Pumpkins, Leaves, and Bats...our weekend.

I never knew how much I loved your daddy, until I saw how much he loved you...

We had one day home with Daddy. The other Stella and I took a trip to the mall. Forgot how much I hate shopping in a mall...

Our weekend....
Saturday was a Momma and daughter day since big papa was working. We took a trip to the mall to exchange a teeny tiny pair of converse sneakers for a different size that she got for her birthday. Of course they didn't have her size-love her chubby feet- so we must wait for them to come in the mail.  Anyway, little miss had to shop in style...love the gold and white combination.

wild at heart... ;)

We finally got to head to the pumpkin patch! It really was the perfect Fall day for picking out a pumpkin..or 5! Stella loved the pumpkins and wanted to touch each one that she laid eyes on. if only we could take them all home. Pumpkins, homemade powdered donuts, mums, cornstalks and a bail of hay...if that doesn't scream Fall! 

After we got home and unloaded the truck, we finally got the front porch decorated! I can check that off of the Fall bucket list. As we were decorating the front porch, Rick spotted something- something hanging upside down, sleeping and black....yep! A damn bat! Talk about appropriate timing... we are decorating for Fall and Halloween and there is a damn bat hanging upside down on the front porch! 

No Fall day is complete without a little frolicking in the leaves..or eating them. This girl makes my heart skip a beat. I just love all of her goofy faces...

Cheers to it officially being Fall! with a Stella Cidre in hand.

Stella's First Birthday Party

Days and weeks of preparation, and it's over. Just like that. Days of making and putting up decorations, to all be taken down in a few hours. It was worth every minute. Her party was a mix of purchased things and DIY things that I made. I didn't want a theme to her party just yet. As selfish as it may sound, I wanted to create this party more for myself this year. As she gets older I will have less and less say as far as decor and theme go. So after searching color schemes, I chose her colors to be a pastel combination of mint green, baby pink, and gold with a splash of lavender. I loved it. I also wanted our guests to see quite the collection of pictures of our little miss throughout her first year of life. and that they did. 

I made two shutterfly photo books and put them out on the main table to our guests to flip through. The first one was a collection of Stella's 0-6 month photographs, and the second was 7 months to present. In each book I wrote her a letter from Rick and I, hoping she enjoys flipping through them and reading our letter when she gets older.  good keepsake for her to always have. 

These are the favors that I also made. I ordered the mini scalloped popcorn boxes from oriental trading and filled them with a flavored popcorn that I made. It was called pink trash popcorn. Recipe here. I also made the tags. I bought them pink, but with a little Elmers glue and gold glitter, I bedazzled them a bit, wrote the thank you with a gold Sharpie and used twine to close up the bags. 

This is our table right near our entry way. I popped one of Stella's invitations in a frame with a sheet of mint green scrap book paper and cut a gold 1 out of gold scrap book paper and glued it on a wooden chop stick. I also placed pink carnations in mini mason jars all around. They added a nice touch. 

This was a collage I put together of all Stella pictures. They are all cell phone pictures that I printed out on mpix.com. The tassel garland I ordered off of a mini shop on etsy called Project Paper and I absolutely loved it. I actually hung it in the playroom after cleaning up after the party. You can't really tell from the pictures, put a dipped all of the mini clothes pins in gold glitter also. Consider them bedazzled. :)

more Stella pictures...

Her cake was ridiculously beautiful and delicious. It came from Sweet Cakes by Lissette. The top layer was carrot cake with caramel filling and the bottom layer was chocolate and vanilla cake with bavarian cream filling.  I made Stella's smash cake. It was indeed sugar free...except for the natural sugars in the bananas, apple sauce etc... I also made her smash cake topper using scrap book paper, paper straws and twine.

Her hat was made by me :) It was also gold and mint green scrap book paper, with pink pom poms glued on the top and around the bottom. Stella's height chair was decorated with some baby pink tulle bought from SwankNotion on etsy, and the banner that said one that I made with some more scrap book paper :)

Her outfit was ordered off of BelleNwhistle from etsy. It was a long sleeve onsie, a tutu, and the headband was also included. It fit her perfectly and the colors were perfect. 

I used Stella's nap times productively :). I graffiti'ed the chalkboard wall downstairs in the pub! All about Stella at 1 years old....I had a blast doing it!

I am sure there are things I am missing and forgot to mention but all in all Stella's party was a success and I was happy how everything turned out. 

Now onto my next DIY...Stella's costume?! This could be a success or a bust! We shall see...

Crossing off the Fall Bucket List

It is officially October and the Halloween decor is coming out. I figured once Stella's birthday decor was down and put away, it would be a perfect time for holiday decorations. We have already began working on the Fall bucket list since it is a long one. This season deserves a long one :) We started off by taking a family trip to the apple orchard for some apple picking. We picked all Macoun apples. They are crisp, sweet and tart all at the same time. Makes for perfect baking and snacking right out of the fridge.

It didn't take us long to get the apple baking on the go....first came apple pie, then came apple crisp, and my favorite? Baked apple oatmeal....perfect breakfast for a fall morning. Stella and I have been on the baked oatmeal train lately. We were off the morning walks for a bit of time, but are back outside walking in the mornings after breakfast. thank goodness, that breath of fresh air does wonders some days. We can also cross off celebrating Stella's first birthday because we did just that. A whole post on her birthday is soon to come. rick and I are still trying to believe that a year has gone by since Stella fit in the palm of our hand. We can also cross off fall scented candles, apple pumpkin is burning away in the kitchen, football Sundays, and fall barretts are being worn all the time. On another fall note, Bath and Body works did it right this year. Stocked up on these...

Last but not least....you can put any fall treat in front of me and I will choose the pumpkin chocolate chip cookie without any hesitation...Stella and I had a great time whipping these up...

Had to post this picture. Stella is all smiles  and dance moves when Momma and her jam out with the cool breeze blowing through our hair in the truck...this girl has got the moves, even in her car seat. 

Thankful for these two each and every day...