Norah's Birthday! {Better Late Than Never}

Norah was born in March. We had her birthday party in March. However, the photos just got uploaded. Oh well! Here they are!

We had a great time at her first birthday party. It was at our house and the theme was Norah in One-derland. Of course, there were so many details that didn't get photographed, but I had a ton of fun planning and throwing the Alice in Wonderland tea party. We were grateful for all of our family and friends that came over to help us celebrate. Most everything I made myself and put together over the course of the week before.

Although first birthdays are always more for the parents than the kiddo, she thoroughly enjoyed ripping apart the wrapping paper.

The cupcakes say "Eat Me" and "Norah's First Birthday." The homemade ones are pink and the morning of the party we worried we wouldn't have enough so Chris went to buy more. Glad we did!

The above banner was on clearance at Hobby Lobby. I got it home and it said "hapy 1st birthday" oh, and the "p" was backwards. So I adjusted it a little. Probably won't be buying clearance banners anymore, at least without checking them out first. 

The banner below I made with the help of a friend at work and her Cricut machine. It's hard to see the colors in this photo, but it looked lovely in front of our dining room window.

Oh yeah, she has always and still hates the Happy Birthday song. Everyone even whispered it...didn't seem to make a difference.

I made her hat with some leftover fabric and cotton puff balls. Below is the pre-cry face, but I love how bright her eyes look.

...and meltdown.

She recovered with a gf cupcake. Then on to opening gifts and watching the other kiddos.

We also had a little secret at this event, we had just found out that Gibson was on the way. It was hard to not tell everyone when they were at our house that day.

It's hard to believe how much she has changed in the last 7 months. Now she is closer to 2! Time to start planning the next party!

Pregnancy- Glass Half Full

This past week has been a little rough. Nothing huge just a combination of some relatively unfortunate events involving pets, work, money, etc...coupled with the "end-of-pregnancy" symptoms and a toddler who is not sure if she wants her independence or not has me in just a negative mood. So I set off to write this post to complain. Seriously. I wrote a bunch of negative things about how uncomfortable I am, how N is whining constantly, I can't sleep...yada yada yada.

But then, I stopped when I felt Baby Gibson move. At the moment, I'm not uncomfortable. Norah is rolling the ball for Thor and she is giggling pretty loud (so cute!) whenever he brings it back (which is every. single. time. haha). I'm actually not feeling too tired and my cat gets to come home (healthy--er) tomorrow from the vet.

So I deleted it all...

I decided to write down all the things I love and will miss about being pregnant.

1. My hair is SO shiny, thick and soft. My fingernails are doing great and my skin is clear.
2. I don't have to change cat litter!
3. Getting to know this little life we created better than anyone else. I get to feel him move, kick and stretch. He reacts to our voices (especially his big sister!) and I get to experience all of it.
4. I don't feel bad about wearing yoga pants or leggings every day.
5. The anticipation of meeting our new family member, all the feelings of anxiety, fear, excitement and love that go along with it.
6. Seeing Norah snuggle up and fall asleep on my belly.
7. Getting to play "guess the body part" when lumps come poking out of my belly.
8. The sheer amount of food that I eat...without a ton of guilt. It is A LOT.
9. A continuous feeling of accomplishment. Ya know...I'm growing a person!
10. The heartburn, swollen feet and hands, sciatica, hip pressure, headaches and exhaustion won't last forever. In fact, it's quite short considering the amazing gift we will soon get to meet. I know I'll forget all about it when I see him.

My glass is MORE THAN half full.

Contentment Challenge

Original image: here.

In July, we did a "no spend" month. We decided to see how much money we could save/not spend by strictly not eating out, not shopping, not buying anything online....we did it. We didn't fail. We also didn't save any money. I'm still confused and I don't think I learned anything, other than it made me mad. I felt like we worked too hard, both at home and work to not allow ourselves to buy things when we wanted them, to go out for sushi, to purchase an outfit for your daughter...right? But I think what I was missing was an initiative. Yes, we need to save money, but there is SO much more to it than that.

On various blogs, I've been reading a lot about a "Contentment Challenge"-- no spending on anything frivolous...clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up, gadgets, expensive coffee...etc. For three months... Three whole months.

I've been thinking about doing a Contentment Challenge for a while, although I was (and still am) quite hesitant to write about it. It seems that if I write about it, especially here, it becomes permanent. I can't change my mind, I can't rework the rules. What if I fail? What if I can't handle it for three months? 

Well, I'm doing it. Officially started on October 1...so this will go October, November and December. With a baby due right in the middle, I'm sure my shopping will be down anyway, so it works out. My goal is not to eliminate, not to tell myself "no," but to look at why. Why do I feel the need to buy "things" and instead of considering it a "can't have," I'm going to fill the proverbial void with a reason to be thankful, a reason to be happy, so many other reasons than just material items.

In the end, it's not about whether I pass or fail, but what I learn and discover along the way. Sappy, right? The original challenge is quite religiously based, so I'm going to alter it a bit to fit my lifestyle and general system of beliefs. It shouldn't negate the outcome at all. 

We're going into this at the height of the holidays, when frivolous spending is at a premium, so I want to make sure that I'm doing this for the right reasons. My children (I'll have another one at the end of this...) come first and they'll still get appropriate Christmas gifts that are meaningful, important, and in the budget. 

Here are the guidelines (I altered them from the original) if anyone wants to follow along:

• For the first 10 days, the homework is the following: prepare, organize, and make any necessary purchases that I might need during these months. (This is not a last minute shopping spree! This is one final trip to the store for items I may need, and the opportunity for you to say my goodbyes to Target.)

• Choose 1-3 inspiring books to read during this time. I don't have a lot of time to read, I decided on some of my favorite blogs for things I'm interested in like Young House Love and Finding Joy.

• Gifts are okay! If someone gives me a gift (my birthday is in this three months too!) I will receive it graciously! If I need to buy someone else a gift, by all means, I will do so. The point is not to be rude, but to learn more myself.

• Necessities are okay! If I drop and break my phone (gosh I really hope not!) ,I'll get a new one! I just can't start justifying new purchases for items that I already have. 

• I must actively pursue something - anything - that replaces my tendency to buy stuff. I will begin thinking about something I love or a hobby I've always wanted to do, and make preparations to actually do it.

More to come on this!