Lincolnville

We had Lincoln's birthday party on Saturday.

Brian made a sign to welcome our guests to Lincolnville. 

A few decorations inside

I created a banner using all of the monthly pictures I took of Lincoln. I loved looking back at all the different months.

Aunt Midge did a great job on the cake, as usual!

Around the cake she put Dr. Seuss' quote "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one who is alive that is youer than you!"

This was actually an out take, but I love how we are all looking at Lincoln.

Birthday boy

A close up of the cake

Love the colored polka dots inside!

Food table

I just did a few snacks for the party based on some of Dr. Suess' books.

Goldfish and Swedish fish for One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Strawberry/Banana skewers for Cat's Hat

Crescent wrapped hot dogs for Go Dog Go

Peanuts for Horton Hears A Who

Gogurt for Oh the Places You'll Go

Jelly Beans for Truffula Seeds

Fun with props

Lincoln did not smile once while we were singing Happy Birthday.

He was not sure about the cake and wouldn't eat any of it.

He did do a good job of smashing it and throwing it on the floor

Love my boy!

We just had a few family and friends over. I am SO glad my mom was able to make it! The kids all played and swam.

We had a great time celebrating Lincoln, and I still can't believe he is already ONE!

"It's your Day of all Days, it's the Best of the Best!"

Block Baby Shower

My sweet neighbors threw me a shower for Lincoln last week.

 

Gabrielle is amazing!

(She is the one who came over at 3 in the morning when I had to take Brian to the emerency room.)

Gabrielle hosted the shower at her house and thought of everything. She had us play a Cranium type game and for every answer I got a baby product.

Everyone gave Gabrielle their gifts ahead of time. She clothe pinned them to string and had me pull the string to get each gift. It was super cute and fun! Lincoln is going to be one well dressed man.

Most of my neighbors have lived on our street since they built their house in the late 80's. Their kids grew up together and everyone is very close. It is neat that they are including us, and it was nice to get to know some of the ladies better. We are very blessed to not only know our neighbors names but do life with them!

Reveal Party

On New Year's Eve we held a Gender Reveal Party with our families. I kept it simple with just a few decorations and the all important cake.

I made a pink and blue banner out of paint swatches and hung one above the cake and the other over the island.

Sharon made the big "girl" and "boy" banners to hang on the fire place.

We had everyone vote on what they thought Baby Hartzler was going to be.

Since Brian's sister April and her family couldn't be there we taped their guesses on to a family picture.

9 votes for girl and 11 votes for boy

Time to cut the cake!

Lots and lots of BLUE inside!

Mommy's intuition was right:)

So excited for another little boy

Boy, oh boy!

I don't think Jackson could be happier. He keeps telling everyone he is going to have a little brother!

 I am glad we decided to wait and celebrate with our families.

What a fun, fun evening! I don't think I will ever forget this New Year's Eve!

Two Parties

Saturday morning my Aunt's Church/preschool was having a Pancake Pajama Party. Jackson will start going to preschool here most likely in the fall. I think he is ready to be with all kids his age.

While I got ready, he played his favorite game on the i-Pad.

We drove through to pick Mommy up a coffee and then we were off to the Pancake Party. Despite the name, Jackson opted to make a waffle. He topped it with strawberries and whipped cream. He had half of it eaten before I was able to snap a picture. 

After the yummy waffle, they had different centers set up for the kids to play. Jackson enjoyed making his own waffle, building towers, and throwing feathers.

We headed home to change before we went to our second party of the day. Drew, Jackson's friend from Church, turned 3 and had a pirate party. Jackson wasn't that interested in dressing as a pirate at first, but loved jumping with all the kids on the trampoline. Thanks for the fun party Drew!

We were back home by 1:00. Jackson took an excellent nap and I was wiped out as well. It was fun partying the morning away!