A Diva Birthday

If you know me at all you know that I'm not normally a huge fan of parties. I do however enjoy the occasional baby shower, bridal shower, or birthday party of those that I'm close to.....just not the games.....I mean really? Who came up with all those games? UGH!

Cupcakes by Sweet Daphne Confections

So knowing that about me you'd probably think I wouldn't want to do much in terms of birthday parties. Well under normal circumstances you'd be correct, however, this was Livvy's first birthday party! 

Dr. Seuss Happy Birthday To You that everyone signed for Liv

Liv and I are a part of a group affectionally known as "The Baby Gang". The gang is comprised of four babies and their mom's, Lynn & Collin, Erin & Aubrey, Katie & Lew, and Liv and myself. Wanna know just how unique this group is? For starters we all met during an infant massage class. All of us had unplanned c-sections, Collin was born the end of February, Aubrey 4 days before Liv and Lew 4 days after Liv. Lynn and Erin knew of each other via work and Katie and I met during our child prep class. Needless to say we were bound to get a long since we had so much in common.

As you can see all the babies are extremely close in age so all of us moms were planning birthday parties at the same time. During one of our get togethers Lynn showed us a magazine full of birthday party theme ideas. I thumbed through the magazine and came across the "Zebra Diva"! I knew that had to be the theme for Liv's party.

Since Lynn had already been planning Collins birthday she was kind enough to let me know that Hobby Lobby had an entire section of zebra birthday decorations. I say kind enough sarcastically because ever since I got married I have loathed Hobby Lobby and Michaels. This is simply due to the fact that I felt like I was there every day of my life shopping for decorations right up until my wedding day! Some ladies love shopping at those kinds of stores....I did not since I've never considered my self crafty. I wasn't thrilled to have to go to Hobby Lobby but as soon as I could I took Liv and my mom and we went shopping to check out the goods! Talk about one stop shopping for a party....I soon began to LOVE Hobby Lobby and I'm pretty sure they in turn started to love me and my checking account! 

Shadow box of her coming home outfit

Tina and Liv

I was able to find everything I needed and more for her party. I bought some tulle and had my sister-in-law make Liv's tutu. It turned out amazing! I found a Zebra onesie, diaper cover, headband, flower, and decals so I could make the rest of her outfit. The only thing missing was shoes and I was able to find some on Zulily. So glad that the zebra theme was in full force everywhere I looked!

Aubrey and her daddy Luke

We purchased the Dr. Seuss book, Happy Birthday to You, so everyone at the party could sign it and leave a special note for Liv. I thought it was a nice way to have a guest book and something special we could read with her every year on her birthday.

Gramma leaving a note for Liv

Being Livvy's first birthday I hired Rachael, from Bella Fotia Design, to come and take photos at her party. Everyone knows parties are hectic and I wanted to make sure that we did a good job of documenting this milestone in her life. I know Liv won't remember her party and everything that was put into it but I do know that she will have photos of her first birthday and she'll be able to look at them whenever she wants. Don't worry....I don't plan on going this crazy every year!

My mom was gracious enough to open her home so we could have the baby gang, our close friends, and family over to celebrate with us. We so appreciate our friends and family and how much they love our little Diva! She is one special girl!

It was so fun to see Liv walking around during her party. She had been playing with walking for a month before her birthday but it was like she woke up that morning and decided that was the day to take off. Her walking and attitude was very fitting for her day!

I had her smash cake and cupcakes made by Sweet Daphne Confection! Sooooooo yummy!! Liv enjoyed getting into her cake and sharing it with anyone who wanted some! 

We were able to celebrate her birthday on her actual birth date. The baby gang sorta started a tradition at Collins birthday party of hanging around after all the guests left to relax, celebrate our kiddos, and toast to a successful first year of life for our kids. It was so nice to be with them at 5:29pm when Liv officially turned one!

We had a wonderful time celebrating our little Diva. I can't believe how fast the first year of her life flew by! I look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with her and seeing her grow into the young lady that the Lord has planned for her! So thankful to be her momma!

Where Have We Been??

Wanna know what Liv has been up to for the past year??

Stay tuned.....

What Has Livvy Been Doing??

She started solid foods

She started with rice cereal

She isn't a huge a huge fan of rice cereal....she prefers veggies

She went to the Balloon Festival

She's been spending time with mommy

She's holding her bottle...when she wants to

She signed up for swimming lessons with her baby friends

She hung out at the park

She took her picture with her baby friend Lew

She plays in her bumbo almost every day

She talks to her animals

Enjoy!

-AKL

4 Months

Time sure is flying by!

Stats:
Weight: 10.8 lbs (7-8%)
Height: 23.8 in (46%)
Head Circ: 16 in (54%)

Sleep after shots

During her 4 month check up she received another round of DTAP, Hib, PCV, and Rotavirus. This time she did have a little reaction of a very low grade fever and much fussiness! After 21/2 days she was feeling like herself again. She got another good check up from the doctor and she keeps progressing nicely on her own Livvy scale. We gained over a pound in one month and we grew over 2 inches. Liv has started teething so she has a few meltdowns every now and then when she realizes that her gums hurt but she's been a champ so far. No teeth popping through yet just lots of drool and chewing on fingers.

Teething

Liv continues to talk more and more every day. She is giggling on occasion and is still trying to roll over. Sometimes we get half way there and then she stops. She'll do it when she's darn good and ready or maybe she'll just crawl and walk before rolling over.

Hi

We spent two weeks at grandma Popp's house while Jared was in Texas for job training. We had a wonderful time hanging out and spending time with grandma and her dog Tokyo. Liv loves being around the dogs and would smile every time one of them would come into the room she was in. Tokyo and Chan adore Liv and Shy could still care less about her.

Hanging out

She is still sleeping through the night and taking awesome naps during the day. She has graduated to taking her naps in her crib all by herself! I have nothing to complain about!!

We haven't been able to hang with our baby friends as much as we would like with me working but hopefully we'll be able to squeeze some time in soon. We're even talking about mommy and baby swimming lessons when all the babies are 6 months old.

Mommy & Liv

Fell asleep in Aunt Jessica's arms during dinner

Liv continues to keep us smiling and laughing every day. We are so thankful for her little life and the blessing she is to us!

Until next time!
  -AKL

3 Months

Things have been busy on the home front. I have started work again and have slowly been getting back into the swing of things. I have an amazing opportunity to work from home right now so that has been a HUGE blessing. I have a great boss and team that encourage me every step of the way.

Going to church

Livvy went in for her second round of shots. She got the Hib and PCV shots and did wonderful. She didn't have any reactions after the shots besides tender thighs. She continues to gain weight slowly but surely. We had a few tummy problems when we were switching formulas and that was not fun for Livvy or for mommy. She is doing much better now that we've found a good formula for her.

Waiting for shots

We've experienced everything from floods to fires the past month. The Waldo Canyon fire sent Livvy and I down to my mom's house for a week. We had so much fun being on "vacation". The smoke was pretty thick at times and with Livvy's breathing we felt it'd be better to go stay with my mom in her A/C house. Yes, we do have AC in our house but our bedroom and Livvy's room are over the garage and under the attic. Unfortunately the only way to keep our room cool is to have a window unit and that was sucking in the smoke.  All in all it was a great time and grandma Popp loved having Livvy around for a week.

Hail

Flooding at Citadel Mall

Waldo Canyon Fire

During our stay with grandma Popp Livvy started sitting up by herself on the couch. She loves grandma's couch for naps and enjoys sitting there watching Jake play. Jake and Livvy are becoming pals and it's so fun to see Livvy's eyes get big when Jake makes funny faces or tries to explain cars or army men to her. There was one time she was crying and he went right up to her and told her to watch him and she'd feel better. He's also a great backseat babysitter and makes sure to let grandma and I know when Livvy is sleeping or when he's had to give her the pacifier. I have a feeling these two cousins are going to get along great!

Sitting Up

We took a day trip up to Denver with our friends Will and Peter. Our destination was IKEA! We had a great time walking around seeing what all IKEA had to offer. That place is HUGE! Livvy slept for a majority of the time but did decide to wake up at the end to see where she was. We ended up spending the entire day in Denver as we had to take Peter to DIA in the evening. Livvy did awesome despite having one meltdown at dinner. She was tired and the restaurant was loud! Once she was outside where it was quiet so went right to sleep. She slept the whole way up to Denver and the whole way home.

IKEA

Will and Livvy

Livvy has been sleeping through the night since the end of June. There have been times that I've had to wake her up in the mornings. Waking up is hard since she's not a morning baby but she always manages a big smile as soon as she sees us.

Sleeping

Napping

Livvy and I are still meeting up with our babies and mommies group. We're building some great friendships and it's wonderful seeing how the babies are growing and becoming more and more aware.

Smiles

Jared has been making monthly videos of Livvy. Below is her 3 month video.

Until next time!
-AKL