Happy Happy Birthday!

Well, the day has come and gone, so I admit that I'm a bit late with this post, but Emmett is a year old! His birthday was actually Thursday, but I've been so busy I've hardly had time to think, let alone write. His party was a success. He definitely LOVED being the center of attention and spent a great deal of time showing off his new walking skills. (Yes, he is walking! YIKES!) He was thoroughly spoiled. Josh and I had him open his gifts from us in the morning, but he still had a whole pile waiting for him at his party! This is actually a good thing. It was time to update the toys, as he was starting to get bored with many of his old ones.

His cake was seriously the cutest cake ever. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I wish I could take the credit for making it, but that has to go to Sugar Daisy Bakery. It looked even better than the picture I showed them! Emmett wasn't all that interested in making a mess of it though. His favorite part seemed to be the dinosaur's head, but he did get a little bit of smashing done. He absolutely loved it when we sang to him, and sat there listening with a grin on his face. Here are some photo highlights from the day.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Birthday Crafts

I used to be much craftier than I am now, and unfortunately I feel like most of the crafts I attempt look very amateur. Still, with Emmett's birthday party approaching fast, I wanted to try out a couple of things.

First, I made this banner for his high chair:

I think it turned out well enough, though it's not as cute as some I've seen on Etsy or Pinterest. How DO those people do it? My second project was less of a craft than a digital project. THOSE I'm a bit better at. I printed this out in 8x10 and am going to frame it to display it at his party.

I have to give Emmett most of the credit for this one. Without his cuteness it wouldn't have been possible. This was a Pinterest idea. I think it would be awesome to do this for Emmett (and future children) each year on their birthday and keep them all in a notebook.

I also considered doing a birthday time capsule and was trying to create a book so that people could write notes to him to put inside the capsule. I'm not sure if that's going to be finished in time. Oh well. I like the idea, but if I don't get it finished, I'm not going to stress over it.

This month and August are turning out to be quite busy. We will be leaving for Atlanta for my sister's wedding in just over two weeks. Before than I have Emmett's birthday party and a baby shower to attend and after that I'm hosting a baby shower. It seems hectic, but it's really okay, because it keeps life interesting. Maybe we'll be able to take a break in September? (Then again, maybe not.)

Pinterest Find for the Furbabies, And A New Blog

Summer is in full swing here in Utah, with temperatures threatening to reach triple digits most of this week. Poor Toby, in all his husky glory, thinks he's going to die, so I was super excited to find this fun concoction on Pinterest:

http://bunnyroobeagle.com/PeanutButterFrozenTreatsfordogs.html

3 6-oz containers of plain yogurt

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 Tablespoon honey

1 4-oz. container pureed banana baby food

Dog biscuits

Dixie Cups

Mix the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Pour into the mini-sized dixie cups. Insert dog biscuit in the middle for a handle, and freeze. It only took a few hours to freeze into little creamcicles for doggies. And boy did my dogs love them! Toby's supposed to be on a diet (only 10 more pounds to lose) so it probably can't be a regular snack, but hopefully it will help him escape the heat a little bit this week!

On another note, I've started a new little blog adventure. It's supposed to be my "mommy blog." A journal of sorts, I guess. Motherhood certainly has been an adventure so far! I plan to keep this blog going too, and I'll try not to overlap posts too much! No promises though, LOL. Here's the link for anyone who's interested:

http://mothershipmusings.blogspot.com

Happy Independence Day!

I always love the 4th of July. We have so much to celebrate! It was a rough night at our house (not quite filled with sleep), so we got off to a bit of a late start. We were still able to make it to the parade though.

Emmett's excited to see his first parade!

Having fun with daddy

I suppose if I have to be in a picture too, at least I'm overshadowed by this cute man!

So much to see!

The parade wore poor Emmett out, and he's been napping ever since. Next on the agenda is a picnic at the park with Josh's family, and then we might brave the fireworks - with ear protection for Emmett of course!

In other news, our house is finally completely repaired after that wind storm in December. We have a new fence on two sides of the yard - much nicer than the previous fence for sure - a new roof, and a newly patched carport roof. Hooray! On the downside, our neighbor (whom we share a wall with) decided to replace her siding and chose a color that doesn't match at all. We now have a two-toned house, and it looks completely ridiculous. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe someday we'll be able to afford new siding as well. For now, I'm just happy to have a fence for my dogs and a roof that won't blow away at every gust of wind!