30 before Thirty

Olivia’s Birthday Party

Olivia just turned 1! We had two celebrations for her this year. We had a family dinner on her actual dinner, complete with Cookie Monster and Elmo cupcakes. She was eyeing Cookie Monster all day, so she had a blast eating her cupcake. (It was super cute because she would go for the cookie without using her hands.)

On Saturday we had some friends come over to celebrate. For this party I made a ladybug cake. The cake itself was  neopolitan inspired, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla cake. It was overly sweet but fun to make.

One of my 30 before Thirty goals was to create an awesome first birthday cake for Olivia. I think I’ve accomplished that 🙂

French braid

I’ve always wanted to learn how to make a French braid so I stuck it in my 30 before Thirty list. When I am trying to learn something new I LOVE the internet. I was able to do a video search for how to French braid. My first attempt wasn’t too bad, wasn’t great either haha. My second attempt went a little better. This was during the Vaseline debacle, so Jillian’s hair was nice and greasy, allowing for a tight braid. I also made it a double braid to have less hair to deal with.


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Here is my first attempt

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She only sat still because she was flossing

attempt done while she was playing

the right side turned out much better than the left side

cutie!

Wrapping Gifts

Jillian and I have been in a wrapping frenzy this holiday season. She just loves to help put the tape onto the presents.  One of my goals was to beautifully wrap a present. This is my attempt to do so. Haha I’m definitely not Martha Stewart but it’s not bad.

Olivia’s Baptism

We had a very nice baptism for Olivia this weekend. The church service was nice, not too long. Olivia and Jillian were both really well behaved. Olivia did not cry when the water was poured onto her head. The water was warm, so it was bath like.  Adrian and I got to the church early so that we could take advantage of the beautiful grounds without people everywhere. We got some cute pictures of Olivia in her gown.


Olivia's Godmother Sabrina

Ryan was chosen to read

Here are pictures of my cake 🙂 I love how it turned out. I’ve also inculuded a picture of my dirt cake. Mmmm it was yummy.

This was number 21 on my 30 Before Thirty list!

Today’s My Birthday!

We had a nice relaxing day today! I was able to sleep in until 9! I remember the days when that was still too early haha. We had breakfast at Waffle Lady and then went on a search for easel paper for Jillian. She loves painting. I found these fantastic paint brushes at Aaron Brothers. They have the paint inside the sponge and all I have to do is soak them for 30 seconds. No Mess!!!

I did make my own cupcakes today but I love baking so it’s okay! I also got to cross off one of my 30 before Thirty things. I used a piping bag today. It was a little hard, they didn’t come out perfectly but they aren’t too shabby either.

For dinner we’re heading off to Ichibiri! Yum!

haha this was too good not to post. Thanks Felix

Click here —-> Birthday Wishes

Here are just some fun pictures from the day 🙂

30 Before Thirty

I was inspired by a blog that I follow (Making it Lovely the cute little tag is hers)  I’ve decided to create my own list. We’ll see how I do since I have 3 years to complete everything.

1. Visit the Getty MuseumDone!

2. See Redwood treesDone!

3. Get my Master’s Degree Done!{I am now a Master of Educational Technology ;)}

4. Have a stable teaching  job (haha) Okay maybe just have a teaching job 2nd grade teacher!

5.  Save money for a down payment on a house

6. Start an Elf on the Shelf tradition this Christmas Done!

7.  Frost a cupcake with a piping bag Done!

8. Get a King size mattress {Thank you tax return! 3/15/11}

9.  Fix my class website {I’ve realized that this is an ongoing project, which changes every year.}

10. potty train Jillian {We are super close 2/11, poop in the potty 3/23  Almost there! 8/20 We can officially say she is potty trained – just underwear at night now too}

11. Potty train Olivia I’m considering this done, we’ve had a few setbacks but she’s pretty much got it

12. Find a perfect preschool for Jillian {accepted 3/17/11}

13. scrapbook Olivia’s first yearDone!

14. Make a Pinterest craftDone! There have been quite a few and I’m sure more to come.

15. Teach Jillian to ride a bike with training wheels {Santa brought Jillian a bike and she is doing great!}

16. Finish the wall art for the girls’ room Done!

17. Stop going to work on the weekends! {As much as I want this to stop, it just doesn’t. I have cut it down to every other weekend}

18. Have at least one night when both girls sleep all the way through {several nights starting 1/5/11}

19. Camp at the beachDone!

20. Make Olivia an awesome 1st birthday cake Done!

21. Baptize Olivia Done!

22. Find the perfect lipstick Done!

23. Go wine tastingDone!

24. Go apple or cherry picking with Adrian and the girls

25. make homemade crepesDone!

26. learn to make sushi Done!

27. Baby #3 Done! 

28. Learn to create a dvd of video footage from my video camera Done!

29. Beautifully wrap a giftDone!

30. Learn how to make a French Braid Done!