Brenna's Bridal Shower

Event: Tiffany & Co. Themed Bridal Shower for Brenna
Date: Saturday, September 26, 2009
Location: Harrisburg, Illinois
Hostesses: Elizabeth Lack, Katie Charles, Kim Harris, Megan Luckhurst & Joany Whitesell

Megan getting balloons ready to hang.

Some of the table decorations.

Kelsey's sisters: (Left clockwise) Kate, Emily, Gresha & Molly

Some of the party goers.

Buffet

Close up of the food.

More food.

Brenna and her gift table.

Lauren playing in the balloons.

Brenna and her towel cake.

Party favors for the guests.

Mother's Day

Today we celebrated Mother's Day in Illinois. My Aunt Libby hosted dinner. Lauren and Joe got me a wonderful Vera Bradley super tote. I love it!!

Brenna and Kelsey enjoying Aunt Libby's swing.

Lauren having fun on the bridge.

Brenna, Mom and me.

Lauren playing with her cousin Haley.

Disney World January 2009

In January we went to Walt Disney World. It was not one of our better trips. I came down with stomach viurs, Joe's hands broke out in a horrible boil-like rash and my parents' house burnt down. Here are some pictures from the good moments we had.

Ridng the bus to the Magic Kingdom.

Riding the carousel in Fantsyland.

Lunch at the Crystal Palace with the friends from the 100 Acre Woods.

Lauren being attacked by Winnie the Pooh

Lauren looking cool at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Lauren with Mickey Mouse at the Studios.

Joe and Lauren on Toy Story Midway Mania.

Enjoying arts and crafts back at the resort.




Joe's yummy moose dessert at Le Cellier in the Canada Pavilion in Epcot.




Lauren in Asia at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Christmas 2008

Okay, many of you may have noticed that I have dropped off blogging since Lauren's birthday in November. The next few posts are going to be "catch up" posts. I'll start with Christmas 2008...

Here we've found the perfect Christmas tree for our home.

Joe giving Lauren a ride at the Christmas tree farm.

Lauren enjoying a brownie before we decorate the Christmas tree. She is wearing a shirt her Farmor made her.

Lauren putting the first ornament on the tree.

Unwrapping Christmas gifts at Grandma and Papa's.

Lauren got big girl underwear and had to wear them with her jammies.

Christmas at my Mom and Dad's house.

Lauren wearing the Christmas dress I made for her.

Santa Claus made a visit to see Lauren.

Lauren and Grandpa playing with her new pizza.

Birthday Party

Saturday was the day we had Lauren's birthday party. I sent out invitations at the beginning of the month. When hosting parties for Lauren, I've been more interested in doing a color theme versus a character theme - this may change as Lauren gets older and can voice her opinion. Until then, color themes it is... Last year's color theme was pink, green, and yellow. This year I went with chocolate brown and pink polka dots. Being the OCD person that I am, everything coordinated from the invites, to Lauren's dress to the decorations to the cake. As you can see in our family picture, Joe even got into the party spirit by wearing pink to my brown.

I found some brown and pink polka dot material at Hobby Lobby and used it so spruce up my tablescape.

I made the chocolate cake with homemade icing and the cupcakes the night before.

As mentioned in a the previous post, Lauren loved her birthday balloons and carried them around all day.

Here she is patiently waiting for us to sing happy birthday.

When we were done singing I told her to blow out the candle. Lauren kept saying "Momma blow out." We tried to blow it out together.

Usually Lauren is all about the sweets but on this day she only ate a little.

The following are some candid shots from the party (compliments to my photographer, Aunt B).

This is Lexi, Lauren's BFF from daycare. These two little girls play so well together.

I debated about what activities to do with the kids. Being 2 years old, organized games are pretty much out of the question. We let the kids play with Lauren's toy's in the family room and that was fine. The hit of the afternoon was this old canister of Mardi Gras beads my mom gave Lauren a few months ago. Every kid (boy and girl) was wearing them around the house. As the kids left, each child got to pick a balloon to take home with them (pink or brown of course). Overall, the party was a success and I look forward to birthday number 3 - as long as it doesn't come too soon.