My Little Party Planner

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Charlotte was very excited about her birthday and very into planning for the event. 

It began earlier in the summer when I found some cute candy themed invitations on sale. I knew since Charlotte LOVES candy, we could design any party around that. I was planning on having her party at the house until we went to a party at ASI gymnastics.... She loved the place and continued talking about it days later. So, we decided that we'd have her party there and still continue with our candy theme.

The only problem we faced is adhering to ASI's request of 20 invites.... But, Charlotte got to invite her friends from both of her schools, dance, and some church friends. And, we were thankful to have such a great turn out. Each time and new friend came in, she ran up to them and gave them a big hug. It was so precious watching her excitement.

Below are pictures of the planning and the day.

The cute party favors that Charlotte helped me make -- We found the little containers at The Container Store and filled them with jelly beans. Completed them with a sucker tied to the side. 

Then, my favorite new tool to make quick and cute labels!! I bought printer ready sheets of white name tags and had Justin help me align the wording correctly. After that all we had to do was print them, punch them out with our new tool and put cute candy stickers on them.
I LOVE how they turned out!

. 

Gum Drop Topiaries

After making the party favors, Charlotte was feeling very crafty and told me she wanted to make "something else". We looked on-line at images of candy themed parties and came across candy topiaries. We rushed to Michael's that evening and came home ready to create! After making a 3rd trip the next day to get more gum drops, we had 2 gum drop topiaries and a dum-dum sucker one.
Cute and Yummy!

Busy at work on her birthday making the cupcakes. Please excuse our messy hair, no make-up, and still in p.j.'s..... it was early!

Best friends ~ oxox

After the party, we headed out for Mexican food, yummy margaritas and one Shirley Temple.

She's 3

It's hard to explain my feelings about my baby turning three. We have experienced so much joy in these last 3 years. And have learned so much from this tiny person. December 12, 2007 marked the day that changed us forever. We will forever be grateful that God chose us to be Charlotte's parents. Each day with her is an adventure that I will always treasure.

I went to the hospital the other day to visit a friend who just had a baby. Walking through the halls and seeing the new families made me remember that was us not too long ago. Oh, how scared we were! I remembered being nervous to change her diaper. Nervous to bathe her. Nervous I was holding her incorrectly. Nervous I'd break her. 

She was so little. She seemed so fragile. 

But, like every new parent, I got over the nervousness and into a routine.

AND.... now she's 3! 

She is 50% in height and weight 

Been potty trained since this summer

Can dress herself

Says too many words to count

Likes to tell "Knock Knock" jokes

LOVES to laugh, sing, and dance her heart out!

Favorite colors are PINK and PURPLE

Best Friends are: Mommy, Daddy, Callie (our sweet dog), and Spencer Carter

Learning Spanish

Our Charlotte Rose

1st Birthday -- Began walking

2nd Birthday -- Mom and Charlotte sick. 

We had to cancel our birthday plans to Borger and Daddy quickly put together a small party at home for the 3 of us.

3rd Birthday -- TOTAL excitement! Charlotte LOVED preparing for her birthday. She loved helping me with the invitations and all the party decorations. She's quiet the party planner!

Little Ballerina

Last Saturday, we had Charlotte's 1st ballet recital. She was very excited for the performance and practiced her 45 second "Jingle Bells" routine until it was perfect. She got very confident in her skills!

Until she saw the room full of people....

But, she pulled it together and got through it! 

Daddy had a rose waiting for her when she was finished.

oxox

Children's Medical Center Holiday Parade

This was our 1st year to experience "Breakfast with Santa" at the Adolphus Hotel downtown. We met our friends, the Campbells, and had such a good time, we're already making plans for next year!

The breakfast was a super fun way to start off the day. Santa was there, but didn't have glasses on, so he's wasn't the "real" Santa (explanation to follow in another post) and, therefore, skipped out on the picture taking.

But, there were lots of other activities for the kids to participate in, including: face painting, listening to Carolers, meeting Frosty, a clown show, and a yummy breakfast.....ALL before the parade began!

You can read about the history of the parade here.

Enjoying the clown show

FROSTY!

In our seats, just before the parade began

We LOVE the huge balloons!

Parade Highlights:

• 350,000 parade attendees
• Dallas' largest one-day event
• PR and print media value of $1.2 million, with over 95 million impressions
• Broadcast live on ABC affiliate WFAA, Channel 8
• Syndicated coast-to-coast to more than 90 million households throughout December
• Broadcast on the Armed Forces Network
• Opportunity to create themed promotional campaigns in connection with the parade to drive sales

Information courtesy of Children's website.

Late Thanksgiving Recap

We drove to Borger for Thanksgiving and, before I get too behind in postings, I wanted to post some fun pics of the weekend.  We got to see lots of family and had lots of fun. We made a point this November to slow down and be thankful for what God had given to us. Thanksgiving day was a celebration of all those wonderful gifts. 

During the drive, we pulled over on the highway to let Charlotte see and pick real cotton. She thought it was great. She picked some for everyone waiting for us in Borger. 

Our packed car......

Wonderful to see those that we hadn't seen in a while.

Had fun playing games

Beautiful Panhandle sunset

Played with sweet cousins