I don't keep track of how much I blog about one child or the other.  Not really.  I just tend to write about what is going on in our lives.  That means, whoever does the funniest, cutest, most insane thing gets talked about on here.  But sometimes I feel like that leaves little Ava out of the fun.  Since she isn't talking and getting into trouble she doesn't make it on to the blog as often as the others.

So today is all about her.  She is so stinking cute and has such a sweet and cute personality.  She definitely brightens my day.  I thought you out there in blog land might need a little day brightening too.  So here is some cuteness for your Wednesday.

Getting a ride from her main man

Ride 'em cowgirl.  She loves the rocking horse!

Already a star and so "popular" she is recognized at the grocery store means she has to wear her "shades."

Hope she added a little cuteness to your day.  Happy hump day everyone!

Her First Date

Ella has now been on her first, official date....with her Daddy.

The dance studio where Ella takes her ballet classes had a Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance the weekend before Valentine's Day.  Ella was so excited about it and begged to go after Ms. Sandy told her about it in dance class.  It was a fundraiser for the studio to raise money for a new floor.  The girls were to dress up in their fancy dresses and bring their daddies (or granddaddies, or uncles, or some male companion other than a boyfriend) for some dancing fun.  Mother's with sons taking dance classes were allowed, but the rest of us moms were asked politely to stay away and let the daughters and their daddies have a special day.

I wanted Ella to really enjoy her date with daddy and feel extra special so I order her a small corsage and a boutonniere for daddy.  She got to wear one of her new "fancy" dresses, her silver cross necklace, her charm bracelet, and even a little make-up.  Don't worry, nothing major, just a little powder and lip gloss.  She did ask the next day when we were getting ready for church if she could wear make-up again.  I told her no that was only for very special occasions and that she didn't need make-up she was already pretty.

Here they are, all dressed up and on their way for their very first date.

An I love you kiss

They had so much fun.  Ella couldn't stop talking about going to the dance with her daddy.  Such a special time for Daddy and daughter.  

Got King Cake

Happy Mardi Gras everyone.

Hope you are enjoying some King Cake today.

Tonight is a Gumbo Cook-off at church in honor of Shrove Tuesday and what is a Mardi Gras celebration without King Cake.  Two friends and I made these delicious looking and tasting (we might have had a tiny taste test just to be sure they were ok) cakes for the party tonight.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Birthday Bash!

Last weekend was little Ava's first birthday bash.  I went all out and had a blast putting it all together.

The theme was owls.  I have never had a theme for a first birthday before and when I started working on this party I didn't have a theme in mind.  As it tends to happen, I found these adorable owl invitations on vistaprint and the theme just grew from there.

My favorite thing about the invitation, other than the absolutely precious little girl in the picture, is that Ava is wearing her owl shoes on an owl invitation.  

Apparently owls are all the rage at the moment so finding owl "stuff" was a breeze.  I actually didn't buy too much, but got inspirations from what I found out there to make my own decorations.

I got my color scheme from the invitation as well as the owl theme and made a personalized "Happy Birthday Ava" pennant banner.  I love how it turned out and thought it was so much fun.  I'm going to be making many more of these.  One for each of the "big kids" definitely, but also some for various holidays like Easter, Christmas, Valentines Day (although given Valentine's Day is this week it will be a next Valentine's Day project).

Here is the banner in process.

And here they are finished.  I did two separate banners.  One that said Happy Birthday and that said Ava.  We hung them in the two doorways into the dining room.

You can't tell from these photos, but in keeping with our owl theme I sewed little silver owl beads on the tip of each pennant.

I also made tissue paper "puffs" in our party colors to hang from the ceiling.   I loved these too.  I will definitely be making them for future parties.

This is a close up of the puffs that hung over the dining table.

And here is the cake table...pre-cake.  I have since moved these puffs to decorate the corner over the glider in Ava's nursery.  They were too cute to just throw away.

Table decorations.

And a close up of the vase

I took the vase pictures after the party was over (I didn't have time before) and things were cleaned up.  For the actual party I filled the bottom of the vases with white navy beans, added water, and then added a few drops of blue food coloring so the water and the beans turned teal.  Inexpensive and easy.  I like that combination.

The owl pinata.  We didn't fill it with candy and have a free for all.  She's only one after all.  We'll leave the pinata smashing for a future birthday.  Our hoot owl guarded the basket of party favors. 

The party favors were another thing I didn't get a chance to grab a photo of before the party and there weren't any left overs.  I'm a fan of party favors that are edible or can be used up, like bubbles,  rather than little plastic  toys and stuff that just seem to clutter up my house.  So...for Ava's favors I made a huge batch of chex mix, bagged it up and added an adorable owl tag that I found on pinterest here and customized to say "Thanks for coming to my party.  It was a HOOT!"

And here is the cake.  

And the smash cake all for Ava

No I did not make these myself.  I wish.  Actually the wife of one of husband's law partners does cakes as a hobby and after seeing pictures of some of the cakes she has done I asked her if she would be willing to do Ava's birthday cake.  I think they came out really cute and were really delicious.  Thanks Kristin.  The cakes were awesome and you rock!  

Unfortunately Ava had come down with a little stomach bug on Friday before her party and she definitely wasn't feeling 100% on her big day.  Because she wasn't feeling well she hadn't been eating much and I wasn't sure how she would do with the party and the cake.  Baby girl is a trooper and was actually pretty perky for the party, considering she was under the weather, and she did enjoy a few bites of cake.

Here is her first taste.  

She was a little unsure, but she soon got into it and enjoyed a few bites of cake before heading back upstairs for another nap.

Here is a shot of her a few days later after she was over her tummy bug enjoying some leftover cake.  You can tell she is really enjoying it.  Nothing says yummy like wearing bits of chocolate cake all over your face.

This past year with Ava has been so much fun.  She brings such love and joy to our family.  I am so blessed to be her mommy.

Happy Birthday again little one.  I love you.

So Ava's first birthday and birthday bash are in the books.  Now it's on to planning the "big kids" birthday bash....if they can ever agree on a theme.