Neon DIY First Birthday Celebration

 Wow. Throwing a birthday party is no joke. I thought I was doing things well in advance {Had some decorations hung a week ago..ha!} but on Saturday morning I was scrambling around like a crazy lady until the party started at 3. I've learned a few things through out this process - NEVER say, {Oh..I'll just wait until the morning of the party to do this} - because "this" turns into about thirty things.

True. Story.

Really though - The party turned out perfect..and Em had so much fun with her friends. I had so much fun planning/making all of the DIY decorations and sweets. Hubby had fun playing corn hole with the other Dads. Again - it was perfect. :)

Another thing I realized this weekend: Our S.C. friendships mean the world to us! We both have ZERO family within 10 hours of us. Em's Nana was able to make it to the party, which was so special {and helpful!}

Even with just 1 family member here..The day FELT like we were surrounded by family. People that have supported us since we moved here. They have been with us through belly bump, to sleepless nights, first laugh, first crawl, to now celebrating our little lady turning one. We are so lucky to have the support we have while being so far away from family. Ahh. We are blessed.

Okay - that was a little sappy. Now for the pictures.. Happy Sunday!

Wait.. you are telling me I'm one?

Shocking! Why didn't anyone tell me? 

{Em's first bite} 

Just the Babies! {Headband} - {Dress}

Quite the after party with the water table.

Follow Me On {Instagram} brittmarie14 to see Em party all of the time! :) 

Smash Cake Success

I had way too much fun baking this smash cake. It turns out that making bright neon colored cakes is pretty simple! I bought a little cake pan - some amazing gel food coloring - and a box of vanilla cake mix... and Voila. A cute Pinteresty Cake.

{SMASH} Cake.

Just so you know.. I did make homemade icing. {I know.. so classy. I would have used store bought, but we didn't have any.}

Anyway - today was perfect! I didn't stay home with her even though I wanted to. I taught my firsties and then rushed to get her after school.

After school we did all of Em's favorite things..

- Shared a String Cheese and some Cheerios
- Petted Ozzy our Kitty
- Played at least 10 rounds of hide and go seek in her bedroom. {Also known as.. Mama hides behind the same door every time and Em finds her} :)
- Played out on our porch, picked a few flowers, put our hand in the dirt
- Called Grandma and listened to her sing Happy Birthday
- Climbed the stairs together... three times. :)
- And last but not least.. enjoyed some cake while Hubby, a few of the neighbors, and myself clapped and shouted for her.

We ended the night reading the story that ALWAYS makes me tear up The Night You Were Born

It was the first book we ever read to her.. the day we brought her home from the hospital. I cried then.. and I cried today.

She was a tiny little newborn last year at this time. So tiny that her newborn clothes didn't even fit her. So tiny that we were afraid that we would break her. How in the world is our beautiful little lady one? Ahh. I guess time flies when you can't sleep in on the weekends are having fun. Ha! :)

We are so blessed. The past year has been the best year of our lives. I can't tell you how many times I look at Em and count my blessings over and over. I never knew what life would be like as a Mama.. but it's been more than I could ever hope for!

Em's one year appointment is tomorrow afternoon - I can't wait to post the STATS of our little lady. :)

xoxo.

O.N.E

Eek! Just a quick post - more to follow that obviously includes eating cake after school. My attempt to make a layered smash caked was semi-successful... but I will say - neon food coloring makes me happy. Especially PINK neon food coloring. :)

We let her try the icing last night and based on her reaction - this is going to be a lot of fun! :) xo.

Happy Birthday Sweet Em! Can't imagine life with out you.. and I am so blessed to be your Mama.

Birthday Prep

Em's party isn't until next weekend but I seriously want to start decorating now. In fact - I've already decorated juustttt a little bit. Don't judge.

I love being crafty..

But having an almost one year old who likes to speed crawl around the house like a crazy lady + having no family here + teaching crazy firsties + Mama needing sleep = basically.. no time to be crafty. Ha! :) So I still don't have a lot DONE for her party.. just a million ideas and a Pinterest Board. :) 

I did just get a few pictures printed from Printstagram. It's amazing! You all should check it out if you want your Instagram Pics on paper. I clearly have a problem when it comes to posting pictures of my little lady on Instagram.. so we should follow each other! :) 

{brittmarie14}

Happy Weekend Blog Friends!

Pretty Little Birthday Invitations! :) 

Banner.. Courtesy of Target {But I'm sure you could have guessed that.}

We also planted flowers earlier this week! They make me happy. I hope I can keep them alive.. 

Happy Weekend xo.

The Countdown is ON

6 Days...until this little lady is O-N-E!

Em @ 5 Months - {She said what?!}

I have somewhat put off the party planning - but I have so many ideas in my head. As long as it all comes together, it should be jusssttt fine. Ha!

I do think we need to let her try some cake this weekend so we can have a {pre}smash cake photo session! Makes sense, right? Besides - Em has waited LONG enough to try something sweeter than fruit.. and mama wants some cake too! She has no idea what's about to happen! Eek! :) We are so blessed.

Last year @ this time - Spending some pre-baby time at Magnolia Plantation. One of the many reasons I love the south.

xo.

Starting Over

So. I've been a runner my whole life. I ran all through out grade school.. ran track and cross country in high school.. and continued running in college for Ohio University {Go Bobcats} After college.. I still ran A. LOT.  That is.. until sweet little Emersyn came into the mix. :)

When I found out I was pregnant I was coaching a girls high school cross country team. I should have trusted my body and continued to run - but when I was about 11 weeks pregnant I started worrying about how fast I was running/my heart rate/etc...{I worried about everything!}

Anyway - I was trying to keep up with our top girls to pace them - but I live in South Carolina.. it was Early September, extremely hot.. and I was towards the end of the 1st trimester. We were running around a 6:15 mile {So fast.} and I freaked. out.

I remember the exact moment.. I stopped after I heard the mile time.. the girls kept going.. and I spilled everything to a parent who was helping time us. She let me sit in her air conditioned car while I cried, cooled off, and tried to convince myself that I had NOT harmed Em.  {was I crazy? Yes.}

Needless to say.. after the melt down.. thinking I had ran too fast in crazy hot weather - my running stopped.

It started again when Em was about 6 or 7 weeks old because I began summer training with my girls.. but my body was just absolutely not ready. Running 100 meters was almost too much. I dreaded going to practice because I was sleep deprived/nursing/not wanting to run/etc. so that made it worse. I worked my way up through out the summer and made it to about 4 miles, but I still didn't feel like I was really ready for that step at all.

School started.. and teaching my firsties, mixed with taking care of Em, mixed with grading papers/adjusting to life as a mama/breastfeeding = running absolutely stopped.

And here I am.

Em is almost a year.. and since the summer I can probably count on both hands the amount of times I've ran. But that is all changing my friends! Running has been such a big part of my life and I've definitely noticed that it's been missing. Seriously. Missing. So this weekend I decided to stop making excuses {I'm the best at making excuses by the way} and started running again.

Anyway - just wanted to see if anyone else has gone through this and how you've kept yourself motivated? I'm motivated right now.. but it's a Sunday night and I've had the full weekend off.

Being a Mama changes everything. I'm still getting used to the adjustment of not having a lot of personal time - especially since we don't live near family. But sweet Em isn't going anywhere.. so I probably need to start getting my LIFE back together and include her in it! {aka..jogging stroller while she says HI to all of the passing trees/cars/people/mailboxes}.  Oh that little girl has my heart.

Speaking of Sweet Em...

We just LOVE coral.. and BabyGap+Extra 30% off Sale Price = Problem Amazing. :)

Happy Sunday! xo.

It's Friday..Friday..

TgiF!

I am so excited about the weekend. I live for the weekends now. We don't even have any plans. Actually we tried our best NOT to make plans this weekend...but the idea of 2 full days with Em and my Hubby.. ahhh. I just love it.

Okay.. Okay.. I can't lie to you all. Em and I DO have plans that may involve a trip to Target..

I'm glad I came clean on that one. :) Ha!

I'm having a BIG incentive on our Pretty Little Elm Facebook page this weekend! If you introduce 5 people to PrettyLittleElm and have them like our page... {I will love you forever} AND you'll get a free headband with your next order! True. Story.

All you have to do is message me once your friends {like} our page! 

Did I mention you all were the best? I seriously have been blown away by the kindness of others when it comes to the blogging world and this little shop of mine! xoxo. 

www.facebook.com/prettylittleelm 

And now.. onto Em's newest skill...I just can't get enough of this little baby!

{Of Course I'm saving this for later Mama. Do you even have to ask?} Instagram Pic: brittmarie14

Gender Reveal Party #TBT

Oh it's just another one of those posts that involve taking a walk down memory lane... but it is #Throw Back Thursday.. right?

So when I had a baby bump - All I could think about was..having a baby bump! Sounds kind of crazy.. and I truly was a little crazy. It's easy to admit now. :)

I was teaching 2nd grade and absolutely LOVING my class - but I definitely had our little baby on my mind most of the time. I think hubby was pretty excited when I decided to have a gender reveal party because at least I could put my baby out of control energy into something! :)

Our original party plan was for us to also wait to find out if Em was a boy or girl until we cut the cake. We were just going to have our sweet doctor put the gender in an envelope.. give it to my friend.. have her bake the cake and voila. Secret Safe.

But let's be honest, I never stood a chance. Right when they offered us the gender at our appointment - I immediately caved.

So - we knew the truth at the gender reveal, but no one else did! Eek! I actually did a great job of keeping a secret. Luckily - I only had to keep it for a day or so. :)

I highly recommend having a little party to celebrate a healthy baby boy or girl! It was such a fun memory that involved sweet treats and I can't wait to tell Em about it when she gets older.

Something was definitely in the water at our school! All of us rocking our tiny baby bumps. :) Now we have play dates together!



Hmm. All of this talk about Parties and Baby Bumps makes me kind of miss mine...

 until I think about Saturday morning and what it would be like to sleep in except for the fact that Em is ready to party before the sunrise. :)

xo.

Cruising

Hey Friends!

Hubby and I just got back from a 4 day cruise with friends. It was the first time we have left Em for more than a night and it was hard at first - but we definitely needed the couple time and I'm so happy that we went!

The Bahamas+Fruity Drinks+Hammocks and Sand Volleyball = Just what we needed.

My {amazing} parents flew in from Ohio and stayed with Sweet Em while we were gone. She was definitely taken care of {and spoiled} just a bit. But hey - isn't that what grandparents are for?

Here are some of my Instagram favorites (brittmarie14) from the past week..

Hope you all had an amazing weekend and Monday! xo.

Right before we left - I was trying out my brand new Etsy Shop Bows on Em - I think she likes them! 

First night on the ship! :) 

Bahamas

Last Day on the island wearing our sorry for partying accessories.. The fact that my hubby has that hat in the first place and brought it on the cruise makes me love him even more. :) 

11 Month Little Lady

Well - In less than a month our baby girl won't be such a little baby anymore. This year has blown me away.

Completely blown away.

I don't think I quite knew how much I could love someone until that sweet girl came into our lives. I remember the night she was born, I was a mess. And when she turned two days, I cried even more! {Post-Pregnancy hormones to blame.. those make you crazy} but still.. you get the idea. :)

And now she's 11 months. I want time to slow down but at the same time I'm so excited for things to come.

I love my husband to infinity.. but sometimes with Em, my heart just wants to burst because I just can't believe she's ours! I can't believe that we have the awesome opportunity to raise her together and watch her laugh, grow, fall down, get back up, and everything in between.

Ahh. Now onto my favorite - pictures. :) We had so much fun searching for flowers yesterday in our pretty little southern town. They weren't hard to find.. they are all over the place right now! :)

Look at her standing up from sitting.. such a big girl. :) 

Clapping :)

And lastly.. trying to put her foot in her mouth. Amazing. :) 

Happy 11 Months Sweet Em. We love you more than you know and each and every day has been a true blessing. You are so full of happiness.. I can't get over how happy you are. You brighten my day. You are my sunshine. I am so blessed and thankful that I am your mama. xo.