dear lincoln. {you are one}

[I began the tradition of writing a letter to each of my children on their birthday.]

Dear Lincoln Wayne,

It's your birth date. One year ago exactly you came into this world--the doctor tried to tell you when to come, but even with being induced, you were coming on your own. The moment you entered this world, you brought me and your daddy so.much.joy. Being the third child, I can't ramble off your birth stats, I'd have to look them up if you asked. But you know what? My love for you is just as deep and wide as for your sisters. You see, being a boy, you are probably going to be judged a lot on your stats. How many goals you made. How many dunks you made. How far did you run. How many laps did you get in. I want you to know, I will never base my love for you on your stats. I don't even care if you have stats. My love for you is immeasurable. What I want you to know most and understand most is grace. That no matter what you do, my love for you, your daddy's love for you, and most importantly, God's love for you is never-ending or changing. Grace. Write that word on your heart.

We just finished up your first birthday party. Buster (that's what we call you), you are loved. Like, seriously, loved. I didn't do a head count (remember, stats aren't important), but there were so many at our home to celebrate you turning one. Being that your daddy loves having a boy and he's a crazy IU fan, we went with an IU Basketball themed party. We gave away IU cards autographed by you, in case you know, you become famous for being some big basketball player. The thing is, you may absolutely love basketball (you do love balls in general) or you may not. And that's okay. We want you do to what your heart desires with the gifts God gives you.

You got so tickled when we sung Happy Birthday to you. 

Cupcakes made like the shape of Indiana. Now that's some love. Your cake was made by your Aunt Allie and my good friend, Debbie. See how cool it is to be able to use the gifts God gives you to help and encourage others?!

Not only did we have your party today on your actual birth date, we also dedicated you to the Lord at church. Dedication is a fun day--lots of family come to church to see this event, you wore the sweetest little outfit that used to be your daddy's that your Great-Granny made. But those are just layers that can be stripped away, the core of us dedicating you to the Lord, is to do just that--we made a public commitment to raise you up in the admonition of God, we pray that one day you will have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus. And remember that word grace? We pray that you will truly understand it.

Lincoln, we love you so. We love how you let your sisters touch you and try to pick you up and pat you, and for the most part, you let them do that. I love how you try to make a car sound when you are playing with your toy truck. I love how you want to be outside all the time. I love how you say "a dog a dog a dog" over and over. I love how you snuggle. You were our first baby that actually liked to be rocked and it's the sweetest thing. I love how your favorite food is homemade calzones that we make every Friday night for family fun night. I love your dimpled smile and five tooth grin. I love you so and
I look forward to many many more "Dear Lincoln" letters to you, as we watch you grow.

Love,

Your Mama.

hot air balloons and bows. oh my.

I've been meaning to share Naomi's first birthday party that we had on Sunday. So here it is, mainly in pictures...

A couple of months ago I ordered a dress for Naomi and it became her birthday party theme inspiration. Hot air balloons. Bows. Black and white. Yellow, blue, and pink. I thought it was incredibly adorable and unique. [Golly, I sure do love Misha Lulu. If only I could afford the line more often then just a first birthday dress.]

Three days after the dress arrived in the mail, I made the invitations.

I drew it up and used crayons to color it, and then had copies made.

The cake was made by my talented sister-in-law and friend. In fact, they also made the cupcakes as well!

Vintage suitcases for decorations.

 I made the cupcake toppers, the hot air balloon was a stamp.

The table decorations were simple. I bought some baskets on sale at Michael's

and added some balloons to make them look like hot air balloons.

 (We rented a building for the party, I wasn't ready to hold 40-50 people in our house again.)

Like Audrey's first birthday, I made a banner with pictures of Naomi on the 5th of each month.

We removed Naomi's dress for the cake eating. She was so, so cute with it.

Stuck her hands in and then we told her to take a bite and she went face first into it.

A couple of months ago I made Audrey a dress to coordinate with Naomi's birthday dress. It is her favorite dress to wear, she puts it on at least twice a week. I was glad she was finally able to wear it for the reason I made it. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the light pink part of the dress actually has hot air balloons on it--used an old tshirt of mine!

The party was just lovely. We were surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family. I would have to say my favorite moment was when Naomi got embarrassed when we were singing happy birthday. When we got to her name in the song, she laid her head down on the highchair. And then I melted.

ONE.

I just want to pop in real quick to say that my little Naomi Fae is ONE today and yeah, I totally can't believe it! She came into this world so beautifully on her due date, no less, exactly a year ago. I woke up at 7:45 with contractions and at 10:07am, less than three hours later, she was here.

10 days old

same suitcase, exactly one year

We will be celebrating with a birthday bash this weekend. See that hot air balloon dress? It is her birthday dress and the inspiration for her party theme! [It's Misha Lulu. Scored it via The Mini Social.]

Today, we are heading to the zoo! But before that, I get to go see and hear baby #3's heartbeat-yay for a beautiful day!

O-N-E Amazing Party.

It was a beautiful day. It was sunny. And warm. [Okay, sort of warm. Warmer than the nasty, rainy, 40 degrees we have been having.] But what made it even more beautiful, were the people that surrounded Audrey on her first birthday. Seriously. She. We. Are so blessed. I stopped and took it in. This warm fuzzy feeling just came over me while I looked around and saw all the people that love Audrey so much.

It was a celebration of Audrey turning one. It was a celebration of us surviving our first year of parenthood. It was a celebration of Audrey's heart beating well for a year with no complications (after her heart procedure done at 5 days old). It was a celebration for sure.

We had a cereal bar. Which now results in us having to eat cereal at every meal for the next three weeks. We had lots and lots of cupcakes with cupcake toppers on them that I made (I think I made almost 70). Audrey had her very own cupcake cake made by her Aunt Allie and my friend, Debbie. It was amazing. She only ate a little bit of it and I felt like I should be freezing it and keeping it till her next birthday. You know, like people do with wedding cakes. But then people may have thought I was really strange. Oh wait, I am slightly strange.

We had strawberries and bananas and fruit dip and devilled-eggs and chocolate covered pretzels. We had cupcake decorations (it was a cupcake themed party, of course). I used vintage tablecloths.

I made a banner that had a picture of Audrey on the 18th of each month for the last 12 months.

We had books as favors. Elmo, no less. [Funny thing is, Audrey has never actually watched Elmo on TV. But Grandpa has a tickle me Elmo and she loves it. Now we watch the Elmo song on youtube all the time. I actually like it. Okay. Maybe I shouldn't be admitting that.]

We had fun. Audrey received some super amazing gifts too. Like a hand-made blanket from my best friend. A pink grand piano. [Seriously. She has her own grand piano now. Next Mozart? I think so.] A shopping cart. A picnic table. A wooden duck to ride. Lots of pretty outfits. A Colts jersey-onsie. A pink Colts hoodie. A tea set from England. A wooden shape sorter. A pink flower bath towel. A vintage purse. Instruments. Hand-knit hat and mittens from Etsy. And her very own, custom made PINK playhouse for outside. Really, it's like a mansion. And it is amazing. I can't wait to share pictures of it. My sister and brother made it for her, along with a lot of other family members chipping in.

Not that material things represent the amount of love by any means, but Audrey is seriously loved. Her friends and family gave very thoughtful gifts. And we are thankful for that. Things that we were never be able to give her.

It was a day to remember. Every first birthday is a day to remember. No matter how big or small. It's the memories that are made.

She's One Today.

She brings me such joy.

Happy first birthday, my dear Audrey Rose.


Our first family picture together. (p.s. this was at 1:47am. After working a full day as a kindergarten teacher and giving birth. Focus on the baby in the picture, not my overall ahem, awesomeness)

Almost A Year Ago.

At this time last year I was so ready. Boy, Girl was I ready. I had k-ankles. [Seriously, people. My ankles were gone. Just moosh. The only proof I have is on my phone and I am too lazy to figure out how to upload it. I don't have some fancy iphone, so it's too much hassle.] I was working full time as a kindergarten teacher, which included jumping up and down while singing the days of the week. Turning everything into a song so the kids would transition better. And going to the bathroom at. every. single. break.

I was almost 38 weeks pregnant.

It was a Thursday I went to the doctor for my weekly check-up. I had been having some major cramping and even threw up the previous weekend. Oh and you know. Other very obvious signs that labor could happen sooner than later. [See aren't I nice? I do leave out some information.] I asked the doctor "So what do you think? Will labor be soon? I feel like it will be." And her response "Sorry, you bought yourself at least another week."

That Friday I went into labor. She was wrong. I was right. (Even though I told myself at the time the doctor was right. But I knew. I just knew.)

Audrey was born Saturday morning. Almost a year ago.

I can't wait to celebrate her birthday on Sunday.

Etsy Won.

After much deliberation and research I have finally bought Audrey's first birthday presents from us. Remember the list? Um, yeah, I ended up not buying anything from it. (Except the hat idea, but not from my original choice.) So feel free to use my awesome ideas, since I am not. Ha.

Etsy was my pick to find unique items for her. I purchased this beautiful sterling silver bracelet from Sophia's Closest. Obviously, it won't have "Bella" on it, but it will say "Audrey Rose." And have the October birth gem on it. Isn't it lovely?

We also bought her a hand-knit hat from Aura Knits. I went with this hat with recommendations from Steph over at Adventures in Babywearing and because I follow her daughter' blog. I can't wait to get it in the mail, I love that it has a rose on it, so appropriate for my little Audrey Rose.

That's it. Two things. I am cutting myself off from any more gift buying for her. She doesn't need much. But I feel like these are both practical [Don't argue with that. You know a one-year old needs a bracelet and adorable hat.] and memorable.

1st Birthday Gift Ideas.

I have been thinking about what I want to get Audrey for her first birthday. [Which is only about a month away- eek!] I am putting a lot of thought into it, because well, I think her birthday is a celebration. I am so blessed to have Audrey and I want to celebrate. I don't buy her a lot of things. When I do it is usually second-hand one way or another. We didn't even get her anything for Christmas last year or Easter or Valentine's Day. You get the point. But for her birthday, I want something special for her.

Here are some great gift ideas I have found in my search for Audrey's birthday present...

Prince Lionheart Wheely Bug at Amazon. All of a sudden Audrey has been into climbing and trying to ride things. This would be perfect to scoot herself along. It has won numerous toy awards, so it must be good.

Bath Designer Toys and Scrubbies by Boon Inc., but is sold at Target. There's no doubt, Audrey loves bath time. However, lately, she has been getting tired of her toys. I mean, who can blame her, she has had the same pile of bath toys for the last year. I think she would love this set of cool, hip bath fun.

Robeez Soft Soles Classic MJ Bow Black by Robeez. Shoes as a gift? Most definitely. Audrey has a shoe fetish. No, seriously. And these are just plain cute. The soft sole is important since she is learning to walk. These would pair up nicely with much of her wardrobe too. Of course, I would be ordering the size up to 12 months- Audrey has some tiny cute feet! Touch and Feel Baby Books at Amazon. My little bookworm LOVES to read. One of the first thing she does in the morning and after naps is point to her basket of books. Sometimes she even hangs out in her crib for 10 minutes looking at them all. She especially likes the ones that you can touch and feel. Some of her favorite themes in books include: other babies, cats, dogs, and other animals. Learn-to-Play Piano by Melissa & Doug. This is on the more expensive side, but I think it could be a great investment. ['Maybe one day Audrey will become the next Mozart' investment. Just kidding. Sort of.] Audrey has a plastic piano that she is borrowing from a friend right now and LOVES it. This might be a good next step up for her.

The Safe Sippy by Barefoot Kids (A local store for me!) A sippy cup might sound like a funny gift idea. But if you know Audrey, then you know she LOVES to drink water. I could just picture her getting all giddy about a new sippy cup. And this one is straight up safe, wash after wash. Not to mention really cute.

Wooden Roller, Sorter, Stacking Ring Maker by Land of Nod. Any of these toys would be great for a one year old. Audrey loves to push/roll things. These are durable and made out of natural, non-chemical materials- definitely a plus!

Here are some fun birthday gift ideas from Etsy...

Crocheted Flapper Beanie by ZJohnson. With the cool weather approaching that just means adorable head coverings for Audrey. I love that you can custom order this hat with specific colors and size.

Tunic Dress: Pink Vintage Loopy Roses by Illia Designs. Need I write more? This dress shouts adorableness. It would be perfect in the fall with Baby Leggings.

Wooden Name Stool by Timeless Puzzles. This would be great because 1) it gives Audrey an early start on learning the letters in her name 2) she loves to take things apart right now 3) she is starting to climb on things.

Now the hard part. I have decide which one to get her. I am going to try to stick to just one or two things. Which one do you think would make a great gift? Do you have any other gift ideas to share?