had it in the fun yellow polka dots (which I happen to like) when she was born. It also comes with a cute li’l toy/rattle.

here you can see the vibrator mentioned above. She was only 9 days old here! Sorry it’s blurry.

Vacuum Noise – Seriously, do not think I’m crazy because I have many witnesses that can testify to the glory of this awesome iPhone app! Anytime El was super fussy and I couldn’t soothe her, I would cut the vacuum noise on and she would immediately calm down and quit crying. I don’t know why or how it works, but it does. I discovered it by reading lots of suggestions online for cutting the vacuum on for baby, or recording your vacuum to save it’s life. I would put my phone on airplane mode (you know because of the studies linking cell phone usage to brain cancer, I didn’t want to chance her li’l developing noggin’) and sleep with it tucked in her li’l cradle all night. Andrew didn’t think we’d ever get a quiet nights sleep without either her crying or the rumble of a vacuum. I used it in the car too on many occasions!

Video Baby Monitor – I still use this. In fact, I just got a back up one because my original (bought used) has started getting hard to charge. But, I love it! I love being able to see her, and also love it’s mobility. Some video monitors aren’t portable, but hers is very portable. We always take it with us when we travel, and it allows me to be outside or even working in the garage without worry while she sleeps.

Cradle / Swing – We were blessed with 3 different swings (all from our great friend & dentist along with a walker, a jumparoo, and other goodies), but this was definitely the favorite! It has 3 different positions and several different song/noises to choose from. She loved the side to side motion. Some nights it was all I could do to put her in that and allow it to rock her to sleep while I soaked up some much needed sleep myself. Again, she didn’t want to be anywhere but my arms during the day for more than 15 minutes, but sometimes this gave me a few more minutes.

Fuzzy Blankies – Bean LOVES her blankies! We have 4 of these (different colors of course, in fact you can see them in most pictures above). These were perfect for swaddling her with as a newborn, and we’ve always covered her with one since. She is very attached to a crocheted blanket my bestie made, but we always cover her with this at night too. And now, she insists on having all 4 of these pulled out along with her favorite and the 2 backup crocheted blankies! This girl is a blankie fool! So at any given time, there are 7 blankets strewn around my house! Usually in one big pile or being dragged around by her…

bottles – I nursed her exclusively for a good bit, and had to start supplementing when she was 4 weeks old. Even with my strong pursuit & desire to only breastfeed, my milk supply never agreed. I used these bottles, and I don’t know if she just wasn’t a gassy baby, or if the bottles really work, but she never (or not that I remember in the fog of Mommy brain) was colicy or gassy using these.

Sippy cup clip – I use these so often! To keep her from throwing it in the car, or throwing out of the shopping cart or stroller! Keeps them within her reach and off the yucky ground!

organic puffs & organic yogurt melts – these were some of her first “finger foods” and snacks she still love! I didn’t have to worry too much about the sugar content and other fillers/nutrients in other puffs & melts having these! They also make gluten free puffs! But these are kale, spinach, and greens!

Busy Toy – She use to love this during tummy time, it was definitely a favorite, if not the favorite toy. Once she started using her hands, she would spin the li’l balls and things all around! Now, she carries it around like a gigantic rattler and bangs it on stuff. Ha.

And that’s all I can think of for now, but I’m certain there will be others that come along!

Elizabeth’s 1st Birthday

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