So that's the second post this week with the word "cake" in the title. I clearly have a problem. But have I mentioned we're excited for Easter!? Oklahoma temps are finally warming back up and I hope they stick. You never know around here... On Easter Sunday we have family coming over for a little dessert party. We're not doing the huge traditional Easter dinner on Sunday this year. But I have to say, I'm really excited for an easy, low key get together.
Everyone is bringing some kind of dessert and I've decided to make this carrot cake recipe. I know carrot cake isn't for everyone, but I LOVE it! And this recipe seems pretty fail-proof!
So I decided to add a few touches of spring decor to freshen up our abode. Again, I just love spring colors and having fresh flowers around makes me a happy girl. I plan on adding some fresh tulips before the weekend.
Homemade banner I used for Henry's Easter pics, plastic Easter eggs,
and Forsythia from my mom's backyard. So easy!
My diy chalkboard with my favorite Easter Bible verse, more eggs, and cute little chicks from the Target Dollar Spot.
I just used some cute ribbon and clipped on the pic of Henry's first visit with the Easter Bunny:)
And I think I'll print off this adorable banner to hang by the dessert table. Love these colors!
I have always LOVED Easter! A day to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, first and foremost. I can't wait to teach Henry what Easter really means! Easter also brings out all the fun spring colors and decorations, Easter outfits, and Easter basket goodies! I remember being little and waking up Easter morning to see what the Easter Bunny had left in our baskets. Silly, I know, but a fun tradition we plan to carry on with the little man:) Here's what the Easter Bunny is leaving Henry this year.
1. Easter Bunny Touch and Feel Book- Little Man is obsessed with books, this one is super cute. 2. Where Are Baby's Easter Eggs Book Where is Baby's Belly Button is his favorite, so I'm sure he'll love this! 3. My First Shapes Jumbo Puzzle Love Melissa and Doug Toys. He has another and I can't believe how well he plays with it! 4. My First Markers- I'm excited to hang up some of his artwork:) 5. Bubble Wand, Squishy Baseball, Frog - All cute little things I picked up at Target. He's also obsessed with the plastic Easter eggs I've been letting him play with, so I plan to fill them with little "treats" on Easter Sunday- goldfish, cheerios, etc... He'll love it:) I was so excited to pull out his Easter Basket from his closet a couple of weeks ago. It's from Pottery Barn last year and I still LOVE it. It's the large size so I plan to pick up a toddler version next year when he is able to walk around collecting eggs:)
Sorry for the gross title, let me explain... I hoped for a low key weekend and I got it! It was so great having Shawn home all day to help with the little monkey. He is becoming quite the toddler lately, and his little (or big, actually) personality cracks us up.
After some Mama only shopping time, I came home to my well slept baby. Good naps=Happy Henry:) We blew up the bounce house again and he went to town! He quickly decided the slide was calling his name and did this about ten times in a row:
We just chilled the rest of the day at home and had a yummy dinner and watched Skyfall. Good movie, but I'm sorry, Pierce will always be James Bond to me:) Sunday morning we headed to the mall for Easter bunny pictures. Total Fail. We even tried for another round after we grabbed some food. He was not having it, He cried as soon as we sat him down. But I may try again next week. Best Mom Ever!
Before Easter Bunny. After Eater Bunny.
The highlight of the weekend was this amazing cake.
That's right- my main man has been smoke free for a whole year! This called for cake, obviously. We had some family over and celebrated Shawnie's HUGE accomplishment- we are so proud of him!
Henry is a little rowdy these days. But tries to apologize with a hug. Noah wasn't feeling it.
We finished off the weekend with some much needed Mexican food. Yes, we had cake and then ate Mexican food. Don't judge. It was my cheat day. Henry loved it.
Hope your weekend was great, as well! Happy Monday!
That's what we've been in the McCutchin household. And unfortunately, blogging took a backseat to the rest of life's happenings. When I would finally get some free time to blog, I'd feel like there was so much to document that I'd just get overwhelmed and say forget about it! Sorta like the massive amount of clean laundry that keeps growing instead of being put away. I need a housekeeper!
So one thing at a time. Let's start with this week- Spring Break! Things got pret-ty crazy around here, that's what spring break is all about right? For example, one night I stayed up until midnight watching three episodes of Parenthood, whaaat!? Crazy, I know. Seriously though, probably my favorite show these days. I started by watching this past season as it aired, and now I'm going back and starting from the beginning. Also this week, Henry and his best friend Griffin got their model on for some Easter pics. Pure. Cuteness. I hope to post some next week:) We still need to hook up with the Easter Bunny for their annul photo sesh. Next week, hopefully! Shawn and I filled out our NCAA brackets! My first time, can you believe it?!
Hubs is a huge sports fan and when something is constantly on TV it's hard to ignore it forever, so I must admit, basketball is pretty fun and easy to get into. And I'm currently doing better than Shawn, so that helps:) Today started out with a play date with Henry's bestie and Cousin Noah.
So happy we bought a bounce house for Henry's party instead of renting one. The boys had a blast and good naps usually follow. I just move a couple of chairs around and it fits in the living room- perfect for this gross, cold weather we're having! We also had to take my car in for some repairs, so that was fun!
So, needless to say, I'm looking forward to a little down time! And Sunday we're having a little celebration- so excited for a piece of cake (I recently gave up flour and sugar, so I'm ready for a little treat!)
Loving this cute quote I just found on Pinterest. I love anything Julia Child!
Next week I promise some posts involving Henry's first birthday, his birthday photo session, Easter pics, Easter basket goodies, and who knows what else. Random is my middle name. It feels good to be back, friends. Thanks for sticking with me!
I know, I know..... I've been gone a bit too long around these parts. I'd love (and plan) to get caught up! So much has happened since my little break- Christmas, New Year's, I TURNED 30!!! Geez, life, slow down!!!
February has me buried in party planning for Henry's 1st birthday party! I am having so much fun planning little man's big day, and possibly over-doing it so I don't have to face the reality that my baby will soon be one. "Buy more cupcake liners to hide the tears!", as they say. Okay maybe I say that to myself as I spend countless hours on Etsy.
Any who, I will try to share a few party details. But today, I thought I'd get at least one of these holidays documented. Henry's First Valentine's Day!
I kept it low key, he got a new puppy lovey (stuffed animal) and a new book. He loved on them all day. He also got some new cars last night and hasn't put them down. I love that he's playing with them like a big boy, driving them all over the floor instead of the usual banging them on anything he can:) He had a great day and got lots of extra hugs and kisses, as usual:)
Here is my little cupid baby wishing you all a Happy Heart Day! I sent these beauties out to friends and family because I couldn't get my crap together for Christmas cards. They were a huge hit:) And Shawn just LOVES them- not. I barely got the okay to send them out. But we need these kind of pictures for blackmail someday, right;)
Our little family is so excited that Christmas is right around the corner! We pretty much finished shopping for Henry last weekend. He's at a tricky age- nine month old babies are interested in bigger toys but may not be physically able to play with all of them, but almost bored with their "baby" toys at the same time. So we picked up a few things that will hopefully last him a while. I'm sure he'll love them, we didn't go crazy- he has grandparents for that:)
As he gets older and begins to understand, we will go the four gifts route: "Something you want, Something you need, Something to wear, Something to Read"! I really think this will help to keep the stress and craziness that we can put on ourselves to a minimum. We want to raise children that love Jesus and know why we celebrate Christmas!
Here is a little help if you're shopping for a baby and need some ideas- We bought a few of these and know that a couple others will be coming:)
Shape Sorting Cube
A classic and great for developing those fine motor skills Anywhere Chair
His own chair- I'm sure he'll be climbing all over this in no time! Love that the cover is removable. Elephant Popper
Kids love this thing! Drum/Instrument Set
We may have already opened this and let him play with it. He may love it. His cousins may be getting the same set from Auntie Kate:) Activity Cube
His friend has this and he loved it- played with it for minutes upon minutes:) Storybook Bible
His first bible. Can't wait to snuggle up and read this together! I've skimmed through and it seems to be really well written. Awesome reviews. Jammies
We open one present Christmas Eve- that present always turns out to be new jammies, weird! Wagon
Henry told PaPa he neeeeeded this! Mama can't wait!! Perfect for walks to the pool, park.... anywhere we want to walk:) Puppy
He's already played with this guy too, he makes the sweetest faces trying to figure out the new puppy. Precious. And the sounds aren't too annoying.
Last weekend Shawn and I were discussing where we would put all of Henry's new toys after Christmas time. Spoiled baby. My living room floor looks like a day care. He has a decent sized room with a huge closet but we don't seem to play in there as often as we do in other areas of the house. We have a cozy little house with plenty of room for us right now, but I'd kill for an extra playroom. We have an extra bedroom but I think it would be best to leave it as our office/guestroom for now so it's free for baby #2- hopefully it will be needed sooner than later;) So that leaves our formal dining room! We use it maybe 2x a year so why waste that glorious extra square footage!? The room is right off the entry and has a large arched entry. I'd love to be able to put up some kind of door- to keep the kids (and noise) contained. A couple of doors on a barn door track may do the trick. It would have to be mounted on the inside of the room but I think it could totally work!
And here are some pretty pics of playroom inspiration I've found. I would like to keep it neutral - not too kiddy-light, bright, and relaxing! No primary colored walls or clowns:)
Then of course we'll need some awesome storage, a chalkboard wall, and a tent or teepee with twinkle lights so we can all snuggle with some books and Jude Law, The Holiday style;)
Friday night was a family burger date:) Our town just had a Mooyah open -We had been to one in Arkansas and liked it then, so we had to give ours a visit. Pretty tasty!
Saturday we just stayed home while Henry practiced his crawling! Yep, we finally have a crawler on our hands!!! It's barely a crawl and he still prefers to roll, but it's a start:) It's so precious, gosh I like that boy, have I mentioned that?
Saturday evening, after a few changes to our plans, we ended up going to look at lights. We went to Rhema, a local church with a massive light display. I hadn't been in a few years and was so impressed, they've added so much! Henry loved looking at all the lights and people. I was so mad at myself though- I brought my DSLR and forgot the stinkin' memory card. So all we have are cell phone pics- not ideal for night time christmas light photos. Oh well, just an excuse to go back!
On Sunday we headed to the mall to see Santa! Henry did okay and just stared at him. We didn't get any good shots of him looking at the camera so we bought the sweetest pic of Henry looking at Santa. Totally worth the $20 :)
We then headed for some Mexican food and Christmas present shopping. It felt a little wrong buying Henry's presents while he was in the cart... but we may as well take advantage while we can.
And we may or may not have already opened one of his presents so he could play with it last night. You better belive I'll be wrapping it back up for Christmas morning:)
Happy Friday, party people! We're excited for another weekend!!
I am loving our weekends a little extra these days because there are so many fun Christmas things to do right now! This Saturday Henry (and Shawn!) will be attending their first Christmas parade! I can't wait- I have been planning these fun Holiday activities since before Henry was even born:)
Oh Henry, my little chunkey monkey. He had his 9-month checkup on Tuesday. He's a healthy little thing:) 22.9lbs and 29 inches= 83rd and 75th percentiles!
This little peanut also finally figured out how to pull up in his crib. I'm loving the fact that he's not very mobile yet, so this makes me a little sad:( Time to lower the mattress!
We got our new advent calendar this week (just a few days late). It's huge! It's a little more kid-ish looking than I usually go for, but it's adorable. Next year, when Henry can understand a bit more, I'm going to fill each pocket with all kinds of treats and Christmas time to-do's : Look at lights, read
Luke 2, watch a Christmas movie, etc... I love the idea of a bunch of fun family dates! My Friend Natasha has an awesome list of Advent activities on her blog.
This is so stinkin' cute. Who doesn't love Jimmy Fallon and vintage Mariah Carey's music?
My tree is all decorated, I may do some kind of big bow as a topper because we don't have one, and I can't find any I like. Also, the stockings are up but I still need to decorate the mantle!
I love Christmas decorating, but this is only our third Christmas in this house- I feel like we need some more decorations. I plan on stealing my childhood nativity scene from my mom's house this weekend:)
*Stealing a nativity set sounds so wrong- I promise I have her permission:)
I took myself on a coffee date last night. Henry was fussy all day and Mama needed a break.
Coffee, magazines and some baked goodness did the trick!
I'm embarrassed that I care so much, but I'm SO excited about a new royal baby! Kate Middleton is just so lovely and I can't wait to see her pregnant and hear the baby name!
I'm hoping we make it to see Santa this weekend- I can't wait for Henry's first picture with the big guy. I plan to frame them and put them out each Christmas.
Well that's all for now, it's been a pretty good week. Hoping for a great weekend. We're kicking it off with a family burger date tonight!
One of my favorite things about the Holidays is checking the mail every day for Christmas cards! I love getting new pictures of friends and family, and hanging them around the house.
I've always had a thing for good stationary. And let me tell you, there are some awesome designers and fabulous cards out there! I seriously wish I could order five different sets. So here are some of my favorites if you're needing a little inspiration! It's not too late to get yours ordered- I've finished ours, just need to get them printed:)
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