You Are Cordially Invited...

I am finally ready to share photos from our Royal Tea Birthday Party! I was so happy with how the entire party turned out, I was excited to see how all of my DIY projects worked into the event. Little Miss absolutely loved it, I will sure have a hard time matching it next year!

The table, complete with tiaras for the girls and foam swords for the boys

One of my DIY Centerpieces with Princess Crown Lollipops

DIY Goodie Bags, Pink for girls and Blue for boys

Cake & Cupcakes on my DIY Cupcake Stand

Putting on her Princess Dress

What's a Princess dress without the Jewels?

Time for Tea!

Yummy Food!

Meeting Cinderella

Storytime with Cinderella

Happy Toddler = Happy Family!

I want to thank Rusella Photography for capturing this for us. Not having to worry about taking pictures and hosting a party was a huge relief.

TeaParTea is such a great venue, they went above and beyond to help out during the party. 

The cake and cupcakes were from Shockley's Sweet Shoppe. They are just the sweetest people and were very budget friendly. Plus, their stuff tastes amazing!
   
Believe it or not, this party did NOT break the bank. Last year we went to a local bounce house for her birthday. We spent the same amount of money as we did this year but didn't have nearly as much fun and I felt like it wasn't a very unique experience.

I don't have the space in our townhouse to throw a party here. Plus parking is terribad. So having a party at home is not an option. 

Here are my tips for making the most of your party $$ and keeping your party unique:

- Have your party during the week.
      By doing this, I paid almost HALF of what it would cost
      to have the party on a weekend. 

- Go with cupcakes instead of cake.
      An intricately decorated cake can be costly! If you want
      bling on your cupcakes, buy it separately. I picked up
      the edible pearls on sale for less than a dollar. I simply
      added it to the cupcakes myself!
                                  -OR-
      If you are good at baking, make it yourself!  
 
- Be crafty!
      By making my own centerpieces, cupcake stand, and 
      goody bags I was able to save alot but make the party 
      still look great! Check out all the tutorials HERE.  I was
      able to get multiple uses out of a few things, like the candy
      used in the decorations was also given out for the goody
      bags at the end of the party.  

And if you have the extra money, hire a photographer to take pictures for the party. Of course you could always just have a designated friend take pictures too! Last year, I had about 10 photos of the party and I was in NONE of them. My daughter is going to look back and wonder where I was! I didn't want to worry about taking pictures and being a good hostess, so spending the money was very much worth it to me. Plus, these pictures are far better than what my camera is capable of taking. It wasn't very expensive either!

The party was perfect for our little princess!

 
 

DIY Cupcake Stand

The first item on my DIY list for Little Miss's 3rd birthday party was a cupcake stand. Last year, we bought one of those cheap cardboard cupcake stands that matched all of the Elmo supplies we bought at the party store. Considering the price, it really was a piece of crap. It barely held all the cupcakes and it was flimsy. When I decided to serve cupcakes again this year, I decided I was going to make my own cupcake stand.

I wanted to make a cupcake stand that I would be able to re-use and personalize for whatever occasion needed. Since we are going with a "Royal Tea Party" theme for the birthday party, I decorated the cupcake stand accordingly.

Its perfect for a little princess's birthday tea party!

I bought all of supplies at Michael's: 

Wilton Round Silver Cake Base 10in., 2 pack
Wilton Round Silver Cake Base 12in., 2 pack
Ribbon, 1in. wide
Tulle Fabric Bolt
3 Flower pots, 2.5 in.
4 Plastic Solo cups
Silver metallic spray-paint
Hot glue


First I spray painted the 3 flower pots and 4 plastic cups with the silver metallic spray-paint.

Next I simply glued the ribbon to the edge of the cake bases, except on the bottom base I glued the tulle down first then topped off with a ribbon. For the tulle, I glued then gathered, glued then gathered. Be prepared for hot glue on your fingers! The key is to allow a few moments for the glue to set before moving onto the next set of gathers. Otherwise you end up with hot glue & tulle all over in the wrong places.

For each base, I measured to find the exact center. Then I used hot glue to attach the flower pots to the bases. 

After waiting for all the glue to set, I glued the bottom base onto the 4 plastic cups.

Pretty simple, huh?

The only thing that I was unappeased about was how the hot glue did not dry clear on the flower pots, it looks yellowish to me. But I know once all of the cupcakes are on the tiers no one will be able to see that minor imperfection :)

You can use a variety of things to space the tiers instead of flowers pots. I almost used plain, wooden candle sticks but I wanted something wider. I found cute, plastic containers but they weren't as tall as I wanted. 

I spent a little more money on the cake bases because these are thick, sturdy, and wipe-able. They are also grease resistant and food-safe!

This will be the perfect cupcake stand for the birthday party, my aim is to have cupcakes on the bottom 3 tiers and place a small cake on the top tier!
 
 

DIY Explorer Backpack Tutorial

Saying my daughter loves Dora the Explorer is the understatement of the century. I have been searching for months for the perfect Dora Backpack and have come up with nothing. I found a few tutorials, but none of them were the right one. So I decided I should make one!

Turned out pretty cute!

I kind of winged it, meaning I didn't have a pattern and I just figured it out as I went along. I bought a couple yards of no-pill fleece in the perfect purple color and went to work.

First thing, I had to cut up the fleece. I needed to make the shape for the backpack, so I got creative and used one of my big dinner plates to trace the outline. After cutting out a front & back piece to the backback, I had to cut out a strip to connect the two pieces (I took measuring tape and measured the perimeter of the front piece). I made it about 4 inches wide. I decided to use a different fabric to line the backpack, so I cut out the previous 3 pieces again but on the lining fabric. Next, I needed to make straps. So I cut 2 pieces of fabric wide enough to fold each in half to make a strap. I needed to make a flap for the backpack, so I used my handy dandy dinner plate again.

First, I made the straps because this is the most annoying part. I folded the strap parts in half then sewed a 1/4 inch hem. This is the part I hate: turning the straps right-side out. Check out this easy video to help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn3YY4KYD9E

After turning the straps right-side out, I did a 1/4 inch hem on both sides.

To make the face, I cut out pieces of felt and used my Heat N Bond to adhere them to the backpack. Then I sewed it all down using a zig-zag stitch.

Next I attached the 4 inch wide strip to the right side of the front of the backpack (lets just call this the "smiley" side!).

Next I attached the final piece of the backpack body to the rest of the backpack, right sides facing.

Turn it right side out, then repeat the previous steps with the lining fabric.

Next put the lining fabric inside the fleece backpack. I folded the lining fabric 1/4 inch, then folded it over the fleece portion on the outside.

Before sewing, attach the flap AND the straps underneath the outside fold of the lining fabric.

Setting the flap underneath the outside fold of the lining fabric

Setting the straps underneath the flap AND the outside fold of the lining fabric

Sewing on the outside fold of the lining fabric.

After sewing on the outside fold of the lining fabric, fold this top part down into the backpack. At this point, you should not be able to see the lining fabric from the outside of the backpack. Now sew around the top of the backpack ensuring the lining fabric stays inside and is not peaking out.

For the final part, attach the other end of the strap to the backpack. To make sure the straps were the right length, I used my daughter and had her put on the backpack. After sewing down the straps, I cut off the excess material. 

Now add in an anxious toddler and what do you get...

 

A very happy Dora the Explorer fan :)

This project took about 2 hours with interruptions. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I hope my instructions aren't too confusing, this is my first attempt at making something from scratch using just the ideas in my head. Happy Sewing!




 

My Life With Kids

Oh my does my daughter keep my life interesting! I am sure anyone that is around kids on a daily basis says the same thing, and they have the stories to back it up.

Something my daughter said last week was too good to keep to myself so I just had to share.

She has become more aware of her bodily functions since we have been potty training, so I've had to teach her to say "excuse me" whenever she burps or farts. Let me tell you the funny story about the exact moment she realized what a fart was.

So last week while I was buckling Little Miss into her car seat, she farted. She looks at me questioningly and says, "Mommy, my butt made a noise." Then she looked down, her brow was furrowed like she was deep in thought. Then she looks up at me with wide eyes full of realization and exclaims, 

"MOMMY MY BUTT HAS HICCUPS!"

Priceless. I will definitely tell this story for years to come. She will probably hate me for it for sure.

Thanks to my daughter, I have become acutely aware of the lyrics to many children's songs. Lately, she has been on a Dora the Explorer kick. We have about 6 dvds that I use whenever I need to keep her occupied (hello crafting time!) and I often find myself singing along. 

Last week, a good friend came over with her kids to help me move stuff into my attic. I don't have an attic ladder yet so I have to haul an 8ft ladder upstairs and climb into the most awkward shaped opening. Of course I decided to do all of this hours after my first half marathon so I was tired and sore. After this daunting task was completed, my friend and I both broke out into song,

"WE DID IT, WE DID IT, WE DID IT YEAH!"

Obviously, her daughter is also a fan of Dora. 

These moments were just too funny not to share and they make me smile just thinking about them. Little Miss gives me alot of grief, that is expected we are battling the terrible 2's, but over time the struggles will fade and these lovely yet comical memories will remain!

 

Today I Learned How To...

Today has been a pretty awesome day, I think things are finally starting to look up!

OHH, I want to thank Jen over at New Mommy Confessions for featuring my blog as her Blog of the Month! First of all, I am so flattered that people actually read my blog and secondly, I am excited that Jen is sharing my blog with her followers :) If you haven't checked out her blog, she is a fellow milispouse and SAHM. She is so funny, does lots of giveaways, and puts out great military information as well!

So 3 days ago I managed to pull my quadricep muscle so I have been icing it, wrapping it, and staying away from the gym. Which really sucks because 1. I am a gym junkee and 2. I enjoy the hour or so each day that Little Miss and I can spend apart. Distance makes the heart grow fonder folks (even if its only a few walls separating myself from my daughter!)! 

However, this was the perfect excuse for Operation: Potty Training. Little Miss has been running around for 3 days without a diaper and she has been doing very well, no accidents! But wow I have gone through an entire container of Lysol wipes. And everytime she makes her business in the potty, she gets up and dances! Which is super cute until there are droplets of pee on the floor, she is just air drying right? The only time she wears a pull-up is when she is sleeping or when we leave the house. We haven't made the transition to "big girl panties" yet, that is going to happen tomorrow wish us luck...

Since we have been cooped up in the house, I have started doing educational activities disguised as crafts and games *insert evil laugh* Yesterday we did painting and worked on our colors. Today we did an "Alphabet Bugs" game. I taped all the letters on our big glass doors and we sang our ABC's, identified the letter, and tried to put them in order. We made it all the way to "J" before Little Miss had enough. I can't force her to learn everything I want her to, things need to be fun at this age or else she may not enjoy learning later on! Keep it light, have fun with it.

The weather was cooperating so I decided to finally wash my car. Last July when we bought the RAV we paid extra $$ for Car Armor on the inside & out, and it has been so worth the money. Little Miss's messes wipe up with ease and all those nasty bugs and scratches come right off the exterior! After we bought the car, I diligently washed it every week. Well, then winter came and it was too cold for me to do that anymore so today was the first day this year I busted out the sponges and bucket. 

Then I did something new: I WAXED THE CAR! That is just one of those things Hubs always has done. Gotta love being a military wife, you learn how to do all sorts of handy things while your SO is deployed! Last month I learned how to restring the weed-eater, this month I wax the car, next month I may just possibly conquer the world! Everyone will get a million dollars and their own house and will be happy all the time...because I said so  :)

After being so impressed with my car waxing skills, I decided it was time to test out my strained quadricep. Good news, I made it through spin class with only minor modifications. Yippee!

Alright guys, I have a small confession to make: Even though I work out regularly and I eat right, I still feel guilty when I eat anything not considered "healthy". I want to conquer this love/hate relationship I have with food, so during my self-inflicted lock down I came across this weight loss app called Lose It! I have never kept a food diary and I want to have a better understanding of the balance between the amount of calories I consume and the amount of calories I burn. This app is amazing and very user friendly. You just put in your information (current weight, height, goal weight) and it comes up with what you caloric intake should be each day. You simply enter in what food you eat, your exercises, and it crunches all the numbers for you!

So today I warmed up on the treadmill then did spin class, I came home, entered the numbers online, and realized I burned off all the calories I consumed! Holy cow. This means that I can eat a few of Little Miss's seasoned potato wedges (with my turkey burger wrapped in romaine) and not feel guilty. For me, that is a huge break through. Bye Bye Guilt! Not that I am going to go out and eat a carton of chocolate ice cream now. But the numbers show me that with a healthy diet & a good workout, I can indulge a little bit and still be okay.
 

Its a challenge to look at my before & after pictures and not be terrified that I will put back on all the weight. I am at a healthy weight that I am happy with, now I want to be stronger. Like I want to look GI Jane-ish, minus the shaved head. Not scary muscly like Madonna though. I want to look as strong as I feel! Life has thrown quite a bit at me in the last 2 years and it have forced me to learn & grow. 

Overall, one of the best days I have had since deployment began! One month down folks :)

Is he really leaving?

Today I allowed myself to sit around in my sweats and just be lazy. Yesterday kind of made me re-evaluate how truly ready I am for this deployment so I wanted a day to just take it easy. It hit me like a ton of bricks last night. We were sitting on the couch watching Merlin on the laptop (remember that I am a nerd!) and Hubs was holding Little Miss as she was falling asleep. He loves holding her while she falls asleep. For the first time he mentioned his deployment: "You know when I come back she'll probably be too big for me to hold her like this anymore." Now I seriously doubt she'll grow that much, but it made me realize something. Not only is he leaving me behind, he's leaving her behind. I felt like a 10 ton weight fell on my chest. I know my whole world would end if I had to go 6+ months without Little Miss. I knew all along he was leaving us, but I guess I never put myself in his shoes when it came to being away from Little Miss. A part of me wishes I wouldn't have realized this. Now I know there is nothing I can do to help alleviate that hollowness he is going to feel because he is going to apart from his daughter. As much as Hubs loves me, I know his love for Little Miss is different and deeper just like mine is for her. So I will be praying extra hard for Hubs as he goes through this. Because even though I will not have him around, at least I will have Little Miss. Who will he have? 

So I tried to cross some things off my pre-deployment checklist today. Looks like I won't be getting a storage unit for the truck. Its going to cost as much as the insurance each month to store the truck. Now I get to play car shuffle or park the truck in the road for a couple of months...hooray. The Hubs managed to get new decals for his truck, but get this: The base is out of decals. Yah, crazy right? So it looks like I'll be taking care of the decals for my car while he's gone. No biggie.

I have been a bad friend lately. I am afraid I've been neglecting my friends because I've been preparing for this damn deployment. I feel like my life has been revolving around it and its all that I can talk about! Ughh. I hope none of them hold it against me, I've just been cramming every spare moment with stuff that we've put off until the last minute to get taken care of. I have been brainstorming though about what I can do with my friends to make the time the guys are gone pass quicker. I am thinking maybe once a week we all get together and do a pot-luck sort of thing. Each week we do it at someone else's house too. That'll make sure we all eat at least one good meal a week! 

I promise my blog isn't going to revolve around the deployment, it just happens to be the biggest thing in my life right now. I have lots planned for the months ahead. I start training for a half-marathon this month. I am going to run in the "Run for the Dream" on May 22nd and possibly the "Raleigh Rocks" half marathon on April 10th. I am also going to WIN the food wars with Little Miss. I have a very good book to help me out and I haven't opened it up since she started eating finger foods. Speaking of books, I already have 3 books sitting on my nightstand that I need to read. I have lots on my plate and no worries I'll be sharing it all. The Hubs says I have a daily word limit that I have to get in each day and he worries that once he's gone I'm not going to meet my quota!

Project Gratitude Day 4:
I am so gracious for my little angel that keeps me smiling. Little Miss did the funniest thing today. Today was bath day so I was running her bubble bath like I normally do. She was standing at the bath tub dancing around like always because she was so excited. I turned my back for just a moment then I heard a big splash. Little Miss was fully clothed and sitting in the bubbles giggling! She was so proud of herself that she figured out how to get into the tub. I love that little girl so much. 

Navy Obstacle Course

Today has been a rough Navy day. First off, deployment is fast approaching and since this is my first one there is alot of uncertainty. I don't know how much everyone keeps up with the news, but the CO of my Hubs ship has been relieved of his post. *My Hubs has asked me not to comment on the situation so I will abide by his wishes.* But you can imagine how the whole C.O. issue has been looming over our heads for the past week. 

The next Navy related issue I had was dealing with the tailors at the NEX. My Hubs managed to mess up the zipper on a pair of his coveralls. Since I have zero skills in sewing I wanted someone to replace or fix the zipper. Well the NEX tailors told me it would take 2 weeks BUT if I wanted to buy an ENTIRE NEW UNIFORM they could get it to me in a week. MMmm I think someone is after our hard-earned money? So on a suggestion from one of the Play Group moms, I went to Stacey's Tailoring and Alterations. Not only did she fix the zipper on the spot, she didn't even charge me! For any of you ladies in the Virginia Beach area that need alterations, go see her! She's off Lynnhaven near the intersection at Great Neck. 

Lastly, I needed a refill on my BC. That's birth control by the way. I had my Navy provider write out a prescription for me since there was a 2 hour wait to get it filled the day of my appointment. Since she didn't allow me to bring Little Miss to the appointment, I had to get a friend to babysit. Hence, why I didn't want to wait for 2 hours. So anyways I dropped the prescription off, did some grocery shopping, and came back to pick it up. Well, the pharmacist said Tricare wouldn't fill the BC until February. I must have looked like I was about to have a breakdown (I know I was on the verge of tears) because the kind pharmacist said if I was willing to wait a little longer she would call Tricare and see what she could do for me. Come to find out, Tricare can't count. She pointed out their adding error, they STILL argued with her, and they ended up giving me a 2 month supply instead of the normal 3 month supply. I wish I could have talked to them, I would have just pointed out the obvious: Either you refill my BC or you will be paying for a baby in 9 months. I thanked the pharmacist profusely, I even told her that my Hubs will be very thankful too! She kind of blushed when I said that, but I mean HELLO he is deploying soon what the heck do you think we'll be doing? 


Then I came home to fight the food wars with Little Miss. We've started adding more solids that she can eat on her own. Now she thinks she's entitled to whatever me and the Hubs are eating. I don't know why she thinks that, I go out of my way to give Little Miss her own plate. Anyways, she has been getting over a cold and her appetite has disappeared. It re-emerged today but she only wants yogurt and whatever Mommy & Daddy are eating. So every time we eat, I make a point of putting Little Miss in her high chair with her own food so we are all eating at the same time. Usually this trick works. But not today. She screamed the entire time. I gave her some of those Gerber graduates ravioli that they are supposed to eat with their hands. It was something new, I usually try really hard to stick to feeding her organic stuff but I was desperate. She ended up refusing the pasta so I made her some beans, rice, and peas. Needless to say, its been a long day!

Project Gratitude Day 2:
With all the problems I ran into because of the military today, there were 2 amazing civilians that brightened my day. Thanks Stacey and the pharmacist at Farm Fresh! I appreciate your patience, you both really made my day.
  

Wonder, Hope, a dream of possibilities

Today I received an email from Things Remembered telling me about a contest they are having. They are giving away 5 photo canvas art pieces and all you have to do is submit a photo and story explaining why you want that specific photo to live on forever. They have 5 categories so I submitted an essay and picture in the New Baby category. Head over there and check it out, the other categories are Holiday Memories, Birthdays, Weddings, and Favorite Pet. I should also give credit to BRYAN MYHR PHOTOGRAPHY for the amazing photo. For any of you ladies in Hampton Roads, you should check him out. He is easy to work with and his work speaks for itself. Its been a pretty hectic day so I decided this would be a good story to put on my blog :)

     Eda J. La Shan is quoted for saying, "A new baby is like the beginning of all things - Wonder, Hope, a dream of possibilities." This quote describes my life ever since my daughter, Kailyn Eileen, came into this world. I never thought that someone so small and so new could teach me more than I ever learned from textbooks or professors.

    Kailyn has taught me how amazing discovering the world really can be. While taking our first family pictures, we set Kailyn down in the sand while my husband and I took our photo shots. We were soon distracted by watching Kailyn's reaction to the sand. Even though we had taken her to the beach several times, it was like she was feeling the sand for the first time. The photographer took the opportunity to snap some shots of her discovering the sand.  Kailyn patted the sand to hear the sounds, she felt the sand between her fingers, she held the sand up to her face to see its tiny grains, and she even tasted is. This is the first time I clearly remember how astonishing it felt to be there when my daughter used the basic tools she was born with to discover something about her world. How many times had I been to the beach this summer and complained about the sand: How it seems to get everywhere, how it gets too hot to walk on? I acted as if it was something that just got in the way, nothing wonderful or special about it. But looking at it through Kailyn's eyes, it was like I was seeing the sand for the first time too.

    This photo reminds me how simple yet impressive the world around us can be. If we all just take the time to see things in a different light, like through a child's eyes, we all my learn to appreciate the wonder and beauty around us.