Happy 3rd Birthday, Braelyn Grace!!

**Warning: You may have a sugar rush from looking at these pictures :)

Braelyn had her third birthday party yesterday and it was so great! She had a blast and we all did too! She got too many presents, ate too much candy, too many cupcakes and slid down the water slide too many times... sounds perfect, right? It was! Here is peek into her wonderful CANDY PARTY..

Because of Braelyn Grace..

• I first learned what it was like to be a mommy and have a part of your own heart, right before your eyes.
• I have walls stained with coloring and stickers on everything that will sit still.
• I have conquered what it takes to potty train a stubborn little girl.
• I have laughed and cried more than I ever thought I would.
• I have been thrown up on, spit up on, pooped on and drooled on.
• I have spent one long July very pregnant, huge and HOT!
• I have learned that life is funnier with you around!
• I know more cartoon characters and songs than I ver thought I would.
• I have cried in doctor offices, emergency rooms and spent too much time waiting for good or bad news.
• I have stayed up whole night listening to you breathe.
• I have spent nights awake thinking about birthday and Christmas presents.
• I know what it’s like to have the most talkative child ever!
• I believe chicken and burritos are perfectly healthy food groups!
• I can find lines of toys (organized, of course) all across my house, everyday.
• I spend hours in parenting books, making sure I won’t “mess” this kid up!
• I have someone always on my side.
• I have a smile on bad days.
  

My Braelyn, the sweetest child I know. I am so blessed to have a child who is so empathetic to the needs and feeling of others and whose brilliance could blow you away. She is wild and gentle all at the same time. Braelyn wears her heart on her sleeve and every word from your mouth means something to her. She is my first pride and joy. Braelyn Grace, the world is a better place because of you!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY, BRAELYN GRACE!!

Today, the 27th, is her actual birthday so we are going to take her special for dinner tonight.. look for that post soon :)

Cupcake Party

One of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, is doing a children's birthday party celebration today! Moms all over will post a link to their own blog highlighting a birthday party that they put together for their child. I am picking the last birthday party I threw.. Brylee's Cupcake First Birthday Party in March. We had so much fun and it was a cupcake crazy celebration. There will be lots of links where you can get any of this you see so if you know someone looking to do a cupcake party.. send them my way! I have sooo many great sources to share :) Here is the link to all things cupcakes that I have blogged about. To see the orginal post about her birthday party with all details you can look here.

First off, invitations were designed by Autumn's Creek
Most decorations were bought from Birthday Express, one of my very favorite online party stores! Such great quality and designs!

Birthday banner, which I buy for every birthday party my kids have because I think it is a precious keepsake, is also from Birthday Express. I just purchased our 4th banner for Braelyn upcoming party..

Cupcakes: All regular size cupcake we made by Mommy and Aunt Kristie.. there were over a 100!
Cupcake Pops: The precious idea was taken from Bakerella, who can make anything into a cake pop.. she is amazing.. subscribe to her blog today for great ideas! You have to make these cupcake pops they are delicious and so, so cute! I stayed up way late the night before the party making about 50 of these :)
Giant Cupcake: The giant cupcake was made using a pan that I bought at Target (sold other places as well) but is made by Wilton's. It's a little bit tricky to get right without burning or under cooking so here is the secret: 250 degrees for a little over an hour.. don't ask questions.. just do it! You will thank me for the tip later! :)
Cupcake stands: Also made by Wilton's.. I still use them when I make cupcakes so it's a good purchase. :) Tutu and onesie with cupcake were bought on Etsy.com from Sweetie Pie Tutu's. I ordered it kind of late and she got it to me fast and it looked perfect! Brylee still plays in hers and it makes for great birthday pictures at the party!! Cupcake bow was made by Aunt Kristie so if you need one of those, let me know as well. If you ever see an adorable bow on one of my children, chances are Kristie made it and she would be glad to make one for your princess too! Just email me at mommyloftin@yahoo.com My other precious baby, Braelyn, really enjoyed the cupcake pops! She has a little bit of a sweet tooth :) Brylee opening presents with Daddy. How cute are they? :)All of these amazing pictures were taken by our favorite, super talented photographer and dear friend, Brooke Ogilvie, who came to capture Brylee's big day for us! Go check out her site at bophotography.squarespace.com and make an appointement with her! She is the best!!

I really hope enjoyed a look back on Brylee's cupcake party! I had so much fun putting it all together and I think even Jeff would admit that he was so tired of hearing about cupcakes for a while :)

Brylee's 1st Birthday Party

We had the best time this weekend at Brylee's big first birthday party. Aside from the weather being really windy and cold in the morning, it warmed up and was fun! The kids played, played, played. Brylee went all morning without a nap, running on sugar, and crashed right as we were packing up to leave. Here she is digging in her giant cupcake. This is the pan made by Wilton's that I had so much trouble with (the outside would burn before the middle was done) so I have finally mastered it! Yay! Bake it at 250 degrees for a little over an hour (low heat for extended time). It was perfect! Figured it out the night before the party.. thank God! Kristie did the wonderful icing on it.. I am NOT good at that! :)

Here is Miss Happy enjoying all her party fun! It was too cold for the tutu so we just slid it on over her jeans for some great pictures!

Here is all the cupcake goodies. Cupcake pops were a hit.. took me 3 hours to make them all! Kristie made 85 regular cupcakes (she woke up at 6 am the day of the party.. isn't she the great?!)

Everybody had fun and we had fun just spending time with our closest friends and family together!

My friend, Brooke, was there, who did the girls wonderful pictures back in January. What can I say? She is seriously the best! I love all the pics I have seen of hers so far. Click here to go to her site and see the sneak peek. I will post some more as soon I get the disc from her (no rush, Brooke! I know you have plenty to get done right now!)

Enjoy all these pictures and share in our fun! ((Don't forget to click on the collages so you can see all the pictures up closer))

Next party: Dylan's hot wheels party on April 11th... :)

Brylee's Little Party

We had family over last night to have a little party for Brylee on her actual birthday. I made her a pink cake (of course) and we sang Happy Birthday to her. She was cute.. she didn't care about the singing because she was too busy scraping the icing of the cake! Braelyn and Dylan loved it all because they got to eat lots of junk food :) We had a fun day and the weather was nice so they got to play outside till dark.

In case you missed this face in the last post.. :)

Digging in the cake while we were singing to her..
Eating a whole chunk.. :)
Braelyn enjoying her sister's birthday cake.. She always just eats the icing off (Mommy's girl).. Oh ya, I made cupcake pops and they didn't turn out a disaster this time.. !!!
I was a little emotional going to sleep last night knowing that they will never be babies again. Jeff and I talked about how big they are getting and how it is so bittersweet to watch them grow. We love that they get older and more fun because they can do more things but they will never be this small again. These are the days we will always remember.. with two little babies. I feel so blessed.

Brylee's big party is this Sunday and I think I am almost ready. Just a few things to get done.. and lots of cupcakes to make! :) Have a good weekend.. pics from the party soon!