Madison's 4th Birhtday Party - Part 1

I have only gotten through the detail photos but wanted to share how adorable her party has turned out. I will post the second part tomorrow. But every detail of her party was inspired by pinterest. Everything was done by hand for her party and I am so happy with how it all came together. Madison and I spent hours and hours putting together all the crafts and projects to pull this off but it was worth it for sure. Nothing is too good for my princess

Vintage Invitations

Homemade owl hats using owl feathers ;)

Food for the owls

Table set up for the guests

Details and place settings for the guests

drink settings for the guests with homemade napkins

Table settings

Close up of the table for the guests

Inside are homemade owl pets and their birth certificates

cake, banners and balloons

My version of her cake :)

Christmas Break with the kids at "Just Kidding Around"

We didn't get to do a whole lot over Christmas break because we had so many other things going on but we were able to meet up with a friend and her kiddos and take the kids to a play place to let them run around. The kids already head back to school in the morning. I cannot believe we are already in 2012. I just don't know where time goes... and I just wish we had more of it.

Nursery Room Reveal for Kaitlyn

The details are finally done, paint is finished, dresser and crib refinished and room cleaned and organized. We are almost ready for our little angel to be born. It has been a long road for us. She was unexpected and a great surprise/miracle to our family. We basically had to start completely over from scratch as we didn't have ONE baby item when we found out we were expecting. I began her room before knowing she was a girl. I knew grey would be the primary color with simple white trees as a wall mural. My original plan was pink/grey butterfly theme for a girl but at some point during this process it was  changed to a grey and yellow nursery because we found the bedding on sale.  My mom came over and helped me lay out the design of the babies room and even helped me draw the trees on the wall. I have a wonderful mom! :)

Since we are a family on a budget I had to craigslist most of my items so therefore started shopping immediately. I started visually shopping ideas on pinterest and online for inspiration and now I am ready to reveal the FINAL product. As you enter the room here is what you see. 

Shaggy White rug from Target on sale for $66 Curtain Rod from Ross for $12.99 and the Two Shabby White Curtain Panels from Target for $24.99 each (Kind of spendy but exactly the look I was going for so I splurged a little!)

Here is the mural we did behind the crib with Aspen trees and bumble bees to match the bedding we found on clearance at Babies R Us. (Which is why the theme changed... money dictates!)

Crib off Craiglist for $50.00 and refinished by my husband and I. 4-piece Carter's Bumble Bee Bedding from Babies R Us for $100 on clearance

Madison wanted to be a part of the nursery and decided her sister needed some "babies" in her crib. She gave up three of her stuffed animals for her new sister to have :) She is so excited for Katie to be born and is always wanting to be a part of the process. Madison helped me clean and organize this room every time I was in there.

My original plan was to paint the flowers onto the tree... But my husband had this super amazing idea to buy little budding silk flowers and use thumbtacks to pin them on!!! He saw how many hours/days/weeks (LOL) I spent laying out, drawing and painting the trees on the wall and he thought it would take to long to paint all the flowers on. I am so absolutely thrilled with how the flowers turned out and gave the wall some dimension! Plus it only took me 20 minutes to pin them on versus hours hand painting them!

Silk Flowers $8.00 at Hobby Lobby, Dresser from Craigslist for $25.00 and refinished by me with new Hardware from Hobby Lobby for $25. Lamp was found at a yard sale for $5.00 :)  Changing table and pad was the most expensive thing from Babies R Us for $35.00 new ( No sales on this one! )

Close ups of the birds I hand painted onto the wall.

Bird House from Goodwill for $1.00! refinished by me :)

Close up of the lamp and the dresser handles from Hobby Lobby. And we have already been stocking up on diapers. You can NEVER have enough :)

No nursery is complete without a sitting chair! I really wanted a rocking chair but my Father in Law had this blue wing bag chair that he didn't want anymore that I decided to bring into the nursery. Since it was free it was a lot cheaper then buying a rocking chair or refinishing one off Craigslist to match the room. Plus it is SUPER comfy!!! :)

Pillow from Shopko fo $7.99 on clearance, Chair was free! Chair cover online was $69, I have two matching grey frames from Target that were $2.50 each on clearance and honecomb grey side table also from Target on super clearance for $14.99. It even has storage inside which I currently have magazines in. The dividers were purchased off Etsy for $10.00 which I love cause it keeps the clothes separated by size.

Because I am obsessed with baby shoes :) She probably already has 20 pairs of shoes!

I have a few more details to add to the room. I have her letters for her name to hang on the wall... (If I can ever find the "Y" in her name! I have been to Hobby Lobby probably 4 times for that one letter and they NEVER have it in stock!?! I may add curtains to the closet to cover it up but haven't decided. There are no doors :( I wish I could hide the stuff in her closet but since it is an older home the doors cannot be bought at the store and would have to be custom made. I am also "considering" making a mobile for her crib but I am not sure if it would be too busy with the mural behind it so not sure. Anyways I am so excited to share!!! I love how it turned out :)

2011 Christmas at the Roper House

Christmas came too soon and also left too quick. It was such a perfect day. Josh and I were FINALLY awoken by the kids for the very first time EVER! My oldest is 8 and every year Josh and I would sip down to cups of coffee and then go wake the kids up cause they weren't up yet to open gifts. :)

This year was different. The boys woke up and begged us to wake up around 5:30 in the morning. I got up cause I wasn't going to miss this for the world but daddy slept in another hour. I let the boys dig through their stockings until everyone was awake. It was a small Christmas for us. But it was still amazing. With another little one on the way most of our money has been spent on her... (geez babies are spendy) but the kids are so appreciative and so thankful for what they did get.

Jacob and Ryan each got nerf guns, a dartboard, some board games, PS3 games (Infamous) and even PSP games for their handheld video games. Jacob got this super amazing helicopter that flies in the air (unfortunately needs to be returned cause it won't work) and Ryan got some walkie talkies and a remote control car.

Madison got a kitchen set and a fur real walking dog toy and some art stuff too. We made our annual Christmas quiche for Christmas and my Father in Law joined us for breakfast. Someone surprised me with a amazing camera bag to put all my gear in and it was given anonymously so not sure who it was but THANK YOU!! Keeps my camera gear nice and safe :)

We spent Christmas dinner at Jenny's house and had a super amazing dinner and the kids got to do a gift exchange.

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet girl!

Time goes by so fast. I can't believe my little girl is four already. She is so smart, and sweet and that girl can talk your ear off. We haven't had her birthday party yet and decided to wait until holidays were over. Her birthday is the same as my anniversary (which reminds me happy 9th anniversary to Josh and I too!)

Josh was out of town so we didn't do much on her birthday. She got this amazing doll house and got to have her cousin McKynlee spend the night. We baked our night away and then had some cake and ice cream. When daddy came home from out of town Madison convinced him to play dollies with her in her room. It was so sweet. She is so lucky to have such a wonderful daddy.

Visiting Daddy in McCall

Last week daddy invited us up for a few days to visit him while working. It was cold and the kids didn't want to play up in the snowy mountains for very long :) We didn't get many photos since we were cooped up in a hotel for a majority of the time but we did snap a few. The kids got to go swimming, watch lots of movies and even eat tons of junk food. It was nice to just relax and not have much to do and to get away from work and actually snap photos of my kids for once  :)

Visiting our Nana before Christmas

Its getting harder and harder every year for Nana. She is having a hard time with her health so we try to visit her whenever we can. Madison loves her Nana! This year all the kids got to make two special ornaments for two very special people and Madison wanted to make one for her Nana. We went and visited her at the nursing home this year and gave her her gift. Madison painted and put the glitter on it all by herself. She couldn't wait to bring it to her :) It was such a sweet moment and I am so glad I captured it on camera. Madison has a heart of gold. She is one of the sweetest little girls I have ever met.