I promised to catch up..

I did promise to catch up but I think I said something about "soon" and that was in July lol.

Here goes.. 5 months of fun starting with May :)

End of May, my Dylan graduated from kindergarten and look how cute he was doing it! I'm proud! Other than that, I don't think anything too exciting happened. Check out my three cuties below.. Happy, Cowboy and Braelyn.. love 'em!! :)

In June, my two cuties enjoyed the beginning of summer with lots of swimming.. they are expert posers!!

And my niece, Alyssa, turned 8 years old!! When Jeff and I started dating she had just turned 3 years old a couple weeks before. The years have flown by!! She had a rock star party.. she is adorable!

 And just one of my favorites from June.. Braelyn Grace and Brylee Faith... :)

And in July, Lauryn Bailey turned 3 years old.. how cute is she? Love her to pieces!

My sweet newborn baby girl, Braelyn Grace, also turned 4 years old on the 27th. Seems like just yesterday she was born. She is the sweetest child and she loves everybody. The world is a better place because of her (and I tell her sister that, too). Jeff and I are so blessed!

 She wanted a pink pirate/skull party.. and it turned out cute. I ordered custom plates, banners and party boxes with her sweet little picture on them and we all met at the Eastland Water Park for a perfect summer day of swimming!

 And then my favorite holiday of the year.. 4th of July!!

 Nothing too exciting happened in August but we did go to Dallas for the weekend. Jeff and his parents and sister, her husband and kids all stayed at a hotel in Arlington for a night. The girls got to swim and watch a night movie by the pool and the next day we all went to Hurricane Harbor. It was really fun! I didn't take too many pictures since it all involved water but I did get these two at the hotel.. aren't they so sweet? I am loving their summer tans in those bright dresses!!

In September is one of the events I wait for every year.. The West Texas Fair and Rodeo.. so fun! It's a small town thing, I will admit that, but we love going! The girls think they have died and gone to heaven with all the rides and junk food!! :)

 Also in September I got a call that Braelyn got in to preschool!! It was a very bittersweet day for us. The same little baby that just turned 4 years old is now a school girl and she is loving every second of it! She is doing so well and is very advanced for her age.. I couldn't be more proud! She got to pick out her outfit for her first day of school and she was flawless. I am in love!

 Sweet Happy's room is now being turned back into a nursery so we did a room makeover on Braelyn's room so that they could move in together. They are looooving it and it turned out so cute!!

Things have been busy but busy is almost always good for us. I say it all the time but we are so blessed with great family, friends and children. My cup runeth over!!

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 :)

Parties, parties, parties..

Our weekend was surprisingly uneventful. Friday we did nothing :) Saturday, Jeff and I went to a movie with Ashley and Chris and got just a mini "kid break"! We saw "I love you, Man". It was pretty funny! Sunday, James and I took the kids to Buffalo Gap to the flea market and out to the State Park. I absolutely love Buffalo Gap. It is so little and cute. They have giant trees that grow over the curvy road that goes through the tiny town. If we could move there today, I would! The trip to the State Park was basically just to check out locations for Braelyn's party (yes, in July.. I am almost done planning it lol). But really... If you haven't been to the Abilene State Park it is so much fun. They have a pool open in the summer and tons of camp sites, picnic areas, trails to hike.. so fun! We will definitely be making some trips there this summer!

We have officically reserved a location for Dylan's 5th birthday party coming up in April. He turns 5 on April 12th, which happens to be Easter this year.. so we are planning his party for April 11th at The Jump Around. He is so excited and asks me everyday if today is his party.. ha! He picked the theme Hot Wheels.. I am not going to lie.. attempting to plan his party has has made me appreciate my GIRLS so much! Boys stuff is just not as cute! How do mom's of boys do this?! I can't be all cute with sweet party ideas with a five year old who is always covered in dirt and talking about his poop! Haha, but I sure do love that stinky little boy! I decided to make his invitations myself this time. My VERY first attempt so don't judge me too hard. I think I can do this though and I am going to make Braelyn's this summer, as well. You don't even know how bad I wanted to throw a "princess" or some pink in there! ;)Thursday is Princess Happy's FIRST BIRTHDAY so look forward to some posts I have been working on for Wednesday and Thursday. ;) If you haven't seen her invitations yet.. I ordered them from autumns-creek.com. This was the proof she had sent me for approcal so ignore the watermark (I never scanned one for my computer before I sent them all out.. whoops!)
I am crazy obsessed with this party planning and knew that Brylee's would be cupcake theme when she was 3 months old (that's a little embarassing). So, Braelyn turns 3 in July and I am 100% on a theme and now searching, searching, searching for what all I need to order to make it happen. More on that after I get through Brylee and Dylan's parties..

What a beautiful week the weather man is predicting. We have so much to be thankful for! Count your blessings today..