A Fancy Nancy Soiree

This post should have been written days ago but we had some family matters come up unexpectedly. Better late than never, I guess.

On Saturday, November 20, we celebrated Abigail's third birthday with a Fancy Nancy Soiree (that's fancy for birthday party). Abigail's Aunt Mellissa introduced us to the world of Fancy Nancy last Christmas. We had been shopping at the Town Center in Jacksonville and while in Barnes and Noble, Mellissa showed us the Fancy Nancy book. My parent's actually got her the original FN book for Christmas. After that, she received the paperback holiday versions throughout the year along with some of the other paperbacks as well. Nancy's world revolves around dressing up and being fancy all the time. Is there a better birthday party theme for little girls? I think not.

I've always loved event/party planning so when it comes to Abigail's birthday's, I have to pace myself. With this theme, I had the very real opportunity of going overboard. In a previous post, I told about our recent financial bumps and how I had been learning to be resourceful and make the most of what I had. So, I applied this knowledge to the FN birthday party as well.

I love custom invitations and I would rather not use the pre-made fill-in-the-blanks invites, unless I have to. For Abigail's first birthday party, I had custom invitations made at http://www.vistaprint.com/ and only paid a few dollars for them because they always have great deals. For Abigail's second birthday party, she had a Dora the Explorer theme and I ended up using the generic ones that came with the party supplies. I had searched high and low for the perfect custom invites for this FN soiree. The ones that I had originally decided on were a little over a dollar a piece. In the end, I just couldn't justify spending the money on something that would end up in the trash anway so I decided to put my limited photography skills to the test. I did splurge a bit on Abigail's birthday party outfit. However, I did shop around a lot, and thanks to my sister-in-law, Hannah, I found a tutu and FN shirt combo for $25 with free shipping, the cheapest around. Some tutu's go for $25 by themselves. So I dressed her up in her birthday outfit, complete with fancy accessories. I grabbed some pink and purple sidewalk chalk from her pack and headed outdoors. I snapped about 30 pictures or so and then edited them on my computer. In the end I picked the photo above. I uploaded it to Walgreens.com and found out they were having a photo deal and 4x6's were $.10 a piece. I was able to get all of her invites for about dollar. I looked up some fancy wording online and then handwrote the info on the back of the picture. Now, I had a great custom invite for a great price and most likely instead of being thrown in the trash, it will be displayed on a fridge or in a photo album or frame.

While looking online for party planning and decorating ideas, I came across some very lavish parties. While I would have loved to be able to put that kind of time and money into a party, it just wasn't necessary, plus I was still trying to be a good steward of what God had given me to work with. So borrowing from some other frugal mom's ideas, I headed to The Dollar Tree! I was able to get plates, cups, doilies, bowls, spoons, decorations, party favors, etc. I made two different trips to The Dollar Tree but in the end I only spent about $20 total. I had to get a few things from Walmart like the hot pink tablecloth and napkins since I couldn't find that particular color at The Dollar Tree. I also bought all the items for the cupcakes, parfaits (that's fancy for ice cream sundae), and drinks. My mom contributed to the party buy purchasing the FN balloon, placemats, and stickers for the goody bags, from birthdayexpress.com. Overall, we had a very fancy party without the huge expense. Here are a few pics of the party.

 I made 36 pink and purple cupcakes for the party. They were sprinkled with pink sugar crystals and several of them had FN rings on them. I got those for a steal on ebay. We made parfaits, complete with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, M&M's, and whipped cream. I found really cute parfait cups from Hobby Lobby at the end of the summer on clearance and I found the parfait spoons at Dollar General on clearance as well. For the fancy drinks, I found ice cube trays shaped like flowers at The Dollar Tree. I poured Hawain Punch in those the night before. We poured Sierra Mist into small clear cups and placed one or two hp ice cubes in each glass. The kids enjoyed watching the ice cubes fizz and turn their drinks pink.The goody bags consisted of a boa, a bracelet, sunglasses, a ring pop, and pixie sticks. They each were able to take home their parfait cup and spoon, the FN placemat, and the tiny buckets with their names on them (we put the M&M's in those) as well. I got most of the items at the dollar store or Wal-Mart for cheap. They also colored FN coloring sheets and I read them the original story at the beginning of the party.

Abigail had the best time even if she wasn't feeling well (see previous post for the not so fancy stuff). After the kids were hyped up on cupcakes and ice cream, Abigail opened her gifts and then they spent the rest of the time running around in the backyard. All in all, I think Nancy would have been proud.

A Not So Fancy Few Days

On Saturday, November 20, Abigail had a Fancy Nancy birthday party. But before I tell you all about her party, I need to back up to a few days leading up to her party.

On Monday, Abigail woke up from her nap running a fever or 102.2. I gave her some tylenol and made her rest. I couldn't believe she was going to get sick right before her birthday. But by later that evening the fever was gone and she never had another symptom until Friday.

On Friday morning she woke up running a low grade fever. I had so much to do on Friday which included making 36 cupcakes, babysitting for a friend, and to finish cleaning my house before my parents, my brother, and his family got there later that night. She acted fine all during the day until after naptime. She woke up running a high fever again, this time accompanied with vomiting. This went on most of the afternoon and her fever continued to rise. My brother and his family decided not to come since Marlee had been sick the two weeks prior. We were disappointed but we understood why they couldn't come. I finally had to put her in a lukewarm bath and give her a popcicle before her fever would come down.

By Saturday she seemed fine. We went ahead and had her party. Later that night her fever shot up again and we couldn't get it down all night. She also developed a stuffy nose. We were supposed to leave Pearl River at 9 AM on Sunday morning to travel to Graceville with my parents so that we could ride with them to Georgia on Monday to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family. But mom and I had to take Abigail to the Urgent Care and it didn't open til 9. They tested her for strep and the flu. Thankfully both came back negative. The doctor there was super nice and thorough. Having a good doctor is always a plus. She ended up having pharyngitis with flu like symptoms. We then had to go to Walgreens to pick up some pictures we had ordered and to get all of her medicines. The doctor cleared her to travel so my dad left around 10 and mom, Abigail, and I weren't able to leave until about 11:30.

Thankfully her fever stayed down all day on Sunday. We were able to spend time with Uncle Justin, Aunt Hannah, and Marlee on Sunday night. We brought some cupcakes and party stuff for them to celebrate together since Marlee wasn't able to come and Sunday was actually Abigail's birthday. Neither of the girls wanted cupcakes but they had fun playing together.

Abigail got sick a couple of times last night but we think it's because the congestion is finally breaking loose in her chest. We are headed to Georgia this afternoon when mom gets off of work. And tomorrow she is having a second birthday party. Yes, I said SECOND! :) She is one spoiled little girl. When we lived in Fernandina, most of my family from Georgia would travel over for her birthday party since it was only a two hour drive. Since it's 9 1/2 hours from Georgia to where we live in Louisiana, they couldn't come this year. So, we are having a family party Tuesday night at Aunt Jamie and Uncle Rudy's house. I promise to post about the Fancy Nancy party soon but I have to get ready and get packed up for our trip today.

The Last Six Months

I can't believe that it's been six months since I last posted on my blog. I'm such a slacker. I think that I have about three or four post that I started but never finished. So, I guess it's time for an update.

It was HOT in Louisiana over the summer. Thankfully, most of the parks around here have splash pads. It was a very nice way to get out of the house and stay cool over the summer. And I must admit that I enjoyed playing in the water as much as Abigail! My parents visited us for the 4th of July. We had a great week together. We went to the beach in Waveland, MS, took Abigail to see her first movie in theaters, Toy Story 3, did some shopping and some eating, and had a nice cookout with some friends on the 4th. There are too many pics over the last six months to post, so friends please visit my Facebook page and look through the latest albums, if you haven't already. :) My brother and his family visited in August. We took the girls to the Louisiana Children's Museum in NOLA, frequented the splash pad, shopped, ate, laughed, and just had a great time all around. It's so nice when my family gets to visit and stay awhile, especially since we don't live close by.

In September, Abigail and I visited my family in Graceville. Uncle Rudy, Aunt Jamie, and GG came for the weekend. It was nice to have extended family there as well. My brother, the chef (well not technically but he loves to cook and he's good at it), made milkshakes and blended iced mocha's several time. I think I gained 5 pounds, at least, that weekend. We did some more shopping and more eating! Dad made sushi! He just keeps getting better and better at it! My mom was able to take most of the week off so we enjoyed spending more time with her since she usually has to work while we are there. I finally was able to use my spa gift card from last Christmas and let me just say, a one hour deep tissue massage is just NOT long enough! You think it would be, but it wasn't. Oh and my brother smoked a Boston butt and we made Pulled Pork Parfaits! Let me just say, YUMMY! Take a tall clear glass, put some BBQ sauce in the bottom, a layer of pulled pork, then a layer of mashed potatoes, repeat, and drizzle top layer of mashed potatoes with BBQ sauce. It looks pretty and taste great! Ryan also received a promotion in September. It was much needed answer to prayer. He is now a Club Level Concierge. He really likes it and the raise wasn't too shabby either.

October passed in a blur. I can't really say anything extraordinary happened in October, well except the lessons God taught me especially in October. Without going into detail, we experienced some financial distress in the last couple months but the LORD provided as he always does. I feel like I learned a lot and grew a lot in the past months. While trying to stretch our money as much as we could, I began to realize how much we actually waste and how ungrateful we are for what we actually have. There have been many times that I haven't felt like cooking dinner or didn't want to eat what we had in the house and we went out and spent money on food we didn't need. The hamburger might have been tasty but were we being good stewards of what God had given us? Not that there is anything wrong with eating out but we were blowing a lot of money on something we didn't really need. It was also during this time that I started really paying attention to Freebies4Mom on Facebook. I had added this lady to my friends list several months ago and just ignored her post. She has a website dedicated to helping others find free samples, coupons, and sweepstakes with great prizes. Check out www.freebiesformom.com Anyway, I started frequenting her site daily and signing up for the free samples. Sometimes they aren't things that I necessarily need but hey it's free and if it's something I think I can use, then I sign up. Well, after realizing how much I waste, I had been squeezing the life out of my tube of toothpaste. I was finally at the point where no more was going to come out and I went to check the mail. The first sample that I had ever requested was for toothpaste and I had forgotten about it completely. When I checked the mail on this particular day,there was a mysterious box in the mailbox. When I opened it, it was a tube of toothpaste! Woohoo! It came at the exact time that I needed a new tube of toothpaste! Isn't the LORD, amazing!!! At the end of the month I started keeping a 8 week old baby boy named Dustin. It has been an adjustment for me as well as Abigail but we are enjoying it. He is just too cute and the pay check is sweet too!

I can't believe that November is almost over already. In six days my baby girl is going to turn three. It feels like yesterday that I was being induced, anxious to meet her. She is an indescribable blessing in my life. She is a constant source of laughter and joy in our house. I am amazed every day at how smart she is. When it comes to personality and behavior, she is definitely my child. There are times I am grateful for that and times I wish she wasn't so much like me. You want your child to have your so-called good traits but no one wants their child to have their bad ones! She has an equal mix of both, I believe. :) If I can remember, I'll put a birthday party post up after her Fancy Nancy Soiree on Saturday. Until then, here is a picture of my little cutie.

Not Me Monday

It was NOT me who decided to buy my two year old a Watermelon Slush from Sonic. And it defnitely was NOT me who gave her the whole thing to drink while in her carseat in the back seat of my vehicle.

After leaving Sonic, it was NOT me who passed the on ramp to the interstate which was the quickest route to our friends house. I did NOT have to drive out of my way and I also did NOT get caught in school traffic. I absolutely did NOT pass the shortcut to our friends house. I did NOT drive a little ways down the road and did NOT try another shortcut that I hadn't personally used before. I also did NOT get lost in the subdivision twice before getting back on the main road. It was NOT me who had to sit in traffic for 10 minutes for more to take my next turn.

Remember the slushy...Well, while sitting in traffic, I did NOT hear my child saying "oh no" repeatedly. It was NOT me who turned and found her straw sticking out sideways from her Sonic cup. It was also NOT me who grabbed the cup, dripping the slushy all over my car. I did NOT find napkins in the glove compartment. I was definitely NOT me who had to hold the extremely cold slushy in one hand and drive with the other until we finally made it to our friends house.

It was NOT me who had a birthday last week. My friend did NOT bake me a double chocolate heart cake for my birthday. It was NOT me who ate a piece bigger than I care to admit. My child did NOT ask for a candle to "lick" since the other kids were doing so. And I absolutely did NOT tell my friend that she could have one. My child did NOT come up to me and say she was done and hand me the candle. Half of the candle was NOT missing. It was NOT my child who "ate" half a birthday candle instead of licking it! Stuff like this NEVER happens to me.

Potty Training Woes

It's been a week since I started potty training Abigail and we're still at square one. I tried potty training her last summer when she was about18 months old. At that point she just wasn't ready. So we stopped and started again last week. I thought this time around would be easier. She's older now and I figured she'd get the hang of it pretty quickly. Day one was rough, to say the least. I tried the no pull-ups or training panties approach first. I had to clean up poop off of my floor three times before I put training panties on her! After that, the rest of the day went pretty well. Days two and three weren't too bad either. Just a few accidents each day. Since then, it seems like we're going in the opposite direction instead of making progress. When I ask her why she goes to the bathroom in her panties instead of on the potty, she says she doesn't want to go in the potty. What do you do when your child deliberately pees or poops in her pants because she has no desire to go to the potty? Is she scared of the potty? I don't think so. We bought her a really cute frog potty and she used it a few times but would rather use the regular potty instead. So I don't think that it's because she scared. Is she lazy? I really don't know what else to do or try. I know she's only two and yes, I know, I need to be patient and that it will take time. I've tried bribery by treats, Smarties and M&M's. I've tried putting her on the potty every 20-30 minutes. I've tried no underwear. I've tried letting her stay in her wet underwear, hoping that she wouldn't like the feeling. I've tried making her clean up her own mess. I really don't know what else to do other than just keep on going and hopes she gets it soon. If anyone out there has the secret to potty training, feel free to share!

Not Me Monday

It's been a while since I actually posted a "Not Me Monday" so I figured it was about time. Please note that some of the following "not me's" are not recent but too funny not to share. Enjoy!

It was NOT me who accused my husband of passing gas, upon smelling a foul scent while driving back to Florida from Louisiana in March. The foul smell was coming from our daughter so we pulled over at the next rest station. It was NOT me who was going to change her on the front passenger seat because the rest of the vehicle was loaded down. It was also NOT me who got a handful of poop when I was trying to pull her onesie up high enough to change her. I absolutely did NOT throw the onesie away so that we didn't have to smell it the rest of the way home. My hands also did NOT smell like poop the rest of the way, even though I had washed them multiple times in the restroom.

After Abigail hit a little boy, I did NOT spank her while saying "we don't hit."

It was NOT me who decided to potty train Abigail this week. It was also NOT me who decided to potty train without pull-ups or training panties the first day. I absolutely did NOT have to clean up poop three times off of my floor before I realized that I should put some training panties on her. I have NOT cleaned up any more poop or pee from the floor this week!

It was NOT me who went and got a pedicure and an eye brow wax today. I was NOT embarrased when the lady pulled my feet out of the water to "work" on them. It has definitely NOT been a year since I last had a pedicure. The lady who waxed my eyebrows did NOT laugh at me when she saw them. She also did NOT ask me how long it had been since I had them done. I did NOT blame it on having a child and never getting out of the house.

Where We Live

Hey guys! As promised, here are a few pics of the house we are living in right now. For more you can check out my facebook profile.