Lila's Birthday Party

We celebrated Miss Lila's birth this past Saturday and had so much fun. We decided to have her party at home and chose a safari animal theme with a mostly hot pink and zebra flare. The guests were greeted with a welcome note...

and truer words were never spoken. Our house is quite the zoo on any given day, but especially this weekend!

I took a play out of my friend Carole's book, and ordered a few things from Etsy for Lila's party. This "Happy 1st Birthday Lila!" banner was my first purchase. It was just so perfect, I couldn't resist.

We served pink lemonade (Jungle Juice) and bottled water with special Happy Birthday Lila labels on them. They were so cute! They even had ingredients on the back for the birthday girl like 100% love, 100% cuddles, etc. Love it.

The food was all safari related. We had Bear Bites (mini corn dogs), Safari Sandwiches (ham and turkey), Tropical fruit and Cheetah Chips (natural cheetos).

I would not have been able to pull off the party without my supporting cast. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Right before the fun began we tried to get a quick fam pic. I knew that this would not happen after the party began. Miss Madison didn't so much see it my way, though, and did everything she could to leap out of Jared's arms.

So instead of fighting her, we just obliged her with this picture!

The kiddos got animal crackers as their party favors...

and also got to enjoy this delicious mexican chocolate and white cake from a local bakery in Murphy. Love Annie's Bakery!

Meme was the only great-grandparent in attendance and we were so happy that she was here.

Miss Karlie was our first guest--Jackson was busy watching The Jungle Book and could not be bothered to smile. The kid loves a good movie.

While waiting for her friends to arrive, the birthday girl played with Meme.

After everyone got here we all had some lunch. Here's a group shot of the kids in our kitchen. I blew up pictures of Lila, one for every month of her life, and hung them up on the shutters. It is truly amazing to see her transformation in the past year and was fun to remember all of those early days!

It was a really warm day and perfect for playing outside, so Daddo and his brothers played a little soccer.

Lila and Brooklynn preferred to play in her new pink car inside instead. After I told her about the cool party going on outside, though, we headed out there.

We found the Hays fam first...

and then walked over to the swingset where lots of little monkeys were hanging out.

The two youngest kiddos didn't do too much swinging, but they sure looked cute.

Baby Henry couldn't get enough of the big swing, though! He was all smiles when I told him it was time to in for cake and ice cream.

Jackson was definitely the sweatiest kid around and needed some water to cool down. Aren't those labels just the cutest?!

We played pin the nose on the lion and although J wore the requisite green sunglasses, he yelled "I can see out the bottom!"

Chloe refused the glasses (hey, who can blame her since they'd just been on J's sweaty head?) and opted for her mom's hand-blindfold instead.

Maddie went the double sunglasses route and what do you know, all three got the nose in the exact right spot!

After the super-quick game it was time for the cake. Lila was a bit apprehensive about things at first. Madison and Jackson both jumped up and blew out her candle...

and then I set her down to see what she would do with her very own cupcake.

After feeling the icing for a few seconds, she decided that it was safe and just went for it!

Shoveling cake and icing in her mouth as fast as possible was her only goal.

"Oh birthday cake, how I love thee."

"This is so fun, guys!"

After getting cleaned up and most of the icing washed off of her, Uncle Andrew fed her some ice cream--another Lila fave.

And then it was time for presents. She got three really cute swimsuits including this fun animal print one.

Even though there were lots of presents, she did great and just crawled around amongst all the wrapping.

Her two assistants were helping out so well and bringing us more presents left and right.

Like this cool Bee Bop Band.

Afterwards she hung out with Sawyer and Henry and little bit more...

but then decided to take another ride in her coupe.

Happy Birthday sweet girl! We love you more than you will ever know.

Lila is 1!

And she is having so much fun! Yesterday our baby turned one. Yes, it has already been a whole year since the Lord blessed us with this impossibly sweet little girl. I wanted to dote on her all day so that she would feel just how special she is to our family. And I'm pretty sure I succeeded. We began the day by singing Happy Birthday to her while she was standing up in her crib. Then we came downstairs and had breakfast together.

One of Lila's favorite new foods is Mrs. Baird's cinnamon rolls. It's her brother's breakfast of choice these days, so I've been giving her samples to munch on while her oatmeal warms up. Needless to say, she was thrilled at getting her very own cinnamon roll to eat this morning. The oatmeal was a no-go afterwards--just more cinnamon roll, please!

After breakfast, we had our usual whirlwind school morning as I got the big kids ready. After a great nap in the car, we got dressed for the day and then met Memaw back up at school to cheer on Jackson at his trike-a-thon. By the time I snapped this pic, it was past lunchtime and this little one was getting a tad bit crabby.

But after some turkey, yogurt and a few fries, the smile returned in full effect. Yay!

After lunch we checked the mail and found three cards for the birthday girl. She loved looking at all of them and is so excited to read her new book--thanks, Kelly and Danny!

After an evening full of playtime, storytime and a walk/bike ride around the neighborhood, it was time for a little din din. Since it was Friday night and Lila's other fave food is pizza, that's what we had. Can you tell the girl likes to eat?

After dinner we had an impromtu Happy Birthday moment for Lila and we improvised by putting the candle into another cinnamon roll.

As you can see, it got rave reviews:)

Then it was time for some real fun--presents! I took Madison and Jackson shopping this week and they got to pick out what they would like to give Lila. Madison chose this baby doll and I think it goes without saying that it was the favorite gift of the night.

In fact, Lila didn't even open any more presents after the doll. She just hugged and rocked her new baby doll. So sweet.

Yay Birthday time!

We're ready to party down today!

Jackson's Trike-a-thon

Today was a big day for the J man. It was his first time to participate in the trike-a-thon at his school. They are raising money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. What a fantastic way to teach young kids about helping other kiddos in need. This morning we put his bike and helmet in the back of our car and headed to school.

When it was time for his class to do their riding, Lila, Memaw and I met him at the school. He got right on his Harley bicycle and fastened this helmet...

and off he rode to the starting line!

He had two really sweet girls cheering him on.

Go Jackson!

Every time he'd ride by us, he'd wave and say, "Hi Sissy!" It was so cute.

After many laps around the cones, these riders were all done. Great job, kiddos!

They were rewarded by getting to eat these cool popsicles outside.

Jackson was a fan of these new fangled MinuteMaid popsicles.

It took a lot of time, but I finally convinced him that it would be ok to get out of his circle and come take a picture with two of his biggest fans. He is a rule follower, that's for sure!

Wonder where he gets that from?

Way to go, Jackson! We are so proud of you for raising money for other sweet kids. In fact, if any of you would like to donate money to St. Jude's, Jackson will be collecting it through next Friday.

Super Spring Afternoon

This afternoon the big kids went to their grandma's house and so Miss Lila and I had a little party. Actually, she took a nap first and when she awoke, one of her favorite guys was here!

They met at the train...

and Sawyer reached out to take her hand!

She played it cool (no petting him like a cat this time!) and even pushed her train a few feet away. Look at that mischievious grin! She knows how to play coy.

It didn't take too long for these little lovebirds to reunite, though.

And soon there were more smiles all around!

After some good indoor playtime, we headed outside to enjoy the beautifully sunny day and Lila was grinning from ear to ear.

She was so excited to show Sawyer how much fun the swings can be--it was his first time and he loved it!

Then we headed on over to the big tramp. There was so much static that our hair went crazy!

Not quite as crazy as Sawyer's, though! Too funny:)

Thanks, Hayley and Sawyer for a really fun afternoon. Let's do it again soon.

Madison meets the dentist

Today was Maddie's first visit to the dentist! She received a book in the mail last week from her dentist called, "Dora Visits the Dentist," and we have been reading it ever since.

She was very excited about getting her teeth cleaned today and was such the model patient. She listened very well to the dental hygenist and then got all ready to have those pearly whites polished up.

When the hygenist could only find Batman sunglasses for her to wear I knew it probably wasn't going to fly. Dental Hygenist: "I only have these cool Batman sunglasses for you to wear." Madison's response: "Well, I'm a princess." Ha! After that the hygenist went in search for some more girly glasses and came back with these rainbow brite ones. Much better. After getting an A plus on her teeth they went ahead and took four x-rays. All the peeps in the office were so impressed with how well she did with this. After that we had to wait a little bit to actually see the dentist. To entertain ourselves, we found these huge teeth. She told me to come close and they would bite me. Yowsers! No thanks, little girl:)

31

My birthday was so much fun this year. I turned 31 yesterday and have just had the BEST time celebrating with all of my friends and family over the past few days. Last night we had a family hamburger cookout at my parents and it was the perfect way to officially turn 31. The girls and I got to the party first. Madison was more than willing to pose for a pic--so cute.

Even though Lila doesn't usually flash her sweet grin for a pic with everyone, she will do it when we're not expecting it. Oh, how I adore that smile.

When she really gets going, she start's saying "Hi" and waving to everyone, too. My guess is that she saw Boom inside and was trying to get his attention.

A few minutes later the rest of the Hays fam arrived. It wasn't long before Maddie had Uncle Andrew performing tricks with her!

She usually does the flip trick with Daddo, but he was busy grilling burgers.

I was doing my main job these days, which is baby holding. No joke, Lila loves her mama. A lot! I am hoping that this is a faze and that soon she will be ok if I put her down, but for now, she is super content being glued to me at all times. Guess there could be worse things:)

All the kids at the party, big and little.

We did try to get a fam picture, but that's tougher than hearding cats, so here's the one with Boom in it. Got J to smile and Lila is at least looking at the camera.

Then we got one with Gigi in it, but by this time Jackson was done and just wanted to go inside and chow down!

After a really good dinner it was time for the cake!

They all sang Happy Birthday to me and I had two munchkins kind enough to help blow out all of my candles. The cake was most delish. Jackson and Memaw worked all afternoon baking it. So sweet.

Then it was time for presents. No, this phone is not my present from one of the kids. (Last year I got a SpongeBob CD from Jackson) I am getting a new phone--hallelujah!!

What kind of party would it be without some hot tub fun?! J and M were so excited about the hot tub and we were so glad that their uncles were willing to hop in, too. Thanks again, everyone for such a great birthday. I love all of you.

Circus Spectacular

This past Sunday Gigi and Boom had a real treat for the two older kiddos. The Circus was back in town and they bought tickets for just the four of them to go see it!! Before they got to our house, the kids were anxiously awaiting their arrival. They were standing in our front windowsill with the windows open. When my parents' car pulled into the driveway, they bolted out the front door yelling, "we're going to the circus!" and jumped into Boom's arms. Pure joy.

When they came home later that night, Jared and I got to hear all about the elephants, clowns, motorcycle riders and cannonball man. Needless to say, they were pumped up! I know that they loved every second of it, but I can't be sure if all that enthusiasm can be attributed to the circus performers, or was merely the result of the large amount of cotton candy that these two consumed!