Red, White and TWO!

Okay so I promised a post about the nursery, but before I get to that, I want to share about Taylor’s (impromptu) Red, White and Two party!

Red White and Two! | www.amusingmj.com

First I should say this: I struggle with what to do with her birthday since it almost always falls on 4th of July weekend–family only party? just celebrate at the lake (which is what we did for her first birthday)? Party some other weekend with her friends (but let’s be honest–right now she is two and her friends are the kids of my friends)? Add on top of it that this year July 4th was the one year anniversary of my grandmother’s death, so there are a lot of emotions tied up with this weekend! Anyway, we decided not to be at the lake and had sort of decided to just have dinner at our house with my parents.  Well, my brother and sister-in-law happened to be passing through on their way home from the lake two days before Taylor’s birthday, so my mom and sister-in-law called to see if they could just bring the party to us… YES! Perfect idea.

Red White and Two! | www.amusingmj.com

Shout out to Becky for coming up with the theme–and then I’m fairly certain they bought out everything in the local Target that was Red White and Blue! My tasks were the cake and the chalkboard–and I was instructed that they had the whole party in the box, outfits included.

My twin brother, Dad and husband were all good sports about helping decorate, grill the food, and even wearing their costumes!

Taylor LOVED the party.  I wasn’t sure she would get that it was for her, but she DEFINITELY did… and kept pointing to herself and saying: for Tay Tay? for Tay Tay? I’m pretty sure her favorite parts were the toys that make LOTS of noise (thanks Fam) and the cream cheese frosting.  Even a few days later she would see the cake and say: for Tay Tay??

Red White and Two! | www.amusingmj.com

Red White and Two! | www.amusingmj.com

I can’t believe she is two already! These last two years have flown by–and I’m sure the next few won’t be any slower.  I also feel like she woke up on her 2nd birthday and all of a sudden looks like a little kid instead of a baby or a toddler! I think I was prepared for that when new baby sister is born (friends have warned me that all of a sudden Taylor will feel like a GIANT), but I wasn’t quite ready yet!!

Red White and Two! | www.amusingmj.com

She is at a SUPER fun age and we are loving every second (well maybe not EVERY one–she did get my penchant for temper tantrums) with her.  We are going to soak up this last month of being a family of 3 before we welcome baby sister!

 

Baby Shower in a Box

I’m going to start out by saying two things: 1. I don’t get credit for any of the creativity behind this idea, my only source of credit for this goes to having the best friends in the whole world.  2. If you want to make a pregnant woman cry happy tears… this is a fabulous way to do it.

Two of my very best friends in the whole world, Lauren & Emily, both live far away.  They were my roommates my senior year of college and somehow still put up with me!! (living with me… not so easy!)  And if it is possible we are better friends now than we were then.  We have been through a lot together and they are the best friends a girl could ever ask for.

My baby shower is this weekend, but due to the distance and their own little ones, they aren’t able to come to Dallas to celebrate.  So instead they went above and beyond and sent me my own shower in a box to celebrate especially with them.

Here’s how it went down: Wednesday in my mail I got a package from them.  So after texting Emily to see if I needed to wait to open it until Saturday, she assured me that I didn’t.  So, I sat down on the floor in the dining room and opened it.  Here’s what was inside:

The perfect gift when you live far away from those you love... A Baby Shower in a Box! | www.amusingmj.com

They had carefully and completely filled a box full of everything you would need for a baby shower! So I sat down on the floor, “hung the decorations” (around my neck because I was too impatient to hang them up on the wall) and my husband and I had a little mini-shower.

Here are the details on what was inside:

Baby Shower in a Box! | www.amusingmj.com

  • Instructions
  • Decorations- Confetti, Balloons, & two garlands (shown in other pictures)
  • A Game- because of course you need a game! (Which PS– I showed you the answer one in here because I guessed about 1/2 of those wrong… not sure whether I am proud or disappointed in myself!)

Baby Shower in a Box! | www.amusingmj.com

Gifts for pregnancy (many of which match my nursery color!):

  • super comfy slippers– (funny sidenote story: I have a pair of booties from Restoration Hardware that are the most comfortable things ever, but they definitely make me look like a clown, which my roommates good naturedly mocked me for in college… until they discovered for themselves how awesome they are… so Booties are actually an inside joke between all of us, which means these slippers DEFINITELY made me laugh uncontrollably when I opened them!)
  • Trail Mix
  • A Water Bottle
  • Chapstick

Baby Shower in a Box! | www.amusingmj.com

Gifts for the baby:

  • Diapers- complete with funny messages written on them!
  • A Book to record moments from her first 5 years
  • A Hand-stitched Kite onesie (we were thetas in college, so this kite is extra special as well!)
  • The hand-made garland which will definitely find a home in baby girl’s bedroom!

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And last but certainly not least: food!! Because what shower is complete without food! I covered the corner of the M&Ms that are already opened… I’ll spare myself the embarrassment and just pretend they haven’t been eaten and mostly consumed.  And then they were more than generous and bought us our monitor as well!

I am so very lucky to have the best of friends who are sweet and creative and already love this baby girl so much!  I can’t wait for baby girl to get to grow up with their daughters!!

Baby Shower in a Box! | www.amusingmj.com

30th Birthday Party!

So as I mentioned Monday in my not quite 30 before 30 post, my sister-in-law and my husband threw an awesome birthday party for some of our friends.  It was a casual backyard BBQ and the theme stemmed out of the picture of us from our 2nd birthday where we had on coordinating pink and blue sailor outfits.  Mom found them in her basement, so they were on full display at the party:

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We had delicious food (and my husband grilled hamburgers):

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My sister in law made this poster that showcased a lot of the things about 1984.  How crazy is it that Ted talks began in 1984? And you know I love me some tetris!

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They had some super cute mini cakes made up for Arthur and I. But the best part of the dessert??? Reese made some Dr. Pepper floats like we had from Arthur & Becky’s wedding, and they were DELICIOUS.  A total hit.

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Our friends sang us happy birthday and helped us ring in our 30s in style! And one of the best surprises is that our older brother flew for the party! And how cute is his dog looking up at all of us for the picture??

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Thanks so much to all our friends and family that helped us celebrate!  I have the best friends and best family, and I am so grateful to my husband and sister-in-law for putting together the whole party!