pinwheels + pennants

So, our little Nat turned one.

{insert cliche, "they grow up so fast" here.}

I seriously can't believe that this little angel:

Is now THIS little angel:

To celebrate, we had a birthday bash at her Granmama's house. I got the inspiration for the party from Hostess with the Mostess, mainly from this party, but also from lots of other pinwheel-inspired parties on the site.

I found some adorable invitations from Sweet Papers, and got her to customize the colors & layout just for us:

I loved that I could print them myself & save money! Sweet Papers also customized the coordinating tags & toppers, which I printed on cardstock for the cupcake toppers and label paper for the cup stickers. Inexpensive, and easy!

Here are a few more pics of the party. It was such a fun time, and we were so blessed to have so many friends and family come out to celebrate our sweet Natalie!

{cupcake toppers designed by Sweet Papers & assembled by me}

{pink pinwheel from Hobby Lobby}

{stickers on cups designed by Sweet Papers}

{small pinwheels from Hobby Lobby}

{free printable alphabet bunting from Ruffled - this is so cute, I may need to make one for the house!}

{free printable small bunting from Daily Suze}

{enormous pinwheel from Hobby Lobby}

{yeah...didn't get a "before" pic of the smash cake, but it was ADORABLY decorated by my mom's co-worker to coordinate with the pinwheel design from Sweet Papers}

{also didn't get a good pic of the birthday girl's sweet getup, but we made her a t-shirt from transfer paper that coordinated with the pinwheel design from Sweet Papers}

{So apparently, we owe a good deal of our party stuff to the awesome work of Sweet Papers! Go check them out for birthday party invitations, baby announcements, shower invitations, and more!}

happy birthday!

On this day, one year ago, a new life was born. I would like to take a moment to celebrate the 1-year birthday of my rubber band ball. Look how much he has grown in the past year!

(my baby on the day he was born)

(my baby today! wow, my camera phone is a lot better than my co-worker's who took the pic last year...)

For those of you who haven't been reading my blog for the past year, you can check out the story of my rubber band ball and how he came into this world. Click here and scroll down to read about my previous loss and the birth of this new life.

Happy Birthday, Rubber Band Ball! I hope that one day you can be as big as your brother. God rest his soul.

I love my husband :-)

Obviously, there are SO many things I could say about why I love my husband. But I just wanted to share this one thing because it's fresh on my mind. Yesterday was my birthday. Baron asked me awhile back what I wanted from him. I haven't been "allowed" to go shopping for awhile, so I told him I wanted either money or a gift card so I could finally buy some clothes. So yesterday, when I got home from my 10:00 a.m. lingerie shower (BOOOOO), I opened my birthday card from Baron to find my gift. Take a look:

Of course, he couldn't just give me money for my birthday. He had to make it special. And that is just one reason why I love him. He does his very best to please me in everything he does. But what I love about him even more is that he does that for everyone. He doesn't just go the extra mile, he goes two. So having said all that...here's to my hubby, who treats me like a princess every day!! I love you!!