Our Birthday Weekend

Friday was my birthday. We had a bit of a rough evening on Thursday night, read more here, which transferred over to Friday morning in the form of a doctor's appointment for Miss Elise. As I went to the bathroom one last time before walking out the door, Elise walked up to me with something in her mouth. I fished it out as usual, but this time it was accompanied by blood and I realized she had found a small shard of glass somewhere and shoved it in her mouth. I immediately panicked thinking she may have found more than just that one piece and swallowed the other which could now be ripping apart the inside of her intestines. I knew that she usually just walks around with things in her mouth and it is rare for her to actually swallow non-food items, but the possibility of something so terrible was terrifying. I had the doctor check her mouth and throat and there was no sign that she had swallowed any glass as the doctor didn't see any cuts. When we got home later I searched through the cabinet she was playing in and found a candle holder with a chip in it the exact size of what I fished out of her mouth (I saved it in my pocket for that exact reason). The candle holder also had some wax drips on it which made sense with what I had thought to be dried hot glue or something that had been in her mouth along with the glass. So our morning wasn't off to the greatest start but finding out she hadn't actually swallowed glass was a relief!

Elise at the doctor's office.

After our doctor's appointment we stopped at a playground next to the trails for a run and then to play afterward. Elise fell asleep on our run so I walked loops around the playground so she could get some extra sleep as Carter played. When she woke up, I got her out to play and we discovered the other family there playing had brought along a tiny kitten so young it wasn't weaned yet. Carter loved petting it and Elise liked looking at it and yelling "Kiki" or "Ca!!!" When we were ready to head home we stopped by a cupcake place to get a treat since it was my birthday and all. Carter excitedly told the woman working that it was his mommy's birthday and everyone in the store enjoyed that. Carter picked out a pink sprinkle cupcake and I picked out a birthday cupcake. I shared bites of my cupcake with Elise. Carter gave me a present as we were buckling into our car seats to head home, he told me he had to potty and couldn't hold it until we got home so we hauled it back into the store and he wizzed up a storm! I was so proud of him! He still doesn't tell me he has to go very often so every time he does, I get so excited! At home Carter requested a picnic outside but the mosquitoes in our backyard are so terrible we can't really spend any time out there so we headed out front to eat. Elise spilled most of her food on the ground and tried to eat it which was a mess, but Carter enjoyed himself. So it was almost worth it.

Carter woke up from his nap really fussy and looking terrible. I felt his forehead and thought he seemed hot so I took his temp and it was just a little over 99 degrees. But I could just tell he didn't feel very good so I let him watch the end of Lion King (he'd been watching a little bit of it at night for days) while I vacuumed the house. While he was watching tv he said he was starting to feel better but when it was over he said he wasn't feeling good again. It seemed suspicious that he suddenly didn't feel good when his movie ended, but looking at his face he just looked sick. So I went ahead and let him pick out a show to watch since he'd only had about 15 minutes left of Lion King. My parents arrived as he was watching his show and he popped up super excited to see them. Then Ty got home and Jeremy and Thomas headed over. Carter was still fussy and didn't seem like he felt up to par but I didn't think he was super sick or anything. We planned to go out to eat for my birthday and Carter started crying, saying he didn't want to go anywhere and that he wanted to stay home. That seemed strange for him as he normally loves being out and about so I was about to suggest we just pick food up and bring it home when Ty jumped in and said it was my birthday so we were going out. I picked Pei Wei and after ordering we realized there wasn't anywhere to sit inside with enough chairs for all of us, so we headed outside. Carter started crying that it was too hot and I reached over to feel his head and he was so freaking hot. I felt terrible having him outside when I knew he had a low grade temperature so it was decided I would take Carter in to eat at a two person table we'd seen and everyone else would stay outside. We were picking up all of our food and getting ready to move inside when Carter started throwing up. And when I say throwing up, it was projectile vomit across the table and onto my mom and dad. I quickly picked him up and he threw up probably 5 more times, all down my side, in my hair, on Ty, and on the ground multiple times. My focus was getting Carter somewhere cooler and getting him home so I took off with him to the car. I sent Ty to get him Sprite since he already had a drink but had picked something else and then everyone else packed our food up so we could go home. It wasn't until we got home that I started to feel terrible for the worker who was going to have to clean up all that puke. At least it was outside, I guess. When we got home Carter and I showered while everyone else ate and then I made him oatmeal and we sat in the living room to eat while he watched a show. I opened presents with Carter in my lap but the mood was definitely killed after the puking incident. We waited to do cake until Carter was in bed because I didn't want him to see it and want some because I knew it would upset his tummy. Ty got me an ice cream cake from Freddy's and it was delicious!

Wet hair due to the shower.

Dad and Jeremy share a birthday, January 30th. On their birthday Jeremy was just being weaned off pentobarbital and could blink his eyes and look around but that was about it, read about his birthday here. Mom's birthday is January 20th and he was still in a coma for her birthday. It was really hard on all of us to have those holidays without Jeremy there and especially hard to attempt a celebration for dad without Jeremy there. We took cupcakes and balloons up to Jeremy's hospital room and took dad out for dinner but other than the fact that Jeremy had survived to another birthday we weren't up for much celebrating. So we decided we'd celebrate their half birthdays in July which put dad and Jeremy's half birthday the day after mine which was really neat. I found a 1/2 candle at Target and bought it, saving it for this past weekend. Cheesecake Factory had half price cheesecake on the 29th and 30th to celebrate National Cheesecake Day so we decided to partake as Jeremy loves their cheesecake and the rest of us do too! He requested Andolini's pizza for dinner which he and dad picked up while Ty, mom, and I picked up the cheesecake. It was a little tricky getting their candles to fit on a slice of cheesecake but we made it work and then they all blew out the 1/2 candle together. We got him presents and then one of our sweet friends sent a card for dad and Jeremy with a Braum's gift card inside. It was a nice celebration and it was amazing thinking back over the past 6 months and how far Jeremy has come. I was teary eyed remembering how we had all felt on his actual birthday. There was so much joy that he had survived to another birthday and so much hope for what his future would look like, but also a lot of fear for what things would look like as he came out of the coma. We knew there was a possibility he could have a full recovery but we also knew there was a possibility he could have very little brain function left. We are grateful every day that today looks the way it does!

Dad, Jeremy, and mom with their cheesecake.

Blowing out the 1/2 candle.

Birthday buddies!

Elise's First Birthday

Continuing a tradition we started on Carter's first birthday, I hung streamers in Elise's doorway on her birthday eve. She liked grabbing them as I carried her through them and ended up ripping a couple of them off. It's such a fun little tradition and I got the idea from a student who said his mom did that for him every year on his birthday. For breakfast I treated Elise to blueberry oatmeal. She loves oatmeal and I had never added blueberries to it, so I figured it would be a nice treat. I put the candle from her birthday cake in her oatmeal and Carter and I sang her happy birthday. Carter was also excited to have blueberry oatmeal and thought it was awesome the blueberries turned the oatmeal purple. Elise got to wear a special birthday shirt her Oma and Opa bought her and I decided Carter needed to wear something special too. So he wore his Valentine's Day shirt because it's pink and says, love my lil sis. We did a little photo shoot of Elise in her birthday outfit and then of her and Carter together.

 

 

 

 

Uncie Taco got Elise Violet the dog stuffed animal which is interactive and is just like Carter's Scout. Both kids had been trying to play with her while she was in the box so I got her out and set her up so she would say Elise's name. When Carter heard her say "Elise" he was disappointed that Scout didn't say his name. I had him go get Scout and he pressed Scout's foot and he immediately said, "Hello, Carter!" Carter said, "Oh, he does say my name!" It was so funny. Carter played with Scout and Elise played with Violet while I got ready for the day. Then we headed out to our weekly playdate where we shared the leftover cookies from Elise's birthday party. The big kids decorated cookies and I let Elise eat one that wasn't iced. There was a sensory table full of multi-colored rice, perfect for a birthday, but also a mess for a child who shoves everything in her mouth... Ahem, Elise! She had also set her bubble machine up inside which was a huge hit with Elise. She wanted to hold my hands and walk through the bubbles pretty much the whole time we were there unless she was at the sensory table shoving rice in her mouth. When we got home we ate lunch and then I enjoyed snuggles with Elise before she went down for a nap.

 

Eating her first cookie.

 

 

 

When Elise woke up from her nap I put a sheet down on the floor and gave her a cupcake for a photo shoot. Carter woke up while Elise was eating her cupcake and enjoyed watching her. It was so funny to see her grab the cupcake and shove the entire thing toward her mouth. She was thrilled that the crumbs attracted the attention of all the dogs, Harper and both of my parents' dogs who we are dog sitting, who came over to sneak bites off the sheet. Elise crawled and pivoted around while eating her cupcake and Carter laid on the sheet watching her, giving me a running commentary, and occasionally talking to Elise. It was super cute!

 

When Elise was finished with her cupcake we headed into the backyard for some bubble fun. I set up the bubble machine which Elise loved and then she wanted me to walk her all around the backyard while she held my fingers for support. Carter requested her up in his fort with him where we played for a while. Then it was time to head out to Elise's favorite playground to meet daddy. It's Elise's favorite playground because it has steps she can crawl up. It is my favorite playground for her to play at because it has turf and a solid rubber ground. There are no wood chips or pieces of rubber for her to sneak into her mouth. There are also some great pieces with holes for us to play peek-a-boo through which is always a good time. Anything to get Elise to laugh, it's the sweetest sound!

 

 

We ended day with leftover chicken from her birthday party for dinner. The big excitement was that Uncie J and Opa came over to eat with us. Opa gave Elise a bath and they were both laughing so loud I had to go in to check out what was going on. It turned out Elise thought it was hilarious for Opa to fill a squirter with water and spray it into her mouth. They are quite the pair! It was a fun filled and busy day for the precious birthday girl!

Elise's Sprinkle Themed 1st Birthday Party

Before I had even found out whether Carter was a boy or girl I saw a sprinkle themed birthday party on pinterest and fell in love. I knew if I ever had a girl, her first birthday party would have a sprinkle theme. Fast forward about 4 years and I was planning a sprinkle themed first birthday for my precious Elisey Kay! It was pretty easy planning because I already had a lot of ideas in my head for what I wanted. There would be sprinkles on cupcakes, sprinkles on Oreos, sprinkles on wafers, sprinkles on cake, sprinkles on cookies, sprinkles in vases. Basically there were going to be sprinkles everywhere, including my house, for probably the next year! I also wanted to do some of the same things I'd done for Carter's party like the monthly photo display and a birthday banner. The nice thing about this being the fourth birthday we've planned and the third one we've hosted at our house is we already knew how we would set things up and what works the best as far as seating. I had the perfect invitation in my head. I wanted one with space for monthly photos to be added and I wanted the word one written out in sprinkles, but the trick was where to find it. Then one of my college friends and cross country teammates posted on facebook that she had opened a shop on Etsy to design invitations and such, check out her store here. I contacted her and she created the most amazing and adorable invitations that were everything I had been hoping for. I giggled every time I looked at them as I printed them and cut them out. I still love them so much!

I boxed out our address and my contact info, those boxes aren't on the actual invite.

I put Ty in charge of figuring out food and told him I had been thinking of some kind of chicken because Elise LOVES chicken! He ended up going with Raising Canes and my parents offered to buy it for the party which was awesome! Ty's mom made a pasta salad to go with it and we served cut up carrots and some sugar snap peas as vegetables along with strawberries, apples, and oranges for fruits. I made pink lemonade to pour into some cups I decorated by dipping the rim in vanilla Almond Bark and then putting it into our non pariels sprinkles. I think those contributed to the sprinkles getting everywhere the most, but they were so cute and worth it!

Our adorable sprinkle cups!

The food table.

What our sprinkle vases looked like. I love daisies!

I bought these mason jars for a Mother's Day project while teaching and had 25 students. The packages had 24 so I had to buy a second case just for one jar. I was so irritated and didn't think I'd ever use the left overs. I've used them so many times, it's crazy!

For dessert I made funfetti cupcakes topped with buttercream icing and sprinkles. I also made Elise's smash cake and used a 1 cookie cutter to corral the sprinkles into a 1 shape in the middle. Ty's mom made delicious sugar cookies topped with buttercream icing and you guessed it, sprinkles! I made Oreo pops by adding a cookie pop stick to the middle and then dipping the Oreos in vanilla almond bark and sprinkles. I put sprinkles on the tip of strawberry wafer cookies the same way. To finish off the dessert table I added a bowl of the frosted animal crackers because they are also covered in sprinkles.
 

The dessert table.

Ty rigged up a jar with a plate covered in foil because I wanted the cake up higher than the cupcakes so it would stand out.

The cookies Ty's mom made and decorated.

The wafers with a stray cupcake that didn't fit on the cupcake tier.

Oreo pops.

I wanted to have some kind of sprinkle related craft and kept racking my brain trying to come up with something that wouldn't be crazy messy like putting glue on paper and pouring sprinkles to make a picture. Then Ty's mom sent a sugar cookie recipe we'd asked her for and I knew what our activity would be! We set up a cookie decorating station for the kids. Ty's mom brought the cookies not decorated and decorated some day of, leaving quite a few for the cookie station. She mixed up different colors of buttercream icing in bowls and then we set out a couple sprinkle containers. Ty had the genius idea to put out a cookie sheet and have the kids set their cookie in it to add the sprinkles so the cookie sheet would catch most of the sprinkles. It was definitely my most successful party activity as every child of appropriate age participated. The best part was the 3 boys all decorated their cookies at the same time! As party favors I found some polka dotted cups along with the bowls we put fruits and vegetables in while walking in the Easter section with Carter. Then I filled them with the frosted animal crackers, threw in a couple wafers, and added a thank you note. I thought they turned out pretty cute!

The decorating station.

The decorating table and the kids table, we put a lid on that jar of sprinkles!

The party favors for the kids.

 

As far as decorations went we kept things pretty simple. I cut circles out of scrapbook paper and then Ty freehanded numbers and glued them on for Elise's month photos. I then glued scrapbook paper to clothespins and used them to clip the photos to ribbon and hung it across our mantle above the fireplace. Ty and I worked together to create a Happy Birthday pendant banner which we hung with ribbon over the windows by the food table. Then I used pink streamers and steamers with yellow, blue, and pink zigzags to decorate everything else. I put streamers on the fireplace and across a few other places along with Elise's high chair tray.

The month photo display and fireplace decorated.

 

This shows the birthday banner.

The best part of the decorations was Elise's outfit, of course! She painted her onesie with fabric paint. I used painter's tape to make a one in the middle of her shirt and then let her go to town with pink and purple paint. She wore that paired with a pink tutu skirt and her pink converse high tops. I was really looking forward to seeing her sweet chubby thighs at the party and the weather had been in the 80's all week, but of course on party day the high was in the low 60's so I put tights on under her skirt. It still looked absolutely adorable! Equally as exciting as Elise turning one was the fact that her Uncie J was at her party! Once Jeremy left for rehab in Houston, my hope was he would return in time to be at her birthday party. I knew it just wouldn't feel right without him there. Miraculously enough he did so well he was able to return home with 11 days to spare! It was so nice looking over and seeing him watch Elise smash into her cake. Everything was right in my world again!

 

 

Elise went down for her morning nap a bit late so she was fashionably late to her party, arriving a bit after 11:30. She made the rounds saying hello to everyone and played with her BFF Addison before moving on to lunch. We fed Elise first and then everyone else went through and made their plates. Immediately following lunch Carter, Hayden, and Grant all decorated cookies and ate them which started off the dessert eating.

Elise and Addison with my mom.

 

Carter, Hayden, and Grant eating some lunch.

The boys decorating cookies.

Carter trying out a sprinkle cup.

Grant actually bit off the Almond bark to eat the sprinkles, it was hilarious!

After everyone was finished eating lunch we brought out Elise's smash cake. As we were singing her "Happy Birthday" Ty was holding the cake over by her tray and she reached over and snatched some icing off the side of the cake. He hadn't even set the cake down on her tray yet before she started digging into it. At one point I pulled a chunk off for her and she picked it up and started taking bites out of it. She really got into it but preferred the icing, just like her brother and mommy!

 

 

 

The camera was a bit out of focus, but I still love this family picture!

 

 

Pretty much right after the smash cake we moved on to presents. Everything was pretty fast and furious since we started the party late. Elise enjoyed opening her presents, but not quite as much as Addison did. Addison loved pulling tissue paper out of the gift bags which made me really excited for her birthday party in a month! We got Elise a bubble machine because every time they get it out at the end of storytime she freaks out and squeals so excitedly all the other parents at storytime are laughing and watching her along with me. While the boys were playing outside I turned it on for Elise and Addison inside and they LOVED it! When I turned it off I went to get the Bona to clean the floor and when I came back Elise was trying to crawl through the bubble liquid on the floor and was sliding all over eventually rolling to her back and getting her hair all wet. Her Gma just couldn't stop laughing and I wished it was on video because it would have been perfect for America's Funniest Home Videos! Then I took it outside for all the kids to play with and it was a hit! Elise also got a hair salon table from her Gma and Gpa and all the kids played with that as well as the car she got from her Auntie Erin.

 

 

Hayden and Carter styling Leina's hair with the new toys.

Carter blow drying Elise's hair.

Addison and Elise playing with the car.

 

Elise's party was so much fun and was a huge success! Addison and Elise had so much fun and so did the older boys! As always it was a joint effort to put together and I appreciated all the help from our families to make it such a memorable event for the kids. I'm already looking forward to another girly themed birthday party next year! It sure was fun to plan!