Sam and Katie's Gender Reveal Party -- It's A......?

Katie and Sam were back and forth about finding out the sex of the baby ahead of time or letting it be a surprise at birth.  We talked about the pros and cons of each and they decided to at least get the 12 week blood test done so they could look at the results later should they choose to.

Katie and I had been looking at party themes for her baby showers and there were just so many fun ideas that they decided to have a gender reveal party to we could use another theme! Ha! Who doesn't love an excuse to party? If you've followed our blog for any amount of time you know that's what my family does best.

Katie's guidelines for the party:  keep it simple, no meal, and a fun reveal that will photograph and video well (so no cake cutting, etc).  She had really wanted a Mexican themed baby shower, but I talked her into a Mexican themed gender reveal once I started putting a few ideas together.

I did a photo booth at the entrance of the party.  Guests were asked to make their guess and photograph it.  I used my mom's Cricut (most are from the Photo Booth cartridge).

 I trolled the clearance aisles at Michael's, JoAnn's, Target, and Hobby Lobby to piece together the decorations. And my mom splurged on the extra large sombrero for Sam and the glittery headband for Katie.

 For the snacks I used At Home With Natalie's (formerly Busy Budgeting Mama) nacho bar as inspiration.  I cheated and used pre-made guacamole, BBQ, salsas, cheese dip, chocolate sauce, and caramel sauce from Sam's Club.  I made the cinnamon tortillas and maple cream cheese dips as she directs.

Then it was time for the big reveal!!!  As soon as we settled on the Mexican theme I knew we had to do a piñata (though I looked at doing the Mexican confetti eggs).  Katie is OBSESSED with t-rex (I mean, who isn't?).  I Amazoned "piñata" and this was the first one to pop up. Clearly the internet knows me well.  Done and done.  I filled it with "It's a Boy" confetti, strips of blue crate paper, and little rubber duckies (a joke from Katie's 16th birthday) that said "It's a Boy".  I also stuffed some navy blue Chewbeads in as our gift to her.

 It's a boy!!  One of the special details of the party was we included about 10 family members who were out of town on a giant Google Hangout video stream.  They were able to be part of the big reveal "live".  Katie and Sam got to talk to all of them at once to celebrate their exciting news!

 We are SOOO excited to have another nephew joining the family in December!

Evie and Maggie's First Slumber Party

A few weeks ago I took the girls to the cabin by myself and thought Evie would love to sleep in the bunk room by herself and Maggie would sleep in the Pack and Play in the room with me. I was wrong. 

Maggie was barely asleep and Evie was out of bed begging to move into my bed to sleep for the night. I wasn't about to move Maggie and the Pack and Play into the bunk room so I decided to let them both stay in my room. Haaaa. 

I tucked them in and continued talking with my grandparents upstairs. For a solid hour we heard the girls laughing and giggling. They were having a blast. I hated to break up the fun, but it was nearing 9:30 and they needed to get some sleep.  *I* needed to get some sleep.  I promised them they could have a sleep over another time.

Well, Evie is the elephant that never forgets. She had been BEGGGGGGGING me to having Maggie sleepover in her room.  Finally we had a few days in a row with no camps or activities so I agreed to let them try again.

Eric read them books and tucked them in bed. 

 They snuggled and gave hugs and kisses.

 My mama heart was bursting with pride and joy and all the memories of sharing a room with my sister. I cherish those days.

I have been anxiously awaiting all the late nights and giggling these two will share.  Even though Evie promised they would get a good night sleep (I'm no fool) at about 9pm she came downstairs and said, "Maggie won't stop talking"

Can you guess who the party animal is?

We finally put Maggie back over in her own room, but I squealed with delight that Evie and Maggie have such a precious relationship and inseparable bond.

Sisters are the best.

Corsetti Kids Cabin Weekend 2015

For the fourth year in a row, we and my siblings packed up with kids for our annual cabin weekend. It's just the 4 of us kids and our families and my grandparents. 

With another baby and another pregnant mama added to the brood, we had an especially low key weekend.   We spent a lot of time in the house playing cards, doing puzzles, reading books, and chasing after the kids.

It rained for a bit of the weekend, but we still managed to go into town, make s'mores, play bubbles out in the field, and celebrate Zachary's 4th birthday with a tasty cookie cake!

Sunday morning was one for the record books. We went to Mass together, all 14 of us. There's only one Mass and the church holds maaaaaybe 150 people. Maybe.  There is not cry room or air conditioning. In fact, there is barely a narthex.   At one point 11 of the 14 of us were standing in the back holding screaming children, or battling morning sickness or other digestive issues.  So exhausting.

Eric and Sam had to head back to Atlanta to work on Monday, but the rest of us hung out an extra day and finally enjoyed some nice weather out in the field playing games.

Last year we squeezed in every possible cabin thing (we cabined so hard last year) but it was nice to just lay low and chill this year.  Next year we will have another tiny one among us!  Can't wait!

Siblings Cabin Weekends: 2014 | 2013 | 2012 (no post)

First Cabin Weekend of the Summer

Back in June Eric had a wedding in Vermont and decided to extend the trip and spend some time in Boston visiting friends. I hate staying home alone for several days in a row so I took the girls up to the cabin to visit with my grandparents. 

I forgot to bring my camera and it's pretty dark in the cabin so getting phone pictures is hardly worth it.

 We had a great girls weekend. Evie played in the play house for house on end.  She would surface only to have us tie on her apron or to go potty.

One afternoon we packed a picnic to go eat at the new town square green space, but got there and they were setting up for a craft show.   The girls didn't get to run around and play in the fountains as planned, but we still enjoyed our girls lunch with Nannie.  Evie was horrible and grumpy and refused to pose for any pictures.

Maggie on the other hand was in hog heaven. She loved that Nannie treated the girls to Kilwins.  Evie and I shared sorbet and Maggie had a chocolate covered pretzel rod. She loved it. Can you tell? (see also: don't let your kid have chocolate in the carseat)

 The weather was kind of crummy. It rained off and on all weekend, but we could sneak out here and there to play on the deck.  Maggie was a fabulous supervisor for Spike, though I'm sure he'd beg to differ. (We dog sat Spike for a month this summer)

 The most special part of the weekend was how much one-on-one time Evie spent with my grandparents. See, my siblings were all coming up with their families the next weekend for our annual Sibs Weekend.  My grandparents needed to make all their signature cabin treats to prepare for the upcoming crew:  Fried Kix, Oyster Crackers and Party Mix.  Evie is just old enough to help.  She was a fantastic helper.

We went to the 4pm Mass Saturday night at then out to dinner in town.  Dinner was so early that by the time we got back to the cabin and had baths everyone was a little bit hungry. Evie talked Pap into making her all time favorite snack:  stove top popcorn.  Pap makes the best popcorn.  It was the perfect treat.

It was the perfect weekend with lots of R&R and quality time with my grandparents. We're so blessed to have this time with them!