Sunday, September 27, 2015

Much Ado About Monday {No. 127}

Hello, lovelies!

We hope you guys had a fabulous week! Over the weekend, we celebrated our two September birthday girls with a joint fairy birthday party. I transformed the house into an enchanted forest and the guests were all running around with fairy wings on, even some of the boys! {Side note: as a result, my house is now coated with a very fine layer of glitter. I like to think of it as fairy dust. Fairy dust I must get rid of immediately.} We combined the girls' gift and got them a little playhouse for the backyard. My hubby built a little platform for it and we laid down peel-and-stick tile on the inside {easy to clean, no splinters} and extended it towards the front to create a little porch. The girls love their "fairy house" and have spent hours in it with our new little puppy, Louie. Such a great weekend!



Earlier this week, I shared the details from the hot air balloon baby shower I hosted for my sister at the beginning of the year {yep, just now getting around to blogging about it}. Such fun details, like really big balloons and a gorgeous color palette of pink, gold, and mint, made this one of my favorite parties to date. 



And now on to the features! Our picks this week are:




Lydia's pick: Caramel Apple Bombs via Saving You Dinero
Jill's pick: Fool Proof Apple Tarte via Lou Lou Girls
Jamie's pick: Autumn Scarecrow via Muchmore Creative

Obviously, we are ready for fall and yummy apple desserts!


The most viewed link this past week was How to Create Your Own Media Kit submitted by The Krafty Owl.  Such great information and so nicely outlined too!



Create your own Media Kit.
 


Congratulations to all of our featured bloggers!! Make sure to grab our 'I Was Featured' button to display proudly on your blog.




 Now let's get ready to party!

The Rules:

*We love our followers, and always follow back. Please follow us on GFC as well as BlogLovin:

Follow on Bloglovin




*You can also find us at these favorite social media sites: FacebookTwitterPinterestInstagram, and Google+
* Please link back to us in your post. Whether it be through a text link or by posting our super cute button somewhere in your post. We appreciate it!
* If you do NOT link back to us in your post, you will NOT be Featured on Much Ado About Monday. So, link back! You'll thank us later. :)

*Features posts will be pinned on Pinterest and promoted on Facebook and Google+
* Feel free to link up decorating tips, DIY projects, recipes, organizational ideas, sewing and crochet creations or anything else crafty or that you find inspirational.
* Please do not link up giveaways, Etsy shops, or projects that were not made by you.
* You may link up to three posts a week!
* If your post has been featured, please do not link it up again.
* Remember to visit, visit, visit! That's the point of a party, right? Have fun!

Thanks for stopping by to party with us!! 



Thursday, September 24, 2015

Hot Air Balloon Baby Shower

Up, up, and away!

When my littlest sister found out she was expecting her first baby, my other sister and I immediately started planning her shower. As in, we created a secret Pinterest board, began texting ideas, and discussing the best weekend to have the party before the announcement phone call was even over. We have all thrown each others bridal and baby showers and we love being able to go a bit overboard to celebrate the big  moments in our sisters' lives. 


For our baby sister, we settled on a hot air balloon/vintage travel theme for the shower, as she was decorating with that theme in her nursery. We found these gorgeous invites on Etsy and used the beautiful vintage colors as a jumping off point for the rest of the shower planning. 



On the day of the shower, this cute wreath greeted our guests as they arrived {bonus: we gifted this to my sister when the shower was over and she still has it on her front door}. It was a very simple, last minute project with materials that I happened to have on hand, but it turned out great.


Once inside, we had a little welcome table set up with my favorite part of the whole shower: an actual hot air balloon! It was such a fun surprise and our guest of honor was so excited about this decor.


The hot air balloon basket was where we had guests place their advice cards full of uplifting advice {I can never pass up a good pun}.




The diaper cake was also on the welcome table and I think it turned out so beautiful. We used pre-ruffled pink ribbon and thin gold glitter ribbon that we picked up from our local hobby store. I love the mix of pink and gold. And thank goodness for my Silhouette, which I used to cut out the adorable balloon topper.



From  the welcome table, we had the guests move into the front room where we had the food and drinks set up.



We offered water, tea, and a sparkling raspberry lemonade.



For our guests who were so inclined, the sparkling raspberry lemonade mixed with lemonade vodka made an exceptional mid-afternoon cocktail.


Our food table had another hot air balloon, the cake, and all the yummy food.


We put croissants in the balloon basket


which was used to make chicken salad sandwiches.


We also had these amazing cucumber sandwiches {the same ones we served at my other sister's Kentucky Derby inspired baby shower}.

 We had a simple fruit salad...


...mini blueberry muffins {which was one of my sister's pregnancy cravings} along with mini strawberry danishes.


To satisfy those with a sweet tooth {like me}, we had small eclairs...


...and tasty meringue cookies.




We also had shrimp cocktail {another pregnancy craving}...


...and savory bruschetta bites.




We made a two-tiered strawberry cake {my sisters's favorite flavor} and iced it with a pale sky blue icing. Using the Silhouette, we cut small cloud shapes out of white sugar sheets purchased from our local hobby store and stuck them onto the blue icing. 


Then we cut out a mama balloon, papa balloon, and a baby girl balloon and used those for our cake topper.


To continue our travel theme, we had an old steamer truck in the corner of the room, with a lighted globe on top of it.


 We made a bunch of three dimensional paper hot air balloons and had them hanging from the chandelier over the dining room table, where we had a pitcher of fresh flowers. 


We also strung up a garland of the paper hot air balloons from the mantel, behind the mama-to-be as she opened gifts and played our shower game of His or Hers. The game was a lot of fun. We had a list of baby's attributes {like eye color, humor, intelligence} and had the guests guess if the mom-to-be wanted baby to get mom's or dad's genes for that characteristic. After writing down their guesses, we went around the room and had the guests hold up either a mustache or red lips to indicate what they thought my sister would want for that particular trait. Points were earned for correct guesses and the winner received a cute mug with a coffee shop gift card.


After a fantastic afternoon, the guests headed out and grabbed their hot air balloon cookie favor out of an antique suitcase.


We loved hosting this fun and adorable hot air balloon party for our baby sister and were so happy to be able shower her with love in preparation for the arrival of her baby girl.





Sunday, September 20, 2015

Much Ado About Monday {No. 126}


Welcome to another fantastic party, y'all!

Thanks for joining us for another week of Much Ado About Monday! We are so happy to have you here!

This week, our family welcomed a new addition. A sweet, little male French Bulldog puppy!! I had been wanting a new puppy for the past few months, but my husband decided to surprise me this weekend by bringing this little guy home. I am totally smitten with our adorable new puppy and the  kids cannot stop fawning over him. We still haven't settled on a name for him yet {Louis, Remy, Tate, Booker..?!?} but already love him to pieces. 


Speaking of new additions, Jamie introduced us to the newest little Huckleberry kiddo, her cute little son, Brooks. He is beyond sweet and is going to be spoiled rotten by his three older sisters. 


 
Our features this week are:


Lydia's pick: Pool Noodle Jack-O-Lantern via Crafty Journal
Jamie's pick: Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes via Parent Pretty
Jill's pick: Fall Door Hanger Tutorial via Tulips & Orchids
 
And our most viewed link this past week was No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies by The Rebel Chick.  Chocolate, peanut butter, AND no hot oven to turn on? Delicious and perfect for the end of summer. 

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies 



Congratulations to all of our featured bloggers!! Make sure to grab our 'I Was Featured' button to display proudly on your blog.




 Now let's get ready to party!

The Rules:

*We love our followers, and always follow back. Please follow us on GFC as well as BlogLovin:

Follow on Bloglovin




*You can also find us at these favorite social media sites: FacebookTwitterPinterestInstagram, and Google+
* Please link back to us in your post. Whether it be through a text link or by posting our super cute button somewhere in your post. We appreciate it!
* If you do NOT link back to us in your post, you will NOT be Featured on Much Ado About Monday. So, link back! You'll thank us later. :)

*Features posts will be pinned on Pinterest and promoted on Facebook and Google+
* Feel free to link up decorating tips, DIY projects, recipes, organizational ideas, sewing and crochet creations or anything else crafty or that you find inspirational.
* Please do not link up giveaways, Etsy shops, or projects that were not made by you.
* You may link up to three posts a week!
* If your post has been featured, please do not link it up again.
* Remember to visit, visit, visit! That's the point of a party, right? Have fun!

Thanks for stopping by to party with us!! 



Wednesday, September 16, 2015

My Three Girls Are So Excited to Introduce Their New Baby......

As we mentioned in our most recent MAAM, we went on a bit of a break this Summer to spend time with family and just keep up with all of the business of kids being out of school. Part of the reason I was so busy was because we welcomed a new baby at the end of May. We never find out the gender of our babies before they're born and this time was no exception, but after having 3 girls we naturally just assumed we'd be having another..... but.....

It's A Boy!!!!!


Brooks Douglas
9lbs 7oz ~ 21.25"

The moment that he was born and Dwayne announced to me that we had a little boy was so surreal. I remember that I just broke down and cried. I was in such a state of shock and so incredibly happy that I couldn't contain my emotions. I know I also asked the nurses and Dwayne several times if 'they were sure'... They even made a point to show me 'the goods' so to speak to reassure me that they hadn't just been mistaken. Ha!

I absolutely adore my three girls but never even realized how much I wanted a boy until I had one. My heart is so full now and can very honestly say that my family is complete.


Brooks is the perfect fourth child. So relaxed and chill. He rarely cries, sleeps like a dream and is a wonderful cuddler. 


Now that he is 3 months old his personality is really shining through and I love his huge grins and baby belly laughs. This little man has completely stolen our hearts.


His big sisters adore him too and are constantly oohing and aahing over him. Jaydn continues to be the little mom, picking him up if he is starting to get fussy and fetching diapers and blankets all the time. 


Brynn just wants to sit and play with him (now that he giggles; her mission is to make that happen as much as possible). 


And Taylor, who I was concerned may be a little over zealous and rough with him (she was only 14 months when he was born after all) is incredibly gentle and sweet with him. She loves to rub his peach fuzz head and give him kisses. 


This little boy will never lack any attention, that is for sure!!


I'm so happy to finally be sharing this exciting new news with all of you, and now I'm going to go cuddle my boy. ;)

*All photos are copyright of SEEM Photography*