scarlett on the bus yells, "i turned two!"

("no hands, ma!" as scarlett takes over)

 (we finally got the kids parked in one place for a picture and to sing happy birthday to scarlett)

(scarlett wants nothing to do with pictures, but look at that ham REM)

(scarlett blew her candles softly, but they made her nervous and she felt much better when amelia helped her blow them out)

(the kids singing the "wheels on the bus," complete with actions lead by grandma bodtcher.
did anyone get a video???)

 (saying goodbye to her friends, lyla and ryan)

(trying to climb into her little people toy bus)

(scarlett figured out how to drive her truck! she was actually ditched and was yelling for her sister/cousins to come back drive her around, when she finally got tired of waiting and decided to press on the gas pedal herself)

(loved this little bus that jer and i made together)

a month before scarlett's birthday, jer and i talked about how easy and perfect it would be to reserve our stake center's cultural hall (he is the building scheduler) and have all the cousins bring over their wheels for a party. i had no theme in mind and was just fine about it. a few weeks before her birthday, i was sitting in the dark watching and listening to jeremy and scarlett play her favorite app "the wheels on the bus" like i did every single night. and it hit me like a ton of bricks, THE WHEELS ON THE BUS. duh! so on went with the now-themed party and i loved how perfectly the party turned out. the homemade buses were adorable, if i do say so myself... the kids  l o v e d  driving/riding/scooting their wheels around in a huge gym in the middle of winter... jer's mom and sister-in-law helped bring food and my parents brought their famous spring rolls; we had hoagie sandwiches that made for a perfect/easy dinner. scarlett just had so much fun, and it just made me so happy to see a party so perfect!

(but okay, i just have to say i forgot to buy a white tablecloth for a backdrop and had trouble blowing up all the balloons, which would have probably made for better pictures. jer's dad asked me how i wanted the food table to be set up, and i said whatever makes sense! and he was like "must be your second kid! you probably won't remember to bring food for the third!" and i thought, how true. but at least the kids had fun, despite my blurry, obviously-in-a-church pictures.)

love you forever, scarlett babe!
xo

a jungle party for scarlett macaw

the month before scarlett's birthday, I was convinced her party would be modest. I still wasn't sleeping much and the pressure of throwing an extravagant party was stressing me out. at family dinner, I expressed this to my cousin, Lauren, who then rolled her eyes in disbelief, reminding me that I do not do small parties. I went home that night and scrolled through pinterest and was completely inspired within a minute.

I designed these invitations that night. I'm still so proud of the pop-up, that amelia loved so much!

I promised myself (and jeremy) that I wouldn't stress myself out, and I didn't! I love designing labels/signs/little details, so I did exactly that, and delegated the rest out! we had costco pizza for dinner, grandma bodtcher made the scarlett macaw cake, my mom made the scarlett macaw dress and hat; drinks, salads, breadsticks were brought by aunts and grandmas. I cut out giant leafs and attached them to brown balloons to make jungle trees for place settings at each table. and although I singlehandedly decorated for 2 hours before the party and cleaned for an hour after, I had the most fun throwing this party for my one year old who won't remember it at all!

(love this picture with grandpa)

(scarlett wanted nothing to do with her smash cake, so her sister and cousins helped her out a bit...)

(a perfect caption would be, "but they're eating all my cake!!!" but she honestly wanted nothing to do with it and was booing to get off the table)

(this picture was sent out on our thank you postcards)

(a little "it's my birthday, and I'll cry if I want to!")


going big for my babies is kinda a big deal to me-- I'm so grateful for the village that helps us and supports us and loves us. xo