Emery Turns THREE! {Sweet Shoppe Party}

Click here to read about Emery's pink and gold first birthday party!
Click here to read about Emery's Elmo second birthday party!

Oh my goodness. HOW can I be writing about my baby's third birthday?!? It just doesn't seem possible. 😭

I had a little bit of a hard time coming up with the theme this year. I like doing character parties because there are so many fun ideas for those, but Emery really isn't into one specific character right now. She goes through phases with Daniel Tiger, Mickey, and Veggie Tales. After some thinking and searching on Pinterest, I had the idea of doing a party centered around sweets. One thing Emery is consistent with is her love of any sweet treat! 🍨🍩🍪🍫🍬🍭 I thought about doing a baking party, but I felt like she was a little too young for that, so I settled on "Emery's Sweet Shoppe"! It ended up being a really fun theme to do...and she loved it!

I found some clip art on Etsy I liked which gave me the color scheme and she already had a dress that was perfect for her invitation! Thankfully, we had a nice day in February where we were able to get a sweet picture for her invitation.

It's hard to get a "real" smile from her these days. When we tell her to smile, she usually closes her eyes and makes a crazy face. I think I was either tickling Daniel or he was doing a crazy Scooby Doo voice when we got this sweet smile. 😂💗

I always dread starting the invitation because I feel like it takes me forever to come up with something I'm happy with, but this one came together pretty quickly! I love all the colors!

This invitation design is available in my Etsy shop! Click here if you're interested!
Click here for a matching thank you card!

Once again this year, the sweet people at this Etsy shop sent us a big box with a *ton* of fun balloons to use for the party! Emery *loves * balloons so much! They were definitely a highlight for her! I just adore these confetti balloons! They are so fun and you can choose your confetti colors to match your party perfectly!

The Etsy shop that generously provided all of the balloons for Emery's party is offering all of my readers a coupon code for 10% off a purchase of $10 or more. The code is BLESSED10 and it is valid through January 31, 2020. Yay! I promise you will love these balloons!! Click here to visit their shop.

{You can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.}

They also sent us the big "3" balloons and the adorable candy themed "Happy Birthday" balloons! Even though the party was over a month ago, these balloons are still floating and Emery is still playing with them!

Along with all of those fun balloons, they also sent us a bunch of small balloons and large swirl balloons that all matched the colors we were using. We wrapped these in cellophane and hung them around the kitchen and dining room to look like wrapped candies! I *loved* these!!!

Here's a close up of the larger ones. They gave the kitchen such a fun touch!

This is the best picture I have of the whole kitchen where you can see more of the large candies hanging from the ceiling. They were super cute!

The table decorations were pretty simple for the kitchen table. Just a tablecloth, a cute candy themed box {from Hobby Lobby}, a sign that matched the rest of the decor, and some fun confetti that matched the balloons from this shop.

We hung the little candies in the dining room, too.

I pretty much did the same thing for the dining room table as I did for the kitchen. Just a tablecloth, some cute boxes and signs, some vases from the Dollar Tree filled with jelly beans, and this polka dot paper runner {Target Dollar Spot!} which just happened to match perfectly!

One of my favorite parts of Emery's party every year is setting up the dessert table. I loved how fun and colorful it turned out this year! It was definitely her favorite part!!

Considering the theme this year, we had quite a selection on the dessert table!! We had chocolate cupcakes and sugar cookies...

LOTS of candy... Gummy worms, gummy bears, Starburst, Pixy Stix, fruity Tootsie Rolls, Easter M&M's, Starburst jelly beans, and Skittles! Emery was in heaven! 😂 I got the colored buckets at Hobby Lobby and Target, the clear candy bowls and colored scoops are from Party City, and the glass heart dish is from the Dollar Tree.

I wasn't originally planning to do an actual birthday cake since we were having cupcakes, cookies, and tons of candy, but Emery started talking about her party and said she wanted a pink birthday cake with sprinkles. So Nana made her one! She loved it, of course! It was so funny when it was time blow out the candle because she still doesn't know how to blow bubbles or candles. She just goes, "fffff"! We also had some Easter colored marshmallows on this side of the table {blue candy bowl from Party City} and I made some colored mints with some white chocolate mint candy melts from Hobby Lobby. The marshmallows might have actually been Emery's favorite candy out of them all! She ate a *lot* of marshmallows!

Everyone made little bags of candy to take home with those mini polka dot paper bags {from Hobby Lobby}.

I also made a stats poster this year with all of Emery's current favorite things! It's so fun {and a little bittersweet} to look back on these every year!

This custom stats poster is available in my Etsy shop. Click here if you're interested!

For the menu, we did ham and cheese sliders, cheesy Ro-Tel bacon cups, mac and cheese bites, veggies and dip, chips and dip, and fruit cups. You can't see it very well in this picture and we didn't get a close up, but I loved how the silverware turned out. I wrapped the silverware in a napkin and then put a candy bracelet around it! They're in the back on the left side of this picture. I saw the idea on Pinterest and it turned out super cute!

We just did punch and water for drinks. I made water bottle labels that matched the rest of the decor. We made this punch recipe and it was really good!

And now for some picture of our precious birthday girl!! This is probably my favorite one of her from the whole party! She was *so* excited!

We got pictures with all the party guests early so we didn't get busy and forget. Emery *adores* all of her family members and talks about them all the time. 💕

With her sweet cousin Vanna who she loves so much! And she's totally holding onto a marshmallow here... 😂

Nana and Poppa with the birthday girl!

Uncle DJ, Aunt Allie, and Vanna!

Uncle Steve, Aunt Chari, Zach, Marah, and Cole! We missed Jayma!

And finally one with Mommy and Daddy!

After pictures, it was finally time to eat! Emery was so excited that she barely ate anything...except maybe some jelly beans from the table centerpieces. 😉

Then we opened presents! She was definitely ready for this! Silly girl!

Love this one! And I can't believe she's 3!

She got some new dress up outfits from Mommy and Daddy along with a few other things...

A doctor's kit, doctor coat, and Daniel Tiger book about going to the doctor {which she can now pretty much recite} from Aunt Allie, Uncle DJ, and Vanna. Emery even wore that doctor coat to her check-up later that week! 😂 Her doctor was very impressed when she knew what an otoscope was!

A beautiful jewelry box from Nana and Poppa that had one of my childhood necklaces in it. She wanted to put it on right away. She also got some clothes, books, and an art easel from Nana and Poppa which she loves!

And a Minnie Mouse microwave that talks and lights up from Uncle Steve and Aunt Char! She loved hearing Minnie talk!

After she opened all of her presents, we took her outside for her big present from Mommy and Daddy...a trampoline! It was cold on her birthday, so we had to get bundled up first. It was totally a labor of love on Daniel's part putting this thing together! But the look on her face was worth it! She loves it!

We went back inside to sing to our birthday girl and have cake and ice cream and we didn't take any pictures of that! 😔

She had so much fun at her party and seeing her so happy and excited is just the best! 💕

  

34 Weeks

How Far Along: 34 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 17.7 inches long and weighs about 4.7 pounds. I can definitely tell she's running out of room in there!

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and getting less and less comfortable.

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I still feel a little swelling every now and then.

Stretch Marks: Maybe a couple on my tummy. I'm not sure how my skin is going to possibly stretch any more without getting stretch marks! I feel so big!

Sleep: Well, I was sleeping pretty well most nights, but these last two nights were terrible. I just tossed and turned, could not get comfortable, and could not get to sleep for more than an hour at a time. It sure does make the nights feel long when it's like that!

Cravings/Aversions: I heard a commercial on the radio that mentioned lemon pie and I turned it up because I was like, "I need that lemon pie!" But it ended up being an ice cream commercial. My mom made me a whole lemon pie, though, and it was *so* good!!

Symptoms: I don't think I've had any new symptoms...just more of the same. And the general discomfort has just gotten worse. Laying down is pretty much the only comfortable position. Sitting makes me feel too crunched up. I'm also getting more and more tired every day. My ears have actually gotten a little bit better. I had to start taking some amoxicillin because of a bug bite I got, and Daniel thinks that it's helped my ears. They still plug almost every day, but not as often and it doesn't last as long. It has been *so* nice!!

Movement: Sadie is still moving all the time and she's getting stronger! You can see my belly jump sometimes when she kicks! 

Mood: I'm getting more and more excited to meet Sadie and see Emery with her. I'm still pretty nervous to have a newborn again, though! It feels like it's been such a long time and I don't remember everything!

What I Miss: Being comfortable and having energy!

Looking Forward To: I am really looking forward to getting back on a somewhat normal routine. Our house got hit by a tree about a month ago during a storm and we've been so busy trying to take care of everything involved with that. The last several weekends and pretty much every evening are consumed with house projects, which has been stressing me out because there's so much other stuff to do.

Best Moment This Week: Several things that I've ordered have come in this last week! My favorite is this name cutout for above Sadie's crib. I can't wait to hang it!!

We also got the pictures back from our photographer from our last session! These are a few of our favorites!

  

32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 16.7 inches long and weighs about 3.8 pounds. It's crazy that those measurements are getting closer and closer to newborn size!

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie Hope! We finally decided!

Maternity Clothes: Yes, and my selection is quite small now that the weather is warm. I didn't want to buy a bunch of things for spring and summer, so I have hardly anything to wear. I actually started wearing some of Daniel's athletic shorts at home because all of my pajama pants are flannel. 🙈 

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I definitely feel them getting a little snug. My hands don't look swollen, but I can feel it a little bit.

Stretch Marks: I feel like I've seen a couple on my tummy, but I'm not quite sure. I could be overanalyzing. 😂

Sleep: Hit or miss. Some nights I have a hard time going to sleep, other mornings I wake up super early and can't go back to sleep...until about the time it's time to get up for the day. Super frustrating!

Cravings/Aversions: Okay, so I've been craving yummy drinks! I love a good Coke (and will have my one serving each day a few times a week), but I've been wanting something that's not Coke or water lately. I got some Minute Maid Berry Punch this week and it is so, so good! I haven't had it for years, but I used to love it when I was in junior high and high school. I'm also still excited for a steak!

Symptoms: Pretty much more of the same, plugged ears (oooohhhh, the plugged ears!!!! 😣), shortness of breath, generally uncomfortable, pain when I'm walking. By far, the most annoying is the plugged ears because it happens every single day and it's been going on since November. I did find out just two days ago that if I lay completely flat, they'll usually unplug for a little while. My feet and legs get a little swollen if I'm on them a lot, but nothing compared to the swelling I had with Emery.

Movement: Lots and lots of moving! Emery loves to "feel" her move, too. Of course, Sadie never moves when Emery is feeling my stomach, but I'll twitch a little and Emery thinks it's the coolest thing! She's even started saying things like, "Good morning, Sadie" and "She loves me". She snuggled her head on my tummy this morning and gave it a kiss. It was the sweetest. 💕

Mood: I'm feeling all of the feelings. The countdown is officially on and it feels like we have no time left. There's so much to do, but I'm also so tired and really don't even know where to begin on everything that has to be done. I know it will all get done, and we really do have all of the essentials for when Sadie gets here, but there are a lot of little details to get worked out, too. I also can't hardly even stand to think about how grown up Emery is going to seem once Sadie gets here.

What I Miss: Clothes that fit and getting up and down easily!

Looking Forward To: We had pictures taken last weekend and I can't wait to get them back. It was for Emery's 3-year session, but we did some family pictures and maternity pictures, too. Our photographer showed us a few on her camera as she was taking them and they looked super sweet.

Best Moment This Week: We had another doctor's appointment yesterday and we took Emery this time so she could hear Sadie's heartbeat. For some reason, she really likes to go to the doctor. She hasn't had to get a shot since she decided she liked the doctor, so I don't know if she'll stop liking it the next time shots are involved, but for now, she was all about the check up. She weighed and measured Ellie, Daniel, and me. She was thrilled when my doctor listened to her heart with her stethoscope! She climbed up on that exam table so fast! It was too funny!

  

30 Weeks

We took this on the day of Emery's birthday party!

How Far Along: 30 weeks and 3 days, It feels kind of crazy to be in the 30s!

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 15.7 inches long and weighs about 2.9 pounds. She's going to grow about half an inch and half a pound every week from here on out.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're still leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name. We honestly haven't talked about her middle name much at all in the last couple of weeks! It's been super busy around here!

Maternity Clothes: YES! And pajama pants and t-shirts when I'm at home! I had to order some spring/summer things because it's getting warm here and all of my maternity clothes are fall and winter. I have to say, I prefer fall and winter maternity clothes...more coverage, please! I know I'll probably be wearing mostly maternity clothes most of the summer as well, since my due date is at the end of May.

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I do feel like I've had a little swelling...nothing major in my hands.

Stretch Marks: Maybe a couple of small ones around my belly button. I'm afraid more stretch marks are inevitable. I still have a lot of growing to do! 

Sleep: It's been pretty good again. I think I wake up when I move, but I go right back to sleep.

Cravings/Aversions: Still nothing super specific...I'm just enjoying eating in general. Sweets are a favorite, but that's pretty normal for me! :)

Symptoms: Thankfully, that crazy week-long headache is gone!! I'm still dealing with plugged ears daily, mild heartburn every now and then, and shortness of breath. I always feel out of breath, even if I'm just laying down!! I'm just generally uncomfortable now, too. I feel like I've got a major waddle and getting up and down is just the opposite of graceful! I've also had a little bit of swelling in my feet and legs. I had a *lot* of swelling with Emery...my feet were *so* swollen, so I'm really hoping it doesn't get that bad again!

Movement: She moves a *lot*!! We can see her from the outside a lot now, too, which is fun to watch!

Mood: I'm feeling good! I am starting to think more and more about how things will be different when Sadie gets here, so I'm trying to really soak in my time with Emery!

What I Miss: Moving around easily!!

Looking Forward To: I'm excited to get more done on the nursery. We've been focused on Emery's birthday the last couple of weeks, so we haven't done much at all in Sadie's room. I'm working on finding some nursery letters on Etsy so we can put her name above her crib. It would be a lot easier if I wasn't so indecisive {and picky!}!

Best Moment This Week: We had a doctor's appointment yesterday, and hearing that sweet heartbeat is always a precious moment! Everything looked good, except Sadie and I had a major growth spurt in the last two weeks. Two weeks ago, I was measuring 28 weeks, and this week I was measuring 32 weeks. I also gained 6 pounds in 2 weeks. Wow. I honestly expected it, though. I feel like I've grown so much in the last couple of weeks. Another great moment was Emery's birthday party! It went so well and she had so much fun!! Daniel took the two days after her party off and we did so many fun things to celebrate! She's a little confused, though, because it seems like she's had several birthdays. She asked us, "Am I four yet?" :) She also *loves* the trampoline! Watching her jump on it the first time was so precious. She kept saying, "I love my trampoline! It's so much fun!" You pretty much can't ask for more than that! :)

One of my favorite pictures from her party!! 

  

28 Weeks

What is a yellow turnip??

A milkshake? Quite appropriate considering how many of them I've had lately! :)

How Far Along: 28 weeks, THIRD TRIMESTER!! 

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 14.8 inches long and weighs about 2.2 pounds.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're still leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name.

Maternity Clothes: Yes, most everything! Although both the shirts in the pictures above aren't maternity, but I bought them specifically because they'd work while I was pregnant. It will be nice to get to wear them again next fall/winter!

Wedding Rings On/Off: On, but I do feel like I've had a little swelling.

Stretch Marks: I feel like I maybe spotted a couple around my belly button. I'm hoping I was wrong! 

Sleep: Very hit or miss right now. I woke up the other night at 3:30 and could *not* fall back to sleep. I also wake up several times a night because I'm getting a little less comfortable.

Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really specific. I'm still just really enjoying everything! I've had lots of frappuccinos from Starbucks!

Symptoms: Everything is pretty much the same since last time, but I've added a pretty much constant headache. It started last Sunday and I've had it every day since. I've tried Tylenol and caffeine which doesn't really do anything. I finally tried Sudafed PE yesterday and that is the only thing that helps even a little bit! Hoping it goes away for good very soon because I don't like taking much medicine.

Movement: Still lots and lots of kicks and wiggles, and they're getting stronger!

Mood: I'm feeling pretty good and happy, but I do get overwhelmed a little bit when I think of everything that has to be done and how much life is going to change in just a few short months.

What I Miss: Moving around easily and no headaches!

Looking Forward To: Emery's birthday! Even though it's so bittersweet that she'll be 3 (!!), she is so excited about her birthday and it makes it so much fun! We have lots of fun plans for the next several days and we are so excited to give her her big birthday present...a trampoline! She is going to love it so much!

She has no idea what it is yet, but loved dancing around inside the big circle!

Helping put some screws in...

Best Moment This Week: My parents came over last weekend and helped us get Sadie's room ready and paint the playroom! We got so much done thanks to all their help!! I am loving how Sadie's room is turning out so far. The paint color and the chandelier is just perfect. We also went shopping the next day and got a rocking chair for her room, which just so happens to also be a recliner. That will be *so* nice! 

The new color in the play room!

  

26 Weeks

How Far Along: 26 weeks and 3 days

Size of Baby: According to The Bump, the baby is about 14 inches long and weighs about 1.7 pounds.

Gender: It's a girl!! Her name is Sadie and we're leaning towards "Hope" for her middle name.

Maternity Clothes: Definitely! I ordered a few springy things this past week since our weather is warming up. I'm ready for a little more variety! And flip flops!! Boots are becoming *very* challenging to get on!

Wedding Rings On/Off: On

Stretch Marks: No new ones yet. I'm loving the Mama Bee Belly Butter by Burt's Bees. I'll probably keep using it even after she's born. It makes my skin so soft!

Sleep: I'm still sleeping pretty well! I might wake up a few times a night when I move, but I usually go right back to sleep. I'm thankful for that!

Cravings/Aversions: I really can't think of anything specific that I've been craving (other than maybe a steak). I'm just *really* enjoying *all* the foods!! I'm living it up these last few months of guilt-free eating!

Symptoms: I'm still *very* uncomfortable. I'm having lots of lower back pain and ligament pain. I'm feeling like a lumbering elephant as I explained it to Daniel. I'm on the floor playing with Emery a lot, so getting up and down off the floor is anything but graceful.  Still dealing with the super annoying plugged ears and I've started to get mild heartburn a few times a day. I know it could all be a lot worse, though, so I'm definitely not complaining!

Movement: She moves all the time! I love it!

Mood: I'm feeling a little more steady with my emotions lately, so that's really nice. I hate feeling overly emotional!

What I Miss: I'm really ready for a big steak from Ruth's Chris! We already have plans to go for our anniversary in June!

Looking Forward To: Painting the nursery! We're planning to get that done this week!

Best Moment This Week: My mom, Emery, and I went to pick out a paint color this week and did a little shopping, too. We picked a really, really light lavender and put a little on the wall and I think we're going to love it! We also found a few things for the nursery at Home Goods so that was fun! One of them was a lavender blanket which Emery snuggled with the rest of the day! She loves snuggling with anything cozy!