Maddy Turns 4!

I hate almost two months have past since Maddy's 4th birthday party, and I am just now getting this up. This year we had Maddy's party on Sunday September 22. We rented our church's indoor playground called Playside from 2-4. Her theme this year was Dora. I knew I would not be able to decorate at her party like I would want to...actually how SHE would want me to lol, so I put up some decorations at home while she slept. I had to juggle a few close calls to her waking up, but I managed to get them hung all around her room. 

 I couldn't capture her room the way it looked in person, but you can get the idea with these pictures. She was so surprised when she woke up. We still have these hanging up today. We will probably leave them up for a really long time :)

Since we were going to be doing a lot of playing and running around I didn't want to get her a dress or an outfit that was dressier, so I ordered her shirt from Embroidered Shirts by Monica. I ordered it very early on September 11 and went with standard shipping. My thought process was when you order it asks you when you need it by and I said I needed it by Saturday September 21. I felt that was plenty of time to get the shirt done and shipped. For a $10 fee you can rush your order and it will be done within 24 hours. I did not want to pay the fee and again felt like it fell within her 7-10 days turnaround time. After ordering I began to check back with a shipping update. The week it shipped it told me it would not be here until Monday September 23. I was SO upset and mad that Maddy would not have her special shirt in time for her party. Yes, she would have it on her birthday, but it just wasn't what I wanted for her lol. After a day of being upset I moved past it and began frantically searching for a Dora outfit. Dora clothes are not as common as they used to be years ago. We checked Kohls and Target and they had nothing. I browsed around online and found Wal-Mart carried some. The day before her party we went and sure enough they did. Once we got home something told me to check the mail and to my wonderful suprise...her shirt had arrived. I was BEYOND ecstatic to see that package lol. I will probably use Embroidered Shirts by Monica for all my custom shirts. Her prices were lower than other stores/boutiques and the fact that she tries to get your package to you when you need it without having to pay a fee, unless you need it right away. Just to clarify I am not being paid to write this, just sharing my personal experience :)

 This is the outfit we found at Wal-Mart...it was just not what I wanted her to wear for her party

This is the shirt we ordered. I was very pleased with it. The day of her party I believe it was supposed to be in the low 70's weather wise. I figured she would get hot in pants, so I went ahead and put her in shorts.

We had church the morning of her party. After church her Pops took her along with my nieces back to his house to feed them and let them play while me and her Nana got the place set up. Maddy wanted cupcakes for her party, but I also wanted a cake so I asked my mom if she would do both. For the cupcakes I just ordered ring toppers of Dora. They weren't exactly what I wanted, but it was all I could find. I bought a cupcake stand to put the cupcakes in.

 Without realizing what she did, my mom chose pink and brown for the colors of the cupcakes...those were Maddy's nursery colors :)

 She was a bit shy as everybody sang happy birthday to her...

 I have no idea what I was doing here, but it definitely looks like I was having fun...and maybe chasing somebody lol

We let Maddy open her presents first, then sang happy birthday, then let the kids run wild while everybody else ate. It was a lot of fun and Maddy seemed to really enjoy herself. After we left she asked me how many more days until her next birthday. Looks like she is mommy's girl and loves to celebrate her birthday :)