The Pate Potpourri: March 2012

Baby Shower for Kathleen Marie Mills

Last Sunday, several ladies from church hosted a baby shower for our friend, Heather Mills, in honor of the upcoming arrival of her daughter, Kathleen Marie Mills. We wanted this shower to be super girly because this is Heather's first daughter (she has two little boys; Ty and Talon) We had a great time showering her with gifts (lots of pink) for her little princess who will be here on April 10th! We cannot wait to meet her!

Heather is on the left in the blue dress. Ashley is on the right in the pink dress. Heather and Ashley are scheduled for inductions two days apart!!!

Peyton created a little feature spot on the table with flowers, the invitation, and photos of Heather and Kathleen.

Janice Hubbard created delicious strawberry cupcakes with sugar lollipops and flowers for decorations. These pink confections were perfect for the occasion!

We had lots of pink flowers arranged on the table. Natalie Richardson made cucumber sandwiches using Peyton's recipe and other hostesses brought fruit, crackers and cheese. It was all delicious!

The yummy frothy pink punch was a mixture of Strawberry Fanta and Vanilla Ice-Cream. All the dips, fruit, and veggies were really good. We had a great time celebrating Heather and the arrival of her little girl!

Birmingham Zoo Trip

Yes, we are zoo fanatics!!! We love the zoo!! Last Tuesday, our family went to the zoo with a bunch of stay-at-home moms from church. Jeremy was able to drive the church bus for us so that he was able to go with us. It was pretty hot and Ava was pretty fussy, but overall it was a good trip. Here are some photos of our short time at the zoo:

One Year Ago...

A year ago, Jeremy surprised his girls with a trip to Disney World! Ava was 4 months old, and I was struggling with being a stay at home mom. The world tells me that I need to be in the workplace, helping to earn a living for my family so that we can accumulate "stuff." I really struggled with that. No offense to any mom who works outside the home. This was just a personal struggle for me. Since Jeremy and I made the choice for me to be a stay at home mom, God has proven to us over and over again that he will provide for us. He doesn't have to prove anything to us, but he continues to shower his blessings on us. We are so blessed!

This trip to Disney World was Jeremy's way of saying thank you to me for all my hard work in the home. I see so many other moms out there who seem to have it all together: they have the house cleaned every day, they cook dinner for their family every night, and they sacrifice their naps to get it all done before their husband sets foot in the house that afternoon. I am here to say that I do not have it all together!!! But, I do have a happy child, a happy husband, and we have a faith in God that we are working on every day. I am so glad that Jeremy is such a supportive husband and father. I did not deserve this trip, but I was very appreciative of his thoughtful and generous gesture. We had such a great time with our little girl at the Happiest Place on Earth!

We had to practice carrying Ava in the Snugli the night before our trip.

Our happy little girl on the way to Disney World.

At a rest stop in Florida. This poor outfit did not make it much longer. Her diaper decided to leak out the sides. Needless to say, we had a mess on our hands!

Our first stop was the Magic Kingdom

Cinderella Castle

Ava enjoyed the marketplace in Agrabah

At a shop on Main Street

Her first morning in Disney

Mommy gives lots of kisses

Disney has several convenience stops for parents of babies. Every few hours Ava and I would go rest while Jeremy was in line for a thrill ride. We had some wonderful bonding time!

We let Ava see these ducks while we were in Hollywood Studios. They were mean so we did not linger.

Ava stopped using a pacifier at about 2 months of age. Instead, she took to sucking her two middle fingers on her left hand (only her left hand) It was a phase that she eventually grew out of.