Adelaide Jane Turns One: August 30, 2013

Dearest Adelaide Jane,

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy 1st Birthday dearest Adelaide Jane, Happy Birthday to you!

I am not really sure where to begin this letter. The last year has been the best year of my life. Challenging at times but the very best. In so many ways it is exactly how I imagined. In so many ways it is way more than I ever imagined. 

365 days ago on August 30, 2012 at 6:22pm my world forever changed. I opened my eyes to see your bare bottom facing me. No one would even look to see if you were a boy or a girl. So the first words out of my mouth for you to hear were "well what is it?" Haha. And with great amazement Dr. Bakas smiled and said ITS A GIRL! You won't know what that means until you become a mother one day, but I will try to explain it to you. It was the single greatest moment of my life. Mimi was in shock and began immediately crying. Daddy was grinning from ear to ear even though I know that he was secretly adding up the cost of a wedding in his head ;) And I was smiling and crying and smiling some more. I knew it all along. I just knew it. I knew that you were going to be the sweetest, most beautiful, most perfect baby girl that ever could be. 

I have enjoyed watching you every single second since that day. I have loved holding you, kissing you, hugging you, feeding you, smiling at you, crying with you. You are my best friend. You are my sense of humor. You are my heart. You are my soul. You are my everything.

You may favor your dad in the looks department but you are all me in personality. I know this because at times we butt heads which terrifies me because I know I am in for a real treat come the teenage years.   (Mimi always said payback would be owed to me). Sometimes I see the determination and stubbornness in your actions. At this age, it often drives me crazy. As well as your need to be on the go non-stop. We can both blame Mimi for this. 

Despite the head butts, I can't help but feel warm & fuzzy inside because I know how our relationship will grow. I know that you will always get me. I know that you will call me multiple times every day to vent or run through your to do list or just to hear my voice as the years go on. I know this because I do the same thing to my mom every single day. And so I will take a few years of getting on each other's nerves to have those moments for the rest of our lives.

I know that there will be times that I don't do everything right. Times when I lose my patience or my cool. Times when you are annoyed with me. Times when we won't be able to stand one another. But I want you to know that I love you more than anything in this entire world. I would give my life for you at any moment of any day. You make me a better person. You make life worth living. You are the reason that God created me: to give me the blessing of you.

Thank you for the joy that you have brought to my life. Thank you for the laughter. Thank you for the tears of happiness. Thank you for teaching me to slow down sometimes. Thank you for being you. 

Mommy loves you and feels incredibly lucky to have been picked to be your mommy.

I love you!


Love,

Mommy

Adelaide Jane Celebrates "One" at Her Ice Cream Shoppe

When I thought about where to have Adelaide's birthday party, the natural place was Kentucky because of our family being all in one spot. Plus when I started thinking about her first birthday about five days after she was born, we didn't have any "friends with kids" here in New York.

But since Adelaide was born, I was able to use my child to make friends my own age and who had kids. Double bonus for me! Haha. And we have become close with these wonderful new friends who bring so much love & joy to Adelaide and myself. They have made living in New York with a baby away from family a much easier transition. For this, I will be forever grateful.

So in light of these amazing friends, I decided that an intimate birthday celebration here in New York was a must. Something short & sweet for our baby girl and her friends. I decided on an ice cream shoppe theme to bring a dessert flavor since Adelaide is *super* sweet and because this summer has been hot, hot, hot causing me to eat a lot of chilled ice cream.

Because this was a last minute shindig, I decided to do a lot of crafting myself. I wanted the colors to be pale pink & mint for a vintage feel. I found the perfect invite that was simple and chic from Etsy. I ordered them and had the proof within 24 hours. Talk about quick customer service!

For decorations, I knew the dessert table would be the focal point but had to put a few touches around the house. My favorite (mainly because I amazed myself with my craft ability) was the ice cream wreath that I made. I found the perfect color ribbon and got to creative thinking to make these ice cream cones.

I also made a welcome banner for the entry and another for the family room mantle. I added fresh flowers for color and Ms. Mary made these beautiful flower balloons for accent pieces. I also added a little flare with special detail-oriented fun such as the lemonade straw flags in the mason jars, cake pop flags, napkin rings, and signs peeking out of the flower bouquets. And of course the dessert table needed a little tree as the centerpiece sweetly decorated with these sparkly ice cream cone ornaments!

As for the food, I had to do all things sweet. An ice cream bar. Cake pops (mint oreo & birthday cake). Fruit cones. Cookies. Cupcakes. And of course a mini cake for Ms. Adelaide.

I lucked out with favors for the kiddos. Target had mini ice cream cone sidewalk chalk (perfect fall activity!) and Michael's had ice cream bubbles. Then I found little cupcake bath fizzes so I had to get them. For the adults, I made bath time ice cream cones. A few bath salts plus a loofa stuck in a paper cone! Something the moms could use to relax after party time ;)

Having my mom, aka Mimi, here to celebrate with us was extra special. I love that she got to meet Adelaide's little friends so she can put faces with names. She has met my New York mothers and now she got to meet my New York friends!

We truly are blessed to have stumbled upon such a wonderful community of friends who have embraced our family and welcomed us to New York.

Home Makeover: Before & After (Take Five)

If you have been following my blog since 2012 then you know all about our home makeover including takes one, two, three, & four.

Well with the arrival of Adelaide, our home projects have slowed down plus we covered so much ground before she made her grand entrance that we don't have much left. Just a few odds & ends here and there. More of a wants list rather than a needs list.

The master bedroom is/was our last major project because we didn't really mind having it the way it was until now. Read I am bored and want to check something off the to do list ;)

So we decided to go ahead and get a fresh coat of paint as well as finally put some personal touches on it.

Before:

After:

We also decided that the sitting area needed to be spruced up (mainly because it had a giant streak of sample paint down the middle wall that was driving me crazy!) and actually furnished. It was perfect for when Adelaide was first born because we kept her bassinet there during the nights as well as other baby items. But since she resides in her nursery now, I wanted to reclaim the space.

Before:

After:

While we were in the project mode, we thought the front of the house needed a fresh face. We had been thinking about painting the door and shutters since the day we moved in (we don't care for the color red around here!). I knew that this project needed to be done in the summer/early fall or it would get pushed to late spring 2014 due to the weather in the northeast. We liked the work of our master bedroom so much from these guys so we went ahead with the outside paint job too.

Before:

After:

Let's be honest, blue is always better!

We have a few more little projects left like getting a piece of furniture or two for the office, stretching the carpet in the bonus room & repainting it, and *possibly* giving the laundry room a facelift. But all in all, our house is home and we really love it to pieces.

Music Mondays: Miranda Lambert's All Kinds of Kinds

I don't get star struck nor do I really have celeb crushes. They are people like you and me who generally have more issues because of their fame & fortune.

But I do love Miranda Lambert's toughness and her knack for writing & singing about the truth...

Snapshots on a Saturday: Mimi Comes to Town

While I was working at the New Haven Open, Mimi & Adelaide were living it up in New York and Connecticut.

It is amazing the difference a year makes. This is Mimi & I last year at the 2012 New Haven Open just before I was about to pop!

And this is the three of us at the 2013 New Haven Open...

Future Tournament Director

Meeting Caroline Wozniacki

I was able to work my schedule to spend time with my mom and daughter too! Our fun for the week included playing at parks (swings are our fave!) and in shopping carts...

Hitting up the Big Apple where Mimi treated Adelaide to her first American Girl doll, Molly, which was my first American Girl doll too! This was so special to me especially since she comes with the sweetest birthday cake set :)

We also got up close & personal with the Central Park Zoo animals...

All tuckered out after a day in the city

We shopped in White Plains for home goodies and fashionista stuff fueled with energy by our signature spot The Cheesecake Factory...

I don't do naps while shopping Mom...

And enjoyed our time together as three generations of family & love...