Party Hardy!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

 

Little Miss Natalie is officially 1 year YOUNG!

I can hardly believe it. I took the day off so her & I could get our party on!

Her Aunt Kelly also took off of work to join in on the fun!

 

I decided to take her to the Aquarium. I mean what kid doesn't love big tanks of bubbly water with colorful fishies everywhere.......

 

Well, that would be my kid. Honestly it wasn't that she didn't like it. I just don't think she had any clue what the heck was going on.
It was like she woke up today knowing it was her birthday!

Total Miss Priss Attitude. 

Once I set her down....she would scream if I picked her up!

She turned into a little independent thing.

Mom, I gotta see these Lemurs!

So we crawled in with the Lemurs.

 

 

Mom, now I gotta make a friend!
(that poor boy:she was determined)

 

Back it up Mom, I got this slide!

 

We had probably been in the Aquarium for 15mins.

& she was already running circles around me.

Thankfully it was a early Wednesday morning, & we were practically the only ones there.

We may need to return this package!

 

 

 

Ohhhh ARE WE BORING YOU?!

 

Hanging out in a nest with Auntie Kelly. 

Look what I can do!

 

I finally wrangled her back into her stroller. Cheerios always does the job!

 

We are always prepared!

My heart will Gooo Onnn!

Do you see Any Sharks Natty-Pie?

 

 

 

We took her outside on this boardwalk to let her get the last bit of energy out!

The weather was Perfect.

 

...and then she was D.O.N.E! Down for the count.

She wore herself & her momma out. She was passed out before we even got out of the parking garage. It was perfect because Aunt Kelly &

 I were able to enjoy a nice lunch while she snoozed.

 

DUN DUN DUN....THEN THE KRAKEN AWOKE!

 

We just finished up so no worries.

 

HOW OLD ARE YOU NATALIE?

ONE!

(we gotta work on that)

 

....AND THEN IT WAS TIME TO GO!

WHEW! WHAT A DAY BIRTHDAY GIRL!

 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU NATALIE.

 I AM SO PROUD TO BE YOUR MOMMA!

XOXO

 

 

 

I had to sneak this guy in here. He was just too cool not to share!

 

LATA ALLIGATA!

-Melissa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CIRCUS PARTY!!

 This past Saturday was quite possibly the most perfect day. We celebrated our daughter's first birthday, CIRCUS STYLE! We have the best group of family & friends! Everyone that came really has no idea what it meant to us to have them there. I literally was in tears at the end of the night, because the love I felt from everyone was so special! Ok, I am sure you are just waiting to see some pics! So, let's get right too it!

 

STEP RIGHT UP, DON'T BE SHY!

 

 

My mother made my dress, & Andy Pant's Ringmaster jacket.

Natalie's dress is from Cracker Barrel (random I know)

She is standing on an ice bucket that I bought at Lowe's for 5 bucks. It was already white & I just painted some red triangles on it -BAM perfect photo prop!

 

I am going to have to have this picture framed!

How great is our friend Carlos' strong man costume-him & Andy have been friends since middle school. He is my hero. He had no shame going into Goodwill to purchse some women's shirts to make that top!

We made his weight bar out of a stick and two whey protein jugs. I painted the 500lbs on the side of them & his costume was complete!

I can't stop laughing every time I see Andy Pants with that ridiculous MUSTACHIO on!

 

 

Nat's outfit was a size 2T, but it looked great on her! It also came w/ Lady Bug wings-maybe we can make her that for Halloween! BINGO!

What do you think of my bumper bangs?!

 

I got the idea from this KICK ACE youtube tutorial..

 

i heart youtube!

 

I purchased her bloomers off of Etsy!

Love that lil' bum!

 

 

 MY CIRCUS GIRL!

 

 

Remember my friend Julie I mentioned in the previous post? Well, this is her man, Jeremy, one of my besties actually. I know Julie b/c of him. He was hilarious with this "strength test!"

 

 

 

My Momma made the cake, & I actually made the elephant cake topper! It took me a couple of weeks! It was quite the process. It started with some newspaper, then some paper mache, then clay. She looked just adorable sitting a top the cake in all her glory! I am damn proud of her!  I made a mini-version of the elephant for her smash cake as well. I hope Natalie understands that she will see her sitting on top of all her cakes for every birthday!

Large Cake Topper in the Works

Made the Baby Version on my Lunch Break at work.

 Finishing up the Cake Topper Duo!

 

 

 

 

 

I made her cake smash backgroud from some old curtains I found at Goodwill. The red strips were from an old women's skirt from Goodwill, & the blue strips were an old sheet from there as well. I cut out the words CIRCUS from foam board.

Her Grandma (my momma) made the cake & the party hat!

 

 

We rented a double lane slide for all the kids! By the look of my face I wasn't the biggest fan of it! I can't stop laughing everytime I see this picture!

 

 

She barely touched the cake! I was shocked. She had a few bites of frosting, but her left hand actually never even got messy! Prissy little thing we have on our hands!

 

 

How beautiful is this pic of her and her Aunt Kelly?! This one is a must frame as well!

 

 

Like any fancy girl should have, Natalie had a wardrobe change!

Her Granny (my step-mother) picked this out for her & it fit the party perfectly!

It is a MUDPIE dress.

 

We will be going to VA this weekend to celebrate my Nephew's Pirate Party. He was born a week & a day after Natalie. Another 1st Birthday & another Cake Smash we get to see! So EXCITED!

 

Also, Super excited to see all the changing leaves for FALL! I am thinking I can knock some of my Fall Bucket List out while I am there! CANT.WAIT.

 

LATA ALLIGATA,

-MELISSA

 

 

 

ALL PARTY PICTURES DONE BY THE TALENTED

AMBER ELLIOTT PHOTOGRAPHY

GO LIKE HER ON FACEBOOK @

www.facebook.com/AmberElliottPhotography

 

IF YOU ARE STILL READING THIS & WANT A GOOD LAUGH, HERE IS A QUICK VIDEO OF KELLY & I ON THE SLIDE AT THE PARTY!

ENJOY!

 

How Goes It?!

Well Hello There!

So glad you decided to stop on by! I am new to this whole blogging world, although a little intimidating, I am still super excited to start this new journey! So bear with me as I learn the ropes & get my page lookin' fancy! I thought and thought what my first blog should be about, and well I think a proper introduction would be best!

We are the Dennis Family!

Hi again!  Are you still there?

 

My husband, who I will refer to as Andy Pants, and I have known each other since 9th grade!

We didn't date in high school & I don't remember having 9th grade study hall with him, but according to him we did!

We became great friends our Senior Year in high school. We were both in relationships at the time so it never crossed our mind that we would ever date, much less be MARRIED!!

Some days we still laugh about how things turned out.

We graduated in 2002 & both went on to do our own thing. I would sometimes see him at the mall in passing but that was it. Maybe go to a few parties he had, but nothing more.

 

(left)Andy Pants & I Senior year:(right) At Our 10yr HS Reunion   

(dont be jealous of our poses!)

 

Anyways, fast forward to 2007. This is where you know there is a someone watching over us. That saying "everything happens for a reason," is 100% true! We both moved to the same little townhome "village." My roomy at the time had just gotten out of the Marines, & he went to HS with us as well. Actually him and Andy Pants had known each other since elementary school. Small world!

 We all started hanging out again.

 I had just gotten out of an almost 8year realtionship, & having great friends around was the perfect distraction.

We like to think that the game "Rock Band" brought us together. He couln't resist my mad drumming skillz yo, & his bass playing was pretty hott too.

One day I was down & out from a nasty cold, & being the great guy he is, he brought me some delicious fruit juice from a fancy lil' organic grocery store, but what really stole my heart was the fact that he brought my sweet doggy a bone too... I mean really!

Meet Ribby Dennis!  

 

Ok so blah blah so he won me over, we starting dating & on Dec. 25th 2008 he proposed!

 On March 27th 2010 We Tied the Knot!

We actually got married where Ryan Reynolds & Blake Lively just married!

WHY THEY GOTTA COPY US?!!

 

I could do a whole post just on our wedding sometime.

Would ya'll like to see more?

you know you want to!

 

OK! Back on Track!

We had our first furry baby on our honeymoon!

Meet Duke Dennis!

 

Then on January 26th 2011 we found out we were expecting a human baby!!!

 

It was the most amazing feeling. I still get butterflies in my tummy thinking about it.

I have always known I wanted to be a Mommy.

I had a beautiful pregnancy!

Here is our Birth Story if  ya wanna know more!

 

 

At 7:02 on October 10, 2011 weighing in at 9.2lbs

we were blessed with Miss Natalie Dennis!

 

 

She is now about to be a year old! Next week to be exact....we survived it! We made it through our whole first year!

 

I have so many stories to share with you about her, and I can't wait!

We hope you will join us in the Days of Dennis!

 

If not,

We might cry!

 

LATA ALLIGATA!

-Melissa