And Now It's Time For a Fashion Shoot

Let's be honest -  one of the best things about having a little girl, over a little boy is undeniably the cute, cute, cute clothes! There are endless adorable options for girly baby clothes and in our case, swimsuits  For Shelby's birthday she received seven bathing suites - yes, seven! My sister was in town (who is mom to a boy) and she insisted on a baby fashion show. She was hoping to get Shelby in all the new outfits, but I knew that wasn't going to happen....we made it through three. She doesn't love getting dressed that much to begin with, so doing it  seven times in a row wasn't going to be an option :) She was very interested in picking the grass, but I loved it - I think it really captured her age and stage of curiosity and innocence.

Here's a look at some of sweet Shelby's pool and beach fashions for the summer.

These are actually some of my favorite photos - the full "behind the scenes" look. Hee hee.

Wardrobe: Andrea Appleton, Sister
Stage Hand: Nance Mosbacher, Mom
Photographer: Janis Arnell, Aunt
Journalist: Michelle Schenk
Model: My Little Miss

You Are My Sunshine

I know it'll be the weekend before I can actually get up my post, so here's a peek. What a wonderful, wonderful day. We love our little Sunshine. Happy 1st Birthday Shelby! More to come!

Discovery Children's Museum

Some of my family came to town to be here for Shelby's first birthday - it was wonderful. My sister, nephew, mom and aunt all piled in a car and drove nearly 600 miles to join us for Shelby's big day. Wylie is an active 6 year old boy so we decided it would be best to do something fun and out of the house on Sunday. We all decided to go to the newly opened Children's Museum, or as Wylie kept calling it "The Kidseum."

Both Wylie and Shelby had a great time. To my surprise there were exhibits even tailored to Shelby's age group.

Andrea, Janis and Wylie learning about how the brain works:

Jack even got in on the learning:

We made our last stop the "Water World" exhibit. We knew it would be a hit for Shelby and Wylie and we knew we'd leave with both of them a total mess....we were right on both accounts. This was no doubt the star attraction for our family.

You're Ugly

Yup. "You're Ugly," is likely what someone would have said to our yard if they passed by a week or two ago. It was awful. Two dead trees, dead plants, overgrown. It needed some TLC. We have such a tiny yard by many measures, I can't imagine what it would be like to maintain an real yard!

Getting the yard ready was one of our 10,000 pre-party to-do's! And on that note - I am sure you're more interested in the party itself than our yard, but I am getting there! This has been one hectic week to say the least. Plus, I want to make the post a memorable one:) I digress...

This was our pitiful yard pre-work. My pal Steve who maintains the Ethel M Cactus garden came and fixed everything up for us. He did a great job for a reasonable price.

Before:

Two tree removals, two tree plantings, two outdoor pots, a trimming and five plants later - this is what we're now looking it at. It turns out it was just in time - yesterday we received a "nasty gram" from the HOA about our dead tress out front. Thank goodness, we already had things resolved!

Of course, Jack already has another project waiting in the wings....staining our cement out front.

Back Splashin'

Remember when I posted about us looking at back splash tile for our kitchen back in July? Back when I started a fire on my stove when the tile sample took a nose dive into a boiling baby bottle?

Well, I am happy to report the back has been splashed! In fact, it has been done since Easter weekend - I am just a little behind on some of these posts. I think it looks amazing and as always, Jack is very attentive to detail so it looks like a professional job. In addition to the tile, he also put in under cabinet lighting....pretty snazzy!

And for those who don't recall what our kitchen looked like when we first bought the house, here is a reminder. Pay no attention to the activities unfolding....this was very pre-Shelby!

Yes! I am One!!

So many more photos from the weekend to share, but this is her official, I'm ONE photo. I could not ask for a better grin!

The Red Plate

Growing up I wouldn't say that we had a ton of traditions. We had a few and those that we did have mean a great deal to me. One of those traditions is The Red Plate.I don't recall exactly when The Red Plate became a part of our family dinner rituals, but I can certainly remember many occasions when myself, siblings or parents were awarded The Red Plate.

How do you get The Red Plate? Anyone could earn The Red Plate if they did something special.  It could be bestowed for something as obvious as a birthday, or as simple as being "the hero of the day," (one of my mom's favorite phrases) and reminding my mom to turn the tea kettle off before leaving the house. Good leadership, grades, awards, farewells and even milestones were all reasons for The Red Plate as well.  And it wasn't limited to our family, I remember on several occasions our family and friends getting The Red Plate at dinner too. The ritual was simple.  Once everyone was seated at the dinner table, my mom would typically stand and give a quick speech about why person X  was receiving The Red Plate. Then he/she proceeded to eat dinner from The Red Plate, rather than the normal dishes. It was fun and a memory and I treasure it.

Well, this week Jack got our family our very own Red Plate! I mentioned this was something I always wanted to do with my own family, so he scoured the web and now we have our own. He thought that with Shelby's birthday around the corner, it was the perfect time to start making those memories.

I cannot wait for all the toasts and special speeches for life's great adventures and triumphs that will be honored by our special Red Plate: