Happy (early) St. Patricks Day

Grandma Beth sent the BEST St. Patrick's day package for my girls! It was oozing green candy and bubbles and nail polish and ribbon and tissue paper! And these adorable shirts. But since my girls don't have school on Thursday they wanted to wear them today and I had to snap a few pictures of them after school.

Maddy got a special scarf that she decided to wear as a....tie.....?

This one is my favorite!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you don't get pinched!

Grown up furniture

So I have pretty much finished decorating my dining room. There are a few more things I would like to do but for now I think it is a 100% improvement! I wish I had a before picture but I don't. But I even had a friend come in and say, "You have grown-up furniture!" That pretty much sums it up! And I love it and can't wait to eventually decorate the other rooms in my house and feel like we actually have a home and not just a house we live in! So here is the grand unveiling......but first......my new obsession! Cool chickens!!!!! I love these and want to start collecting them I think. But they have to be funky and cool!


And here is my new and improved dining space! (I need to hem the curtains still).

I "heart" craigslist

Here is my fantastic Craigslist find! We have been needing a new table for .....oh, I don't know.......10 years!jk But we were in serious need of new chairs and a table. Our chairs were bought about twelve years when Dustin and I were first married! And they were breaking left and right. Half of them were held together with duct tape and I decided to try and paint them.....that didn't go so well either. SO! I convinced Dustin that I could at least find new chairs for 300 dollars and he agreed so I started looking on Craiglist and this is what I stumbled upon. The table and all 6 chairs for $380! And I was able to haggle it down to $320! I am so excited to have a real table and nice chairs!

Doesn't it look perfect in my space?! I just love it and am so thankful to my fabulous husband for loading it all up last night for me even though he had a man cold (and we all know how terrible those can be!) But seriously he was really not feeling well and I really appreciate all his work for me.

Now I need a few more accessories and some drapes or something to finish off the little nook! And thanks mom for giving me the push to actually get it! Who wants to come for dinner??

Maddy's limo ride

Maddy hit the Elementary School jackpot! For their last fund raiser they had a prize of a limo ride to lunch for everyone who sold a certain amount.......my kids did NOT sell that amount. BUT! for every 5 things you sold your name got entered into a drawing for the limo ride. And Maddy's name got pulled! She was BEYOND thrilled. So yesterday she and 7 other kids were picked up at school driven to Jack in the Box, ate lunch, and then driven back to school. She said they watched a movie and listened to music in the limo. So I popped out at Jack in the Box to snap a few pictures of the event. Her little leg says it all!

She assured Josey that next year she would help her any way she could to sell the amount she needed so she could ride the limo.

Allie and Ivy

So we finally had Ivy's first birthday party with her cousin Allie. Allie's birthday is the day before Ivy so I foresee many many birthday celebrations together! Ivy was a little confused with the singing and wasn't even sure what to do with her very own cake. So daddy had to help her out a little.

Some of the cousins digging in.

I realized that I didn't get a good picture of Allie and Ivy together. I never seem to snap one of them together. I need to do that soon!

She finally understood that it was okay to DIG in!

Then her whole arm got frosting on it and apparently that was too much for her!

I thought this was funny cause she kept reaching over to touch Allie's hair and kept getting little bits of frosting in it.

Then the Hatch's went home and it was time to open presents. Dustin was able to video chat with his parents which was really fun cause they got to see her open her presents! But Ivy was very intrigued the whole time with the phone.

She got a ball.....

....a baby.....

....an adorable blanket made by Grandma Moyes......

some bubbles, some clothes, and from grandma Beth the cute little ladybug outfit and the little ladybug build-a-bear. She was a happy little one year old.

So here are the things I can remember about my little Ivy right now:

She loves to walk holding our fingers.

She has mastered "uh-oh" and loves to play that game over and over again.

She blows kisses.

She gives kisses......with her mouth closed!!! Hallelujah!

She will give "loves" or hugs under much prodding.

She waves bye bye and hi.

She is in love with EVERY baby and will carry them around everywhere.

She loves anything sweet.

She loves to play peek-a-boo and even tried to cover her own eyes which usually results in her covering her own ears.

She loves the kitties.

She knows what a fishy says and loves to do it.

She even said CRACKER the other day! I was amazed!

She HATES the doctor!!!

And last but not least.....she loves her daddy. She is my first and only daddy's girl. It has been so funny to watch. The other three girls were always momma's girls. But given the choice Ivy will always choose daddy over mommy. If we are in the same room it is always daddy who she crawls to first and as soon as he walks in the door she is in daddy's arms as quickly as possible. It is really adorable. But I have to say not having a daddy's girl before it is a little confusing for me. I am used to being the primary caretaker for my girls and therefore it is understandable why they would be more attached to me in the beginning. And this whole daddy thing is baffling to me! Don't get me wrong I think Dustin is a great daddy but come on......who changes the majority of the diapers.......who feeds her 99% of the time..,.....who plays with her during the most of the day and who usually puts her to bed?????ME! But the choice has been made and I am going to have to live with it!

There are a few more pictures on Dustin's phone. I will post those when I get them downloaded!

Ivy turns 1

My little baby is 1 year old today! I can't believe how the time has gone by so fast! I know we all say this with every passing birthday but with Ivy being my last baby it seems so bitter-sweet. It is fun to have her growing up and watching her change and play and have more personality but I am sad that she isn't a little baby any more. So here is her photo shoot today for her birthday in her new birthday outfit from grandma Beth and her cute little ladybug from grandma as well. We are actually celebrating her birthday on Sunday with her cousin Ali, who's birthday was yesterday. These are for you grandmas!

Say cheese!!!

So big!!

One with the assistant, Lilly.

And then it was off to her favorite past time.....up and down the stairs.

This was her birthday present today because we were at the store and she WOULD NOT let this baby doll go. She loves baby dolls. I haven't had a baby drawn to them so much and so young but she just carries them around everywhere! So we had to add to the collection.