Abbie's FIRST Birthday...Part one

My 1st Birthday Party!

My dear little Abbie turned ONE yesterday! I plan to do a special post for her birthday but decided I will post about her party first...so here are some cute pics from her Big FIRST Birthday Bash!

Oh how I heart Etsy!!! These candy bar wrappers turned out adorable~

The GIANT cupcake! I actually got this idea from another blog and quickly googled to find out how to make it. I found the cake mold on Amazon and voila!~

I bought this bubble from this adorable shop on Etsy! I absolutely LOVE IT! I did the whole birthday tutu for Sophie but wanted something a little more classic for Abbie...I LOVE how it turned out!

A Very Happy Mother's Day!

I love Mother's Day...not because of the gifts and going out to lunch with the family but because it makes you stop and realize how important your job as a mother really is. At church yesterday our pastor gave a message on Moses and how we was blessed to have two mothers. His one mother gave him all the wealth and material items he could ever want but it was his birth mother that shared her love for God with Moses which by far is the best gift one could ever give. It is very easy in this world today to get wrapped up in all the material possessions...I am very guilty of this. But I am trying more than ever these days to instill in my daughters that this life is not all about the "things"...it is about the love of our Father...so today I thank God for my three beautiful daughters, my amazing husband and MY beautiful mother...and I thank God that he believes in me and my ability to be the best mother I can be...I know I struggle but I also know that the Lord would never give me anything I could not handle...

I can do anything through him who gives me strenghth

Philippians 4:13

I know I have mentioned this many times on my blog but I just can't help but share how sweet my little Ella is. In our family it is usually known that Sophie sits next to Mommy and Ella sits next to Daddy. Sophie tends to be very territorial but Ella is also very accepting of this and usually does not want to anger the beast so she will happily sit next to Daddy. Well yesterday at lunch it just so happended that when we took our seats Ella was seated next to me. After several minutes Ella looked over at me and in a very surprised voice said,

"YAY Mommy, I'm sitting next to YOU! I am so happy Mommy! I love you so much! Happy Birthday, Mommy!"

Mommy: "I love you too, Ella! And it's Mother's Day, not my birthday, silly!"

Ella: "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy"

Oh how she melts my heart...

It's been awhile...

Wow...I have not been very good with posting the past couple of weeks...maybe because not too much has been going on. We are getting ready for Abbie's big FIRST birthday bash which is very exciting...I ordered the most adorable little outfit on Etsy for her to wear on her birthday and it is just sooo cute. I decided not to go with a dress because my little Abbie is not walking yet and she gets very frustrated trying to crawl in a dress...so I opted for a bubble-it turned out perfect...I will post a picture closer to her birthday...


We signed the girls up for nursery school last week...we were hoping they were going to get into our Universal PreK program in our district but neither were chosen in the lottery so we were pretty bummed...we then had to go with plan B...nursery school. I was hoping for a program a little more academic based but everything happens for a reason so I know they will be fine in Nursery school.


Here are some random pics from the last couple of weeks...

Mommy and her girls before Nursery School Registration

Chasing a butterfly...

I tell Sophie all the time not to play with the stones at the playground...but of course she had to throw them up one last time...I think this is actually a very neat shot...

Sisters...

Mommy and Abbie on her 11-month birthday

Just contemplating the world...

Sophie's newest obsession is bugs...She LOVES ants, butterflies, moths...pretty much anything mommy finds disgusting. So I bought her a little insect cage that came with a little tool for catching the bug without actually touching it. Sophie has been on the hunt ever since...she did catch an ant she named "Sassy". One night she brought Sassy into our house and that is the last we saw of Sassy. Therefore Mommy implemented the rule that all "pets" stay outside.

Spring Break...

For the past 5 years we have always gone to Hilton Head Island, S.C for spring break...it was always so nice because my district always designated the third week of April as "spring break" so rarely was it connected to Easter which meant VERY few people and VERY good prices...however this year in an effort to save some money we opted to go NORTH...Ogunquit, Maine...And although we did not get to lay out on the beach or come home with a nice tan we were able to have an AMAZING family vacation!! The girls had a blast walking along the beach (all bundled up), driving along the rocky coast, and swimming in the hotel pool...and mommy and daddy enjoyed watching our little girls search for the perfect seashell, climb the rocky shore, and swim in the pool for hours!! I heart my family!

I fell in love with this house on the coast...too bad it's taken...by George & Barbara Bush (their summer home!!) Can you imagine???

Daddy's girl!

I love this shot...both feet are off the ground!

This was Ella and Abbie's first trip to Maine...Sophie has been several times before...here are several pics from years past.

June 2006

June 2007

*Unfortunately we had to miss last year because my dear Abbie was only a month old

April 2009

Easter 2009

We had a great Easter this year...the girls were at a great age and I just loved all the excitement that was around the house. This was the first year they colored eggs and also the first year the Easter Bunny hid them around house for the girls to find. They were soo cute! We got up super early so we could drive an hour and 45 minutes to make it to my mom's church. We then had Easter Dinner at my mom's one last time before she sells her house to my brother this summer. Although we had a great time at my mom's I can't wait to stay home next year with the girls and entertain family at OUR house! It's just so hard and stressful trying to get three little ones ready when two of the three are on a sugar high!! :)

Ella is begging for another jellybean in this picture...

And here she is eating the jellybean after mommy caved...

My dear friend, Donna, bought this beautiful pearl bracelet for Abbie. It is so precious...I just love how it looks on her little wrist....

We just got back from our trip to Maine yesterday...hopefully I will be able to post those pictures tomorrow!!