Lady Brady as Fancy Nancy

We have been planning this big 5 birthday party since march (well maybe I have been mentally planning it for two years). We were excited about our Fancy Nancy tea party. We had the invitations completed by mid april, addressed and waiting in Brady's closet to be handed out! Nothing fancier then homemade invites.

Brady wanted to follow Fancy Nancy's tea party book to a 'tea'. We made the place setting just the way we saw in the book. Lollipop place cards, dollies on paper plates, monogrammed flatware, folded napkins in tea cups, bejeweled butterfly place mats, yes we had it all!

Brady prepped by hand washing all the tea cups we collected at the local thrift stores. Thank you Montessori School of Pensacola for teaching my daughter to LOVE to hand wash dishes!

Lollipops turned into flowers to create centerpieces. 

 Grandma helped out tremendously too. She decorated the house and donated homemade mats and accessories.

 We had a friend do the girls' hair and nails to be fancy, so the girls needed a fancy place to get fancy ;)

 Grandma came through with these lovely homemade bags that contained all the accessories. Thanks Grandma!

Then the party day FINALLY arrived!!!! The girls all got their nails painted.

 And their hair done....

And outfitted in accesories

 We had our token boy, and he was a great sport!

Look at this lovely crowd of fancy (and dapper) kids

After everyone was all fancied up, Brady lead the group on a fancy parade. She loved being in charge. She lined everyone in a certain order and then told them to follow her and do whatever action she did (run, jump, skip)

Can you tell the birthday girl was having a blast!

Now time for the tea party (that didn't have any tea at it).

Nothing more fun then sipping pink lemonade out of a teacup. Right?

 Brady choose to receive gifts this year instead of collecting donations. She was very excited about opening the gifts, but honestly I think her friends were more excited about giving the gifts.

Fancy Nancy thinks speaking in French is fancy, so we had parfaits and petit fours for dessert. The kids went through the buffet line to build parfaits with yogurt, pudding, whipped cream, cherries, oreos, fruity pebbles and marshmallows. I think they were a big hit (with the adults too).

Then we put five candles in a petit four...luckily they all fit. 

Brady's other family members got fancy for the party too! Not that she gave us any other option!

The Fancy Nancy party was loads of GIRLY fun! Happy 5th Birthday Beautiful!

Life is great

I just wanted to stop in and let everyone know that life is great here in our neck of the woods. My lack of blogging does not mean that I have lack of things to blog about! We have had milestones reached, first (and second) ballet recitals, flash flooding that created crazy adventures, fancy nancy birthday party, fatherhood celebrated, goodbyes to dear friends, lighthouse climbed, Dewy turning nine, family visits, inches of golden curls chopped off and lots of 'firsts' for all three girls... really life is so grand right now, there isn't time left for me to sit in front of this computer, sorry to leave you out of the loop.

I will let you catch up on the last few weeks events with a sampling of pictures...Sorry I can't give you more but I have life to enjoy!

Karl's first fathers' day with THREE girls to help him realize how awesome he is as a dad

 Reese got Karl the shirt and shorts, and Brady got him the shoes. And no, I didn't pick them out, thye did 100%

 Daniel, my mom and I climbed the Pensacola light house... a reminder of how out of shape I am....177 steps

 Auntie Andi got lots of cuddles from her older two nieces. I believe she would of cuddled more with Elli but wasn't given the opportunity.

 My two ballerinas brought tears to my eyes, as Reese did her first recital and Brady did her second. But Reese wasn't the only one to hit the ballet stage for the first time, Karl joined the girls on stage for a Daddy Daughter dance.

 The day of recital and the next day we received over 20 inches of rain! Most streets were flooded, man hole covers were popped off and water was spewing out. Houses were destroyed. We got stuck on the other side of town and almost didn't make it to recital. But the next day Auntie Andi, washed all the stress away by puddle jumping.

 The girls got their first try at skating... needless to say, it was harder then the pictured it being. Brady said "I am tried of learning, I just want to do it"

Elli says she loves skating, because she gets Grandma time!

 No caption needed for this sweetness!

 After 2.5 weeks, Elli lost her umbilical cord stump. She is a much happier baby during bath time when she is immersed in the water.

 So when you are wondering where my updates are, just know I am busy soaking this up....

Happy 5th Birthday Brady!

So for some reason, this turning five thing is harder for me to grasp then any other year. I have a full blown kid now that is about to start full time school, that is hard for me to believe! I have a kid that can now climb trees! 

I have a kid that loves being a big sister so much she brings 'her baby' for show and tell!

I have a kid that can strike beautiful ballet poses!

I have a kid that loves to coupon!

But then sometimes I am reminded that she is still my baby girl, like when she innocently shrills at an incoming wave.

 Or when she needs a hug because she got scared. 

I love you, Brady! Happy 5th Birthday...My life is 10000000 times better with you in it!

Name that baby: Answers

Thanks to those who entertained me by leaving a comment!

I think Elliot favors Brady heavily. But Reese had such chubby cheeks as a newborn that it is hard for me to see past them ;)

 First up is my Brady BOO!

Second is my Elli Dew

And third is my Reesey Poo

There are some people that think all the girls look like me, but I see Karl in them too.

This picture is a couple months shy of being 31 years old. WHAT A BIG BABY!!!! But yes, Reese does favor me as a baby!

Sorry, this is the only baby picture I have of Karl, I wish I had one of him in the same sleeping pose... But I think is it still fun to compare. 

One more of the newest addition to the O family, Elliot. 

Name that baby

There has been some debate about whether Elli Dew favors Brady or Reese or she is unique in her own right. So I am going to post three pictures of the girls as newborns. See if you can tell which is which. I will give you the answers in a future post.