Minnie Mouse Extravaganza

We recently celebrated Addison's second birthday with a toned down Minnie Mouse extravaganza!  Her birthday party was originally scheduled for Sunday the 27th of January but due to unexpected funeral arrangements we postponed to February 2nd, which also happened to be Brandon's birthday.  We ended up with a smaller celebration of Addison (and her daddy's) birthday with a pink and zebra themed Minnie Mouse party.  I joked that it was a good thing Brandon didn't mind a Minne Mouse themed birthday party. 

I was glad that it worked out we were still able to celebrate because in true party planner style, I had big plans for that day and didn't want all of my ideas, hard work and Pinterest research to go to waste!  Here are some pics and details of how it went.


Minne Mouse Wreaths

 I saw a lot of cute wreaths on Pinterest but since we have double doors and need two wreaths, I had a hard time justifying the cost for wreaths that would hang on the front doors for a few hours.  I found the grapevine wreaths pretty inexpensive at Hobby Lobby, with a little floral wire and a can of black spray paint...voila!  I also found the letter A and number 2 at Hobby Lobby, covered with pink polka dot scrapbook paper.  Then added the polka dot bows which I made from ribbon also found at Hobby Lobby.  As things turned out they ended up hanging for over a week and were recycled for a friend of a friend who is having a Mickey Mouse party in March, so it was a good investment of time and money, in my opinion!

 

 

Party Favors

 I have discovered based on my own personal experience that I don't really want to send folks home with party favors they will just throw away.  As a parent, I find it wasteful to receive something that just goes in the garbage when you get home.  So I tried to think of things Addison enjoys and included them in the goodie bags...coloring sheets, bubbles and candy.  In the small bags were a small bottle of Minnie Mouse bubbles and one piece of Minnie Mouse candy (either a lollipop or a fun stick). I printed the coloring sheets from disneyjunior.com and was pleased to find several birthday themed sheets, rolled them up and tied with tulle.

Candy Bar

 I had not originally intended on doing a candy bar but when I saw the printables that came in the package from Amanda's Parties To Go, I couldn't resist.  I'm lucky that Addison's birthday is so near Valentine's Day and she's a girl because there is never a shortage of pink candy this time of the year.  I used the candy bar wrappers and kisses stickers from the printables, had pink m&ms and black sixlets.  I made the cookies myself, which is my speciality but used Wilton Sugar Sheets for the first time.  I have a hard time getting the right color black and when I saw the zebra printed sheets it was a no brainer.  I iced the 2s with royal icing as I usually do but the sugar sheets were a huge time saver for sure.  I wasn't certain they would be tasty but there wasn't one cookie left after the party so I'm guessing they weren't all that bad.  I found the zebra printed bags at Party Time and strongly encouraged each guest to fill up a bag of candy before leaving!

Center Piece

 I made the centerpieces from the printables as well, found the zebra printed tins and plates at Hobby Lobby.  Luckily, zebra and hot pink was en vogue at the moment because I found a lot of items available.  The Minnie Mouse items were printed on card stock and taped to bamboo skewers which I stuck in Styrofoam and covered with hot pink gift filler.  I used scrapbook paper to back each pick so you couldn't see the tape used to attach to the skewers.

"Minnie" Corn Dogs

I got most of the menu inspiration from Pinterest, saw one party where every single menu item was Minnie inspired...I wasn't that creative but did have a few touches of Minnie here and there.  These were purchased at Walmart and just baked in the oven.

Ham & Swiss Sliders

 No Minnie inspiration here just plain old deliciousness! I found these bad boys on Pinterest and they are my go to party sandwich now!  They can be made ahead and just thrown in the oven on party day, so delicious.  You can find the recipe here.



"Bow" Tie Pasta Salad

 The "Bow" Tie Pasta Salad was found here from Pinterest.  It's a La Madeleine copycat and is pretty spot on.  I chose it for the menu solely based on my love for La Madeleine's pasta salad and the fact that it used bow tie pasta helped with the Minnie Mouse theme.

Cake and party hats

 The cake! The driving force of the party! It was already ordered, made and paid for before we originally cancelled the party and was the main reason we decided to reschedule.  I couldn't imagine this beauty going unappreciated!  It was white cake with white icing, bottom layer pink with white polka dots, middle layer zebra (of course) and top layer was a Minnie head made out of rice krispie treats.  Thanks to Jennifer with The Baked Cake for helping with instructions on how to freeze and defrost, it was just as delicious and beautiful a week later!  The party hats were thrown together from the printables and plain pink party hats I picked up at Walmart. Also, not to go unnoticed...the cake knife.  This was a very special gift from Addison's Grams and PawPaw Donnie and is probably the sweetest gift she's received.  It came with the cake knife shown here and a cake server, both engraved with her name and date of birth and the sweetest poem.  The poem indicates it should be used at every birthday celebration until she gets married and then used to cut the cake on her wedding day.  Just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye because it was the last gift she received from her Pawpaw Donnie and it will be a least 30 years until she'll need it for her wedding (so her Daddy thinks!).

Millie, the puppy sister

 It wouldn't be a party without Millie, the puppy sister, joining us.  I had to have a matching outfit for Millie, so I found this pink zebra print collar just for her to celebrate the occasion.  The collar is from Comfort Collars, local girls who hand make the collars.  I originally found them at a local craft show where I bought Millie's Christmas collar.  I like that it is handmade and local!

Birthday girl waiting for cake cutting

Birthday girl checking out the photo collage

I'm not going to lie, this was probably the most labor intensive aspect of the party.  I'd seen a picture on Pinterest which was the inspiration but it was one of those pins that was just a picture with no link or instructions.  So here's how I did it...I taped together several pieces of newspaper to make the size I wanted.  Next, I drew out a large number two on the newspaper and started arranging the pictures.  Once the pictures were all where I liked then, I cut out the shape of the number and hung it up on the wall.  All of the pictures used were from the past year and since I ordered so many pictures, we ended up with two #2 collages.  She seemed pretty impressed with it and was so funny because she pointed herself out in a number of pictures before realizing ALL of the pictures were of her.  I used masking tape to tape the newspaper, pictures and hang on the wall...simple to use and no damage to paint/wall.

 

 

Birthday girl and birthday daddy enjoying a piece of cake

 We had been practicing blowing out the candles for a while before her birthday.  At dinner, we would have her blow on her "hot" food before eating and remind her that is how she would blow out the candles on her birthday cake.  Well, when it came time for it, she got so upset!  I'm not sure but the only thing I could guess was the fire on the candles was a surprise.  As soon as I lite the candles she started crying and didn't stop until they were blown out.  It was pretty funny but all of our planning kind of backfired (no pun intended).

Abadie family party portrait

 Here we all are at the end of the party, I think she has a good time, seemed to enjoy the cake and ice cream and the presents too of course.  Thanks so much to our friends and family who were able to make it on such short notice for the rescheduled party.  I do love planning a party and think it's time to get started planning her third birthday! ;) Special thanks to my friend Michelle (mom to Gia and Gracie) for taking pictures at the party and spending time away for your two little miracles!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Part Two

Brandon and I had so much fun putting out her stuff from Santa.  We just knew she was going to love, love, love her Crayola Creativity Art Station and she did.  She loves to color! While she is coloring she always sings "color, color, color" as she is coloring and it's pretty cute.  When we were putting the art station together, we were mimicking  her in anticipation of many moments she would "color, color, color".

She was outside with Brandon the other day and I was in the house.  We both heard her saying "color, color, color" but didn't really think anything of it until Brandon went to check it out and found her with a stick, "coloring" the side of my car!  Luckily it didn't make any marks, but you certainly have to keep an eye on her.  She colored the pantry door this weekend.  I quickly gave her a wipe and made her clean it up which wasn't much of a punishment because loves wiping up and sings "clean, clean, clean" as she does it!

Anyway, back to the most wonderful time of the year...she still had to open gifts from my mom, her Nana.  Here are a few pics from the rest of our celebration.

 Minnie Mouse bath toys from Nana

 Minnie Mouse booster seat from Nana and check out the huge sock monkey from Mimi in the background, oh and Millie is back there too!

 Minnie Mouse pull-ups from Nana

I got a very nice camera for Christmas which I'm really excited about and hoping will inspire me to blog more regularly, you know, when you have a fabulous camera that takes beautiful pictures, you want to share them.  Unfortunately, Addison isn't real happy about my new toy.  She gets pretty tired of my constant lens in her face.  I have to beg and plead for a cheese at times but often resort to just asking her to show me her teeth and this is what I usually get.

Showing her teeth for the camera

I guess that's all I'll bore you with for now...oh wait, one more thing.  Much to my surprise, I have to admit, I think my favorite gift was the toy pink baby grand piano from CC and Uncle Donnie.  When I first saw it I just thought good Lord, what in the world! I told Chelli she was going to have to keep it at her house.  But I will say she loves it which means I love it.  It has a microphone and for now, it's stationed right in the middle of our living room.  Occasionally she will walk over to it, turn it on and belt out the ABCs or Happy Birthday loud and proud and it's awesome! 

You can't really understand her because she essentially eats the microphone when she sings but she is singing happy birthday to baby Jesus and it's so fabulous.  I have about 15 videos just like this from different days on my cell phone but will spare you anymore.  

Here's an iPhone shot of my fancy new camera...here's to more blogging with beautiful pictures from my fabulous new camera!

Canon EOS Rebel T3

I'm pretty excited about a project I'm working on at the house this week and hope to share about it here when I've finished! Also, in case you didn't notice, she's pretty much obsessed with Minnie Mouse right now so we are in the progress of planning a Minnie themed second birthday party...stay tuned!

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Part One

Christmas is my most favorite time of the year...I don't know if it's because my mom always made Christmas so special for us or if my name is Carol, as in Christmas Carol.  At any rate, I love Christmas.  I love decorating, I love gift giving, I love Christmas music, I love gift receiving (of course!).  I love that I can listen to Christmas music anytime I want with Pandora but limit myself - this year from Halloween to Christmas day, then that's it!

This Christmas was tons of fun because Addison is at the right age, still young enough that we can buy Santa presents with her, don't have to hide Santa presents from her and was she very excited to open gifts.  I even caught her one time opening up my niece's present that was under the tree!

As usual, I went a little overboard but it wasn't really my fault.  I planned ahead this year and picked up little things here and there over time, storing them in the closet in her playroom.  When it came down to it, I had a lot of stuff in there.  I intended to follow the tradition of Santa bringing three gifts like the three wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus but got tired of wrapping all of the stuff I bought so ended up being that Santa was very generous this year. 

 Goodies from Santa

Christmas was also quite nice this year because we didn't have to run all over town - we usually have the typical four Christmases.  We spent the Sunday before Christmas at Brandon's brother's home, celebrating with his family.  Addison loved spending time with her cousins and grandparents and even had a surprise visit from Santa Clause much to her dismay.

Cheese! In her Santa dress

 Cheese! With her cousins - Raegan and Rachel

  Addison digging into her gifts like a mad woman!

 Addison and her toy pink baby grand piano...yes, that's right, you heard me, toy pink baby grand piano!

 Addison visiting with Santa (aka Uncle Wallace), she wasn't too sure, daddy had to go with her

My sister went to visit our dad and his family for Christmas and was kind enough to play messenger for us and delivered our gifts from Pops and Jojo.  Addison was super excited for more presents after spending the day with Brandon's family.

 Addison posing with her gifts from Pops and Jojo

 Precious ear warmers from Jojo...I mean, have you ever seen a kid this cute?!?!

Addison and her Little People Disney Princess Song Palace

All of this and it wasn't even Christmas yet!  I had to work Christmas Eve but we spent Christmas day at home sharing our gifts with each other and a visit from Nana.  Addison was a little overwhelmed with all the gifts from Santa but still had to open her gifts from mom, dad and Nana.  I'll admit the toy organizer on the right was really a gift for me and boy has it come in handy keeping her playroom organized!  Here are a few more pics from our Christmas celebration.

 Checking out her loot from Santa

 She went straight to coloring at her Crayola Creativity Art Table

 Pushing her new Minnie in her new stroller

 Stockings with the puppy sister

Millie waiting patiently to open her stocking

It appears Blogger won't let me add anymore pictures...so stay tuned for part two!

Happy Hump Day

Happy hump day everyone...hope you are all ready for Thanksgiving! This week the following things put a smile on my face:


1) Taco de Paco came to work! Yes, I know it sounds strange to get so excited but with the only two choices of Subway and the hospital cafeteria, any new options are very exciting. Taco de Paco is part of the "food truck revolution" in Baton Rouge and they travel around town at various locations selling tacos and burritos out of their truck. I was so excited to see they would be at OLOL on Tuesday and had to check it out. I had the Juan taco (chopped steak, corn relish, sour cream) and the Miguel taco (chicken, sauteed onions, bell peppers, pico de gallo, cheese, and shredded lettuce) with chips, salsa and a drink for only $7...you can't beat that, and it was delish!


2) Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie - it's on the menu for Thanksgiving and I made it yesterday for the occasion and can't wait to partake. I got the recipe as a marketing tool from a home health company a few years back and have been making it for the holidays each year since. Last year I baked a bunch of them and gave them to all the neighbors for Christmas and they were a hit. Here's the recipe if you're interested (or if you're Amanda, who asked for it!)


Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
1 cup chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup melted butter
1 cup pecans
1/2 cup flour
9" deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, beat eggs. Add flour, sugar and butter. Stir until blended. Add in chocolate chips and pecans, pour into pie shell and bake for 1 hour.


Please be sure to get the deep dish pie shell because last year I didn't do that and almost burnt the house down. The pie filling overflowed and got on the bottom of the oven. I guess it was the sugar or possibly the pecans, not really sure, but there was a flame in the bottom of the oven! It's super easy and very yummy!


3) Generic drugs for Millie - last time we brought Millie to the vet she informed us of our "last option" to treat her allergies, which is an oral medication that works by suppressing her immune system, thereby suppressing her allergy response. The kicker...cost is about $100/month to treat! HOLY COW...I've been so upset about it, wondering what the heck we're going to do. I told her yesterday I was going to drop her off at the Country Club of Louisiana and hope a rich family adopts her because we can't afford her anymore. She was very upset, looking at me over her shoulder (cold shoulder, that is) with her bottom lip stuck out, it was as if she understood what I was telling her. So, imagine my delight when I did a little internet research and found a generic is available. Now, most of what I read online is that it isn't as effective as the real drug but I'd like to at least try the generic at first!


Happy hump day to all of you and hope each and everyone of you have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Hump Day

Happy hump day to everyone! I took the day off today and find it funny that my "to-do" list is always so long! Today I went to the library, ob/gyn appointment, had lunch with friends, went to a three hour class, had a "second lunch" date, went to Monogram It...just getting home at 5:30pm! All was well at the ob/gyn, just got measured and listened to the heartbeat. Hope you are all having a great week...the following things made me smile this week:

1) A handmade baby shower invitation - I was very surprised by my coworkers on Friday when they gave me this.

They got together and planned a baby shower without my knowledge and surprised me with the most precious hand-made baby shower invitation, how creative is that?!? I heard they wanted to surprise me all together about the shower and fake some sort of meeting and a location where we rarely meet (except for parties) but decided against it. I thought this was truly one of the cutest things I've seen in a long time.

2) Fabulous baby shower - my sister and three of my besties hosted a baby shower for Baby Girl Abadie this weekend and it was perfect! All of my girlfriends were there and we had a great time eating and visiting and of course we got fabulous goodies for baby girl. I kind of feel like I'm all set for baby...got the car seat which is, from my understanding, the only item required in the state of Louisiana. We certainly have many other fabulous items too, to take care of our baby. Here are a few pics...and you can click here to see them all.

3) Millie and her new bed - I bought Millie a new bed at Target on Saturday because I'd like her to have her very own "place" that she is accustomed to when the baby arrives. Her old bed has been relocated to her kennel and she likes it in there, but I also wanted her to have a place outside of the kennel where she can go when she needs to chill out or calm herself, which if pretty often. I'm just hoping it works! I brought it in and she immediately went to sniffing. On Sunday morning, I'm in bed and can hear her growling so I go check it out and she has it in her mouth, going to town on it...I guess we shall see how this works out!?!

I hope everyone is having a great hump day, may you find what puts a smile on your face this week!

Happy Hump Day

Happy hump day...after taking off last week for a very important hump day celebration, I knew I had to make the time to blog today. Thanks so much to all of you who asked about the blog...I don't realize how many of you are reading and appreciate the feedback, it's good to know I'm missed when I skip a week! So, over the last two weeks the following things put a smile on my face:


1) Cohen James Cline - 7.5 lbs and 20" long was born last Wednesday (hence the reason I missed blogging last hump day), he is totally precious and loved by many. I had an ob/gyn appointment on the same day so conveniently walked over the their room at Woman's Hospital and there were so many friends and family members visiting this little fellow. Congrats to Nicole, Jason and big sister Ashton!

Cohen and big sister Ashton

2) Good visit at ob/gyn - on Wednesday of last week as I mentioned I had my 28 week appointment, everything went well, measuring right on target and heartbeat in 150's. We had our first talk about delivery and she said she wouldn't let me go past 41 weeks and the earliest she would let me deliver was 38 weeks, then I realized that was only 10 shorts weeks away and kind of freaked out...where has the time gone? Everyone says the last few weeks will drag on but it certainly hasn't' seemed that way yet and I'm thinking with the hub-bub of the holidays, January will be here before I know it!

3) Baby girl Abadie - the gymnast! I'm feeling a lot of movement all the time, and sometimes it freaks me out because more and more you can see her moving around in there. Brandon and I were sitting in church last week and I had the hymnal in my lap, leaning against my belly and she was moving and grooving so much in there the hymnal was moving. Brandon and I were both trying to keep our composure in church but had a hard time restraining our giggles.

4) LSU vs. Alabama Not much else to say about that one...I'm pretty sure there was lots of people smiling about that one!

5) Brandon and Millie - once again those two keep me entertained, they are like two peas in a pod, looking for trouble all the time. Millie is back on oral medications for her allergies, which one of the side effects is excessive urination so I've been trying to limit her intake of fluids because she pees all the time. I came into the bathroom to get ready for bed and this is what I found.

Brandon had her on the counter, allowing her to drink out of the faucet...does she have him wrapped around her little paw or what?!?! I realize that's kind of gross...but it was our bathroom, so don't worry if the next time you come to our house you would like to use the restroom.

I have another baby shower this weekend and am really looking forward to spending time with my girlfriends and family. I hope each of you find something that puts a smile on your face this week.

Happy Hump Day

Happy hump day everybody, there was a lot to smile about this week. I feel so blessed to have experienced the following things that put a bunch of smiles on my face this week:

1) Doing a good deed - on Saturday morning I volunteered with the Habitat for Humanity as part of my Junior League project. About 12 of us spent the day when many, many other Habitat volunteers participating in the parish hazardous materials day. Before anyone freaks out, I was not exposed to any hazardous materials. I was helping recycle paint and spent the time stirring non-latex paint in a huge open field, no harm done to me or baby. It was rewarding and exhausting at the same time. Our local Habitat for Humanity repackages the donated paint and sells it in the ReStore to raise funds for their projects.

2) Pumpkin carving - Saturday afternoon Brandon and I, or should I say Brandon, carved a pumpkin for Halloween. I mostly supervised. We have made it a tradition to carve a pumpkin each year and this year Brandon decided to do a fleur de lis. He was so meticulous and thoughtful in his carving, while Millie and I watched. I was very impressed in how it turned out.

3) Fabulous baby shower - Brandon's brother and sister-in-law so graciously offered to host a couples shower for us and it was this weekend at their beautiful home. Everything was just perfect, from the food, to the darling decorations, to the wonderful company and fabulous gifts we received for our baby girl. It is truly humbling and we feel so blessed to have so many people in our lives who care for us and are already loving our baby girl.

Check out all of the pictures from the baby shower here.


4) Passing my glucose tolerance test - On Tuesday, I has to go back to the ob/gyn's office for the three hour glucose tolerance test. I had failed the one hour, so that meant I had to suffer through the three hour test. I'm happy and surprised to report that I passed, having a mother who is diabetic and a sister who had gestational diabetes with both of her babies, I had very low expectations. I did so well...I didn't even have to stay for the entire three hours, they let me go after only two hours!

5) A day off of work - I had taken the day off on Tuesday since I figured I'd be at the lab for most of the day, but with an early release, I had plenty of time to get a lot done. I went to the outlet mall and Target, went through all of our fabulous baby gifts, opened items and readied them to be laundered, wrote thank you notes, and took the dog to the vet. All in one day...it's amazing how much you can get done without that pesky work getting in the way!

Happy hump day to you and yours...may you find what makes you smile this week!