Happiness.

I know this blog is supposed to be all about IC and how to cope with the everyday trials of dealing with this debilitating disease but I just had to take a break from it to post this! 

I am addicted, I mean seriously sign me up for a meeting addicted, to Pinterest.I planned most of Titus’ first birthday thanks to Pinterest and I suddenly realized I only have 9 months until his 2^nd birthday and I better get cracking! So here I am perusing when I suddenly realized I never posted the pics from Titus’ Birthday on there to inspire other Moms like me!

So even though Titus is now almost 16 months I figured it’s better late than never!

Our theme was balloons and the primary colors. I went for the theme full on! 

The games we played were: Pin the ribbon on the balloon (I just taped a balloon cut out on a poster board then we played like pin the tail on the donkey), balloon darts (I tacked tiny balloons onto a cork board that we covered in wrapping paper then had the kids throw the darts at the board), and hot potato balloon (just like hot potato but with a balloon, this one was fun for the younger kids)! We also had a little jar filled with deflated balloons and people wrote their guess of how many were in there. 

We decorated every inch of the backyard with balloons. We used around 300 balloons, some we inflated with air and some with helium. We strung some on fishing wire between the house and pool house, we had some hanging like a chandelier over the cake, and we had bouquets of balloons every where! We also had balloons going all the way down the long driveway, you definitely were not questioning what the theme was! 

There was also a photo booth with a backdrop of balloons and we had painted two frames white then one we added polka dots and one we tied lots of multicolored ribbon all over. 

We had a picture of Titus from every month of the year hung over the drink table. We put the photos on colored paper then glued thick rainbow ribbon on the backs of the paper and hung them on white ribbon. 

On the drink table we used a red plastic tablecloth and striped rainbow wrapping paper as a runner. We had frozen water balloons as the ice for juice jugs in the bucket. We also had red punch and water in the glass containers. Also we had mason jars full of rainbow colored candies- M&M's, skittles, gum balls and hard candies. 

For the favors I bought colored lunch bags and filled them with a cute coloring page of Mickey Mouse and balloons, crayons, a sucker, a punch balloon, and a beautiful custom made balloon cookie. I attached a tag that said "Thanks for Popping By" with some fun rainbow ribbon! 

Of course the crowning jewel for any birthday party is the cake! Our family friend Shannon Ross made his beautiful cake! It fit the theme perfectly and was delicious to boot! I especially loved his cupcake on top, it was the perfect amount of cake for my little guy! 

Of course Titus had to be dressed in the theme too so I ordered this adorable shirt off of Etsy! He looked absolutely precious and  I'm so thankful for Eye4images Photography who captured the day for us all!

 If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! Happy Party Planning Pinteresters!

You blink...

In the past 25 years of my life people have always told me how fast time goes and I honestly didn’t believe them. I felt every year to its fullest and was always ready for a new year to come.

Suddenly I am sitting here and like a punch to the stomach I realize I am 25, a wife, and I am the mom of an almost 1 year old. It has gone so fast.

This year has been one of the hardest in my 25. It had so many blessings and joys but also some of the most devastating and seemingly impossible moments. So of course I start sobbing as I realize how fast it’s going and how my little baby is going to be off to college before I know it. (Ask any parent, that’s what they all say!)

As I reflect on the last year and the many hardships I feel like it was never THAT bad. I mean it was definitely hard having three surgeries, several infections, sicknesses, and IC while having an infant but I hardly remember those. I remember falling asleep holding this tiny baby that came out of the very body that betrays me every single day but gave me the best gift I could have ever imagined. I remember the excitement of him lifting his head, rolling over, crawling, and saying mama. I remember the pride as I watched him make people smile. I remember the love I felt as I watched my husband become Titus’ perfect Dad.

All I want to say is, I know it is hard right now. We struggle with IC every day. It seems to be the only thing in our lives. BUT, try to enjoy the other things in your life. When the pain is less and you’re not drugged to high heaven, enjoy every moment you can so that when you look back you remember a life that you lived not what you missed and the pain you endured.

It’s going to go so fast. You may be in the exact same place in your IC in a year but other things will change. Some will be gone and new things will blossom. We have to live life outside of our IC, we can’t become our IC. 

I am the Mom of a baby for 8 more days. Then he will be a big 1 year old boy. He will be walking soon and will become his own little toddler self.

My IC is bad right now but as soon as it eases I’m going to get out of the shower and play with my son. We will finish planning his 1^st birthday party and enjoy every moment that we can because this week of celebration will be gone as fast as all the other 51 weeks of his life have.

I usually feel cursed by my IC but today I feel blessed by every thing else, especially by this special, healthy, happy baby that is turning into a lovable, friendly, attention seeking, hilarious little boy.