Little J's Butterfly Birthday Party

Little J celebrated her 4th birthday back in November. In fact, her birthday was the same day we closed on our new house, so things were a little extra crazy around her birthday. I didn't want her to miss out on a party with all of the chaos, so we just celebrated a few weeks early. 

 I let Little J pick the theme for her party, and the activities she wanted to do at the party. She decided on a butterfly theme and that she wanted to paint at the party. Miss A actually chose a butterfly theme for her 4th birthday too, which meant we had at least some supplies on hand- awesome! Little J was also in charge of the menu. Mac and cheese for everyone!

We invited a few family friends (and their older siblings who were Miss A's age) and a couple of Little J's favorite friends from the YMCA. We ended up with 9 little girls and 1 boy for the party. The weather was beautiful for early November, so E picked up a pinata the morning of the party and set it up outside. The kids were happy to run around, jump in the leaves and take a few swings at the pinata. 

Back inside, the kids did their paintings. I picked up a small canvas for each kid and used a butterfly decoration to trace the outline of a butterfly on each canvas with pencil. I told the kids they didn't have to make a butterfly, but the outline was there to help them if they did decide to do a butterfly. I used paper plates as their painting pallettes and got the kids to work. They all did a nice job painting their masterpieces, and were excited to take them home.

 

Of course, it wouldn't be a birthday party without cake, and Little J was very specific about what she wanted: chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Very much like her mommy. She was so happy with the cake, though she was a little disappointed she didn't get a whole cake to smash like Lady C did at her 1st birthday party.

All in all a wonderful celebration of our sweet and silly girl!

Little J's Kitty Party

I think this is my last catch up post from 2014 :) We had a weekend of parties in December with Little J's 3rd birthday starting things off. Little J started planning her party back in March after Miss A's birthday. Initially she wanted a purple party, but over time she added kitties to it, so it was a purple kitty party. In the week before her birthday (after receiving some Hello Kitty things for her birthday) she decided it was a Hello Kitty party, so we added in some Hello Kitty decorations. 

I got a Hello Kitty popcorn maker in a white elephant gift exchange last Christmas, which came in quite handy for Little J's kitty party. She loves popcorn, so it's very fitting. We had a few other snacks, plus Little J favorites mac and cheese, ham and dinner rolls. I put up a few kitty decorations, and a 3 made of pictures of Little J as I have for previous parties. 

I found some kitty masks at Michael's around Halloween, so I got a bunch for the kids to decorate at the party.

Though in most ways Little J reminds me of her Daddy, she does share my love of chocolate. She requested a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I know that's not for everyone, and the 3 takes two cakes, so I made one chocolate cake and one yellow cake. Little J was really excited for everyone to sing to her, but got a little shy when it was actually happening. Such a little cutie!

Uncle B and Aunt S got Little J a Hello Kitty pinata as part of her gift and she thought it was really fun. It was cold the night of her party, so we let the kids do the pinata in our basement. Because my little brother brought the pinata, I made him hold it while giving the little people a broom to swing at the pinata. That might have been my favorite part. That or the caramel Hershey's kisses inside. They were really tasty.

Little J is 3!

My sweet Little J turned 3 about 4 months ago, and this post has been a draft since that time. It seems every December I fall behind in blogging/photos/etc and it takes a few months to get caught up. 

Two was such a fun age with Little J. She is a silly, sweet girl. She loves to make people laugh. It's the best when she can make her big sister laugh. She's big on physical comedy. As I've been looking back on her baby pictures, she was such a smiley baby and is still a smiley kid. 

Daddy says Little J is awesome (though she might prefer "awesomesauce"). He loves her facial expressions and when she drops her shoulders in disappointment, "awww." She's very sweet, and shares well but has a bit of a temper too. He loves when she tries to be in charge. She will say, "I have a great idea!" or point out, "You already said that." I love her big squeeze hugs. She grabs around my neck and squeezes so tightly. It's one of the best feelings. She also likes to 'nuggle and I'll take toddler snuggles any day. I also enjoy when she tells us she's "cute and smart." 

Here's what Little J had to say about herself on her third birthday.

Favorite Movie: Tangled

Favorite Show: Sobia Birst (Sofia the First)

Favorite Song: Spinning Circles (I Don't Dance, Lee Brice), Shake It Off, All About that Bass

Favorite Book: Corduroy Goes to the Doctor (weird), Don't Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus

Favorite Color: purple

Favorite Food: Mac & Cheese, PB & J, ice cream

Favorite Toys: baby, princesses

Favorite Things To Do: puzzles, babies, 'nuggle, dance, pretend to be a mommy

Favorite Game: hide and seek, marble game

Favorite Pony: Twilight Sparkle

Favorite Animal: kitty cat

Favorite Place To Go: Merica Merica (Mall of America)

What do you like to sleep with? blankie, bison

What do you want to be when you grow up? make my kids happy

And now a few of my favorite pictures of Little J between 2 and 3.

This is Little J's favorite picture!