Cheyanne's 3rd Birthday Party

This birthday party is NOT to be confused with her birthday because according to Chey, everyday this month is her birthday. Every. Single. Day she has informed us "Today is my birthday." HA!

So, this post is just her birthday "party" because Chey's birthday lasts all month.

The Saturday before her birthday I planned a big party for her. I had all these grandios ideas of birthday fun- decorations, food, games, music, etc. You know, all those things 2-3 year olds really care about…

I knew long ago that she needed a rainbow themed birthday this year. If you follow me on Pinterest, you had to of known months ago what kind of party Chey was having. Chey loves all things rainbow these days. I figure this is probably the last year I can really get away with planning a theme that I "want" and no way could I just give her a cookie cutter party. :)

Wouldn't you know though that shortly after I sent out 16+ invites and started getting many RSVPs, the Giant bails? Well, not exactly bailed of his own free will (thank you Uncle Sam), but was told he would be flying the same week and wouldn't be home until well afterwards most likely. I think it was within 5 minutes of finding this out that I hopped on the phone and sweetly begged my parents to rearrange all their plans and come help me! Thank God for parents. I mean, really, lifesavers.

With the Giant gone days beforehand, Nana and Skipper were immediately put to work when they got here Thursday and literally didn't get a break until about the time they repacked their car the next week. I'm a slavedriver. Most of the day Friday, Mom and I cleaned and prepped food while Dad helped do a little bathroom remodeling.

Saturday came and we got partying. We all woke early and started cleaning, decorating, and setting up because people were coming at 11.

Not just a few people, but 16 children and their 15 parents. Yeah, 31 people here for a 3 year olds birthday. You ever hear of the rule, 1 kid for every year of age of the birthday kid? Yeah, I'm a rule breaker… this year.

I spread out all over the yard with a tent, tables, chairs, inside, outside, everywhere to make sure we had enough room.

We are just so blessed to have so many people that love us and are willing to give up their Saturday afternoon to come spend it with us in the heat and rainbows.

31 people… we had a chaotic blast!! Chey had a few meltdowns amongst all the fun but she had the time of her life. Evidence of 1st meltdown below. She's not a fan of all eyes on her and most definitely NOT a fan of being sung too by a choir...

 

She did however love her cake and pretty much everything else at her party. 

She jumped like a mad woman. Auntie T and Uncle Jonny struck gold with their birthday present. They rented her a jump castle for her party. Best. Present. Ever. Seriously, I'm not sure I'll ever have a party at my house again without one. 

Of course after everyone left and we had an hour before they came to pick it up, we got in on the action in the jump house. That was probably the part I loved the most. Just getting to be silly and play with Chey doesn't happen very often anymore. Nana held on to Jameson while Skipper and I jumped around with the birthday girl.

J did get a chance to play after all the big kids were gone and he loved it. 

I have no idea now why he was shirtless. At one point or another, both of my children were shirtless during the day, but I think maybe 3 is the cutoff for appropriate naked baby pictures on the blog. :)

Happy 3rd birthday sweet Cheyanne. You are my girl through and through. I'm so thrilled to see the little lady that you grow up to be and blessed to be a part of your life. I know you are going to do big things in your lifetime and have no doubt that you will make your daddy and me very proud. 

** HUGE special thank you to my dearest photographer friend Christina for taking photos at the party knowing I would be way too absent-minded to remember to do it on my own. The Giant really appreciated being able to see what he missed. If you live in Charleston, I highly recommend her as a photographer FYI. She's fantastic!

Happy Birthday Chey

This beautiful girl is two today!! 

Not possible, right?! 

I have a hard time even wrapping my head around the fact that she is growing up so fast. 

She was just like this a week ago, right?

Now she is this silly, hysterical, full of attitude and sparkle little girl that loves to keep me on my toes while laughing.

Oh, and for humor sake as I just am not prepared to be emotional today (I had enough of that yesterday saying bye bye to Daddy for a while!)…. here she is two seconds before the picture above was taken. Literally, two seconds. My birthday girl.

And then I made the "Cheese" mistake. You'd think I'd learn by 2 years.

"Open your eye Cheyanne!" so of course she closed them both and acted silly.

Finally. 

Happy birthday Chey Chey. We love you very much big girl. Now, lets go eat some cake for your birthday breakfast.

Don't judge. I tried to take us to Cracker Barrel for her birthday breakfast and she refused. So, cake it is today for the birthday princess.

A Cheyanne Moment

Here's a sweet moment I want to remember from tonight.

While putting Cheyanne to bed tonight, I laid beside her as I usually do doing our normal nightly ritual; read a few bedtime stories, say our prayers, then cuddle before saying goodnight. Tonight, she placed both hands on my face, pulled me in so I was nose to nose and said "A-vayou." Interpretation. "I love you."

Melt my heart.

My baby will be two tomorrow. I could not love this sweet child anymore than I already do.

Of course then as I said goodnight while walking out her door, I heard her say "night Mo-ee." Interpretation. "Night Molly." …. That's a new one. Today she started calling me Molly instead of Mommy. Uh….oh….

Our last week

This week is my last week with my first child under 2 in the house! I'm sorry. Let me repeat myself. Its the LAST week!! Sunday Chey turns 2. For reals….people…. Its happening.

How has this happened? I want to sat that these last two years have flown by, but I can't completely say that. Some periods of time have flown by a lot faster than others. Of course its been the times that her Daddy is home that seem to fly by the fastest. Doesn't it always happen like that? The times we want to slow down don't. That isn't to say that I am not in shock still about this milestone comping up. I've been dragging my feet wrapping my head around it. I haven't even gone shopping for her presents yet- horrible denial. With the Giant leaving again for a few months, we decided not to throw a big party this year for Chey. I feel a little guilty about that decision, but there has just literally been no time to get it all together with a very unpredictable daddy schedule.  Instead, we'll have just a few close friends over for cake and ice cream Friday night and hopefully Chey won't know the difference of what she's missing. Next year, I have promised myself that I will make it up to her. We'll go big or go home.

We did have a mini celebration last weekend when my parents were down visiting. If you remember, for Father's Day, my sister and I got my dad a gift we knew he'd love, a sailing lesson through the Charleston Sailing School. He was finally able to get down here to do it, so we made it a celebration weekend.

Here Cheyanne is dropping her Skipper off at his first day of sailing school.

The night before they left for home, we celebrated an early birthday. We sugared her up then sent her to bed. Ha! Just kidding- sortof.

I love this picture of her. So sweet as we sang happy birthday.

It took her awhile to like the icing, but she finished off every single bit of that cupcake before we were done.

It was too late to open any presents so we waited until morning for that part.

Some little girl was very excited about her gifts from Nana, Skipper, and her Great Grandmother.

"Open!"

"Ohhhh!"

"a house!"

Nana and Skipper helped her get everything set up before they had to leave.

And so we've spent every day since their visit playing mommy and daddy all around the house. 

I think its safe to say that she loves her first dollhouse.

Happy Birthday Nana!

This day some odd years ago (you're welcome MOM), the world was blessed with what would be one of the best creations God would ever make. He created someone born with a gentle spirit, a love for life, and a desire to please to Him in all that she would do. He saw that the world was lacking in beauty and kindness, so he decided to change that… and made my Mom. And so the world got a whole lot brighter that day and has remained so ever since.

If you don't have the pleasure of knowing my mom personally, let me just tell you, you are missing out. I know everyone says that their mom is the best mom, blah blah blah. Its a child's duty to say that I think. Its in our contracts that we sign at birth. Well, I'll just say this, I'd say my mom is the best even if I hadn't. 

Those of you that know Mom, you can agree, I'm pretty dang lucky. How I got so lucky, who knows. When I think of the mom that I want to be my children, I have been given the greatest example of a mom to mimic. Unfortunately for me, I don't always succeed in calling on that half of my genes to take over in the parenting department. As much as I would like to be like my mom and as great as we get along, there are some major differences that I've yet to overcome. My mom is gentle. I am loud. My mom is mild mannered. I am quick tempered. My mom is quick to forgive. I am a procastinater. My mom is organized. I am… less organized. But what we do have in common is this. We love our children more than ourselves. We strive to see the best in everyone around us. We have put our own dreams on hold for our families and our home. 

Mom, there are a lot of things in which I wish I could be more like you. Mostly, its that I wish my husband would call me a saint too, like my husband calls you… a lot. Just kidding, but he really does, a lot. In seriousness, mostly I hope that one day my daughter can look at me the way that my siblings and I look at you, and be thankfully for being blessed with such an amazing mother. 

You're the best and I love you.