Logan’s Turns One!!

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My little Lo Lo turned ONE this week! I literally cannot believe it!! The first year is seriously the craziest, constantly-changing 12 months that you barely even remember. I tried to take pictures, but I think it’s also safe to say Logan has way less baby pictures than her big sister.

Still scarred from Riley’s first birthday five years ago (she literally cried the ENTIRE time and I invited wayyyyy more people than my little house could hold), I opted for a smaller get-together for Logan’s first. She doesn’t seem to have the same social anxiety that Riley had when she was younger, but you just never know. I didn’t want put work into a party and get all excited about it and then have the birthday girl be miserable. Well, she certainly exceeded my expectations!!

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We had a Unicorn theme, because, well, unicorns are the deal. They are awesome and girly and you can literally get unicorn stuff EVERYWHERE!

Logan took an AWESOME nap and woke up about a half hour before people arrived. She didn’t cry ONCE throughout the whole party. She showed off all her tricks (clapping, walking, babbling) and let everyone make a fuss over her without getting embarrassed or shy. And we all sang “Happy Birthday” to a happy, smiley baby girl…who then ate every bit of her first cupcake!!

Unicorn First Birthday

She was a rockstar. And her big sister was a fantastic co-host! Riley loves people, as long as she’s not the center-of-attention. Having Logan has seriously been such a game-changer for her. She really hates when people make a fuss over her, but she loves fussing over her little baby sister.

Speaking of fuss, I really tried to make this party as fuss-free as possible. I wanted to be all set up and out of the kitchen to be able to enjoy the party, and all of my party prep paid off! I made a bunch of meatballs the day before and put them in the crockpot. I made a huge pan of baked ziti the morning of the party and that was ready-to-go when people started arriving. My mom made a big salad, and we just had lemonade (pink lemonade, of course) and ice water for drinks. I also made my famous beer bread and spinach dip- which people die for, and we had chips and guac for appetizer munchies.

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For desserts, I made cupcakes for the kiddos, my mom made brownies, and I made a homemade apple pie for my husband and mother-in-law, whose birthdays we were also celebrating.

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Choosing a menu that I don’t have to be in the kitchen for during the party is key.  It took a lot of work beforehand, but being able to enjoy our guests and relax with everyone makes it all worth it. Everyone else is able to relax as well when the hostess is relaxed. It makes a huge difference in the feel of the party.

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I think the theme of her decorations (other than Unicorns) was garland and banners. They were hanging everywhere. I opted for paper decorations instead of balloons like I used for Riley’s last birthday. It’s a lot of prep to have parties at your home, but I love how pretty and clean the house looks when we do. When everyone leaves, we have yummy leftovers and a clean house to enjoy, at least until the next day when the girls make a mess again!

A Peek at My Holiday Decor

Holiday Decor

Is there anyone out there that doesn’t love this time of year? Honestly. There’s just something so magical about December. The smell of eminent snow in the air, the warm glow of lights that adorn the homes you normally would pass by without noticing, and the excitement of holiday preparations that we so carefully plan for months in advance.

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The Day Logan was Born

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Baby #2. My Sweet Logan Olivia.

She’s finally here. What a blessing this baby is! It’s amazing how loved a brand new child can be when they haven’t done a single thing for any of us yet.  They can’t say “I love you,” or “Thank you,” or even offer a smile to let us know they like us.  But something happens when they are born, that their parents and all who meet them simply fall in love with them.

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Logan’s Nursery Reveal

Logan's nursery

Finally!! The time has come for our sweet baby’s nursery reveal.  Man, this room took some time. Kid spaces are one of my favorite spaces to design and as soon as Dave and I got pregnant, the excitement started for what this new nursery was going to look like. For the first 20 weeks when I swore I was having a boy, my ideas were obviously headed in a completely different direction than where they needed to be. It took me awhile to get my head around planning another girl nursery, and this pregnancy made me super indecisive.  I finally got brave enough to start with a solid design plan in July and finished this room literally the day before Logan was born.  While there are still one or two things I may add down the road, this room is definitely one of my favorite spaces ever, and other than Riley’s room, it’s my favorite space in the house.

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