{ a very frozen birthday..}

my baby girl is turning three!!

her birthday isn't until tomorrow, but we celebrated it this past saturday. the past few weeks, when i asked rowan what she wanted to do for her birthday, all she requested was to have an "elsa burtday". if you have a little girl (or boy, for that matter) you know the frozen obsession/phenomenon that is happening right now. rowan is no exception. so i wasn't surprised at all that she wanted a frozen birthday. the only problem with this, however, is that because everyone is obsessed with frozen, you can't find anything frozen, anywhere. i have been to the disney store many times. i have been to target, walmart, online (etc.) you just can't find it. i tried to convince rowan that she wanted a fairy party or something.. but when it came down to it, an "elsa burtday" is what she wanted. 

so that's what i was gonna give her. 

if you know me, or have followed me for awhile, you know that i like to throw parties, or any event, for that matter. especially when it comes to my kids. so of course i went overboard with this.
if you are a parent, or you know a parent, you hear "they grow up so fast" quite often. well, i figured that my kids are only going to let me throw parties for them for so long, so i'm taking advantage. and i love birthdays, they happen once a year. i want them to feel so special. and i think she did.
this was the first year we did a 'friend' party, and man.. it was stressful! but it was still so much fun.

*****as always, thanks to my sister brynne for taking pictures while i was running around with my
 head cut off trying to finish last minute things. *****


the invitations
i wasn't really into everything that's out there for frozen parties. so i made almost everything myself. these invites i made on my computer. i cut out snowflakes on my moms cricut, and put a scoop of fake snow in each envelope. i used vellum envelopes so you could see the fun details.

the party

activities
i made all the kids "do you wanna build a snowman" kits, and it was fun to watch them all build their snowmen, in every which way ;) and then gobble them up! and we also played "pin the nose on olaf"

the party favors
"thank you for chillin with us" - and stuffed with all sorts of blue & white treats

it was such a fun party to plan. i would only hope that when rowan gets older, that she could look back on pictures and be like, "hey, my mom threw me a cool party". that's the hope, right?

love you sweet girl, happy 3rd birthday! 
love you to the moon.


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party details for anyone interested:

-snowflake wall decor: i got the 3D ones at zurchers, and all the silver stars i cut out on my mom's cricut with sparkling silver paper. i probably cut out 30 different snowflakes.

- branches: i thought this look would go well with the frozen theme and still be really pretty! i just found branches cut from a tree and painted them white.

- snowflake birthday cake: courtesy of chubby hubby cupcakes.

- all the candy: i pretty much went to the grocery store and party store and bought all the white & blue candy that i could find.

- snowflake cupcake toppers: DanysGiftShop on Etsy.

- "frozen inspired" candy cups: GlitterDaisyShop on Etsy.

- snowflake sugar cookies: special requested, and made by kneaders bakery.

- cupcakes: blue frosting specially requested, made by sweet tooth fairy.

- "do you wanna build a snowman?" kit: i made the label on my computer. the kit includes a graham cracker, 3 marshmallows, 2 pretzel sticks, 1 candy corn, and a few mini chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons.

- "pin the nose on olaf"- i found olaf on pinterest (click HERE), and took it to the copy store and blew it up really big.

- thank you gift boxes: i bought them at zurchers. i added the blue accordion circle, and i also cut all the small snowflakes (again, on silver glitter paper on my moms cricut) and made the little tag that said "thanks for chillin with us." i filled all of them with blue & white treats.

{ feeling quite lucky...}

we had a teeny little leprechaun come visit our house during the girls' nap today and he left presents! rowan was terrified when i told her a leprechaun came, but then i told her that he was already gone, so then she was okay. (come on, i was just trying to be fun. geez girlfriend.) we had a fun little green dinner with our girls.... and as i was watching them i couldn't help but feel pretty darn lucky.

(^^^ greers face, i diiiiiiieeeeee.)

happy st. patty's day!!

{ tiny dancer.. }

i have entered un-charted territory with this one. i have never been a girlie-girl. i never danced, i don't really own anything pink, or know anything about tu-tu's. sports was my thing. SO, to have a daughter who is as GIRLIE as they come, (pink, sparkles, princesses etc.) has been strange for me. however, i am happy to oblige to things that she loves, to a certain extent. but i knew that she needed something to do this winter, especially with girls her own age. so dance class it is! and she absolutely loves it. she only goes once a week, and every other day she wakes up and asks if it's "dance cass" day. the dance teacher is darling with these little two and three years olds. and shockingly, rowan listens really well! if she finds a passion in dancing, i'm happy. but more importantly, i just want her to be involved in something. and i'm having a heck of a time watching her do it! and so it begins.

she was SO embarassed that i was taking pictures of her in front of her friends.

....get used to it girlfriend.

love my tiny little dancer. 

{ potty training... }

rowan decided to start potty training at the very end of january! wahooooooooo. i have heard from so many parents that potty training is the nightmare of parenthood. truly, i have heard the worst things about it. so naturally, i have been dreading this. rowan started showing "signs" last valentines day (2013), so literally we have been talking about it for a YEAR! but all the signs that she was showing weren't really strong enough for me that i thought she wanted to go for it. so we just continued to talk and talk about it. then a few weeks before greer came, she went on the potty for the first time ( in an in-n-out!) THAT was for sure a sign that i should have just gone for it. but i wasn't ready. jord was out of town, and i was so stressed trying to get ready for a baby to come that i didn't want to go for it. plus, rowan was staying with cousins and grandparents when greer was coming, and i didn't want them to have to deal with cleaning up her messes. but then a few days after my birthday she started grabbing her bum and running away ( a clear sign that she was about to go) and so i grabbed her and said "ROWAN! we're gonna go on the potty!" so i put her on and she went. we were both soooooo excited. so we went to the store, bought all the treats, bought a few toys, bought stickers and underwear. and then of course that night, i got food poisoning. i was so miserable. but i wasn't going to turn back with the potty training. so we continued to go for it.

she had a few accidents the first couple days. she started on wednesday, but by friday.. she wasn't having any! she really was doing so awesome. after a week, she didnt need pull-ups during her nap. and after two weeks, she didn't need them at night. IT WAS AMAZING. of course it was a little frustrating the first few days, but nowhere near the nightmare i thought it was going to be. which proved to me, that was her time to do it. timing is everything with potty-training!!!!! we've had a couple accidents since then, but she absolutely has done so amazing. i'm so proud of her.

my potty training advice-

-timing is everything.
-make everything as positive as you can, even accidents.
- have your child pick out their favorite toy at the store, and set it on the table or counter where they can see it. and tell them they can open it when they go potty. it worked like a charm with rowan!
-have a jar of tiny treats, so that they can be rewarded every time they go.
- timing is everything.
- did i already say timing is everything?

{christmas sunday..}

i love christmas sundays! it's such a spiritual day, surrounded by the christmas spirit, and remembering the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. it was greer's first time going to church... and if being fourty-five minutes late, and leaving an hour early, was any inclination of how it went. ha ha. i vastly underestimated how long it would take to get two little girls and myself ready. oh well- i'll try and do better next week. 

..my two crazy girlies.. 

(real life. ;) can you believe this is our first "family of four" picture?)

{ give thanks..}

today is thanksgiving. and i am truly grateful.

this morning, i was feeding greer. rowan was wrestling and giggling with her daddy. it was just one of those moments where you see the big picture.... and you expect everything to just start playing in slow motion with music in the background. life couldn't be better. i have millions of reasons to be grateful, but today, i am extremely grateful for my sweet little family.

happy thanksgiving. 

{ sisters }

I was heartbroken at Rowan's reaction to me and the baby in the hospital. I literally cried and cried thinking that I had just ruined her life, and things would never be the same again. (lotsa hormones ;). We didn't get our first "family of four" picture at the hospital, or Rowan sitting on the hospital bed ooing and ahhing over her new little sister, I was so disappointed. But the day after we came home from the hospital, Rowan asked if she could hold "Baby Geer". Our first acknowledgement of the baby. It made me so happy. And hey, it's a step in the right direction. 

I absolutely love seeing my girls together.