Stella's Fresh Beat Band Birthday Party

Stella eats, sleeps and breathes the Fresh Beat Band so it was only appropriate that she have a rockin', "Hip Hop & Pop", Fresh Beat Band themed birthday party.  Since there are no FBB decorations out there (and since I enjoy party planning so much!!) I had to pretty much make everything myself.  I started several months ago and enjoyed every second of it.  AND, seeing her face light up at her party when she saw everything made it ALL worth it!  The party was a huge success and fun was had by all.  Here are pics from the big day...

 Handmade banner

 FBB Party hats (these were printables from the Nick Jr. website) and tent cards (handmade)

 Hand-painted #2

 Yummy "cupcapes" (as Stella calls them) with FBB picks

Stella's awesome guitar cake made by a local lady (umm, she charged me $2 for this guitar cake - yep, you read it right, $2!!!)

 Shout's Sweet Fruit Treats

Marina's Macaroni Salad 

 Hip Hop & Pop Pretzels and Dip

 Twists Terrific Turkey Sandwiches and Kiki's Kickin' Chicken Nuggets

VIP Passes and microphones for the guests

Goodie bags for the kiddos that had candy, sunglasses, bubbles, clappers and flutes in them.

Sippy cups and punch for the kiddos

Of course we had to have a bounce house! ;)

Everyone loved the bounce house - even mommy and YaYa!  lol
 

Stella was surrounded by wonderful friends and family.  This is one loved little girl!

And of course, what Fresh Beat Band party would be complete w/out the FBB themselves!?!  We had to make sure Shout, Twist, Kiki and Marina were invited to the party too.  And boy was Stella SO excited to see them!!

WHAT A GREAT DAY!!

Stella Turns 2!

Last week our sweet baby girl turned 2 years old!  Seriously where does the time go?!  I remember like it was yesterday that she was just learning to crawl...I remember just yesterday she was learning to walk...I remember just yesterday she was saying mama for the first time.  Now our sweet little girl is running around, saying complete sentences, saying her ABC's and 123's and counting her colors.  I guess the old saying is true - time flies when you're having fun!

I saw this balloon idea on Pinterest and I wanted to try it for Stella's birthday.  She loves balloons so I knew she would enjoy waking up to lots of them tied to her bed.  Indeed she did and I'm not sure who enjoyed it more - me or her.  It was the sweetest sound hearing her through the monitor naming all of the colors she saw and then squeal w/ delight.

 We decided to get her a table and chairs set for her birthday that she can use for "Arts & Crafts Time" as well as snack time.  She loved it!

 And one last little sercie - a Fresh Beat Band activity book w/ stickers included.  This was one happy little girl!

 I purchased a Fresh Beat Band tshirt for her to wear on her bday however, they sent the wrong size.  After an email and fingers crossed they resent a new one in her size so we got to wear matching shirts on her special day! HA!

I'm not sure I can sum up into words how special this sweet little girl is or how big my love for her is.  It's indescribable.  I found a quote that comes pretty close though...
"No one else will ever know the strength of my love for you.  After all, you're the only one who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside."

This quote also makes my heart smile...
"I am your PARENT, you are my CHILD
I am your QUIET PLACE, you are my WILD


I am your CALM FACE, you are my GIGGLE
I am your WAIT, you are my WIGGLE


I am your DINNER, you are my CHOCOLATE CAKE
I am your BEDTIME, you are my WIDE AWAKE


I am your LULLABY, you are my PEEKABOO
I am your GOODNIGHT KISS, you are my I LOVE YOU"

Another quote that comes to mind is one from my fave movie - "Steel Magnolias"..."I'd rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special."
My sweet Stella, I have been blessed w/ 2 YEARS of wonderful!  You make me laugh, smile and giggle.  You make my heart full.  I can't wait to see what this year has in store for you.  You continue to amaze us every day and we love you more than words can say.  Happy Birthday, Peanut!

Folly Beach Vaca

Warning - pic overload!!

Last week we went to Folly Beach w/ Kyle's parents and it was so nice and relaxing!  We had a house right on the beach and it was so convenient to be able to walk right out to the beach in the morning.  Or run back up to the house if you had to tinkle. ;)

Our vacation was wonderful and we did a lot of fun things...

We watched the Gamecocks win their first game!  Go Cocks!

Stella loved taking walks on the beach first thing in the morning...w/ her jammies on!  LOL

Stella and YaYa loved looking for shells.  We all found some great shells!

Daddy got a six pack! LOL

 We built fun sandcastles.

Played a lil leapfrog! 

 Smiled and giggled a lot...

...and I mean a LOT!  This little dah-ling makes everyone giggle. ;)

 We went to the SC Aquarium and Stella loved looking at all the fish.

 Of course we had a few giggles there too!

 And then Stella met these furry creatures - the otters.  They woke up when they saw Stella and started swimming all around and showing off for her.  Ace {the otter} and Stella immediately became BF's!

 We had a yummy {and windy} dinner at Bowen's Island Restaurant.

 We loved taking nightly walks on the beach.

Stella was "ESSITED"!!!

And of course we enjoyed every minute of the sunshine.  Stella said "We're ATTHA beach!" 100 times a day.  

We had dinner at a delicious restaurant, Blu, one night and then walked on the pier.  Stella loved posing for anyone and everyone that would look at her.  LOL

We took family pics on the beach in all matchy-matchy outfits.  I LOVE how these pics turned out!

And we enjoyed our last night at the beach by taking a walk - just the three of us!

We had a fabulous time and enjoyed our week-long vacation w/ our fam and YaYa and Pop Pop.  Can't believe summer is already coming to an end.  We sure have enjoyed it though!