Baby Evelyn turns THREE?!?!

How?

Why?

When?

It honestly feels like yesterday that I was pacing that hospital room, nervously rubbing my belly, about to meet little miss.  A knew in my heart it would be the last baby for me, and I wanted to cherish it all.  Take pics of all the moments.  Be present.  And soak up all this little munchkin was about to be- so curious of her little personality, beginning with delivery... 

I just wanted to see her, nuzzle her, and be with her straight out of the shoots.  I joked with the doctor, "I just want to hear those first cries before you whisk her away".  Well, hear those cries I did.  Little Miss Evelyn has spent every waking moment since birth using those vocal chords- HA!  She is by FAR the loudest of the bunch, the most energetic, and ALWAYS on a mission!  Soak her in we have.... I just still can't believe it's already been THREE YEARS!!!!

{all ready for the birthday girl:)}

 

Somebody was pleased!!

We chose to surprise her and celebrate the Saturday before her birthday (which was on a Tuesday;)), so she could enjoy her fun prizes all weekend long!  She was THRILLED!!!

....and so were her sisters!!

{Maggie loved the party blowers}

It was pretty much the sweetest thing ever listening to her giggles as the other two made sure Mags was a part of the party.... LOVE!

Birthday lunch of champions: chicken nuggets and mac n cheese... literally her favorite- HA!

...and somehow pinatas have become a birthday tradition around here!  

The face of a "new three year old who's been up since 5am" when your mom says we can't do snow paint on the driveway as it will stain... HA!

  

...the party continued to Fast Lanes!!

...where the girls played

...and played

...and played

...and PLAYED in the climbing gym there.

They crawled out a full hour later hot, sweaty, and ready for pizza- HA!

Remember that "new three year old who's been up since 5am" kid I was talking about?!  Well this is her at 6pm after eating pizza, downing an entire chocolate milk (well poured most of it on herself-hence the shirt change) and an ice cream sundae.  Pretty sure she was so punch drunk she was incapable of sitting down... OMGoodness.  She crashed hard within 60 minutes after this picture was taken- HA!

March 6, 2018

Evelyn's actually birthday!!!

Mini cupcakes to share with your friends at school.

Flowers from Grandma and Grandpa Lee JUST FOR YOU!

Another favorite meal: spaghetti!!

....and a giant cupcake to celebrate?!

Ya.... she seemed to enjoy it.

And I think she felt special.

Little Evelyn.  Dubbed "little bear" by your Daddy and I you are our crazy energetic, super loving, incredibly stubborn girl.  Little bear for life: cuddly one minute and throwing a fit to MAKE SURE you're heard the next.  We love you more than you know and loved EVERY MINUTE of celebrating you during your birthday weekend.  Love you, Evelyn Marie.

Love, Mommy + Daddy

O'Connell Celebrations...times 3!!

So much celebrating this past March: bachelorette party, bridal shower, parents turning the big 6-0!!!  

It was AWESOME!!

First stop: Vegas

Abby and I flew out to celebrate my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Natalie, and meet her friends and family who would be in the bridal party... FUN!!!

"We made it safe and sound, Mom!"

Boots on the ground for like 10 minutes and I was already missing my babies...

  

So, Pete snapped a couple pics to show me he had it under control: bellies full and iPads in hand- HA!

And speaking of full bellies...

We learned how AMAZING room service is!  Nothing like lounging in your robe, under the covers, and they wheel a cart of food between your beds while you watch HGTV and visit.... we were pretty much in Heaven (but we missed you, Anna!!!!!)

#doesnottakemuch

...but we DID put our fancy pants on and hit the town later that night!!  It had been FOREVER since I had been out like that!!!  Natalie's friends sure knew how to plan a night out in Vegas!  The effects of mom life started to show their ugly head... my "I'd been up since 5am self" was bone tired after we finished dinner around midnight (2am my time- ahh) and I had to cut the night short, but dinner and meeting the bridal party was SO NICE!

The Nat Pack;)!

Day 2: Pool Day

Come rain or shine the party must go on!!  A little rain never slowed down Vegas... HA!!

Never been to a beach club quite like this... good times!

{Cheers, Natalie!!!}

  

Night 2: Cocktails and Dancing!

{Ladies in Red}

Whirlwind of a few days: great times meeting Natalie's sweet friends from all over the country- pretty special group for sure!!  I enjoyed a girls weekend from a whole different perspective, but MOST of all enjoyed spending time with Natalie and my sister... cheers to MANY more girls weekends together!!!  

Next up: Indy!!

Natalie's bridal shower and my parent's birthday all fell around the same time, so Pete and I packed up and headed SOLO to Indy to celebrate!!  We left the kiddos in Arkansas to try out our sitter and see how it all worked out leaving them for a long weekend.  With an impending Italy wedding I felt like trying out the sitter's comfort with the girls before I LEAVE THE COUNTRY {slight mom gasp}, I thought we'd give this a whirl!!

...in true Maggie fashion, she started throwing up as Pete and I were leaving!  I initially panicked and thought I should call off the weekend and stay home, but Kaitlyn, aka: best sitter ever;), was so chill about it and encouraged us to go!  We made sure Mags was comfortable and apprehensively hit the road.  Getting adorable pics like these throughout the weekend showed me the girls did just fine- SO GRATEFUL!!

 

{fun times with the neighbors!!}

 

...and the O'Connell girls did just fine too!  We were hosting a bridal shower for the soon to be Mrs. Aaron O'Connell there in Indy... all showing up to prep the venue in the same pants- HA!  We MUST all share some genes- hehe!  Anyway, we put our working pants on- HA- and got to work bringing this Italian countryside shower to life...

...and to life it came!

GORGEOUS food boards, finger sandwiches, and salad with Natalie's homemade vinaigrette tasted as incredible as they looked.

 

Mom worked her magic with the cake and flowers- they were absolutely beautiful... 

 

...and the special touches throughout the space were perfect!  It was a vision brought to life for sure...

{The O'Connell girls altogether!!}

SO fun to celebrate Natalie and Aaron with my extended family and women I grew up with!  

...and all those Italian touches made me more than excited for the REAL DEAL in a few short months!!  Italy wedding in T-3 MONTHS!!!!

Lastly, we were able to celebrate the two people who made all this fun happen: mom and dad's birthdays are only a week apart, so we met in the middle that weekend and celebrated this mile-marker birthday with cookies perfect for them, at their favorite restaurant, with a gift put together by all the people that matter the most to them.  It was so special...

...and it felt SO GOOD to be altogether again!

Cheers to family and all the celebrating we got to do this past month;)!!!!