Party time!

Lyla's 4th Birthday

This past weekend we celebrated Lyla's 4th birthday in style!  She requested to have a unicorn themed tea party, which was an absolute blast to put together!  She wanted everything super fancy so we had cloth napkins, real tea cups, beautiful flowers everywhere, and of course tutus, pearls and bow ties so everyone could get nice and fancy for the party.

Gorgeous Unicorn Cake by my sister's very talented friend

Where the kids sat for "tea" (apple juice) and cake!

We had a lovely spread of food including unicorn shaped sandwiches, and unicorn horns filled with popcorn!



With all the fun to be had, our little party girl did not want to slow down for pictures.  Unfortunately this was the only one I caught of her in her unicorn dress I made for the special occasion.

Time to get fancy!  Lavender tutus, necklaces, and bow ties!

Beautiful peonys and hydrangeas thanks to my sister!

Pin the horn on the unicorn!

Unicorn races

Everyone enjoyed the photo booth!

The beautiful birthday girl!

The Diva

The Professor

The day couldn't have been better!  We are truly thankful to have such amazing friends and family come out to celebrate our fabulous four year old.  Happy Birthday Junebug!

Pink Room

For Lyla's big 4th birthday we decided to paint and redecorate her room for her. It's been 4 years since we have decorated her room...actually, longer than that because she hadn't been born yet! Needless to say, it was a very exciting process!

We let Lyla make a few decisions about the room, but most of it was a secret so it could be a birthday surprise. Her two big requests were that she wanted everything PINK and that she wanted a canopy over her bed. We fulfilled her wishes and much much more!

I painted over her baby blue walls (that were painted by the previous owners) with a very light pink called "powder puff". Lyla wanted something much more...pepto like, but we told her this paint color was called "fairy pink" and she was sold. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the color a really beautiful light and airy pink.

We had made the decision to not get her a new bed yet, but at the last minute I checked Craigslist and found a decent toddler bed for $20! I painted it white to match her dresser and it looks brand new!

With a little guidance and inspiration from a link I found on Pinterest, I made a pretty little canopy out of a mosquito net canopy we purchased at Ikea. We also got the bedspread at Ikea. You can't see the design in the picture, but it has little leaves, plants, and pine cones printed on the pink background. Adorable!

We wanted the room to be playful and fun, so we added this tree and birds vinyl decal from Sissy Little. It looks great across the room from her tree growth chart!

While looking for some boxes we left in storage at my parents place, I found a few things to add to the room. Lyla has been wanting a little reading lamp for a while now, so I rummaged through my Mom's "collections" and found one that had potential! The lamp had a rusted black metal base and a yellow shade. With a little pink paint and adorable fabric fat quarter I found Joann's it turned into the sweetest little bedside lamp!

While looking around, I also found a great little wooden table which I painted white, a beautiful antique mirror, and a cute little bird house to make the room really come together. Thanks Mom and Dad!

I think it turned into the sweetest little room for our Junebug! She was so surprised and loves everything about it. This might be the best birthday present we have given her yet! Happy early birthday to our little girl! In just two weeks she will be 4!!

Four Christmases

When I made this Advent Calendar for Lyla when she was a baby, I had no idea it would hold up this long!
Here is Lyla over the past 4 Christmases!

A star is born!

Lyla's first ballet recital was this afternoon, and it is clear that this little ballerina is destined to be a star! She seemed a little nervous when we got there, but she took to the stage like a fish to water and did a fabulous job. She can't wait for the big spring recital!

At the end of the show she was surprised with flowers and a dance metal from her wonderful family (she had a total of 10 supporters there!!) who came out to applaud her. It was such a special day!
We all couldn't be more proud of her!

After the recital we all came back to the house and enjoyed some yummy cupcakes (her favorite!) in honor of her debut.

Chalid

Lyla has been talking about her dear friend Chalid for over a year now...so I've realized it's about time he gets his own posting.

We have known about Chalid for quite a while. She first started talking about him while she was attending day care. He and another friend Moby were talked about on a daily basis. She would tell us about what they looked like and what they did, but that they did not live nearby and they went to another school far away. A year later and Chalid is still mentioned daily (however poor Moby has been long forgotten). Chalid always does things differently than Lyla does...or what we ask her to do. Example: "Lyla, it is bedtime not dance time, please lay down and go to sleep." "Mommy, Chalid's mom lets her practice ballet in bed while she is lying down. (Chalid is both a boy and a girl, by the way.)

Chalid doesn't ever wear shoes or have to take baths. He/she eats chocolate/sweets all day and never has to brush his teeth. I will have to start writing down and sharing more about Chalid...he is quite a character.

The picture above is a picture Lyla drew of Chalid just recently. Nice to finally put a face with the name!

Christmas wants

Lyla has declared she wants a real unicorn for Christmas. She even told Grandma that she can find one "at the end of the rainbow."

She also asked for "real music notes".

Santa has is work cut out for him.

First Dance Class

Lyla has been interested in dancing for a while now and has been prancing around all over the house after watching a few ballet related cartoons. So when we saw a Living Social save voucher for a month of dance classes, we jumped at the chance to sign her up! We are thrilled to say that her first dance class was a complete success!
They don't normally allow parents in the room during the class, but since the kiddos are practicing for a recital, the teacher thought it would be fun to bring in a few parents for a small audience. I am sure the teacher quickly regretted that decision as two of the kids broke down in tears at least one other suffered a serious case of stage fright. However, I was thrilled because I got to take a video of Junebug's very first dance "routine" (which by the way was BRILLIANT!).