What's up?

Wow this took way too long to post. Sorry. We have been working on a few projects here and there. I feel like there is so much we want to get done before the Birthday party (Sadie's 1st in case you forgot) and not enough hours in our day. I'm waiting for my camera to upload the pics I took for this blog but it seems to be reimporting EVERYTHING on the camera. Like stuff I've already imported is importing again. I hate this computer tech stuff. Waiting... Waiting... Waiting... 769 imports later...

I love this. I'm thinking about tackling it at some point.

I re-arranged the playroom so it went from this (when we came to look at the house for the first time):

To this (all fixed and set up):

To it's new re arranging (we still need the tv stand or even a new wall mounted tv):

I started to get the art/craft room set up. The walls still need to be painted. The ugly mint green is from the previous owners. There are drips of that ugly paint all over the trim too. I'll deal with that when I get there.
Before:

God I can't wait to paint that!
In the process:

I know, it looks like shit right now. Don't worry it will be kind of fabulous when I can get to it!  

The family room before (as stated in the past the 2008 stamp on the pictures is incorrect. It was in 2011/2012):

 Josh getting ready for the floors:

And here it is as of today:

 The great outdoors. Don't judge. This is what we got when we bought it (remember it was a foreclosure). We have a lovely "pond" or "hole" in our back yard from where an above ground pool once stood. My step dad brought fill today so that hole is going to be all filled in. Just have to wait for the grass to grow. Waiting... The ugly shed is going to be demolished and scrapped for cash. Josh plans on building a new one, a nice one, a sturdy one! There are some pics of our deck and porch too:     

That's all the updating for now. I've been trying to make a "to do" list for things that need to get done before the party. Maybe I'll just jot it down here. Let's go room by room. No, let's start outside:
-Put final coat of paint on front door
-Hang house numbers
-Spray paint outdoor fixtures (if they look bad we'll just buy new ones)
-Do as much landscaping as possible (We can't plant anything yet but we can hack down old dead bushes)
-Fill in "hole" (almost there)
-Clean off deck furniture
-Paint deck
-Chop down brush behind and on side of fence

Now on to the indoors:
-Scrape and repaint stairs
-Stick up stair railings
-Clean/organize 2nd floor (this includes art room/guest room and storage area)
-Get TV stand for playroom (or just get the poor kid a new wall mounted TV)
-Paint closet door in main bath
-Touch up all paint including but not limited to trim
-Hang Sadie's mirror above dresser
-Finish and hang all artwork in BRs    
-Hang door on mudroom and paint     
 I'm not even sure if that's everything but it's a good start. We have exactly  21 days. Who wants to baby sit? Write art history papers? Draft detail drawings? Work for Josh? Help us with our list? Anybody? Somebody? Please...          

Party Planning

Sadie's birthday party is April 15th (the Sunday before her actual Birthday). I think I'm more excited about this than I should be. I'm a first time mom so I guess it's cool. I've been planning this sha-bang for awhile now. When she was tiny she used to light up when Abby Cadabby came on Sesame Street. She's kind of gotten over it. She still likes it but it doesn't hold her interest as much. So my original plan was to have an Abby Cadabby party. I thought about this a lot (seriously, way more than a person should) and I decided that since it's her FIRST birthday it should be focused on her turning ONE and not on some silly character. Right?

Off to Pinterest I went to find some inspiration. I fell in love with the "Pink Lemonade" theme of light pinks and yellows (without the lemonade). It's so sweet, simple and sort of vintage looking and kind of theme-less. Perfect. Here are some of my inspiration pics of pink/yellow parties:

Loving this with the little bit of blue and orange too!

See how Sweet this is?! Now for the cake. We're not doing a sheet cake. Sorry sheet cake lovers but no one ever eats them and your left with a whole cake and I'm the only one who would eat it and I do NOT need to eat a whole cake (I think this is a run on sentence?). Trying to lose the last 15 lbs. of pregnancy fat! We've I Have decided on cupcakes. They seem to go better than cake for whatever reason... We are doing chocolate, white and strawberry. Josh's aunt is making them so that makes them all the more special. This is just a picture of cupcakes I found that I thought were gorgeous!:

I'm debating on a smoosh cake:

On to Decorations. I'm going to decorate her high chair. Here are a few options:

Use table cloths as decor instead of on the tables. My mom's taking care of the balloons:

Baby time line. Newborn to one year:

This is so cool! But I don't know if I'll end up making one:

We're doing a time capsule (I even found the same box at Target). Everyone can fill out a little notecard or leave a little momento for Sadie to open when she turns 18 Thanks for the Idea YHL!:

That's all the inspiration I need for a sweet little 1st Birthday Party for my little girl. Where does the time go?! I can't wait to post pictures of the party and see how everything turns out!