On Toddlers & Timing

For months I have been lamenting the fact that a child is considered a toddler when they hit one year of age, at least medically. Too soon, I thought,There is no way he will be anything like a toddler. he is ababy. I never quite understood why the medical world likes to consider a one-year old a toddler. Was it because theymightbe walking around a year? Whatever the case, it seemed silly to me, especially in the final weeks leading up to Jackson’s graduation from infancy.

Now my mind is blown.  All of a sudden, as if overnight, my baby is a toddler. A real, live, walking, talking, dirty, lovable, messy, daring, curious, bossy toddler. I swear, it’s like he know that when he had his first birthday he needed to become big. A week ago he was hardly walking – he was taking a few steps here & there, but only walking about 50% of the time. Now – he is only walking. It is rare that I see him crawl at all. He is also a daredevil.  His grandparents got him this ride on for his birthday, and he now only plays with that toy (and his elmo fake cd player, but I hide that one because it is annoying). He has learned how to climb on it all by himself, and also takes pleasure in STANDING on it, which is highly dangerous, of course. And the words – he is able to communicate so much more than a mere week ago.  He has a library of words that he uses over and over: Mom Mom, Mommy, Mama, Daddy, Cookie (his fav), Jackson, Yucky, Thank you, Whoa!, Uh oh, Hi, the list goes on.  He is into the outdoors, hates bedtime, and has clear preferences and opinions, which can be frustrating sometimes, of course! And he is so outgoing and friendly – today, we were in the fabric store and he was making eyes at everyone. Smiling, laughing, babbling, and even pointing to touch their fingers. 

My point here is that I was not willing to embrace toddlerhood just yet. My baby was….a baby, but now, just days after his first birthday he reallyistoddling.  Of course he still looks the same, and yes, some of his babyness is still lingering, but this new phase of toddler looks like it is here to stay for awhile.  And I must admit, I am thoroughlyenjoyingit.I get to wake up everyday and discover something new about my son. I get to see things through his eyes, and have a wonderful reminder not to take things too seriously, or that thereisbeauty in something as normal as wind blowing through too-long grass, or a cousin blowing bubbles, and sweeping the floor even seems more fun with Jackson trying to wrestle the broom out of my hands…while walking. No matter how you look at it, my kid is cool.

On an unrelated (or maybe a little related?) note, because J Man has such a vibrant personality now, I thought his room needed to match.  I made him a new quilt, crib bumper (yes we use one, judge if you must. I prefer a crib bumper than tiny arms and legs being stuck in the slats causing him pain. Jackson does too.), and a throw pillow for the chair in his room. He is modeling in his new digs in these photos 🙂

Grandpa got me a swing! (Taken with instagram)

Someone is having trouble sleeping tonight. But look at those lipsssss (Taken with instagram)

Jack’s latest trick (Taken with instagram)

Sock Monkey Birthday Party

All images in this post provided by Ali Caudill Photography (except for the picture of the vintage sock monkey – dont want to tarnish  her reputation by making you think she took that!). She is amazing. If you are in the DC Area, book her. You will NOT regret it. Website here, blog here.

You guys, Ali is fast. Not only that but she is awesome and nice and pretty and a fantastic photographer.  The party happened Saturday and this blog post was up by Sunday night.  Seriously, I should pay her a million doll hairs. As promised, I wanted to post the photos she took, and also talk a little bit about the details that I thought would make Jackson’s party special.

The theme for the party was sock monkeys. I got the idea about 6 months ago when we were in Lexington, NC to introduce nearly 6 month old man to his great grandmother.  He got his second sock monkey from the Candy Shop in Lexington (pictured on the right), and instantly loved it as much as the first sock monkey, who was lost in an unfortunate incident with our dog, may he rest in peace. We went back to Lexington in January and Zac’s sweet cousin, Monika, had 5 or 6 mini monkeys for Jack, and we also scored this awesome jackmonkey-in-the-box for J.  Anyhow, I collected several more to use as decor over the months, including this vintage sock monkey I found on Etsy, which was displayed in a red vintage radio flyer wagon outside the front door, along with the letters O-N-E.To the left you will see a large wooden box draped in polka dotted and sock monkey fabric – I have to mention it because I acquired it by sheer luck – at Costco on Friday when purchasing beer and rolls and a few other party items, it was waiting for me to use at check out – I scooped it up and the rest is history.

I found these 2 foot tall metal pails in the dollar spot at target. OK – they were $2.50, but still – I scored two for $5 and then bought red and white daisies at Costco for a total of $15.00 and two beautiful floral arrangements adorned the food table, and went quite well with the theme.

Top Right:In addition to the pails of flowers (bottom left), I also found these adorable red tins at the dollar store (bargain!) and bought some red & white garden plants to place in them as decor.

Bottom Right: This was one of my favorite details of the entire party. I ordered a gigantic roll of red & white bakers twine and used it for everything (literally – banners, favors, everything). I strung the photos from Jackson’s monthly posts and attached them with the cutest and tiniest clothespins I have ever seen.

Top Left: I made this small banner to decorate Jackson’s high chair! It said “I AM ONE!” I used a digital printable paper pack for all of the prints I used on his invitations (see below) and all of the banners/labels, which cost me $2.00 on etsy. This way I didnt have to seek out expensive cardstock in prints that I didn’t love. AND I was able to design his invitations myself (bonus!)

Invitation Front

Invitation Back.

As you can see from the invitation – I set up a jar and asked guests to donate money to St. Jude’s instead of too many toys – The label on the jar got a drop of water on it, but if that was the worst thing that happened, no big deal.  The mat it is sitting on came from Michaels and cost $1.00 (I bought three) On the left, there is a photo of a monkey in front of the Parisian macarons I made for the party. The “red” ones are more coral,  but I wasn’t willing to put ANYMORE food coloring in than I did, which was quite a bit!

This is the banner I made to adorn the main wall for the party. It, obviously, read Happy Birthday Jackson and used hte same printable paper pack.  Let me also give you a tip – if you are planning a DIY party with any of these details, use a Cricut.  I can’t imagine how long it would have taken to stencil and meticulously cut out each of these letters. The cricut did it for me in minutes and then I just used spray adhesive to attach them to the paper, which was corrugated and smooth cardboard scrap paper I found at AC Moore for $0.30 each. I think I used 6 or 8 sheets.

Here is Mr. Handsome posing with one of his gifts. I found this vintage Radio Flyer Tricycle on Craig’s List for $30.00 (WHAT!!!!) and also thought outside the box and ordered all of the balloons off of Amazon for the party. I got 5 36-inch balloons in red & white and then 12 each of the brown and red polka dotted. I had my local Giant bow up the balloons which only cost $25.00, even including the HUGE ones!. I attached a bundle to the tricycle, the mailbox, and the food table. This option was much more affordable than having the party store do them, they charge between 15-25 dollars EACH for the 36 inch balloons. I spent less than two of the giant baloons at the party store on ALL of the (29 total) balloons, shipping, and inflating (17) of the balloons. Not to mention Giant is way closer to my house than the party store, so it was much more convenient. 

Desserts. Heaven. My friend and former colleague, Maggie, made this AMAZING cake. I mean…I couldn’t believe my eyes when I picked it up on Friday. It is gorgeous and tasted deliciousssss. It was chocolate with banana cream filling. YUM. Check out her website to see more of her awesome cakes, and also order some. You won’t regret it!

In the photo on the right you can see the delicious cupcakes my sister makes (order from her too – she rocks).  We went with Spice and Red Velvet Cake, and I made the tags using my trusty cricut and a hot glue gun, and some paper wrapped straws. Also, I am proud to mention that I MADE the cupcake stands! All of the materials (except the spray paint) came from the dollar store, meaning each tier was $5.00!

More of the same – Cake, Macarons, Straws, but on the top right you will see a drink tub (from target – gifted to us at easter) filled with bottled sodas – coke, cream soda, and root beer!

These are the favors I put together for the party! I stored them in a plain wooden crate that I whitewashed. They are mason jars filled with oatmeal chocolate cookie mix, and adorned with some sock monkey fabric and baker’s twine.  For the chocolate I used chocolate and white chocolate chips along with red and brown M&M’s to keep with our red & brown color scheme. I made the labels with the printables again, and they matched everything else beautifully.

To the left is the trike, and on the right are the party hats I made with the sock monkey fabric (fabric.com $10.00 per yard), trim edging, yarn, and a hot glue gun. I also made the high chair cover, which is red & white ticking fabric (tutorial here).

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I also made Jackson’s shirt! I free=hand cut a sock monkey, and a number one applique and attached them to a white T-Shirt.  My MIL also has an awesome embroidery machine, so we were able to put his name at the bottom of the shirt as well.

I set up a candy bar with mostly red & brown candies including twizzlers, whoppers, swedish fish, peppermints, caramels, and tootsie rolls! Also, we hung some white paper lanterns over the gift area of the party. The littles were pretty enamored with them.

I also made a photo book to commemorate Jackson’s first year, and put some of my favorite blog posts inside. We displayed it next to the donation jar. If you are interested in seeing how it turned out, click here.

To finish off, here are a few more of the photos Ali took of the day. Thank you to everyone who came and donated, and especially to Ali, who took these beautiful photos!

Baby knew exactly what to do with that cupcake 🙂

Jackson’s First Birthday Party!

Here is a preview of the party we put together for Jackson’s first birthday. The theme was sock monkey and everything was brown, red, & white.  Almost all of the party was DIY, and I will be posting tutorials on how to make many of the items on my other blog shortly for anyone that is interested :).  My friend Ali (amazing photographer) was kind enough to bring her camera and take photos, so I was a bit of a slacker with my camera and definitely didn’t take pictures of all of the details, so I will just post a couple photos here and will focus mainly on the people :). When I have the photos from Ali, I will postallof the details!

Our best girl, Peyton!

Birthday boy!!!

^Buddies 🙂

Also, we set out a donation jar for St. Jude’s and asked that our guests bring donations in lieu of toys (don’t worry – he still got presents :)) and I am proud to report that we raised more than SIX HUNDRED dollars to donate in honor of Jackson’s first year on this earth! Thank you so much to all of those who donated!

Party day!! (Taken with instagram)

We had some of the grandparents over for dinner and tie dye cupcakes last night.  I still can’t believe our boy is ONE! Stay tuned for the realparty on Saturday!

For his birthday, Jaxkson had a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Space Shuttle Discovery fly over our house. I will never grow tired of living in this area.

My baby,

It is your first birthday today. 366 whirlwind days. 366 days of joy. 366 days of first times and milestones. Above all, 366 days of love. I truly am astonished at how quickly this day has arrived. We have been waiting with such joyful anticipation, but at the same time I have been waiting with quiet apprehension, begging father time to slow down.  The past year has been, in one word, perfect. I am talking beyond my wildest dreams.  I could have never imagined what it feels like to be a mother, and to love someone so completely and unconditionally as I do you.  You are my entire heart.

The past year has brought so many highs and only a couple very tiny lows. In short, it has been the best year of my life. There is no question. I have enjoyed every minute of being your mother, taking care of you as only I know how. For me, motherhood came naturally, as if you were built perfectly to be mine and only mine.  There is no question in my mind – I was put on this earth to be your mom.

I beam with pride when I look at you. I cannot believe just how much you have developed over the past year.  Going from a sleepy newborn, morphing into this giant boy, who loves to experiment with walking, play with toys and is opinionated, yet compassionate. I swear that you have to be the most innocent and loving creature on this earth. You repeatedly crawl to sit in my lap, or to just give me the longest, full body hugs that make me melt in an instant. You give kisses, you blow kisses, you are sweeter than anyone could expect, and I pray that it never goes away. 

Jackson, the love I have for you is unparalleled.  I want you to know just how much joy you have brought to my life from the instant I gave birth to you, and each day since.  Seriously, when you are involved, everything just seems a bit happier. I never knew the meaning of life until I made the decision to have you, and boy, I am so grateful that I did. You have brought more joy to our lives than we ever could of hoped for. Here is to the past 366 days, and each one thereafter.  Happy birthday baby!

ALWAYS,

Mama