The Young...and The Restless

We had a play date today with our friends the McCrays and the Sotos. There were already 6 kiddos among the three of us then Carrie's friend came by with her two boys, so at one point in our day there were 8 kids, under the age of 5 running around the house! It was chaos...but it was fun. Auntie Erika picked a great day to visit! Just a few pics before I go lie down. I need to recuperate!

Happy Baby! 

 We just got there and already eating SOMEthing!

 The "big kids" coloring

 Yummy applesauce

Crackin' herself up

Loving on the baby...so sweet!

We tried to get all 6 kids in one picture, but unfortunately this is the best we could do!

At least they're all facing forward in this one...but we're missing one...

Oh, there he is!

Thanks friends for a fun day!

Friday Favorite

 

Happy Friday!

Happy (Belated) Birthday!

Yes, I'm a week late. I'm sorry. There is no excuse other than I didn't feel like blogging. But he deserves more than that lame excuse so I'm putting my laziness aside today.

(do they look alike or what?)

Happy Birthday, Bri! You made it another year...now you're old like me hehe. Thank you for being an amazing father and husband. You work so hard to provide for us and I can't tell you enough how much that means to me. You are the calm to my chaos and the peanut butter to my jelly. I'm so happy that we can celebrate YOU today because you definitely deserve it! Hope your birthday is full of happiness and excitement and that the Lord continues to bless you today and in the years to come.

Happy Birthday! We love you.

A Tiny Party!

After a whirlwind weekend, I can finally breathe again! Planning a first birthday party is quite exhausting!

When I came across this post I knew I had to "borrow" the idea and go all out. I was super excited about the party theme because it suited A perfectly! 

I started with the tiny invitations,

continued the theme with the tiny party favors for the adults as well as the kids,

 (cake pops for the adults)

 (tiny treats and toys for the kiddos)

and made sure the food & drink was tiny as well.

It's in the details people.

We had about 70 people attend her party (I know, that's like a small wedding!)...from family to friends and even neighbors. Anayah did great with everyone and all the attention and scored big time with presents! 

She loved her cake and wasn't quite sure she wanted to share with anyone...except for her buddy Jack. The kids took a few swings at the pinata but in the end B had to put them out of their misery and just bust it open.  She even had a blast in the jumper!

(sadly, the ONLY picture of the 3 of us!)

Overall, the party was a success! I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed spending the day at A's Tiny Party! Thank you to everyone who made it out. We enjoyed having you over and can't wait until her next one (in 5 years).

Thanks for celebrating with me!

♥ Anayah

DIY Toilet Paper Art

Yup, our budget is so tight that we had to resort to using toilet paper as artwork! Haha just kidding. So on my newest blog that I stalk follow, I found a fun little post about using toilet paper/paper towel rolls as artwork. I was intrigued and definitely interested in making it work in our house somewhere since it sounded like an inexpensive project and definitely something easy and quick.

I bought these canvases at Joann's when they were 50% off so I think I paid $12 for the 3 pack and I painted them with leftover paint from A's nursery.

I cut up about 10 toilet paper rolls and 3 paper towel rolls into 1.5in sections (no we don't go through THAT much tp...I had friends collect them too!) 

I initially made the mistake of priming them before I glued them together. Don't do that...it's a pain in the butt. Glue first people! Know that these bad boys will soak up quite a bit more paint that you are expecting. Just FYI. So primer, then paint. Wait, wait. Glue, then primer, then paint!

After the paint was dry, I arranged them how I wanted and just used a bit of hot glue in the center to glue them to the canvas.

Super easy and cheap too! And now we have fun and unique artwork to complete our guest room! Just in time for visitors grandma.

 

Yay, the guest room is finally finished!

Twelve Months!

The day has finally come...

Baby, girl, you are officially a year old! Mommy got a bit emotional thinking back on this year and how much of a joy and blessing you have been to us. You are by far the best thing daddy and I have done and we are so thankful and proud to be your parents. We are STILL in disbelief that this year has gone by so quickly and that you are no longer our baby. Of course you will always be our "baby" but you are most definitely more a little girl these days. You are very independent and strong-willed opinionated about everything...not quite sure where you get that (haha). You are still so curious about everything and love to sit and watch what people are doing then try it yourself. You are extremely smart and it's crazy the things that you are able to understand and communicate to us. In the last month you started walking and now you are off and going! You've started "filling out" (or getting fat like grandpa says) but you are still our tiny girl. It's only appropriate that your first birthday party will be a Tiny Party and will be the event of the year!

 

You spent your birthday with just mommy and daddy doing lots of fun (and new) things:

pancakes with butter and a teeny bit of syrup for breakfast

(want some?)

messing up exploring daddy's man cave

(no daddy, it wasn't me)

opening birthday cards
 (let's look inside...)

(aw, man, no money in this one)

helping daddy wash the cars

(this is fun, mommy!)

devouring sharing your first berry sundae

(I'm not sure what this is, but I LIKE it!)

& playing outside

(higher, daddy, higher!)

Hope you had a fun day!

Anayah, our prayer is that the Lord continues to have His hand on your life today and always. That you will grow up in His favor and His blessings will be showered on you daily. That your heart will be full of His love and your actions and character will show the joy He has given you. May you always know that we love you and are so proud to call you our daughter.

Happy Birthday our sweet baby girl!

Before & After: Laundry Room

So it's not really a huge transformation but it's one of my favorites so far. Not necessarily my favorite to work on but more the end result. Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

builder white and boring...

addition of DIY laundry boxes and a fun rug... 

It sat that way for a few months a couple years until a few weeks ago. My parents came up and my rock star of a dad finished what we started so long ago. A few pictures of the process:

paint plus the beadboard

then we added the trim

after caulk and more paint

and the finished product

It still needs some artwork and accessories but it will have to do for now! Another thing to cross off the list!