Lyla's First Birthday | a rainbow party & a video

Lyla girl turned ONE on Saturday, September 8th! We celebrated her special day by inviting family to a rainbow themed birthday party! Here's a video I put together of her special day to go along with the picture overload!

Lyla's cute birthday invitation ...

The morning of her birthday, Liam helped carry in this handful of balloons while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her ...

I had so much fun planning her party! I used these balloons to make a big rainbow balloon banner ...

I made her rainbow cake using empty peach cans and mixed 6 different bowls of batter with the colors of the rainbow. Then I made a homemade buttercream frosting and topped it with fun rainbow colored sprinkles! We had rainbow shaped cookies, white chocolate covered pretzel sticks, and a fruit platter ...

I originally planned for the party to be at a certain park but it was packed with the Saturday morning soccer game craze ... something you don't realize when you're new to the town so we relocated last minute to a small little park just down the street from my dad's house. I think it was always meant to be there because there was this big beautiful water fountain in the background that had a rainbow in it the whole day. ;)

All 12 months worth of photos to decorate with ...

The best and hardest part of her birthday was having some family be able to celebrate our kids' birthdays with us that haven't been able to the last several years while also missing the other side of the family who we usually have there but are now further away. 

As expected, Lyla loved her cake!! She dipped her finger in it before we even got the candle lit. haha While it took her a minute for her to take her first bite, once she did she went to town. She meant serious business haha ... 

Such a good sharer! 

This picture shows the rainbow I mentioned in the fountain! So sweet!

Those lips!!!

Between her brother and her cousins, she had the best helpers opening up her gifts! Nic's dad and Dee got her those cute turbans and we had to try on every color. ;)

Every time someone was opening a new present, she'd stare at them so intently, it was adorable!

Her lamb from mommy and daddy ...

I think Liam ate about 10 of those pretzel sticks while we were busy watching the birthday girl experience her day! haha

Happy First Birthday to our rainbow baby! We love you so much Lyla Mae Williamson!! 

... Rainbow Party Sources ...

plates | napkins | rainbow swaddle blanket | cake stand | lamb | candle | cookie cutter | invitation 

And a first birthday outfit from my father and mother-in-law!

Transitioning to a Big Boy Bed & a video

This post has been a long time coming. Technically we transitioned Liam to his big boy bed back in March. I have to admit that both Nic and I dreaded this milestone after hearing worst case scenarios from just about every parent we talked to! We knew though that once we made the transition there was no going back so we had to just dive all in. 

We finished his big boy room the day before I hit 6 weeks pregnant and planned to reveal his new room to him, give him a week to adapt to an entirely new room with all of his toys in it, and then have him make the transition the next weekend. But nausea took over a day later and I just didn't have the energy for several weeks to be handling that kind of a change when I already knew that he slept so well in his crib.

His last nap in his crib ...

When we finally did transition him it was a Friday night. We chose not to do it at nap time because we figured with it being light outside he'd want to get up out of his bed several times and it turned out to be the right choice for him. We kept his bed time routine the same ... pajamas, brush teeth, and read a couple of stories. In order to also help ease Liam into the transition of having a new baby sister in the fall, Nic has been reading to him at night in case I have to be nursing at that time.

When Nic pulled Liam into his lap on his new bed he thought it was fun to read there! I watched these sweet moments unfold as the two of them read for the first time together in his new bed ...

Then came the hard part, realizing he was staying in there without us. We turned off his lantern so the room went dark and began to lay him down and he immediately started to whimper. We both laid on either side of him, I sang to him, and we both held his hands and comforted him until he settled back down. I slowly began to let go of his hand, gave him another kiss goodnight, and eased my way out of the room. Nic stayed for a bit longer and then did the same and that was that. He never got up, never came out, and slept all the way through the night! Besides him waking up much earlier (a whole 2 hours, 6:30, than he did in his crib) we thought we had it made! Easiest transition ever! Well, not so much. Over the last few months he has good and bad days/nights. Sometimes the moment we leave, he immediately gets up and tries to come out (repeat that process about 4 times before he'll finally go to sleep). Sometimes he wakes up in the night and wanders into our room thinking it is time to get up for the day. Some days he wakes up as early as 6:30 and other days sleeps until 7:30. No matter how consistent we've been every day is a bit different. For a while he cut his nap shorter (about an hour and half) but now it is closer to two and half or three again. Which often means he isn't ready to go to sleep when it is night time. We're working on adjusting this schedule.

We've since learned that he is still not afraid to sleep in the dark! He doesn't like being covered up by his bedding (sheets and duvet) and instead still prefers his baby blankets ... one covering him up "snug as a bug in a rug" and the other two up by his cheeks. He even gathers them all up and carries them out of his room in a big arm full every morning. haha It is the cutest thing ever!

Needless to say, next to sleep training at two months old it has been our biggest transition with Liam yet and I know it won't be our last. We are really thankful that for the most part, those early sleep training days have made him a really good sleeper. If he ever gets up in the night, he is just confused about the time and immediately goes back to sleep after being laid down. Next big transition ... potty training! Bleh! Just as intimidating for us but hopefully goes just as well.

p.s. You can watch the little video I made of Liam's last nap in his crib and first night in his big boy bed HERE!

Liam's Big Boy Room & a video

I'm so excited to FINALLY reveal Liam's big boy room with you today! His room has been finished for a few months now but nausea and a lack of energy from this pregnancy has kept me from getting my act together to photograph the room and finish the post.

We are so happy with the way it all turned out and most of all, happy that Liam loves it so much! You can find a list of sources and a link to the video of Liam's reaction when he saw his new room for the first time at the end of this post! All he could say over and over again was "WOW! WOW! WOW!" It was so adorable!

With that said, Liam's camping and adventure theme room ...

The colors we chose for the room were black, emerald green, gold, and mustard. Liam's teepee, the house bed, and his love for everything outdoors were the inspiration behind the theme!

Gallery walls are my very favorite and I love the way this one turned out above his dresser. The "Liam" letters are a DIY from his nursery. Just simple paper mache letters from Hobby Lobby spray painted in the color zine to get the look of the popular and much more expensive zinc metal letters from Anthro. 

These sweet bear figurines came from a big collection that was gifted to Liam for his first birthday from his Grandma and Grandpa West. I love the cute woodsy vibe they bring to the camping room!

I love that picture of Liam on his bike for the first time and this print that says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a sing step" so much!

The dresser is old from IKEA. I tried to find it on their website but it doesn't look like they carry this size anymore?

I made the tassel garland for Liam's first birthday party and have kept it hung up ever since! That and a strand of edison string lights, his room his bound to be a party all year! ;) 

My favorite Happy Camper print (I adore all of Garvin & Co.'s chalkboard prints!!!) and book shelf hung above his teepee. 

That sweet handy husband of mine built Liam's house bed and it is one of my favorite parts of the whole room!! He followed this tutorial and modified it slightly so that the bed sat on the ground and didn't have a chimney.

I got the inspiration to whitewash (tutorial I followed here) and paint the bed with a herringbone pattern from a frame that I love by Minted.

His nightstands are two old power poles that my mom gifted me from her work! We covered them in a couple coats of sealant so there wouldn't be any raw edges to get splinters from but other than that, we wanted to leave them in their unique original state as much as possible. That little lantern makes the perfect lamp for reading bedtime stories.

This cute boy sure loves his big boy room! Especially jumping on the bed so it's a good thing it is close to the ground!

Most days his room looks like this ...

It is so sweet watching him play in there though. He is finally starting to be old enough to build things with daddy rather than just knock them all down and Nic is loving it! 

... S O U R C E S ...

Rug

Teepee

Tree Wall Decals

Mustard Duvet Cover & Camper Sheets

Lion Print | Happy Camper Print | A Single Step Print

Gingham Throw Blanket

Light Fixture | Lantern (sold out from Modcloth)

Monogram Wall Hooks

You can watch the video with Liam's reaction to his new room HERE!!!

If you have any other questions about where we got things feel free to message me or leave them in the comments below and I'd be happy to answer them. XO