AUBREY KINCH

We had such a fun time on Sunday celebrating both our little ladies! A few months back my grandparents were in town and Gam Gam is all into horses so her and Emery were watching Spirit on Netflix and it just clicked - we were having a "horsey birthday party" per Emery's request and Hollyn doesn't care so it stuck!

Gam Gam and G-Money (we call my grandpa this) got the girls these cute little outfits for their gifts, we scored the most darling invites from Minted, our friend Erin from Whip It Good Cookies did the best creations, Presh Party handled the cutest party hats and balloons, and Indy & Pippa sent us the coordinating bows to pull it all together. We felt so loved on by everyone who came out to celebrate them with us!

Because I was asked a few times on Instagram about our snacks, here are a couple items we made!

1 box Teddy Grahams

4 cups Chex cereal

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup M&M's

2 cups mini marshmallows

Instructions //

Melt the milk chocolate chips and peanut butter together and stir to combine, then add 4 cups Chex cereal and coat in a bowl. Transfer to a large ziploc bag with powered sugar and shake to coat creating the puppy chow base. Then add all ingredients to a large bowl, mix to combine and serve!

Instructions //

Melt the white chocolate to have ready and layer all your ingredients! We start with the kettle corn, add the white chocolate by drizzling it over the popcorn, crunch up the pretzels and circus animals, sprinkle with sprinkles and repeat - popcorn, white chocolate, pretzels, circus animals, sprinkles... etc until your bowl is full!

When I say Emery has the softest, sweetest heart on the planet, you have to understand it's so very true. It's innocent and she just wants to do all the things right and right the very first time. She strives to be the best and gets so conflicted when she can't quite get it right and she has the most OCD tendencies I've ever seen in a little tiny soul before.

So when we introduced her chore chart a bit over a year ago, she was so upset when she wasn't able to accomplish making her bed by herself, which was on her task list. It was a struggle every single day and she was always crying and crying in defeat. I saw Beddy's on instagram maybe 6 months ago and kept toying with the idea of their product - well we jump on board after her most recent meltdown to help ease her frustrations and make doing her daily tasks enjoyable again - seriously, she loves her chores!

The whole concept is a zipper! Kind of like a sleeping bag, but better, and stylish! I was skeptical but it's a dream, so much ease and quality material and comfort and look don't go out the window. It's hilarious how happy she gets about making her bed every day now and shows everyone who comes over her "zipper bed". Total win! I seriously loooove products that make being a mom easier.

Tweak items in the home to make their chores more on their level. Like we did with her bed, we've also switched locations of the dishes and utensils so she can easily empty the dishwasher or put her dishes in the sink for those. Whether it's adding a step stool somewhere so they can reach an item they need to grab for doing their chores, or leaving a pair of shoes out for them to throw on if they need to pick up toys outside - do it!

Create a chore chart!! Nothing got Emery more excited about a chore chart. It gives her the sense of accomplishment and she loves checking off the circles. It also helps me stay on track with doing them daily to make sure she's earning her "allowance". You can download the chore chart I made Emery and Drake, here.

Pick a prize or allowance each week they will be earning. We started out with a prize box where I stocked up on $1 and $1 items from Target and when she filled her chore chart for the entire week, she was able to pick something from the prize box. Now, we've opted for doing money because we're wanting her to learn the value of tithing, saving, and "play" money.

Make it fun! Play music, make chores part of the every day routine so it doesn't become a hassle or pulling teeth for doing them. I try to do my daily house duties right along with the three kids during their chore time so everyone has tasks going on and things to be checking off their lists.

This past Sunday we celebrated the girls together with one party because it's just easier that when with their birthdays being so close together. Notice Emery above holding up three fingers for her age, all sorts of serious! Haha!

They had a blast soaking up friends and family and eating cupcakes (thank you Sprinkles!!). I chose to do a simple Honeybee theme because I fell in love with these invites from Minted. I just couldn't pass them up!

Candace from Presh Toast made them birthday hats and all the paper goods to add some fun details to the party and then Gathre sent us the Midi Mat in Ivy to catch all those crumbs and sprinkles when singing happy birthday!

It all turned out so cute and perfect for them. We sure love these girls and how they bless our lives abundantly!

Have I ever told you I thought I'd have all boys? In my mind, I'd have three boys, all toe head blondes and would wear mohawks, camo shorts and vans. Dumb is a great way to describe thinking I'd be a boy mama. God has a sense of humor and although I have one boy, I was so convinced after having Emery, our second pregnancy would be a boy.

Nope.

Wrong again.

I want this room to be my room. Is that allowed to be said? It turned out to beautiful and whimsy but with the rustic touches I was dreaming of. I shared some inspiration here and was so excited as pieces arrived but it's blown me away being all together and complete.

It's that time- I'm buckling down and getting Emery started with potty training. I've heard so many things about all these different methods and how to do it but I'm simply going to use my gut and listen to her cues.

Yesterday was the party we threw for friends and family celebrating Emery turning 2! We had such a blast getting together with everyone and stuffing our faces with yummy food and sweets. A little back story... Drake chose to get one big gift for his birthday this year instead of having a party but we still wanted to sing him Happy Birthday with family so we kind of did a joint party in a sense. He didn't care about the theme so we catered to Emery with that and his mom made him an awesome Broncos cake to enjoy.

We got new bows from Elle Bowtique last week so I thought it would be cute to take some Bronco inspired pictures for Andrew since it's his birthday Friday... well, it turned out awesome.

*said with so much sarcasm*

via

I'm in that sweet spot with Emery not knowing quite yet what I want to do with her room before baby girl arrives. It's that weird age she could really stay in a crib a while longer or she could be a full toddler and switch to a big girl bed before sister is born. I liked the idea of transitioning her prior to baby coming so we could use the same crib for both girls but I partially feel like that's forcing her to really grow up and that really makes me sad!

The first year is done! Final. Not happening again. What a crazy thought! I think over the first year of Emery's life I kept having moments of wanting to go back and soak it up more and enjoy and cuddle and smell her sweetness and then I blinked and another milestone went by. Smiling, rolling over, sitting up, standing, crawling... and now we're on the verge of walking. It's crazy how quickly things go by and suddenly your tiny 5 pound newborn is 22 pounds and sassy. I told Andrew last night I'm relieved this first year is done so there's no more pressure of her monthly pictures and the stress of her birthday party but in reality, I'm so happy having done those to share with her when she cares... IF she even cares! ;)

SO let me share her party pictures with you! We had so many helping hands from the decor to the food down to the setup and tear down. What a blessing to have family and friends who are willing to spend the time on us! I had in my mind we would do a whimsy, rustic "woodland" theme but thinking more in depth, Andrew and I wanted this first party to be a reflection of her. It's always been my thing to sing her "twinkle, twinkle little star" when we're rocking together whether that's at nap time or bed time so we felt it would be the perfect fit. I started looking on pinterest for ideas and everyone who did this theme seemed to go with the typical gold and pink... of course. Not really the way I wanted to take it so we went a touch more natural with some glitzy pieces but I think it was a great happy medium between a gold explosion and being in a forest. You feel me?

picture overload... begins now! ;)

I couldn't have pulled this together without Christine of Two Chihuahuas. She and I chatted in depth about how we could make this lovely with just the right items and she custom made her "like a diamond in the sky" & "one" banner to match the invitations I made. She also made all the dangling stars and the adorable star picks for the finger foods and the star accents for her invites. She is an angel! What a help she was with both Drake and Emery's special days!

And sweet, Savanah from Unpolished & Pretty! She custom made Emery's smash cake stand! It was so so so perfect and I can't wait to use it again down the line.

Her flower crown (shown only once... side eye) was from Czarina's Project and it's even more beautiful in person! Something I'll definitely keep for her to use in the future since she wasn't having it for the party.

Lastly, we used FoxPrint to get all the instagram prints done. I used them to fill our Lucy Darling baby book too and love them. You can use code "8P3AJT" for 10% off until November 1!

T H A N K   Y O U   A L L !

serving trays- Bed Bath & Beyond | rustic tier and slab (borrowed) | sequin table cloth (borrowed) | balloons, paper straws and confetti- Petite Party Studio | "1" candle (I glittered it)- Target | cake (I made it) | birthday crown and bow headband- Presh Toast | cupcakes (my gam made) | chalkboards (borrowed)