REESE & ROWAN: decorating

Rowan had his two year pics taken this week at J. Klaasmeyer Portrait Design in Paola, KS. He did fantastic! I was encouraged to bring as many outfits as I wanted and she helped me pick based on what would work best with her props and backdrops. She chose his birthday shirt because it matched a turquoise chair she had so well and the navy polo because it was a solid color classic. He got bored with the process a few times, but Julie was amazing with him. She gave him many breaks and had tons of tricks up her sleeve to help him cooperate (Smarties, stickers, and even bubbles)! Here are the pics she posted on her blog. He had a very expressive day! Julie said she never posts the best pics and that she always saves them for the viewing-so I can't wait to see the rest! I feel like we might be in real trouble! :) Feel free to email me for contact information for Julie. I also have her blog listed on my Blog List and her website under Links I'm Loving.

Rowan's 2nd Birthday Party was Sun., Nov. 29th. Because I liked the colors and knew that we would have holiday decorations up, a Winter Wonderland theme seemed like an obvious choice! Everyone seemed to have a great time- but most importantly Rowan had a ball! He loved dancing with his Matchbox Rocky the Robot Truck!

I went with aqua, gray/silver & white for the colors. I decided to make a photo banner of his last 12 months for the mantle. It was a lot of work, but I was so happy with how it turned out that I plan to hang it in his bedroom. I hung silver glitter snowflakes from the ceiling and spread snow on the table, which Rowan just couldn't understand! He pointed to it and told me "snow on the table, that silly mommy!" I purchased a few snowglobes and put some favorite pictures in them. I decided not to do a full spread of food like I did for his last party because I felt like I missed out on a lot due to spending so much time in the kitchen. So instead, we had hot cocoa cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, puppy chow, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and Berry Lemonade Jones Soda. I was very excited that my ornament tree worked with the theme! BTW, I LOVE etsy!!! It was there that I was able to order custom Jones Soda labels, the party invites that I adored, the recipe cards, AND Rowan's shirt. This site was by far my best discovery of the year!