Pink, Candy, & a 3 Year Old (part 2)

The birthday girl posed in her new pretty pink dress Gaga bought her while we were on our "Gaga's Great Adventure" earlier that week.  (That's a whole other post waiting to happen!)  I love that 3 year old!!

Little Man was the greeter.  He loved standing at the door watching people come in!

Then he decided he needed to be in a few more pictures. :)

Madeline and her one of her great-grandma's Nana

After her friends arrived, we had two craft tables going - one was decorating "lollipops'.  I cut out pink circles and glued them to lollipop sticks.  Then there was all kinds of markers, glitter, stickers, etc. for the kids to decorate their lollipops with.  They loved it!

The next craft table was making "candy necklaces."  I had fruit loops, chocolate Cheerios, and strawberry yogurt Cheerios for them to string on elastic.  

After they finished their crafts, we attempted to play musical chairs.  It ended up being quite comical when we started though because most of them had never played before.  A couple got upset when someone took their chair!!  Plus, the song ("I want candy") was almost impossible to hear.  We got a good laugh if nothing else!  The winner took home the game Candyland!

After the game, we went back into the front room, sang Happy Birthday, and filled our plates with PINK CANDY!! Madeline opened all her gifts while everyone enjoyed the sugar.

One of her gifts was a gift card to Peach Wave Frozen Yogurt.  She LOVES going there so Uncle Jason and Aunt Heather hooked her up!!

The sweet Gassid boys gave her her first Webkin!  Jantzen was so cute while he explained it all to us!  They are such a sweet family!  (Jett is the other cutie in the family...how adorable are they!?!  Totally makes me want a baby.)

Madeline and her other great-grandma Nanny

Mimi & Madeline

Pretty Princesses in Pink! 

Inside each favor bag was a singing Veggie Tales toothbrush.  I figured it was the least I could do since I was sending them all home with a bag full of candy. :)

We had a great time!  Thank you everyone who came and made my baby girl's day so sweet!! 

Pink, Candy, & A 3 Year Old.

I love a party.  More than the party itself though, I love planning it.  Call me crazy.  So a few months ago I asked Madeline what kind of party she wanted for her 3rd birthday.  "Mommy, I want a pink candy party."  Granted I know my girl loves candy and the color pink is a sure-fire favorite, I wasn't expecting it to be the theme.  But, the girl knows what she wants and I was up for the challenge.

I started out researching pink candy and found www.candywarehouse.com and www.ohnuts.com to be the best.  I also did tons of "research" (reading loads of blogs and surfing the web) and before long, the ideas started to flow.  I asked an old friend from high school to do the invitations and labels.  (check her out here rachel's blog).  Finally, my soon-to-be sister-in-law Aunt Heather took the pictures for me.  She's awesome. :) There are a million pics to go through still, but I wanted to share a glimpse of the sugary sweet time we had!

The front of the invitation - under her name it says "Pure Sweetness since 2007"

The back of the invitations was a pink polka dot with all the info.  I loved how perfect they turned out!  Totally set the tone for the party!!

This was on our porch along with some pink polka dot balloons and a gorgeous arrangment of flowers on the door.  (I have to find a picture with the whole set up!)

On our entry table, I had the favor bags (white bags with labels that said "Pure Sweetness" on pink polka dot paper tied w/pink ribbon) The bags all had singing Veggie Tale toothbrushes inside then the kiddos loaded them up with candy to take home.  The topiary is made from mini cupcakes.  Brodie made it for the party the night before.  What a great daddy!!  The frame beside it had 3 pictures of Madeline - one from each of her birthdays!!  She's growing up way too fast!!

I used the tutorial from Martha Stewart to make these paper flowers...so easy!!  I hung them above the candy table and above the beverage bar.  Love them.  Speaking of the candy table, check it out!

 

My sweet neighbor, Aislinn, helped me make the banner with her Cricket machine.  Pretty sure I need one now. :)  Madeline's eyes lit up when she woke up and saw the table that morning.  Totally worth it all!  Speaking of the candy table, we had...

 

Pink swirled salt water taffy

 

Strawberry cupcakes from Sweet Memories

"Pink Princess" cupcakes from Ruth's Sweet Justice

Homemade Merigune Cookies

They were super easy and they tasted just like cotton candy.  However, they do not like humidity.  But, it all worked out and they were a hit.  I'll have to post the recipe soon.

Bubblegum Jelly Beans

Strawberry Cheesecake Jelly Beans

 Pink M&M's 

 Cherry Rock Candy
(There was Bubblegum Rock Candy too, but we didn't get a close up)

Giant Marshmallows

(Which, by the way, make killer rice crispy treats the next day.)

Pink Gumballs

Strawberry & Creme Malted Milk Balls

and finally, Strawberry Gummy Bears!!

For drinks, we had Strawberry Milk, Chocolate Milk, Plain Milk, & Pink Lemonade.  I wanted to use old milk jugs for their drinks, but couldn't find them in my price range.  When at the grocery store one day, I noticed the Frappachino bottles were similar in size and shape so I stocked up and voila!  Milk bottles!! Pink straws and polka dot name tags attached and they were complete!

All in all the party was a hit!  I'll do another post tomorrow with pictures of the activites, the guests, and of course, the birthday girl!!

Miss Kim & Miss Betty

Today was Madeline's last day in her 2 year old Sunday school class "Under the Sea."  I have to admit I got a little teary-eyed when I dropped her off and picked her up.  I really cannot believe it's been a year since she started going to LifeKids. 

When both of our babies were born, they slept through the entire church service - loud worship and all.  We'd joke that Trent Austin, our worship leader, would sing them to sleep every week.  When it was getting close to Madeline's second birthday I knew she needed to start going to Sunday school.  I knew the LifeKids program our church offered was exceptional.  I mean, I had been on staff with them and loved everything about it.  It was just she'd never been to daycare, never been left with a sitter (besides her grandma's), nothing - so I knew it was going to be hard at first. 

Finally, after her birthday, I took her for her first class.  It was awful.  She cried so hard you could here her down both hallways.  I'll never forget how bad it was.  I stood a few doors down crying myself because I had never left my daughter with anyone and I just dropped her off with some ladies named Miss Kim and Miss Betty.  I remember running into a girl I used to work with at one of the local stations.  I'm sure she thought I had completely lost my mind.  I was trying to explain why I was crying and she was so sweet and comforting, but I know she had to think "seriously, go get her out of the classroom and then you'll both stop sobbing!"  :) 

But, I kept taking her back and by the third week, there was hardly any tears.  Every week she was greeted by those two sweet teachers.  Both of them would have big ol' smiles and welcome Madeline with open arms.  I'm pretty sure one of them was usually holding her by the time I picked her up too. :) 

All that to say, those two women will never know what an impact they made on our lives.  I took such comfort in knowing how much the loved my baby girl and how much they poured into her life by serving each and every week.  After a month or two she loved going to Sunday school and would often ask if we could go see Miss Kim and Miss Betty and learn about Jesus when we'd drive past the church during the week.  I am so thankful for the amazing curriculum and volunteers our church has.  So, when I dropped her off today it was a bittersweet moment.  To see how far she's come in a year makes me so happy - I love the girl she's becoming.  I love that she comes out telling me all the things she learned and showing off her coloring sheets.  I love that she's being taught the love of our sweet Father both inside and outside the home.  But, it's also going to be so hard for me to leave her in the hands of new teachers next week.  They're going to have a lot to live up to. :) 

Three Words & A Flat Iron

So, I started this morning like most, with a little man in the monitor going "Momma. Momma. MOM."  I rolled out of bed to go retrieve said little man from his crib.  First thing out of his mouth (after the Momma rant) is always "uh-oh" while holding his bottom.  It's his way of letting me know he needs a fresh start if you will. :)  So while he was laying while I changed him, he said it - all on his own, no coaxing.  "I....Wuv....Momma." His first sentence.  I melted. LOVE that baby boy.  What I want to know is how is he already 18 months old and putting words together??!!  (Granted, he did pick the perfect three words to put together.)  I really wanted to stop time right then and there, but, it didn't happen.

After the rest of our morning routine we were getting ready and Madeline informed me she wanted her hair straight.  I looked at her a bit confused, I mean, the girl has natural curl I'd pay big bucks for, so she walked over, opened the drawer, and handed me my flat iron.  "I want my hair straight like you Mommy." She wants to be like her Mommy, what could I say to that?!  So, after I repeated myself a few hundred times that this was a one time thing, she was up on the counter grinning ear to ear while I steamed those baby curls away.  I probably would have cried had I not been cracking up watching her watch herself.  It was super cute, but after a vote, we ALL agree she looks way too old and she cannot have straight hair again for at least ten years - maybe fifteen.

Two Weeks

So, two weeks ago today, on the way to church, out of the blue I really felt God tell me He wants us to adopt.  (Because "out of the blue" is God's style, right?!)  Let me back up and say, We've been going back and forth about a third child for a while now.  The biggest drawback is that when Brodie switched jobs last year, we had to take out insurance on our own.  and because of that, they (the insurance companies) won't cover c-sections (which I have to have), so if we do have a third, we will pay 100% - at least $20g's, probably more.  Nice, right?

SO, back to that drive to church.  I really felt like God was telling me that we needed to adopt - something I'd never really, honestly considered before. (I mean, have you seen the quality of kids we produce??) But, I just kept hearing it over and over and over.  On the plus, most adoptions are less then the amount we'd have to pay for a biological baby, and we'd be giving a new life to someone already in need.  It made me think of one part of our pastor's message last week - passing on something good (a baby biologically) for something great (adopting a baby who needs to be loved.) Flash forward two days and a horrible, devastating earthquake destroys most of Haiti - one of the poorest countries with tens of thousands of already orphaned children.  I was reading online about it and came across this video http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/19/haiti.obrien.orphanages/index.html with Soladad O'Brien.  I could not stop watching it and crying for these babies.  From then I began to wonder what could I do, how could I help.  Then I heard that Voice again.  That evening, I told Brodie instead of a weekend away for my birthday (a few days away) I wanted to adopt a Haitian baby.  He looked at me like I was nuts. (I just may be.)  After talking it through for a few days, we are now diligently praying about adopting one of these precious babies. 

Since then, I have prayed, read, researched, immersing myself in all things Haiti.  It makes me truly sick at the amount of red tape and restrictions that come along with the adoption process.   Pre-quake the Haitian government required you be 35 and married at least 10 years to adopt.  Strike one and two - we are 30 & 31 and have been married 5 years.  But, I truly believe if it's God's will, it will happen.  I have come across this blog http://thehowertons.blogspot.com/ which is the story of a family in Cali who has been in the process of adopting a Haitian boy for almost 3 years.  He finally came home yesterday thanks to the humanitarian parole the US govt is granting to those who were already in the process.

I truly believe God has a reason and a purpose for everything. Maybe we will become parents to one of these precious babies, maybe we won't.  I do know though that no matter what our outcome may be, I will continue to pray for all those affected by this horrible tragedy. 

big girl panties, x-rays, and everything in between...

So, it's been awhile, and that means, there's been a lot going on since I last blogged! I'll touch on a few of my favorites...

About a month ago we (okay, I) decided to start potty training Madeline. I had been reading all the books, talking to all my friends who'd been there/done that, & stocked up on the candy, juice, and Dora Dora panties. We were set. We started on a Friday (lock down in the Tucker house...) and she did really well - just a couple accidents. I was so proud!! She loved her big girl panties, and really loved the candy she got for making it to the potty. During her naps and at bedtime, we'd put her in Pull-Ups (aka night night panties). Well, by Saturday night she was fighting going to the potty and I couldn't figure out why. Long story short, she had an allergic reaction to the Pull-Ups and her bottom and legs broke out in welps!! It was AWFUL!! Needless to say, the diapers came back and we took a break until I order some chemical-free all-natural pull-ups. But, she sure did rock those big girl panties!

For Valentine's Day we went with our Lifegroup (minus the Haggards) to dinner then bowling at Red Pin. We had a great time! I am so thankful for everyone in our group - God has truly blessed us!

One last story - so, this past Friday, I was getting the kiddos ready for their bath. I had sat Wyatt on his changing table to strip him down when I realized I forgot to get a shirt out for after the bath. So, I walked over to the closet and as soon as I walked in, I heard "THUD". Yep, he fell right off. He was crying sooo hard! Of course, I scooped him up and was trying to comfort him, but no avail. Even after a bath he still kept crying, so Brodie and I decided we should take him to the dr. just to be safe. I was so scared they were going to turn me in to DHS or something. After we got to Dr. Stephens' office they decided to do an x-ray of both legs. I wish soooo bad I would've taken a picture. (I will forever have the mental picture) There I was, holding my 7 month old's hand as he laid on that big ol' table while the nurse put the slides under his legs. She had put a pillow under his head, but he kept scooting down. Every time he'd move his shirt would creep up so eventually, he was laying there with his belly hanging out. He looked over at me and grinned like he was thinking, "yeah, mommy, this might be the first time, but it won't be the last!" I seriously had a flash forward of all the future trips he & I will make back to the x-ray table. I'm pretty sure he's going to be all-boy! Good times!