Bella's 5th Birthday Party

I cannot believe she is five already. I remember just the other day blogging during pregnancy and waiting on her to join us. She truly amazes me everyday with her sweet heart and curiosity. We had 18 kids at our house for the party! One of the things we really looked forward to moving into our new house was having room to have parties, plus we really wanted to have a yard to work in and play in and have space for the kids to enjoy the outdoors. This was the perfect time of year to have an outdoor party and lets be honest, I am not going to invite 18 kiddos INto my house :) Anyway, she wanted a My Little Pony party and I wanted simple so I just served cupcakes and drinks and decided on a few themed games to have for them. The first we called "The Rainbow Dash" and each child got to choose a stick pony I made from a pool noodle and "dash" or race the others and jump hurdles. The other two were a bean bag toss and "Apple Jack's Apple Bobbing." I think they enjoyed it. After the party got going we had a special surprise planned for Bella. Randy and I kept it to ourselves until she drove up- the pony lady! She brought three- one was just back up, one was for petting and brushing and the other was for riding. All the kids got to ride and then Bella got an additional "trail" ride around the neighborhood at the end. After that we did cupcakes and I had her do presents after everyone left for the sake of time and craziness. She got a lot of crafty things to do, books, princess stuff, shoes, money, clothes, movies, an alarm clock, a child-size wheel barrel- you name it. She is one happy girl and really pacing herself, surprisingly, at opening the packages. She spent all of last night with one specific toy and today on a color by number book. It was a success.



Tomorrow is her real birthday and I think we will spend some time at a park, getting ice cream, plus her and I are going to pedis and possibly go to the movies together. She is a fun little girl to be with and always so thankful for everything.

Fruits of Our Labor

This past week Bella picked a tiny strawberry from the garden. So far, that is all we have but I had the honor of trying it and it was delicious!



Also, a few updated pictures of the garden and yard. The first one is the birdie who has made her new home on the girls' window sill.

Celebrating Porter!

It has been AMAZING to have so many people blessing us with stuff for Porter! Between friends' hand-me-downs and a sweet little shower on Saturday, I think we are going to be just fine.

Saturday my friends, Jennifer and Carey, threw a shower for Porter and the food was so good plus getting to see all of my girls at the same time is rare but such a blessing. Porter got a lot of cute little outfits to wear plus some diapers, bottles, shoes and some other practical things for us to use. It really got me excited about welcoming this little bean in a few short weeks!

Busy Bees

This past weekend, other than the shower, we had lots of other stuff going on and it was a lot of fun. Randy did some yard work and pressure washed the deck and stained it too- preping for Bella's 5th birthday party next Saturday!! That's right, five!! Ca-razy. When I got home from the shower, I took Bella to a sibling tour at the hospital. They got to practice holding babies and changing diapers and she loved every minute of it. They also showed us around and let us get familiar with the maternity ward.



Sunday we went to church and then had a picnic afterwards. It was a little chilly but always fun to hang out with fellow church members and eat! After that we ran home for quick naps and headed to my aunts to celebrate Easter! We always have a lunch or dinner and an egg hunt at some point near Easter- the girls love it. We also got to sneak in a quick visit with friends while in the area. They had some boy stuff for us and it was so nice to be able to chat for a bit and let the kids play.

Funny Stuff

Some funny things Bella has said lately- I need to document!

Bella asked me today if I knew how much the baby weighed and I said no but then she started pointing to my belly and said, "Aww...look- I see his little foot. I see his little big toe sticking out!" It was my belly button. I know, gross.

Gearing up for a birthday party and I asked Bella what the little girl liked- she said, "Taking things from people... and picking her nose." To which i said, "Oh. Um, so are y'all friends? Do you want to go to the party?"

Ava dropped her snack and Bella says, "Let me get it for you, your highness!" and these past few days she has been telling me, "Yes Mommy. Your wish is my command!" What a sweetie!!

Just for fun...

These are a few of my favorite pics of Ava lately...

First Day of Spring

The first day of spring we actually got a touch of spring weather and when we got home from preschool that day, our new spring accessory was waiting for us! We got a kid's picnic table to enjoy snacks on this summer. (Of course, Ava had to take the only adult seat on the deck so I stood.)