Hey look! My blog is working again! It is no longer infected with vicious malware because my host company fixed it. Which is good, because I have literally no idea how that happened OR how to fix it. So here’s last week’s post, late but done.
Sunday:
Nutcracker
Very excited
Luke and Yoda
Monday:
Very scenic view of Groton Long Point
My UPS guy is very busy
Warrior baby
Tuesday:
Santa is delivering these to Linc and Caroline
Helping wrap presents, because babies should totally have scissors
Evan’s “can” sentence: “She can be a superhero”. THAT’S RIGHT SHE CAN.
Wednesday:
Seriously in love with my Rocksbox this time. I might keep the necklace.
This is their favorite game
Sleepy baby
Thursday:
That’s not my fairy!
Twinning
Fish girl
Friday:
Surprised face
Destroyer of worlds
Grown up cards night
Saturday:
Caroline really thought we should keep them
Polar Express train at bedtime = tired baby
But he woke up for the cookies and Santa
Three more days until Christmas and it’s currently 60 degrees outside. We might go to Boston on Christmas Eve because it will be warm enough not to bring coats for walking around. I’m still not complaining, because I am sure we’ll be burried in snow before spring.
The rest of my plans for this week include making fudge and cookies and letting the kids eat as many sweets as they want because Christmas. I love Christmas.
Happy Birthday to the amazing, unique, brave, smart, funny Caroline. It’s a pleasure and a joy to be your mother. even when you are driving me completely crazy.
Tonight we’re going on the Essex Steam Train which they turn into the Polar Express for the holidays. We went a couple years ago for Caroline’s 3rd birthday and it was straight up magical. She is a girl after my own heart and doing fun family stuff is her favorite, so an evening wearing matching pajamas and drinking hot cocoa with her brothers is the perfect celebration. Plus she already partied hard with all her friends last weekend.
This morning she told everyone at the farmer’s market it was her birthday. She loves to talk and has a special charm that old ladies can’t resist. She is never cold. She likes sleeping and swiming and dancing. She has been singing Santa Claus Is Coming To Town non-stop. She is going to start piano lessons in January because she’s pretty sure she’s the next Taylor Swift. Even when she’s being ridiculous or uncooperative she’s the sweetest and just wants everyone around her to be happy. Her teacher told me I don’t ever have to worry about someone pushing her around, because despite being the smallest kid in her class she has NO trouble telling anyone to knock off their poor behavior.
I have no idea why YouTube murdered the quality of this video, but I promise it didn’t look as bad as the screen grab when I uploaded it and it wasn’t that dark when I shot it.
Welcome to Caroline’s Nutcracker Birthday Party! As always, this will be super long and picture heavy.
This is Caroline’s 5th birthday, which means it’s her last big everyone is invited party before we switch to family/special day/maybe a couple friends/sleepover parties. I can’t say she’s quite accepted that fact, since she told me today she wants an ice skating party next year, but I’m pretty happy I only have one kid to plan huge parties for (at least for the foreseeable future). I really do love throwing these huge birthday events but fall is my busy season for photography so doing a birthday on top of that is a tiny bit overwhelming.
With a December birthday and a daughter who has been in ballet for several years already, I’ve been dreaming of a Nutcracker Birthday party for a while. For those who haven’t been reading my blog for 5+ years, her previous themes were: Winter Sparkle Snowflake, Woodland Fairy, Princess and Mermaid. They were all really fun, but this year was the best.
I’m going to put in a page break after a couple of pictures because I just looked and I have 177 edited photos from the party and I’m going to have a hard time cutting that down to an acceptable number. I’ll round up sources at the end and link recipes in the food section, although a lot of the recipes are stuff I’ve linked for every party since her first (because I cannot have a party without thumbprint cookies).
Despite the fact that it is December in Connecticut, the weather was in the mid-60’s for her party. I would have done a lot more outside decorating if I had known the kids were going to spend ALL DAY in the yard or on the porch, but at least I got lights on the house and a couple of Nutcrackers for the planter boxes. I found those at Lowe’s. The sled and wreath are just my standard Christmas decor. It’s really nice that the first act of The Nutcracker is just a Christmas party, so all my decorations were already on theme.
Decor:
I made the wreath using Jill’s tulle wreath tutorial. Super easy and super cute, although glitter tulle is the fabric of the devil.
PINK five balloon from Party City.
Candy cane garland from Oriental Trading, who was kind enough to give me a party budget and send me some of my decor for free because they’re awesome and I am a very, very loyal customer.
Little house from Ikea, circa 2012
Christmas card holder made by my very talented husband. You can see a bunch of Caroline’s invites I used to fill it in until it gets full of holiday cards from friends. Those invites were done by the AMAZING Becca of Jumping Jax Designs. I cannot recommend her more highly – she is creative, talented and so fun. She turned my very vague ideas (“I’m doing sort of all the colors, but girly? And a little vintage? But not too cartoony, still classy. But good for a 5 year old?”) into the CUTEST invitations. The ballerina in the middle has red hair and glasses. I mean.
Caroline’s 5th birthday party is DONE! Today, she and I went to see The Nutcracker done by the ballet company where she takes ballet. Next Saturday, on her actual birthday, we’re going on the Polar Express to see Santa at the North Pole. I’d say she’s turning 5 absolutely in style. This last week was crazy but now it’s over and all I have left on the to do list is wrap one million presents before Christmas.
Sunday:
Tree decorating at church
Making lemon curd
They look so nice, but they’re terrors
Tuesday:
E’s favorite method of babywearing
Trying to see how close he can stand to the edge without falling off
So, Many. Desserts.
Wednesday:
Santa baby thinks he looks HILARIOUS
PARTY MENU PREVIEW
Never tired of looking at our tree
Thursday:
So dark, no one wants to get up in the morning
Who needs a coat, it’s only DECEMBER.
Grandparents are so good at reading
Friday:
The day started a little foggy
But the sunset was pretty spectacular
Like I said, grandparents are super good at reading
Saturday:
Babies are very helpful when it comes to setting up bounce houses
DECEMBER BIRTHDAY IN NEW ENGLAND WHAT
Such a super fun day with my girl!
Because my parents are the best, almost all of the party stuff is already cleaned up and my only job is eating leftovers. And maybe making time in my schedule for some exercise, because it’s too nice outside for me to already gain my winter hibernation weight. I should go jog on the beach or something. As much as I love the idea of a White Christmas, the longer it stays mild the lower our heating bill and the less school the kids miss and I don’t want to sell them to the circus.
Stay tuned for an epic party post – the photos are done so all I have to do is get them (and the links to alllll the places I ordered from) into a post!
Bonjour! No I'm not French, it just sounded fancy. Sorry for the confusion. I'm Suzanne, a 37-year-old karate mom, cheer mom, photographer, Navy wife, blogger, baker, and amateur at pretty much everything else. The stars of the show are Evan, born 4/5/09, Caroline, born 12/19/2010 and Lincoln, born 7/23/2014. The last bebeh is Finnegan, born 8/30/2016 so he's a toddler now but don't talk to me about that. We live in Connecticut and enjoy it very much except for most of February and March. I love hearing from you so if you have questions, stories or ideas to share, email me at bebehblog@gmail.com .
Affiliate disclosure: some of my posts contain links which may be affiliate links. That means I get Diet Coke money if you happen to like something I mention enough to buy it. I appreciate it!
