28 weeks // bump update

28 weeks // we can not wait to meet you, little man!

How Far Along? 28 weeks. 7 months! (Um, that means there are only TWO MONTHS LEFT! Que the nerves!)

Size of Baby: big. Can we just say that? I work part time at Pier 1 Imports where part of our attire is a blue apron and well, baby boy sure is making me look like a big blue whale. Customers have been commenting non-stop and asking when I am due - to which I respond with the appropriate "March 6th" - and they all reply with some version of: "March!? But you're so big! Are you sure there aren't twins in there?" ...Yes, I am sure there is only one in there. I am sure of my due date and I am well aware that this belly is large and in charge. One lady even said to me this weekend: "You look like an olive on a stick!" -- Um, thanks? Haha. // But in real life (or at least according to the pregnancy apps that I peruse) baby weighs about as much as an eggplant and is around 13 to 14 inches long.  -- No wonder this belly seems so big!

Weight Gain:  just up 1 little pound from last week. Though, that makes 18 total. Geesh.

Maternity Clothes: yes, of course. Anything but is just too tight at this point... and I'm still gonna get much, much bigger. Oy vey. Leggings and maternity tunic sweaters all day, errrryday.

Stretch marks: still no. Though, my sides are stretching out pretty far these days. Give me all the lotion!

Symptoms: still the occasional heartburn. and still the uncomfortable-ness of growing this precious baby boy (with all of his kicks and punches). Oh! I almost totally forgot - pregnancy insomnia is totally a thing. I have such a hard time falling asleep at night and then I wake up at least twice before morning, each time feeling wide awake. Makes it super easy to wake up in the morning and get going, of course.

Cravings:  hmmm, no. But I can eat the most random of things. The other day I had a seafood salad sandwich with chips followed by a bowl of corn flakes and then a pickle and I think some ice cream after that. Gross now that I think about it, haha.

Gender: baby boy!

Mood: tired. exhausted. stuffed (is stuffed a mood?). and so super anxious about getting everything together now that we're down to the last third of this pregnancy!

Nursery: still flip-flopping on what kind of "theme" would fit perfect but that is all well and good because we are still waiting on the attic to be completed enough to move on to the nursery. Home Depot is coming out this week to do the measurements for the attic carpet though and as soon as that is installed, we're ready!

Movement: All day (and all night) long! I can feel him shifting positions in there all of the time, but I think mostly he likes to lay sideways and push his feet and butt out - which is so comfortable, let me tell you! ;)

Sleep: like I said, pregnancy insomnia is no joke. 

What I Miss:  I'm starting to not be able to bend down as easy as before. In fact, my poor legs did not get shaved for the longest time because 1-whoa big belly and 2-our shower is so tiny, it makes bending down almost impossible to do anyways. 

Belly Button in or out?  Out, still. Don't think that's gonna change for a while now.

Wedding rings on or off? On. And snug as a bug.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  no, nothing as of this week, thank goodness.

Best Moment This Week: this hasn't just happened this week, but it sure is one of my favorite daily occurrences: Peyton loves to snuggle and sing to the baby and each and every time that she feels him kick and squirm around in there she looks up at me with the most excited face and adorable grin, that I could literally burst at the seams with happiness. She is going to be such a great big sister to this little guy and I so thankful for them both.

Labor Signs:  no, no.

Looking Forward To: well, I can tell you what Iwasn't  looking forward to: the 28 week glucose tolerance test. Yuck. I went for that on Thursday and although it wasn't as bad as I anticipated, it still wasn't overly fun. However, I am looking forward to visiting my sister in New York this weekend and helping her pack up her things to come home for the holidays! and Christmas is next week... what?! Good grief this year flew by.

xo,
Sara

27 weeks // bump update

How Far Along? 27 weeks! The very last week of my second trimester. Which means we're two thirds of the way there... What?! When did that happen?? 

Size of Baby: a rutabaga. or cucumber. or a head of cauliflower - depending on what app you read. 

Weight Gain: about 17 lbs now. Yikes. To say the Holiday feasting has caught up with me would be a vast understatement.

Maternity Clothes: yes, all day everyday. My "lounge" clothing like old t-shirts and fleece pajama pants are all way too tight. In fact, I'm currently typing this with one of my college tees on, but with it hiked up over my belly since it's too tight. So, thank goodness for maternity clothes for when I actually go out in public. Otherwise, I would look like the hot mess express waddling around.

Stretch marks: no! Thank goodness. I lotion up this belly of mine as often as possible.

Symptoms: Well, not a whole lot to speak of. There was a week or so where I had heartburn after I ate just about anything. Even now, if i drink too much coffee, I get a little bit of that reflux-y feeling. And the belly, it's starting to get biiiig and just a teeny bit {sometimes a lot-a bit} uncomfortable.

Cravings:  Nope. There are the occasional "oh I could really go for some _____." moments. But nothing that is really a consistent "yes, give me all of the _____ all. of. the. time!"

Gender: still our sweet baby BOY as far as I know :)

Mood: tired, all day long. It doesn't help that I've been getting sick lately either. Not like, throwing up sick, but just run down and achey and my allergies/sinuses are driving me up the wall. 

Nursery: Still nothing to speak of. We have an idea of what we would like to do... just no means to do it right now. The attic has to be completed before we can work on baby's room and we are SO CLOSE to finishing!

Movement: Yes! Starting to get some serious kicks to the ribs now that baby boy has less and less room in there to move around. I love every minute of it. Also, feeling some little tiny hiccups now too! So very precious.

Sleep: still sleeping fairly well. Nothing to complain about there. My bumpnest is still my very best snuggle buddy (sorry, Nick!). 

What I Miss:  I still miss having clothes that fit. And a nice chilled glass of wine would have went so well with Thanksgiving dinner, but I am more than happy to forego that indulgence for this sweet little babe.

Belly Button in or out?  Out; alllllll the way out. Belly expansion has made that happen for sure.

Wedding rings on or off? On and getting just a liiiitle tight.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  Not pregnancy wise. Just allergies and sinuses kicking my butt, like I had mentioned. 

Best Moment This Week: researching baby items online with Nick. We spent like 30 minutes reading reviews on an infant bath tub, haha. Also, when Peyton was making a list of the people that she was going to "shop" for at her school's "holiday shop" (remember those from when you were little?) and she asked if she could get the baby something, too. So sweet! I can't wait to see what she picked out.

Labor Signs:  no! Better not be having any of those for quite some time. 

Looking Forward To: making progress on baby's room and hopefully beginning a registry soon!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Since so much has happened since the last update, here are the only two bump pictures from in between now and then:

xoxo,

Sara

20 weeks // bump update

This post is super far behind. {Read: almost 8 weeks behind.} So sorry! It's been completed and just hanging out it in my drafts for the past 2 months and I just never got around to posting it. Likely because I never took a great progress picture for that week. Or for very many weeks since then. Life has just been so darn busy. So, without further adieu, here is my 20 week bump update:

This is the best picture I have from 20 weeks - a bathroom selfie at work that I had sent to my husband.
Just go with it.

How Far Along? 20 weeks! Halfway there already. Man, time flies!

Size of Baby: a banana. At our anatomy scan, the tech mentioned that baby is weighing about 10 ounces (so, right on track!).

Weight Gain: about 6 lbs now... which I thought would have been more considering we went on our honeymoon and all we did was eat and eat and eat and relax on the beach, haha.

Maternity Clothes: yes, but only a few pieces. I am in SERIOUS need of some maternity jeans. The belly band just isn't gonna cut it for much longer. Even my scrub pants for work are getting too tight. Woof.

Stretch marks: none so far, thank goodness. I constantly apply lotion to prevent those babies from showing up.

Symptoms: gas. so much gas.  The kind that builds up and becomes painful. One night on our honeymoon I woke up doubled over in pain and crying because I had so much gas pain. So, I've since purchased some Gas-X but it's really just a constant everyday battle.

Cravings:  No ma'am. I don't know where the consistent I-want-this-food-item-now cravings are at for this pregnancy, but I wish I at least had one to speak of.

Gender: BOY! Baby Eagle is most definitely a "male". We all anticipated that he would be, but it was still so awesome for that to be confirmed for us. 

Mood: tired and happy. Mostly tired now that it gets dark out so super early, though. 

Nursery: Nothing to speak of... yet. At least now that we know what Baby Eagle's gender is, it should make planning the nursery go a little quicker! ...maybe ;)

Movement: yes! yes! yes! Even Nick has felt him movin' around in there. He started kicking me a little bit before the wedding and throughout our honeymoon and the last few weeks, the movement has gotten stronger and stronger. I am absolutely loving it and wish I could feel him having his dance parties all day long.

Sleep: sleep is excellent. I wake up maybe once around 5am when Nick gets up for work, but I normally fall asleep again pretty quickly. Just yesterday we put the heated blanket and flannel sheets on our bed since the temps have been dropping and I couldn't be happier.

What I Miss:  having clothes that fit. Though, I am more than willing to accommodate the growing baby bump.

Belly Button in or out?  Halfway between the two.

Wedding rings on or off? On! Bands and all (finally!).

Anything making you queasy or sick:  no, thank goodness.

Best Moment This Week: feeling baby kick and move. It seriously is the best feeling in the world. 

Labor Signs:  no, no. 

Looking Forward To: date night on Saturday with my love to see Gone Girl. Ever since we got back from our honeymoon, we have been trying to plan a night out to go see it and we've finally managed to make it happen. Also: getting this attic done! I will be so excited to decorate the new space, get our closet situation organized, and then move on to baby's room!

xoxo,
Sara

15 weeks // bump update

How Far Along? 15 weeks.

Size of Baby: a navel orange! about 4 inches long and weighing in at 2.5 ounces.

Weight Gain: about 5 lbs so far, not so bad.

Maternity Clothes: yes! I had some really great Old Navy SuperCash to put to use and bought some adorable shirts for Peyton as well as a few maternity staples for myself (including the tunic and leggings that I am wearing in the above pictures - So comfy!).

Stretch marks: no, thank you. I have started applying lotion to my belly to help prevent those little tiger stripes, though.

Symptoms: hungry. all. the. time. I've taken to having to eat smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. For a 4 hour shift at Pier 1 this weekend, I ended up taking a whole lunch box full of snacks.

Cravings:  Not much to report here. Though, I have been eating a lot of celery and helluva good ranch dip - Yum!

Gender: Still waiting not-so-patiently to find out. We have discussed names for both a girl and a boy and think that we have narrowed it down fairly well... for now ;)

Mood: happy. tired. mostly just my usual self, but still with the shorter fuse.

Nursery: attic renovation progress is still chugging along quite nicely, so we'll see where that puts us.

Movement: yes! but still just little squirms and flutters. Hopefully baby will kick it up a notch here soon. :)

Sleep: sleep is pretty darn good these days (thank you, bumpnest pillow!) Also, since the first-trimester-bloating has really gone down, my bladder can now make it through the night without waking me up to visit the bathroom, which is totally awesome.

What I Miss:  we went to Carrabbas with friends on Saturday night and I reallyyyy would've enjoyed a nice cold glass of white wine with my yummy dinner. But, its all for a great cause and that glass can wait another couple of months. ;)

Belly Button in or out?  Still in. Though, not quite as "in" as it usually is thanks to this expanding belly.

Wedding rings on or off? On! I may or may not have tried on my wedding bands for fun again last night.

Anything making you queasy or sick:  nope!

Best Moment This Week: This morning when I dropped Peyton off at school, she leaned forward to kiss me and hug me like usual but I kept feeling her try to reach for my belly. Finally, when she pulled away, she leaned back down and kissed my belly and said "Bye, Baby!" She is definitely going to be an awesome big sister.

Labor Signs:  no. 

Looking Forward To: the wedding! and the honeymoon! and, of course, finding out if there is a little He or a little She squirming around in this belly of mine.

14 weeks // bump update

How Far Along?: 14 weeks! Officially a second-trimester-momma!

Size of Baby: A lemon. Or, the size of my clenched fist (seems SO big!).

Weight Gain:  5 pounds. Eek!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, please. Seriously, I'm lucky that my clothes for work are scrubs and a little baggy because I can hardly button any of my jeans or comfortably wear anything that isn't sweatpants or leggings.

Stretch marks: no! and I need to invest in some good quality lotion to start rubbing all over this growing bump so none appear.

Symptoms: tired, always. And also "round ligament pain" aka my uterus stretching and growing to accommodate baby - which I'm perfectly fine with! :)

Cravings:  FRUITY PEBBLES. I had my first real, I-need-this-and-I-need-it-now craving for this delicious breakfast cereal and made asked my lovely fiancé to pick some up on his way home from work the other day; and he so kindly obliged! He's the best. As are fruity pebbles.

Gender: Still no idea! Feeling total "boy" vibes, though.

Mood: happy. tired. loved. mushy-gushy lovey-dovey. but SO ANXIOUS - the wedding is less than a month away at this point! Can you even believe it?! I certainly can not.

Nursery: nada. However, there has been recent progress made on the attic we've been slowly trying to renovate and it gives me hope that it will be complete before baby is born. Which would be wonderful because then it will give us an additional room to add to the mix and allow for more space and another option for baby's room!

Movement: I think so! Little flutters/quivering  here and there. I can't wait to feel him or her more and more as time goes by.

Sleep: So much better thanks to my brand new Bumpnest pillow! (Again, thanks to my handsome fiancé.) He got it for me as a late birthday present and my body could not be more thankful. It is like sleeping on a big, fluffy cloud.

What I Miss: There is nothing that I miss on the whole pregnancy front, but I would like to point out that I miss it being light out past 8:30pm. It has officially started getting darker out earlier and, while I enjoy every other aspect of the impending Fall weather, I am not looking forward to it being pitch black outside by 5pm.

Belly Button in or out?: In! Thank goodness.

Wedding rings on or off?: On, of course.

Anything making you queasy or sick: No ma'am! I am happy to report that I have been feeling wonderful.

Best Moment This Week: Peyton came up to me when I got home from work one day, gave me a hug and immediately rubbed my belly and said to the baby "I love you." Talk about a total heart melt.

Labor Signs: Not no way. Not no how.

Looking Forward To: The wedding! and our honeymoon! I can't believe that both are coming up so quickly. Didn't we just get engaged yesterday?

xo,
Sara

((post is delayed, I turned 14 weeks on Sept. 5))

13 weeks // bump update

How Far Along? 13 weeks.

Size of Baby: a peach! A perfect little peach.

Weight Gain:  maybe a few pounds, I haven't checked yet.

Maternity Clothes: i wish! My wonderful momma gave me two belly bands (one white and one tan) as part of my birthday present on Friday and I've already put them to good use. Most of my pants are already too tight to button, so I am all about the upcoming fall wardrobe of sweaters and leggings.

Stretch marks: nope! nothing new since my previous pregnancy anyways.

Symptoms: well, thank goodness the bloating and intense nausea from a few weeks ago has finally subsided! I was super lucky with Peyton and didn't get sick at all (except for one time that I took my prenatal vitamin before eating any breakfast... that didn't go over too well). So, I was really surprised to have to deal with all-day nausea induced by just about any smell you could think of for those first few weeks.

Cravings:  Nothing really...Though, there was one night a while ago that I absolutely had to have nachos, but it was just a one time thing. 

Gender: No idea, obviously. Buuut, it seems that just about everybody is rooting for a boy! Even Peyton. She says that way "he won't steal my clothes, like a girl would" - ha!

Mood: seriously, mood swings are rough. I can definitely tell that my fuse is a lottt shorter now and that just isn't good for anybody, haha.

Nursery: nothing to report here, we're not even sure of what room that will be yet!

Movement: maybe! I'm not 100% sure but I definitely feel like I have some fluttering going on.

Sleep: sleep isn't so bad, other than waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom!

What I Miss:  Friday we went to Hersheypark and it was a little sad not being able to get on the roller coasters; but! I got to enjoy all of the (allowable) kiddie rides with Peyton (while Daddy Nick and Aunt Nenna rode the roller coasters) and that was just the absolute best.

Belly Button in or out?  In, totally.

Wedding rings on or off? On! And not too long from now, I'll be able to add my wedding bands!

Anything making you queasy or sick:  nope! Thank goodness. Though, I have been having some round ligament pain and that is just no fun. 

Best Moment This Week: A nice, long 4 day weekend of not having to work at all! Especially since Friday was my birthday. Peach picking and Hersheypark were definitely the top two highlights.

Labor Signs:  no way, Jose. 

Looking Forward To: finding out if this little babe is a HE or a SHE! That way we can narrow done on our names ;)

xo,
Sara

((post is a little delayed, I turned 13 weeks on Aug. 29))

a little announcement

It is with extreme happiness and excitement that Nick, Peyton, and I would like to announce that...

Peyton is going to be a BIG SISTER!


We are so beyond thrilled, especially Peyton. I can't even tell you how many times a day she asks me "So, Mom, how's the baby?". It is the absolute sweetest thing. I know that she is going to the be the most wonderful big sister to this little one.

I'm currently 12 weeks, turning 13 tomorrow - meaning we are due March 6th.
(Which means two March birthdays for us! Peyton's is the 29th.)
Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with some weekly bump-dates around these parts!

Love,
the soon-to-be-Momma-of-two! (EEK!)

Save the Date!

It's officially official! The Save the Dates have (nearly) all gone out and been received by guests-to-be. I keep getting a select few back because the post office can not read them with how I had them addressed. (Total ridiculousness if you ask me.)

We ordered these magnets (magnets!) from Shutterfly and they could not have been more perfect. 

I can not believe that there are only 128 days left to go.

Seriously, wasn't it 365+ days to go just last week?

In addition to mailing out the Save the Dates, we finalized our contract with our photographer/videographer as well as our officiant - both of whom, we absolutely love and can not wait to work with! My dress is purchased, shipped, arrived, tried on, and awaiting final alterations (to be done closer to the big day), Peyton's flower girl dress is purchased (we bought the one the salon had in stock since it fits her so perfectly), and 2 out of 3 bridesmaid dresses are purchased and ordered and (hopefully) on their way to the bridal salon soon! AND there are tons of ceremony/reception decorations purchased and tucked away (thank you, Momma!).

Next up: design/pick/order wedding invitations!

Wedding planning is exhausting, buuuuuut --
I can't wait to be your "Mrs.", Nicholas.
I love you!

xo,
Sara

Easter, in pictures.

Let's play "catch up", shall we?

I've been a little absent from this space lately. I've been overwhelmed with house projects, raising a five year old, planning a wedding, working full time / 7 days a week, making homemade dinners nearly every evening, and let's be honest - when I finally do get a minute to myself, I want to just sit down on the couch and relax. Or go to sleep.

Which is all very unfortunate because so much has happened in the past (almost) month and a half;

Beginning, with Easter!:

That extra large basket was passed down to me from my Momma. It used to be mine from the time I was a wee lass to when I lived at home and still got a basket every year. Now, it's Peyton's. It was stuffed to the brim with goodies for her to awake to that Sunday. But, what I was most excited about, was the traditional Easter-Morning Egg Hunt for the first time in our new home. 

^^The night before. Rory was feeling the same way I was. Preparing on Holiday Eves for kiddos can be rather (read: extremely) exhausting.^^

^^ But, it's all worth it to witness scenes like this.^^

After our morning of re-hiding eggs and checking out all that the Easter Bunny brought (with only 1 chocolate bunny demolished so far), we headed over to Grammy's house for Easter dinner. While there, Peyton was pleased to find that GiGi and Nenna had a basket for her as well. (Complete with a Frozen towel, hence the creepy Anna eye watching you in the following picture.)

Dinner was delicious, as always. My Aunt made the ham and it was so, so, so tasty. We brought the Green Bean Casserole that has become a Holiday dinner staple over the past year or so; as well as the Carrot Cake Poke Cake that I made for last year's Easter festivities. Both were demolished by the end of the night.

After we all ate our weight in delectable desserts, we decided to take some family pictures - especially since Peyton soon had to go eat yet another dinner with the other side of her family.

^^My Mom & my Aunt Carly.^^

^^Pey & Evan, my cousin.^^

I can't tell you the last time that we took a "cousins picture". So, we were definitely overdue for an updated one + Nick!

^^My people.^^

^^Peyton & her Great-Great Uncle Charlie. He loves her so.^^

I hope that you all had a blessed and happy Easter holiday, too!

Much love.

xo,

Sara

Peyton turns FIVE.

Two Saturdays ago, my little baby girl turned FIVE years old.

Can you believe it? I certainly can't.

How those five years went so quickly, I'll never know.

I'm sure that if you're reading this, you know of Frozen (the incredibly adorable Disney movie that every little {& big!} girl is obsessed with right now?). Well, of course Ms. Peyton is head over heels in love with anything Frozen or Elsa-related. So, naturally, when I asked her what theme she wanted for her birthday party this year, Frozen it was!

We tried to take care of some party prep well in advance, but being the procrastinator that I am, we didn't really get it done until the day before and the morning of her actual party. We did manage to get her invites written up {that my lovely sister designed!} and handed out to her classmates a few weeks before the big day.

My Momma found the Frozen stickers and we cut up un-used Frozen valentine's to "address" the invites, which worked perfectly!

Before I knew it, those weeks had gone by and it was her big day!

We celebrated by meeting Grammy, Nenna, and GiGi at Cracker Barrel for some yummy breakfast.



After we feasted, everyone dispersed and Peyton & I took a trip to the salon to get her nails painted for the first time! She loved it - (what girl doesn't?)

She got this really pretty blue-sparkly color to go along with the whole Frozen theme, of course.

We went home and snuggled while GiGi and Nenna worked on the finishing touches for her surprise new big girl bedroom reveal. {Because planning a birthday party, Nick finishing up a term for school, working on multiple other house projects, and dealing with our daily busy schedules wasn't enough to handle.} We didn't quite get everything accomplished and soon she was off to her birthday party at her dad's house, which left us with the evening to head to Hobby Lobby & Target for a few last minute room items and party supplies.

The next day, she came home and we were able to finally show her what we had been working on the past week:

{There are a few more things left to do, like paint the desk blue, change out the knobs and hang up a few more coat hooks.}

 Which was quickly followed up with a mad rush to get all of the party prep and decor finished. People started arriving and there were still plenty of things left unfinished. In fact, some ideas {i.e: the mini powdered doughnut snowmen and the hot chocolate bar} were completely thrown out the window. Which ended up being just fine, because we had more than enough to do. It was so, so wonderful having Peyton's classmates there for the party. They really were adorable and were always keeping me on my toes. I felt like I hardly got to interact with anyone but them for the whole party, haha. I was so busy that I hardly took any pictures/video, but thankfully my sister knows how much I love documentation and she went ahead and took some for me!

Here are a few pictures of the decorations, food, etc.:

 

We strung cotton balls on fishing line to create "snowfall" in the living room.
Also, these pictures serve as an unintentional sneak peak of what our new colors are in the house! :)

My momma works part time at Walmart and was lucky enough to nab the Frozen cutouts that they used as displays before they took them to the dumpster. They worked out perfectly to help give the party more decor and a more "Frozen"-feeling AND they saved us money because the cutouts that they sell online are like $35 a pop and ain't no body got time money for that. 

 Kristoff's Ice Cubes were kind of an epic fail. I would have much rather just had scoop-able blue jello than to have to have cut them up into squares like we did. It was a hot mess.

More party decorations:

Once all of the kiddos showed up (and I corralled them all into the kitchen), we started making their individual pizzas by using my grandmother's pizza dome. We had used it before for "pizza parties" at my Grammy's so we thought it would be great for the kids to give it a try and then we would have regular Papa John's pizza for the adults...

Well, these are the creations they came up with:

Celery dipped in ranch alongside apple slices, cheese cubes, and green beans? Needless to say, none of them wanted to eat their creations once they were baked.

After our attempt at eating something else for lunch, we decided to start up with the first game on the agenda! My totally amazing sister created this with 2 pieces of white poster board and some sharpies {& some twine & baby clothespins leftover from Peyton's room redo}:

 The kids loved it!

They all took turns as I held the "blindfold" and they all did pretty darn well, if you ask me!They might have helped each other out, just a little ;)

Next up: Olaf lost his nose in a snowstorm!

aka: the kids get really messy as they try to find a baby carrot in a pie plate full of whipped cream without using their hands. My Momma gets the credit for coming up with this one.

^^ This little girl, Irma, stuck her face in the plate and came back out with the carrot stuck right to her nose - how perfect is that!? ^^

The only little  boy from her class who came to the party was Hunter. And ironically enough, he was the only one who participated that didn't want to dive face first into that. So, he asked for a fork. :P I thought it was also cute that, out of all of the little kids there, he was the only one who actually sat down and watched Frozen when we played it towards the end of the party.

After we cleaned up the whipped cream is when we played "Freeze Dance". Which consisted of me playing the Frozen soundtrack as the little ones danced around the living room; until I hit pause and they were supposed to freeze! until I started it up again. Man oh man, did they love that game!

We decided after that, that it was time to open presents because some of the family members were getting a little restless. Peyton got so many cute things including a really awesome Frozen fleece blanket that I may or may not enjoy cuddling with as well.

 ^^ This is the only picture I could get of them all together and there's still one little girl missing. They were all having a serious sugar rush and would just not sit still, but what else do you expect from 6 four and five year olds? ^^

My Great Uncle Charlie (who just loves Peyton to pieces) also gifted her this really adorable jewelery armoire. I can't wait until she's old enough to fill it up with some pretty accessories!

As if the sugar high from the sweet treats and the whipped cream wasn't enough,

we had cake & ice cream next!

My momma had this vision and created this wonderful cake all by herself:

 We used blue raspberry cake mix, but it would have been better if we had just used blue dye and vanilla cake. The Olaf and Elsa came from one of Peyton's toys. The snow/ice covered trees were simply waffle cones covered in icing and sprinkles. Lastly, the stairs were made of those strawberry wafer cookies covered in icing and pushed into the cake. It was a really awesome replica of Elsa's ice castle and turned out much better than any store bought cake would have. 

We ended the party with popping in the movie for the kids to watch, especially since I was just plain exhausted from it all. It was nice to just sit and listen to them all interact. Soon enough, guests started to disperse and we were all happy to just be able to relax and reflect on a crazy hectic, but well enjoyed fifth birthday party for our little lady.

The kids (& adults!) had all signed our chalkboard in the kitchen to wish Peyton a Happy Birthday, kind of like one big giant birthday card & I just love the way it looked when it was all said and done:

The weather for the whole day could have been a heck of a lot better. I mean, it was seriously like a torrential downpour for the first couple hours, but then - THEN the coolest thing happened!

It snowed. A Frozen themed party wouldn't have been complete without it!

Thanks, Elsa! {I mean, Peyton} ;)

Overall, it was a great success and we only had a few minor issues: like Peyton crying because another little girl wanted to play with one of her birthday presents. If that's the biggest issue, I'm alright with that! I would like to extend a HUGE thank you to my momma, Jenna, and Nicholas - because without you guys, this party wouldn't have happened or have been even half as wonderful as it was.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

xo,

Sara