Little Pumpkin Turns 2!

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat
But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small
When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance...
~Lee Ann Womack

3 days before Grace was bornFresh from Heaven
6 months old 1 Year Old!
18 months old
I'm Two!! Dear Grace,
There are no words to tell you how much I love you, what you mean to me, or the indescribable joy that being your mama brings me. Two years ago at this very moment, you came into this world fresh from heaven and into our loving arms, turning our love into a family. These past two years have been the best of my life and all because of having you in them. Happy 2nd Birthday! Keep God in your heart, reach for the stars, and He will lead the way.

I love you with all my heart little pumpkin! God bless you and keep you safe.
~Mama

Down on the farm...

Although Grace's actual birthday is not until Tuesday, yesterday we celebrated with her long awaited Old McDonald Birthday Party! The weather was just right - in the 70's and windy - just perfect for cooling off red-cheeked kiddos who could only be slowed down for a second to eat a bite of cake and ice cream. Thank you to all of you who came and made Grace's 2nd Birthday so special!!!

Okay, get ready, we've got LOTS of pictures to share (I guess we're camera friendly around here 'cause we ended up with over 300 photos)! We also have a slideshow with more photos so if you'd like to see that shoot me a message with your email and I'll forward it to you.

Little Pumpkin so excited 'cause it's FINALLY the day to go to the farm! Here we are! Who knew farms had such cool playgrounds? Higher, higher! Off to explore with Mimi A friendly face Even Noonie got in on the action Chasing the chickens was Grace's favorite activity! Taking a break from the chickens to pet a baby goat (Baby Hudson must have liked the goat too 'cause he was kicking up a storm in mama's belly during all this). Cousin Jade Madeline Cousin Logan Michelle & Maye Curious Beau hiding among the animals :) Sweet baby deer Baby Preston checking things out Madeline & Amelia having fun It's a PIG, Mama!!! Everyone getting in on the feeding frenzy Llama, Llama Red Pajama (or is it an alpaca? Need to study up on my farm animals!) Thank you Brown's for making the 2-hr trek to come to Grace's party! We loved having you and getting to meet baby Allie in person!!! Hesitantly leaving the petting area for the promise of cake The masterpiece! I'm so excited how the cake turned out!!! Everyone's singing just for me!! Make a wish! A little taste test With hungry kiddos, you gotta move fast! (Thanks, Michelle!) The cake was Y-U-M-M-Y!!! Opening up presents takes concentration! Thank you all for the generous presents!! A special thank you to Carson & Preston for knowing how much Grace wanted to see an elephant at the farm :) I can't believe you adopted an elephant from a sanctuary in Grace's name - that is so, so sweet! She's going to have lots of fun learning about Miss Bets! Sweetest card! Mememaw & Aunt Marilyn checking out all the action Grace's 3 grandpas And we're off for a ride in the Moo Moo Choo Choo Hayden's not sure what to think of it I like the view from up here, Papa A.J.! And after a fun-filled day it's time to pack up and go home! Thank you all for coming to Grace's 2nd Birthday! Thank you God for the beautiful weather and for an amazing 2nd year in Grace's life!

A Giveaway!!!

My friend Angel over at TaDa! Creations is celebrating her one year blogoversary!! Congrats, Angel! Angel is a wonderful mother to three cute kiddos and an amazing boutique clothing designer (our favorite, hands down!) so stop by her blog by clicking here, say hi and while you're there...

Sign up for a great giveaway!
Angel partnered up with Erin of The Vintage Pearl to give away one of her gorgeous hand stamped silver necklaces. You can find more of Erin's designs by visiting her etsy shop here.

So watcha waiting for...hurry on up over there and enter for your chance to win! Good luck!!

Lovin' me some Aunt Grace's repro fabric

I love to look at my little fabric stacks, especially the Aunt Grace repro fabrics - pure eye candy, and not just because I love the name ;) LOL, every so often I actually decide to use them for a project. Shamefully sometimes these projects take a looooooooooooooooong time to come full circle. Last September, yes as in 6 months ago, I picked out some Pop Garden fabric and some Aunt Grace's to make a sweet little knot dress for the little pumpkin. I did all the fabric selecting, cutting, and pressing and my sweet mom did all the sewing, as usual :) The dress ended up being a bit big on Grace (guess who did the measuring? yup, you got it - me!), so it sat in her closet until now. Have I mentioned she's been growing like a weed?

I'm picky about buttons - go figure :) - and I don't have any luck finding good ones locally so I never got around to attaching the little yo-yo to the apron. I finally asked my mom to look in her stash and she came through in a BIG way! Check out how sweet the dress turned out!!! Can't wait to see it on Grace this Spring! A little close up of my favorite detail... ...after debating several buttons, I finally settled on this little vintage blue one, part of a set of five. Best part? AFTER I picked out the button my mom told me that it came from one of my grandma's business jackets from when she was young and worked as a legal secretary!!! Loved it before, but now it's priceless!! Can't wait to tell Grace one day that the little dress she wore when she was 2 was not only sewn with love by her grandma, but actually contained a button from her great-grandma!

AND, check out these cute party favors! They're my favorite!! My always creative friend Michelle came up with these for me and I love them! Too bad I couldn't find the shoestring potatoes to use as "horse hay" in the party bags - that would have been too cute :) They are now safely tucked away along with a few other goodies in little pink bags for Grace's birthday party this weekend. She's so excited about her Old McDonald birthday party - we talk about all the animals she'll see at the farm at least 10,000x a day!