Shelby at 1

Here is a list of things I can tell you about Shelby at age 1.

* She has a very sweet disposition.

* She absolutely LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She is even starting to develop her own version of the hotdog dance.

* She continues to love Little Einsteins.

* She is already particular about her appearance and wants to look in the mirror after we dress her. She is forever pulling hair accessories out of her hair. She is least tolerant of wearing pigtails and most tolerant of wearing a headband.

* She has already developed a love of shoes.

* Her favorite foods are Jelly Toast, cheese and bacon grits, raisins, pretzels, green beans, cheese, and a cheese quesadilla with rice and beans.

* She is very funny and will put her shoes on her hands as if they are gloves.

* She loves to be read to.

* She likes art already. She enjoyed painting and coloring.

* She likes playing in the pool and at her water table.

* She smacks her lips when she eats something delicious- like peach cobbler and ice cream.

* She loves to go to Gymboree and play in the gym.

* She is very comfortable and confident in social settings and so far does not cling to us.

* She has switched over to organic whole milk without skipping a beat.

* Her favorite "treats" are M&M minis.

and now the details

I have never had more fun in my life than the planning of Shelby's First Birthday party. I kept emailing Meredith and saying how much fun (FINALLY) getting to plan a birthday party was for me. OK- so here is a post about some of the details. Of course, very few of the ideas were mine originally- but that is what the internet is for right?? Oh and especially a new website I am hooked on! Pinterest!

Let's see... where to begin. First things first I guess, the invitation- which actually was not the first thing I got, but the first things people saw. The actual first thing I ordered was the outfit and the whole party evolved around it. Here is the invitation:

I blurred out my phone number for obvious reasons. It took a LOT of photos to finally get one where Shelby was holding up a "one" and looking somewhat happy at the same time. I think it turned out precious! Then I just sent the information to a fabulous lady in Louisiana. You can visit her ETSY Shop here. It was a wonderful experience and the entire process was complete and sent to the printers in a matter of an hour or so. I was very pleased.

The outfit.... I fell in LOVE with this outfit that I found on EBAY. Here is a link to the ladies shop. Here is a picture of the outfit from online.

Here is a picture of Shelby in her outfit.... of course you can't see the pants as they got bunched up around her knees.

After I found and ordered the dress I started looking on ETSY in hopes of finding some fun decorations and favors. WOW! Did I luck out! I found a incredibly lady in California who made spectacular things.... and had paper to EXACTLY match Shelby's dress. Here is a link to her shop and the ice cream favors she made for Shelby. You can see them here coupled with ice cream dishes and spoons I found at Oriental Trading. This children got to take their bowls/spoons home too.

This is the high chair sign she made as well.

My Sister-in-law Dawn made a few fabulous things for Shelby's party. I didn't get a picture of the decorated highchair but- one each side of the sign there were two ice creams that she had made. They looked just like the ice cream on these table decorations on the brown ice cream containers. The sign and ice cream cones were hanging from a white feather boa.

Dawn also made smaller ice cream tags which you can see on the containers holding the silverware. Originally the smaller tags were going to be on the favors-- but then I saw this idea online.

This idea quickly turned into these....

personalized for each guest.....

Inside of the favors boxes were candy, pudding, ice cream gummy bracelets, and stuff like that. They were positively precious.

The menu consisted of:

Chick-Fil-A chicken minis

Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets

strawberry frosted cupcakes from Whole Foods

vanilla baby bites from Pastry Arts

cheese puffs

pretzels

animal crackers

colored goldfish crackers

of course, ice cream - vanilla and strawberry

We also had ice cream cone cup cakes for each of the children that my mother "made". This was the most difficult decision of the party. I really wanted to find a bakery to make them. I found one and they wanted $4 per cupcake. I had "meet the teacher night" the evening before the party, so I knew I couldn't make them. My mother and I brain stormed and I found a link online showing how to make them with premade cupcakes. We went that route and the morning of the party my mother was sweet enough to assemble them. Mr. D. had to had cup a box to transport them. I brought the lid to a copier paper box home and he had to cut 18 holes in the top for us to sit the cones down in. They looked great and the kids love them. I have also filed them in the ever growing "never again" category.

Shelby's smash cake was from Whole Foods as well with strawberry frosting.

I lined the table with photos of Shelby in order at birth and then each month til her birthday. I will post these in a later entry. I also had ice cream sundae bouquets made of white carnations in ice cream dishes with real cherries on top.

I made Shelby a fabulous head piece with a head band, an ice cream cone, an organza bow, a couple of floral accents and a hot glue gun.

All in all the day was great. We are so very thankful to have the opportunity to celebrate our Daughter's first birthday.

2 birthday parties, 3 sick family members and the first week of school

Wow- have we been in a whirlwind here at our house. Since August 1st, Shelbs and I went to North Carolina and Mr. D. has been to Florida and Missouri. On top of that we had Shelby's actual birthday and then her fabulous first birthday party 2 days later with 19 children guest and 35 grown-up guest. After that everyone in my house managed to come down with separate illnesses.. and it was the first week of school. Are you exhausted from reading this already?

Let's see-- SCHOOL! I have definitely had the most wonderful first week of school EVER. For those who do not know, I teach at a Montessori School. I teach in a multi-age classroom with ages 2 1/2 to 6. I teach the children until they go to first grade. It is wonderful and extremely fulfilling. I am a strong believer in the Montessori Method and Shelby will be beginning her Montessori Education very very soon. That being said, this year I had mostly return students. It makes a huge difference. The new students I have are so precious! I could not have hand picked a better group of children. It has been such an easy and successful week. I am so pleased.

Sickness---- I had a sinus infection. Mr. D. had a little 24/48 hour bug on Monday - probably something he picked up on the plane. On Wednesday night, Shelby had stomach issues and vomited for the second time in her life. We are all 100% better as I type this post.

But, sandwiched in between all of the travel, right before the sicknesses and the first week of school-- we celebrated the birth of Shelby. My friend said Shelby's birthday was "four bakeries in the making" and she was 100% correct-- we used four different bakeries! I will blog the party details over the weekend. Shelby's Ice Cream themed party was so cute and fun. Until then I will leave you with another adorable photo from Shelby's birthday cake smash....

.... and birthday party cake smash....

Happy First Birthday Shelby

bed buddies

These are Shelby's bed buddies. She isn't really "attached" to them as in HAS to have them. They just hang out with her in her crib.

The baby is named Doll Lee, which is a doll given to her by her Gran Lee (Great Aunt Patsy). Then there is Little Bug which is a lady bug she put in the buggy at ToysRUs and it is actually a miniature version of her pillow pet. Then there is our favorite- Cuckle Bear. He was named that because he looks like a big pink cuckle burr. And least but not least, Twinkle Twinkle Little Violet... who needs new batteries now that I think of it.

Here is a picture I took Saturday of Shelby napping with her bed buddies.

She is a mess!!!

Thursday 13: Thirteen things I did today

Today is not only Thursday, but also my first day at home since Sunday. Shelby and I went on a little vacation to North Carolina while Mr. D. was on a trip to Florida. I have the entire week off and I am so glad to have a few days at home before school starts. Next week will be a super busy week for me with teacher work days, and a certain little girl's first birthday. But, before I get in to all of that-- here is a list of 13 things I did today.

1) Worked in "the room".... again. For those long term blog readers you know this is my never ending job.

2) Took Shelby shoe shopping.

3) Picked up the silverware for the party.

4) Got Brady from the pet resort.

5) Ate like a king- all day long!

6) Looked (unsuccessfully) for the USB cord to upload pictures of my vacation from my camera.

7) Texted with/talked to my favorite High School Freshman to be.

8) Chatted with Erica the Great

9) Obtained my photo CD from Shelby's photo shoot.... she is very serious in all of the pics but they are precious none the less.

10) Watched TV with Mr. D. on his brief layover at home.

11) Counted up RSVP's for Shelby's party.

12) Put a load of towels in the washer.

13) Read up on possible birthday gifts..... for ME!!

do you believe in magic????

As you know we have invested in quite a few sippy cups in our efforts to bottle ween Shelby.  36 individual cups have been rejected by her... and the 37th cup made the cut.  She was completely off of the bottle in two days.  The magic cup is the Think Baby Training Cup.   She absolutely loves it!