Golden Party

Alright, I hinted at this in my last post, but my pal Ruby celebrated her GOLDEN birthday on Tuesday and I got to be the lucky one in charge of decorating her digs. Seriously still on a high from being allowed to be in control of her big birthday. 

What a beautiful birthday girl

So please tell me some of you out there have NO IDEA what a golden birthday is. Honestly, when she first told me this year was going to be her golden birthday (and let me tell you, she told me a whole year ago at our gender reveal party...that's how excited she was about this day) I just nodded my head and smiled. I thought maybe it was like with weddings how you give paper one year, silver the next...you know, that sort of thing. 

So here I was thinking to myself, "self, do you think on your 26th wedding anniversary you get gold? That would be nice. I would ask for a big hunk of it. Then I would use it to reno our basement. Hmm, the basement. It's really messy down there, maybe I should clean it. Maybe I should pretend it doesn't exist and then reno the attic. That would make a really nice master bedroom. Oh shoot, I forgot to wash the sheets on Thursday. Speaking of sheets, maybe I need some dryer sheets for the static that is my hair. I really should cut my hair...."

Embarrassing as this is to admit, this is what happens in my head every single time I think...and I think a lot. Ask Josh. It drives him crazy when I blurt out something that has nothing to do with what we were actually talking about. Still boggles his mind at how I come up with certain things..and trust me, I can trace back to every thought I had. Wow, that was a whole lot of information that I should have probably kept to myself.

Anyways...

A golden birthday is when the age you are turning coincides with the date you were born. So, in my pretty Ruby's case she was turning 26 on April 26th. Thus, it is her "golden" birthday. Yeah, mine happened when I was 10. My parents DID NOT give me gold. I am still pretty upset about it.

Alright, back to the party. I was so excited that Ruby trusted me enough to be in charge of the decor. In fact, she really just said she wanted some gold to be incorporated and from there left it all up to me. I was so scared that she would hate it, but I went with it (just so you don't have to worry she most certainly didn't hate it or me at the end of the party). 

With everything in mind, I had to start planning. But, where to start? With the color scheme of course! I actually got her color scheme from the present I had been so excited to buy her. She had just gotten a new Canon Rebel for her birthday and I figured I would give her a little accessory to make the big black box extra purdy. Unfortunately my idea was so good that another friend gave her one...but hey now she has two to choose from. Let me show you the camera accessory I bought her that inspired the entire party.

Isn't this camera strap cover a beauty? I just adored the hot pink and I actually was inspired to get that color from a cute pair of hot pink heels and purse that she owns. And the ruffles? Oh they make me fall in love every time. If you want one of your own, I found this one from this fabulous Etsy shop. Oh and the other fabric? Yes, that is black damask. I loved this one because my dear friend and I have a thing for black damask. In fact our wedding cakes both had this great black design on them and damask always reminds me of that. So even my inspiration was inspired, that's serious stuff my friends.

Oh and here is how the gift was wrapped because I know you are all curious.

Alright, I have to stop myself. This is much too much blabbing when really all you want to see is the photos of the party. 

Can you see my gift inspiration in the decor? I hope so because it really helped it all come together. There was a whole lotta DIY and crafting going on in this party. Like for reals. 

You want to see the cake? 

I had full creative control over that creation. I felt so privileged! I actually had an idea in mind (still using the camera strap as inspiration) and conveniently found a photo that almost exactly matched the picture in my head. So, that is what I sent to the person in charge of the cake. Want to know the best part? The cake maker was FIFTEEN years old. Amazing right? Oh and that cake topper? Handmade by Josh and I. Honestly we couldn't find anything that suit the birthday girl so we did what makes us happiest...we DIYed it. 

Here I am with the birthday girl. She is one great friend. Honestly she was so very deserving of this big birthday bash. She gives so much to others (and me!) that I think myself as well as all of her friends loved having an opportunity to celebrate her. Ruby, you are truly a rare find in a friend and I am so thankful for our friendship. I am glad our husbands introduced us all those years back...now I better start planning for your next party!

I definitely will dive into more details later on. As it is this post is extremely wordy and heavy on the photos so I will give you all a bit of a break. Besides, it is past my bedtime and I still have some work to do for the hubs...he is so demanding (said sarcastically). I hope you enjoyed some party eye candy, tutorials still to come!

 

Basket Full Of Bunnies

Wow, life is crazy. Like, the kind of crazy where an entire week goes by and you think it's only been an hour. Crazy isn't necessarily a bad thing...in fact sometimes I thrive off of it. I would say I am half loving this craziness and half wishing I could have a bit of peace restored in my life. Oh well, either way I am still loving life as always. Alright, went off on a bunny trail of sorts there...I am really hear to talk about EASTER!

Eden was pretty much in love with this holiday. In fact, this girl was beyond spoiled. We definitely found her new favorite toy, which happens to be plastic eggs. Eden and Bella could play for hours together with one single Easter egg. Eden pushes it, Bella grabs it and drops it somewhere, and Eden "crawls" to it. Yes, Eden is "crawling." I use parentheses because she isn't quite aware that she should use her knees yet. This girl is super great at pulling herself all over this house. This has been a bit unfortunate because she gets into a lot of things that she shouldn't. And she doesn't know the word "no" yet. Although, I am starting to think that maybe she knows more than we give her credit for since earlier today I said, "no" when she was grabbing magazines off the table and she looked at the magazines and then back at me, smiled, and then pulled a magazine down. Sigh. The good news is now that she is mobile she is EVEN HAPPIER than before. There I go off on that bunny trail again...let me just document Eden's first Easter with some pictures. (Please ignore the quality of the photos and just enjoy the subject matter, all were taken with very poor lighting conditions which leads me to this...you can't always get perfectly exposed photos, but sometimes the only thing that matters is capturing the subject)

Friday we had Easter with my parents since they were heading up to Washington to celebrate with my sister and her husband.

On Easter we got to attend our church's Easter service which was a wonderful reminder of why this day is so important.

Definitely not our best family photo to date, but it'll do.

This girl is all about the shoes

Eden also got to get her Easter "basket" (we let her pick one out from the Target $1 section) and even did a mock egg hunt.

Even Bella got to get in on the day. She received a little box filled with treats. She was pushing this box around so fast that my camera couldn't even focus on her.

We then headed up to spend Easter with Josh's family.

We can't forget our Peyton. This girl loves her Peeps.

Easter has become even more meaningful now that we have a little kidlet of our own. You really understand that ultimate sacrifice. We truly enjoyed our weekend full of Easter. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

I know I gave you a teaser photo of our trip to the Tulip Fest and then just never came back with more. The truth? I am STILL editing the 300+ photos I took that day (no, I am not editing all 300 of them, but it's still a big task) and something very important came up. Let's just say there was crafting, partying, and a best friend involved. Memories were most certainly made. Oh and yes, you can expect lots of photos and information to come. 

Back soon!

Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a very happy Easter! 

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.  The death he died, he  died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  

Romans 6:8-11

JESUS IS RISEN! 

Recycle, Reduce, Reuse...

...and close the loooop!! (did anyone else sing this over and over in elementary school?). Anyway....

We just wanted to wish you a happy Earth Day and a happy Good Friday!

From our recent trip to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, we'll share more later!

In honor of the sunshine that Oregon is gracing us with at this very moment, we are urging you to get outside and do something fun. I mean, it is Earth day, so why not celebrate by enjoying it? Eden, Bella, and I already did our part. We took a nice little walk around our neighborhood and then planted some bulbs in our garden. That sunshine really does make us all feel a whole lot better. 

Thank you Jesus for sunshine!

Easter Treats

The following Easter idea I am sharing for you is actually rather old. This is something from LAST YEAR. I know, how shameful. The thing is, I am always so late on getting stuff together for holidays that it is just too late to post it. So, I saved it for that entire year so I could share it with you now (granted Easter is only 4 days away). 

Easter last year was spent at my parent's house. I knew I wanted to bring a little treat to put at everyone's place setting and I knew it had to be inexpensive. Well, I found a few supplies at Michael's (I believe I even used a coupon or two) and got to work on creating treat boxes. This is what I came up with.

I found some clear chinese takeout boxes and some cute Easter ribbon, both at Michael's. The name tag on the front was made using some leftover scrapbook paper that I already had. Yes, if I had more time I would have made the tags a bit cuter, but a sharpie initial just had to do. Inside I put some inexpensive blue Easter grass (I believe I found this for super cheap at WalMart), and a bunch of bunny related candy. 

Although this project was quick and easy on the pocketbook, I still think it added just a bit of fun to the table. I also threw a cloth napkin that I had found on sale at Anthropologie and a blue vase with some tulips from our backyard just to add a touch of spring. 

The great thing about these favor boxes? You don't just have to use these for Easter. These are great for any holiday, party, hostess gift, whatever. What should you put inside them? The options are limitless. Well, you couldn't put an elephant in there because obviously it wouldn't fit....but I think you get the point. Hmm...I think that elephant comment is an indicator that I have been staying up too late blogging and editing photos every night instead of sleeping. Honestly, is sleep really that important? 

So, what are your Easter plans? It looks like this year we are going to our church's Easter service in the morning and then heading up North to eat some yummy food with Josh's side of the family. We are most certainly hiding some Easter eggs for Eden...I am thinking of filling them with some of my favorite chocolate candy...you know, cause she can't eat them. I am so cruel. 

7 Months

Eden's past month can be summarized in two words: CHICKEN POX. Honestly Josh and I could not believe that a whole month had gone by. I think this is mainly because Eden and I really didn't do a whole lot in her sixth month (other than me snapping a photo each day of the progression of her spots...). It's kind of sad how quickly that went with not much to say about it. Although being sick held Eden back for a couple of weeks, she has still been learning, discovering, and moving more than ever. I have realized just how physically exhausting it is to have a 7 month old. She never stops moving and she can't even crawl yet!

7 Month Stats
Length: 25 inches
Weight: 14.1 lbs

Eden Rae, here is what you have been up to lately:

You are getting closer to crawling with each passing day
You are no longer being swaddled! 
You have become a great napper...not sure why you waited until now to do that...
You sit up completely unassisted 
You put everything in your mouth
You LOVE to jump so your jumperoo is getting a ton of attention these days
You still think all conversation revolve around you
You love your toys...you definitely have preferences, but really enjoy all of them

You love to move objects from one hand to another and then like to "share" them with us

You are eating rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, bananas, and sweet potatoes willingly

You like to attempt to feed yourself and even get the food into your mouth most of the time

You laugh all of the time

You find remotes, phones, the computer mouse, and all electrical cords to be the greatest toy around

We are so proud of our baby girl! She may be small, but that doesn't seem to hinder this girl at all. We can already see her independence and confidence coming out. I think this girl is going to be a fun one to watch grow up. 

What? You thought I would actually forget to post five million photos of my perfect baby girl? Trust me, I would never do such a thing to you. 

Daddy is my secret weapon to keeping her still and smiling during photo shoots. 

Daddy's girl

First bite of rice cereal...this is pretty much the face she makes every time she eats

*****************************************

I planned on doing a separate post on our trip to Washington...but it has already been over a week and I am just going to go ahead and admit that it's just not going to happen. This trip up north was special because it is the "birthday trip." Not only is it Josh's birthday, but we also were celebrating his mom, dad, and grandpa's birthdays as well. For some reason they all think its fun to have their birthdays all around the same time. What were they thinking?!

The big "gift" is a trip to the Seattle Sounders game (soccer for those of you not in the know). On our way to the game we took a bit of a detour to Bellevue to visit my sister. She introduced us to this...

That would be a chocolate rainbow doughnut at Top Pot. These things are as big as plates and are super delicious. I don't think this experience can be topped. I had planned on taking a photo of my doughnut when it was whole, but unfortunately my mouth had other plans...

Some of the faces we got to see during our trip. From left to right: Josh's dad, mom, pastor from his home church, and sister. These were actually all taken by Josh. I still have to teach him about camera settings, but I would say he is getting pretty good at composition.

This is my niece and brother-in-law. They have the greatest personalities. Both are bound to make you laugh and both are avid talkers...

So after looking at all of these photos I have realized that it may seem like Eden does not have a mother. I promise, I do exist...I just rarely get to be in the photos because I prefer to be behind the camera. Don't worry, the hubby is starting to get smart and snap some of me and the girl. I may even share one or two of them, but don't hold your breath. 

Very Very Pinteresting...

I. HEART. PINTEREST.

Do you know what Pinterest is? If not, where in the United States of America have you been?! Okay, it's open to all countries, but just thought I would say something other than the typical "world" that is often used. Here's the thing...I love all things creative and I am constantly bookmarking blogs and saving photos to my desktop and "starring" items in my Google Reader that make me happy and inspire me. So why did I think I would not like Pinterest? I honestly don't know. Maybe I worried that I wouldn't live up to some expectations. Maybe I was fretting that it would be a time sucker and mean getting even less done in a day than I already do. Whatever the reasons, I am so glad I got over them and jumped on board this new phenomenon. 

Alright, for those of you not in the know I bet you are wondering why I am using a crazy word such as pinterest. Or as Josh likes to respond, "that is very pinteresting..." Okay, maybe you have to be here for our weird sense of humor. 

Pinterest is a virtual pin board where you can "pin" photos of things that you find interesting...get it? Pin + interesting = pinterest(ing). It's like the big giant bulletin board I had as a teenager where I would put up magazine cutouts that I liked and stuck them to the board with giant thumbtacks. Seriously, its that but way greater. 

Maybe I should stop talking and just give you some visuals to help you understand. I mean, honestly my words are falling short and not living up to the hype of Pinterest.

Sorry for the blur, I did a quick crop in Paint and called it good. You'll get over it. Alright, back to the topic at hand. This is my photography inspiration board. Whenever I see a photo that I love I pin it here for future reference. Honestly, I sit and stare at this board a whole lot, it just makes me feel happy and then I curse the fact that I live in Oregon where the idea of "natural light" is pretty much nonexistent with the continual gloom outside.

When I get frustrated at all of the rain outside I look at my other boards for some imitation sunshine (really its just stuff that makes me happy...kind of like how vitamin D lifts the mood).

Seriously, take my word for it...it is so worth your time. In some senses it saves me time because it actually remembers where you got the photo so you can always give it proper credit or be able to find the website it came from at a later date. Really, its fantastical (there I go again making up words). 

Want a piece of it for yourself? Request an invite or you can send me your email and I will send you an invite myself. You won't be disappointed. 

Already a Pinterest user? Feel free to follow me! 

Soon I will be showing you my inspiration board for Eden's first birthday party. It is my favorite one by far. As much as I don't want her to grow up, I cannot wait for her birthday to get here!

Happy pinning!

P to the S...Pinterest did not ask us to write this review or compensate us in any way. In fact, they have no idea that I am writing this. I just felt compelled to share my love for something that I think is awesome. 

Old Man

April 12th is a very special day in this household. It is my husband's day of birth. This year was pretty special since he was turning TWENTY FIVE...thats a quarter of a century people. Alright, well I already passed that up and am almost halfway to twenty-seven, which of course means I am hitting my late twenties. UGH. Wait, when did this post turn from talking about my hubby to how old I am? Let's go ahead and forget that ever happened shall we.

Anyway, I was excited to celebrate my husband. I think he is the greatest. He is kind, calm, loving, a fantastic daddy, a hard worker, godly, and someone who always puts God first and then family right behind. I know that last one can be tough with all of the pressures that the world puts on us, but my husband is pretty great at it. Because Bella, Eden, and I think he is so great, we had to make sure to have a really fun day and ignore all of the stresses that have been weighing us down so heavily lately. 

The morning started off with a baked french toast that had been soaking up all of the goodness overnight as well as sauteed bananas. Josh's favorite breakfast is the creme brulee french toast at a local place called Word of Mouth Bistro. Unfortunately, I didn't have grand marnier on hand...nor the funds to go purchase a giant bottle for the teaspoon the recipe called for, but I think it still had some good flavor and definitely filled our tummies. 

For lunch I made up our favorite sandwich, the Crainanator. It was super great. There are no pictures because I didn't take any, but you can check back to the post where I talk all about our favorite sandwich if you really want to see it. Once we were done with our food, and after Eden had taken a nice long nap we headed out. We made a stop by Dutch Bros. for a free drink since Josh LOOOOOOOOOVES there coffee. It's ridiculous. I also took Josh and Eden over to the Capitol Mall park for a little photo shoot. I figured it would be a nice way to capture some daddy and daughter photos and make for good memories of his 25th birthday.

That's my old place of employment. I think sometimes I forget how lucky I was to get to work in such a great place. Our capitol building is not traditional in any sense, but I think that's what makes it so special. Oh, and see those weird orange guys? They are supporting our Oregon State Beavers! 

That's my baby. She's not much of a baby anymore. This is her infamous srunchy face. She does this ALL.THE.TIME. This photo was taken before we had a big FAIL moment as parents. I am not going to talk about it because I still feel bad, but just know that we didn't win the best parent award that day. 

Josh couldn't wait to open his present. I bought him an iced tea maker. Yes, we could make sun tea for free, but he has fond memories of iced tea makers and has been begging for one. I gave in.

I thought it would be fun to surprise him for dinner. My parents and grandma, plus a couple friends came to celebrate at his favorite location, Baja Fresh. I had quite the list of people I would have invited, but had to stay sensitive to the fact that he feels the same way about big surprises as I do...we just don't feel comfortable with them. So, I kept it low key which worked out perfect because we only had a limited time before it was time for our small group. Oh how we have missed them. It's been weeks since we have been able to attend. One of these days I'll capture a picture of them because they are great. 

I'll have to recap our crazy weekend as well, but I'm tired, and I have an early morning tomorrow. Basically I used to be a morning person, but ever since having a baby this has changed. I don't like it one bit. Really though, we had a crazy weekend...but it was funtabulous. Yep, it's a word. Honestly, I must make my own dictionary because I make up new words on the fly at a very rapid pace. Hope you all are having a great week...can't believe it's almost over already.

We Are Free!

I feel like a caged bird. I honestly rarely feel "bored" and actually prefer to be at home. However, for some reason having the idea in my head that I am not allowed to leave the house with Eden just drove me nuts. I actually didn't mind being housebound for the most part because it guaranteed pure, unadulterated relaxation...if you can call it that. Either way I am happy to report that we have all survived chicken pox. There were a few touch and go moments, but we are still here to tell about it. I missed the blog world while I was away, but do appreciate you all giving me a break. I had made a commitment to my baby girl that I would be fully available to her and I was able to stick to it. Trust me, there were a few days in there where I didn't stop moving. Chicken pox can cause happy babies to suddenly turn into needy babies, and levelheaded mommies to suddenly turn into crazy mommies.

Well, here is what we have been up to for the past FIFTEEN days of chicken pox.

I got to get a pedi with my BFFL Ruby...the last time I would be seen in public for 15 days
(LOOK AT THOSE FEET....I should have been a model)

We lounged in our jammies ALL DAY LONG

We made goofy faces so we could try to forget the tears

We finally found some sunshine and got to look at all of the flowers growing outside of our house

We got to spend some time with Brooke and Jordan (my sister and her husband)

We got to take walks in the parks (avoiding all people of course)

Grandpa Crain came to visit for four days

We took a walk to the Soapbox Derby to watch a few races (Brett and Stephanie, my brother and his wife came too!)

Okay, okay, I know what you all are thinking. I was just being a big fatty drama queen about Josh locking me in the house and only allowing me tiny sips of water and infrequent potty breaks (what? I never mentioned that?). Well, the thing is I didn't include the photos of me Eden crying uncontrollably...because, well, I was just a tad focused on wiping away the tears instead of taking photos. I'm growing soft in my old age. Really, we did get a lot of relaxing in and it was nice. However, I am thankful that I can now freely roam the streets of Salem with my spotted child and not feel like we are exposing the world to the plague. Seriously, when did chicken pox become the enemy? I am still super proud of "pumpkin" the chicken spot on my stomach...it was like a rite of passage. 

Well, thanks all for the prayers and words of encouragement. My mind is full of blog content, but I am a bit overwhelmed with just how much "stuff" is in there. Slowly, but surely I am going to try to get it all out of there. Until then, have a funtastic Friday!