Abby's Birthday Party - Part I

Yesterday was the start of festivities for the soon-to-be birthday girl. Since it was only the start, we'll call this part of her birthday Part I. We decided to celebrate a bit early so we could celebrate such a special day with our Florida friends. The morning sprinkles of rain soon turned into a torrential downpour, so we had to quickly think of a Plan B ... since Plan A was outdoors. So off to Evie's we went, for some arcade style fun, pizza, and lots of cake! I must admit I was quite bummed that we had to scrap the original plans, but Plan B turned out better anyways. Take a look for yourself!

The Birthday Girl showin' off her dance moves!

Publix did an amazing job with the cake!!

Our little "lovebug" needed a ladybug theme :)

Good choice of entertainment for the kids! :)

Getting ready to eat some cake!

Singing "Happy Birthday" and eating yummy cake.

Not sure why the video quality isn't that good.

The sugar shock ... "Oh boy!"

Unwrapping presents. Such fun :)

Our family is so blessed to have such wonderful friends here in Florida. These wonderful friends make us feel like we have family here. Thanks to YOU for helping us celebrate Abigail Grace, our sweetest blessing!

Abby and I will be traveling to Maryland on Sunday to celebrate Part II of her birthday with family and friends. This time we'll be celebrating on the 18th, her actual birthday. We are so looking forward to seeing everyone and continuing the birthday fun! :)

Where's Abby?!

Abby loves playing Peek-a- Boo these days.

Happy Saturday!

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!

Abby must be excited for her birthday party this weekend :)

10 completely random things I am thankful for today:

1. Abby's daycare day today. Thanks to baby free time, I was able to clean the whole house. Floors vacuumed, furniture dusted, and bathrooms are sparkling!

2. Answered prayers. Jim's elbow is healing on its own and he leaves for Maryland on the 10th. He'll spend some time in the minors finishing his rehab assignment and then it's back to the O's!

3. The bug guy. Thank you for coming to spray today, six days before we were due for our quarterly spray. When I see those roaches moving with too much life, the good ol' bug guy gets "the call" from me. (Gotta love Florida living)

4. Traveling to Maryland to visit family on the 15th. Looking forward to seeing everyone and enjoying some time together!

5. Dinner dates at the mall with the Bestie and her kiddies. I love the fact that eating Chic-Fil-A in the Food Court and watching the kiddies play is my kind of night. It always puts a smile on my face, even if I spill my whole sweet tea on the way out.

6. Speaking of sweet tea, thank you McDonald's for letting me indulge occasionally. (ok ... every other day)

7. A call from my eye doctors office telling me they received my payment but it wasn't necessary anymore. They finally received payment from our insurance. Ahh, what a pleasant surprise!

8. The way Abby dances and "sings." She obviously gets her moves and great voice from me. ::wink, wink::

9. Hugs from the hubs. I can never get enough hugs and his are the best!

10. The inspection went well at the new house. A few minor "fixes" but nothing too complicated and expensive. Looking forward to actually having the keys in just a few weeks!

Wordless Wednesday ... This girl takes after her Daddy.

Pudding, YUM!

Birthday Plans + Photo Challenge

Here we are. Already in the month of August. Only fifteen days away from Abigail's First Birthday. For the past month or so, I've been counting down the days in my head. I still cannot believe that in just over two weeks, this sweet little "baby" will be ONE. Where did the time go? I'll save my thoughts on this for another post, closer to her birthday.

I always imagined I would throw Abby a big birthday bash for her FIRST birthday. Some of my blogger buddies have spent some serious time planning and organizing parties for their lovies. Man, I need to take some serious pointers. They've got themes, decorations that are just beautiful, and coordinating outfits for their birthday babies. It's AMAZING! If you want to see what I'm talking about, just visit Shannon over at Webbisodes and Melissa over at Hanging with Mr. Cooper. SO JEALOUS!!!!

I really wish I could have some of their creativity and motivation rub off on me. But ... here's where things get tricky for me. As many of you know, we aren't usually at home this time of the year. We are usually in an apartment in Baltimore, in the midst of a long baseball season. Since hubs was injured in early May, we headed back home and he began rehab. We are so lucky to have the rehab facility right here in Sarasota. What a blessing! In the middle of July, rehab began going really well and our prayers were being answered. Jim was throwing again without pain and things were moving along well. We were so happy that things were going the way we had hoped for, but were still unsure of when he would be able to return to Baltimore. Needless to say, I was unsure of how to plan a birthday party. Would we be here? Baltimore? No one knew the answer. Tricky, huh?

Just a few days ago, Jim got the news that he was expected to leave for Maryland on August 10th. Wow. That's GREAT and SO SOON!! So I quickly planned a birthday party with our friends here in Florida. Nothing big. Nothing over the top. In the craziness of this summer, we will be with friends that care about us and want to celebrate our sweet little girl. And that's all. that. matters.

In a few weeks, Abby and I will join Jim in Maryland to celebrate the real day together and have another birthday party for Abby, this time with our Maryland family. The date? Who knows. All I know for sure is the guest list :) We'll take it one day at a time .... and again, we'll celebrate with family and friends. And that's all. that. matters.

I'm having some fun with the photo challenges over at Chelsey's place. The theme for this week's challenge is "Buddies." Visit her blog to join in on the fun! :)

Best Buddies Chloe & Abby

Thankful Thursday & Friday

Originally I wasn't going to do a "Thankful Thursday" post yesterday. I wasn't feeling all that great and had a sore throat and upset stomach, and when I finally sat down to write, I really needed to get into bed and get some sleep. However, after we received some exciting news last night, I became extremely thankful and had to share the news with you today! (and no, I'm not pregnant!)

Shortly after Abby was born, Jim and I began to talk about buying a new home. We weren't sure when the right time would be, but kept it in the back of our minds. Our current home has made us very happy over the past five (almost six) years and we have a lot of memories within the walls of this house. In February we decided it was "time" to begin the house hunt, since we were needing more space and the neighborhood was changing.

It's been a long and emotional journey to find the right house. Jim and I thought we had found "the one" right away. It was a beautiful, colonial style home with tons of acreage, that we fell in love with from the beginning. Being a short sale and a sticky divorce situation, we knew it could take a while before we heard any news. Thinking positively, we put an offer on the house back in March. Well... just weeks ago, the owner decided (along with his attorney) to take the house off the market. Nice to know he'll be living there for about a year until the house goes into foreclosure... and probably for FREE! BLAH! So the search continued. We found houses that were great, but the yards were way too small or the houses were way too close together. Houses that had great lots but needed so much work. Then Jim and I found another house, the price was right but needed work, and it was in a great neighborhood, so we decided to make an offer. More time. Waiting. No news. Then just last weekend our realtor (& friend!) sent an e-mail with a house that she knew we would love. It was new on the market, priced aggressively, and from the pictures, we loved it. The next day we walked through it and put an offer in that night. It had the space, upgrades, a somewhat larger yard than most homes in the neighborhood, and it's nestled in safe neighborhood with a lot of families.

Last night we got the great news that our prayers had been answered. The bank accepted our offer!!! I still cannot believe it. I am so thankful (yesterday, today, and the many days to come) that this will be the house where our family can grow and create many happy memories together. Yay!!!! Pictures to come later ....

Wordless Wednesday + Photo Challenge

So the bestie has been taking part in Chelsey's photo challenges over at The Paper Mama and this week I decided to join in on the fun. I submitted this photo, not because of the quality or effects but because of what it means to me. There are no words that can explain the love between a mother and daughter. Thanks to my Mama for capturing this special moment!

This Weeks Theme - Absolute Favorite