Happy Birthday Nana!

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My grandma (Nana) turned 84 earlier this month. I have been so bad at updating this blog but wanted to at least share a few pictures. We had a nice afternoon/family party for her. We got a bunch of Subway sandwiches and chips and drinks, and I made cupcakes. We’re fancy like that. Of course she got some Avon stuff for her birthday- a perfume set and some jewelry. She also got some candy, a jewelry box, and some promotional products.

Just a cute one of Bailey with my mom (Grammy)

We didn’t think we could do all 84 candles on a cupcake

I am so thankful to have my grandparents living here in town with us. I know I complain sometimes about having to “help” with them… but it is nice to spend time with them and I am glad they have gotten to know Bailey. And that they will get to know Baby Boy. Whose middle name will be the same as Papa’s middle name.

Ella’s Birthday Party

Filed Under Birthdays, Friends, Parties, Two Years Old | 2 Comments

I have been trying to post this for over a week and I keep losing the post so you are getting pictures without a lot of chit chat. I’ve got to get caught up! Here are the pics from Ella’s birthday party two weekends ago-

At first she didn’t want to change into her swimsuit. It was SO hot…

But then I convinced her to put her suit on and get in the water/sprinklers and she had so much fun! She also ate a lot of Cheetos!

She liked the sandbox too. I spent the car ride home picking the sand out of her bathing suit bottom! No more swimtsuits and sandboxes together. I am glad she wanted to get in though.

Thank you to Ella for inviting us! We had a great time

“Key Mouse”

Filed Under Outings, Parties, Two Years Old | 3 Comments

Bailey went to a birthday party a few weekends ago at Chuck E. Cheese. It’s the first time she has been there since she was about nine months old. She had a blast. I do have to say that she was probably the ONLY child there in a dress, but that’s how we roll.

She was IN LOVE with Chuck E. Cheese (the mouse) and called him Key-Mouse. She wanted to watch him sing on stage the whole time. She also liked this ride with him and it took her picture and printed it out during the ride.

She loved climbing through the tubes like at McDonalds. She looks scared in this picture but I’m not sure why because she was waving and laughing up there. And if you have ever gone to any type of play area with Bailey- she is the fearless one who heads straight to the top and tries to play with the older kids. I have to try to catch glimpses of her once in a while through the tunnel windows.

The cake… she ate ALL the icing and it was so sweet. Huge sugar high but I’m just glad she’s eating!

And the birthday party had a Minnie Mouse theme. Bailey wanted to pose over and over next to the cardboard Minnie and get her picture taken.

One thing I love about C.E.C. is that EVERY ride is only 25 cents. Which lasts a loooong time for a two year old. I think we got ten tokens and were hard pressed to use them all. I mean the birthday provided us with the tokens… but for future reference it would be very inexpensive to go there and play for a while.

Claire’s First Birthday Party

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Last weekend we went to Claire’s birthday party. Bailey was SO excited because we had the invitation hanging where she could see it for a few weeks prior. (Actually, she kept saying, Happy Birrrday Claire, go party see Claire’s Mommy!”) She’s kind of a fan of my friend Sarah, who is, in fact, Claire’s Mommy. So sweet.

I have a lot of pictures from the party. Sarah- will be getting you cd to you on Monday, I’ll leave it on your door if you’re not there. Bailey had a great time and Claire was the perfect one year old party girl! She enjoyed her cake and was happy to see all her guests, and had lots of fun opening presents. And Bailey even ate about half a cupcake!!

Birthday Party at Gymboree

Filed Under Birthdays, Friends, Parties, This Rocks, Two Years Old | 3 Comments

I am so, so glad that we decided to do Bailey’s party at Gymboree Play and Music. First of all I just can’t say enough about how well run the party was. Our party leader/teacher kept all the kids busy and happy. There were 13 toddler/two year olds and a four year old. There was not a single tantrum, meltdown, injury, fit, nothing. Every time they got restless she moved on to another activity. Everything was totally age appropriate. It was perfect for Bailey because of her energy level. She was able to run and jump and scream most of the time and just be herself.

We had an hour in the play room. They started with 20 mins of free play then the teacher did a song or march or activity about every three or four minutes and the kids either ran around or participated if they wanted to. Then the last ten minutes in the play room were bubbles and parachute. They all marched and followed the teacher into the party room for cake. None of them cried because she made it so fun to leave the play area! The party room was set up with a parachute on the floor like a picnic blanket, and there were party hats and juice boxes arranged in a circle.

Gymboree provided everything except the cake and pizza! They only had a half hour in the party room. I could have paid extra for more time but I chose not to. I’m glad I didn’t because by the time they finished eating cake they didn’t want to sit still and be contained any more. Then some of the antsier kids went out to the lobby to play with toys and ride on the rocking horses. Bailey even got a birthday t-shirt! The really cool thing was that the day of the party, all I had to do was pick up the cake and make sure her dress was ironed!

We are so thankful that Bailey’s friends (and my friends too) were able to come celebrate with us. Thank you to everyone for helping to make it a wonderful day for her!

Kaitlynn’s Birthday Party

Filed Under Birthdays, Friends, Parties, Twenty-two Months | 4 Comments

I swear I started this post earlier today. I was having trouble uploading pictures (thank you, Wordpress, for never caring about my feelings) and so it saved and I was going to come back to it later. Now? It’s completely gone. So I am starting over and it’s probably going to be a lot less energetic and entertaining than the first version. But you get to see Bailey in her cute party outfit, so that’s a plus, right?

I started out by saying how Jonathon, Bailey and I went to her friend Kaitlynn’s second birthday party this past weekend. It was at her house, and they had sandwiches and drinks. The kids just played downstairs and the adults ate, until it was time for cake and ice cream. The party seemed to go pretty well except that I got stuck sitting next to Amy’s really loud MIL during the gift opening. I heard “KAAAAITLYYYYYYYYYYN” about ten thousand times within the span of twenty minutes. That woman is loud, for real. And I don’t feel bad saying that because Amy and I have already discussed it.

When we were downstairs playing, the older kids were playing Wii. Bailey thought she needed a piece of the action and kept getting in their way. At some point, someone must have put her on this stool (or maybe she climbed up… sounds like maybe I should start supervising my child) and she was using the Wiimote for a phone.

Then the kids decided they needed that Wiimote (does anyone else feel like they have a speech impediment when they say that word?) –Bailey was NOT pleased.

We went upstairs to get ready for cake and ice cream. Jonathon asked Bailey if she wanted to wear a party hat. I thought she would hate it because of the chin strap but she loved it! It looks like she’s pulling at it in this picture but she left it on the whole time and didn’t complain.

The party had an animals theme. The decorations were really cute. Bailey gets so excited about giraffes and zebras. The cake was from McArthur’s Bakery and it was really good! I’ve seen/eaten quite a few of their cakes and I have always been impressed. I love birthday cake. I even love the smell of matches being blown out- it’s like it automatically makes me think of birthday cake!

Happy birthday, Kaitlynn!

Forgive my lack of posting

Filed Under Holidays, Parties, Twenty Months | 3 Comments

I have been busy obsessing over sewing patterns online, and finding new recipes to try. I must be becoming a housewife. Yikes. On to the real world…

We partied like rockstars on new year’s eve. All the way until 9:00 pm. We went to a party at Mae’s house.

There was a little time to chat with friends, and we spent a lot of time chasing Bailey around and helping her remember how to share.

They had an early countdown for the kids. All Bailey has talked about since then is the “dance party” and “happy happy happy.” Check out the countdown madness:

After that, we had a cake for Mae’s daughter Boo’s fifth birthday. They had a cool candle from China on top, it opened up into a flower and played music. Apparently, it’s still playing the music in the dumpster behind Mae’s house…

Claire’s Baptism

Filed Under Friends, Hair, Parties, Sixteen Months | 6 Comments

My friend Sarah had her little baby Claire baptized on Saturday. We were going to go to the actual mass until we found out that her church didn’t have a nursery, and then my parents already had plans so we couldn’t get a free babysitter… and then at 4:55 Bailey was still napping so we decided to just show up for the party. Cause that’s how we roll. We’re classy like that.

I got a few pictures of Bailey before we left the house. I got her to sit still and actually put in good pigtails. She ripped one of them out in the car before we even got to the party, five minutes away from home. But here are the “Before” pics:

The party was really nice. They had it catered and we drank wine. Well when I say we, I don’t mean Jonathan. I cannot find a wine that he likes. He’s more of a foo foo drink kinda guy. I mean that in the manliest way possible, honey Bailey was being kind of a nut the whole time. She wanted to go outside and play in the playhouse and on the cozy coupe. Well, the only people outside were standing next to it smoking, so that was fine for a while but then we decided to come inside. Where she ran around the house like a chicken with its head off and kept trying to climb the stairs. She finally stopped to play with Claire’s carseat for a while. I don’t know why she thinks it’s so fun.

Then we caught her digging in the candy dish and biting the Hersheys Kisses. Sorry, Sarah, if we didn’t manage to get all the ones with bite marks out. But I think we did

And finally, a picture with Bailey and Claire together. Claire is being held by Sarah’s cousin Katie. Its fun to see her cousins because we used to hang out with Nikki a lot in high school. They are both engaged now too.

Happy (late) Birthday, Ella!

Filed Under Birthdays, Parties, Thirteen Months | 1 Comment

Bailey’s little friend Ella turned one last week. We went to a party for her on Saturday. It was a luau theme and Emily and Christopher did a great job decorating! They also had live music and lots of food.

Daddy and Bailey in the hot sun- It was pretty hot at first-

After an hour or so we found a cooler corner of the yard to hang out in and it was nice and relaxing after that.

Bailey with friends Kaitlynn and Valletta

Emily and Ella

Here is Ella eating her birthday cupcake- at first she wasn’t interested at all and got upset when the icing got on her hands. Once everybody stopped watching, she ate it.

Playing ball

Moving Tubes

And at this party we discovered that Bailey loves being sprayed in the face with squirt bottles!

Thank you Ella for inviting us to your party! We had a great time! Happy birthday, big one year old

Cinco de Mayo party

Filed Under Parties, Twelve Months | 7 Comments

I know today is actually Cinco de Mayo, but we partied on Saturday night. A friend of mine had a Tres de Mayo party at her house. We brought kids and food and had some drinks. I was kind of wishing I had left Bailey at my parents’ house, to be honest, because it would have been a lot more relaxing. I spent most of the time chasing Bailey and trying to entertain her. I got to see my friend Liz, who I haven’t seen in a few months I think. And my friend Silvana and her husband were there, without their kids. They have a new baby who I haven’t even met. We haven’t seen them in a while.

We weren’t sure how the weather would be, but we tried to make Bailey look festive and Mexican, lol. What do you think?

Here she is with her Aunt Jen-

She spent a lot of time that evening reading books in their living room. Well, alternating with her spastic running-around-and-eating everything-in-sight spells.

I really think next time, even if kids are welcome we might not bring Bailey when we go out. I want to just be an adult and not chase a toddler. I want to be able to sit and talk and have drinks and not worry about leaving when she starts fussing. I hate that I want to leave her at Grandma’s… but I just want to be Tara for a night and not Mommy. I hate even saying that

Andrew’s Birthday Party

Filed Under Birthdays, Firsts, Friends, Nine Months, Parties | 5 Comments

This past weekend, Bailey went to her first birthday party ever. (Well, other than for someone in our family). It was her friend Andrew’s first birthday. The party was supposed to be last weekend but he had the flu, so it got postponed. It was fun to be able to celebrate with him and hang out with his mom and some other friends for a while. They did a Cars theme for his party. There were two cakes, one for him and one for everyone else! They were so cute- I wish I had taken pictures of them! This makes me think more about planning Bailey’s first birthday. She might be having a butterfly party (surprise, huh).

When we arrived at the party, Sarah had a bunch of toys out for the kids to play with. Bailey really liked the busy box. I think that’s what it’s called. The thing where there are five pop-ups… you have to press a button/turn a dial/etc to get them to open… We might have to get her one of those for her birthday.


Andrew trying his birthday cake- at first he wasn’t really into it but then he ended up eating a lot of it. I just don’t have any pictures after the first few minutes because I was chasing Bailey around.



Busy playing amongst her friends and a giant pile of toys



This is what happens when you try to take the pictures of a bunch of little kids/babies. There is Bailey crawling away at the bottom right. Mackenzie seems to be the only one paying attention. AJ is holding a plate over his face, and Andrew is looking the other way. LOL

Bailey decided to go back and investigate the toy we gave Andrew.

Family and Friends

Filed Under Family, Friends, Parties | 1 Comment

Uncle Bill and Aunt Shirley (the ones who I wish were Jonathon’s parents) finally met Bailey for the first time yesterday. They only live an hour away, but we’ve had a hard time coordinating our schedules. Here they are with the little muffin.


Yesterday we had a playdate at Mae’s house. Her three year old was dressing Bailey up. Here’s Bailey in her “princess costume.”


Bailey and Avie

Also last week we went to a going away party/baby shower for the Hysers. Here’s Bailey with our friend Jen… unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of Tony and Rachel

Bailey was such a good girl. I had to do the single parent thing because Jonathon was working late. Friends held her and helped me out, but she spent a lot of time in her carseat while I ate and hung out. I felt kind of guilty, but she didn’t seem to mind.

Some Random New Pictures

Filed Under Grandparents, Parties, Three Months | 3 Comments

Sunday at my dad’s birthday party- he was letting Bailey smash the icing with her fingers





I thought it was time to post some more recent pictures of Bailey… especially since the cute ones of her smiling aren’t showing up sometimes. These were taken in the last few days. The tan baby is my friend Kim’s little girl, Mackenzie.

Wordless Wednesday- Swimming and birthday party

Filed Under Parties, Two Months, Wordless Wednesday | 8 Comments

First trip to the pool- Aquaport for a church volunteer appreciation event






These pictures were taken at Alison’s 3rd birthday party. She’s the little girl I used to take care of, so it was fun to see her and her family again! I can’t believe how big she’s gotten.

Bailey’s Dedication at Church

Filed Under Church, Parties, Two Months | 3 Comments

Bailey was dedicated this morning at our church, so I wanted to get a bunch of pictures posted for everyone. She is wearing a gown and bonnet that my mom’s friend made- I loved it but I also thought it was a little over the top But when else can you do this?


Getting a little stressd about the whole bonnet situation…

And here is the dedication itself- there were two other babies being dedicated (different from infant baptism because water isn’t used- this is just a symbol of the commitment on the part of the parents and the church). There were two other babies being dedicated today as well.


We had a lunch at our house today after church, just for family and a few friends. Here are some pictures from Bailey’s first “party.”