Krissy's 3rd Birthday: Strawberry Shortcake Tea Party

Krissy's favorite television show right now is Strawberry Shortcake. So we decided to host a Berry Bitty Tea Party for Krissy and her berry special friends and cousins to celebrate her 3rd Birthday. 

Being so excited to celebrate, Krissy helped get her party ready in many ways. Here she is taste testing at the bakery that will make her cake. 

And here she is helping clean up the center piece....or maybe showing Judah how it works.

Mom did surprise her with her own giant strawberry plant making her feel berry bitty special.

Here are the berry delightful finishing touches for the tea party. 

At the cafe, we served only the berry best treats as each guest could make your own "shortcake." And we added some popcorn to pop up the garden (from her favorite episode titled, "Pop Goes the Garden"). We also added a little nostalgia for the moms. 

Krissy, our little strawberry, posed for some family pictures as guests arrived at 11:00am.

Finally, it was time to start the tea party. Each cafe guest made their own shortcake delight starting with a color swirl shortbread, added fruit of their choice, and topped with whipped cream. The girls poured their tea cups full of water and added some sugar. 

We had 9 little girls under the age of six years old. One table was full of the older girls followed by another table with Krissy and her neighbor friends who are six months apart and certainly not least the little cousins.

 After tea, the girls put together some beautiful jewelry with their sweet smelling fruit loops and ribbons. Each girl sported their "fruitiness" berry nicely!

And some girls just went straight to eating their supplies.

The aunts were sure having fun too!

At last, Krissy opened some berry juicy gifts from family and friends. She may have a little help opening too.

And a little help playing with them.

At last for the most berry special moment of the party, watching Krissy try to blow out her candles after hearing everyone sing Happy Birthday!

And now for the long awaited doll cake. Yum. We are pretty sure Krissy had two pieces and gobbled them right down.

We are so proud of you Krissy! You will always be berry special to us. Happy 3rd Birthday!

Kristyna Jane Rittgers: At the Hospital!

Our day started out early on Wednesday, March 14. We were a little late arriving at the hospital shortly after the scheduled time of 7:00am so that mommy could take a nice long shower. Dawn was just around the corner on this humid, clear morning as we made the short drive to the hospital. It would end up being a beautiful, sunny 82 degree spring day.

The night before we made sure everything was in order. Gigi had been with us since Monday to help with Judah and get last minute items checked off our to do list. Our friends, the Reeves, had brought us steaks for dinner so that mommy could enjoy a nice meal before midnight. We put Judah to bed for the evening with some extra quality time. Then later in the evening, daddy painted mommy's toes and nails. At last, Mommy had got some sleep only to wake up ready for the big day at 4:00am.

Surgery went much better than expected. Dr. Kopperud and the anesthesiologist met with us ahead of time to check on progress and work out surgery details. The nurses took care of all the lab and prep work for surgery. Other than a slight elevation in blood pressure, everything looked good and surgery actually started ahead of schedule. Mommy walked back to the operating room for the final prep. Dr. Kopperud joked around about mommy's diet (being gestational diabetes) while starting surgery asking what food would be first on the menu. Shortly thereafter, daddy came the room all dressed in time to hear Krissy scream on her way out at 9:21am. Daddy got to cut the cord and then was able to hold her by mommy's head for several minutes. Surgery finally ended at 9:45 am and mommy was wheeled back into recovery for a couple of hours.


Meanwhile, Krissy was whisked away to the nursery for tests and footprints. She weighed in at 6 pounds and 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. With her dark blue eyes, brown hair, and round face, she immediately looked like big brother Judah. However, her personality and individuality stole our hearts right away in the hours that followed.

From the start she has been a great eater, latching on immediately after birth while mom was in recovery. She did lose almost 10% of her weight in the hospital though causing a little concern. For a few feedings mom just pumped and supplemented with a bottle to boost her weight. By the time we went home, she had gained 3 ounces back. And by the time of her first doctor's appointment a few days later, she exceeded her birth weight to 7 pounds.

After getting settled with eating a few times, she had her first bath in the room with mommy and daddy which she did not like at all. Later in the day, she met big brother Judah and then met her grandparents. It was a very busy first day for all of us.



Room 2008 saw a lot of activity through our stay on Saturday. By Day 2 mom was up out of bed, making her way to the bathroom first and then out into the hall for occasional walks. After Day 2, mom and dad limited though visitors to get some extra rest from the frequent commotion. Dad in fact was able to go home for a good night's sleep. Mom was soon able to walk down the hall to drop Krissy off in the nursery on her way to the boutique. Dad filled out the legal paperwork but threatening to have mom check it over with his jokes on the name. Every spare moment we tried to get as much rest as possible before heading home.


Krissy on the other hand delighted all the nursery nurses with her cute hair bow and outfits. Krissy especially looked cute in her little ruffled sweet pea outfit for her hospital pictures. First we had to remove the band aids from checking her sugars though. Mommy and daddy had to relearn how to take care of a newborn baby again and gleaned much from the nurses. The doctors had only good news about Krissy imploring how healthy she looked. And on the last day we did pictures and more footprints to share with mommy.

Kristyna Jane Rittgers: Meeting More Family!

Krissy met the rest of her family later that Wednesday evening at the hospital. First, big brother Judah came into the room asking, "Where is Krissy?" Tim immediately showed him Krissy in the bassinet. We finally took her out to meet big brother Judah so that he could look her over.

A while later, both sets of grandparents and Uncle Philip and Uncle David came to welcome Krissy with a visit. They all filed into the hospital room for a quick hour to see the baby.

Papa Larry and Gigi brought her a John Deere outfit. We also posed for our first family shots. Then each proud grandparent took their turn holding Krissy. She slept through every moment almost knowing how crazy her extended family could be.

The next day, both grandparents came back for another visit. While mommy slept, Papa Larry and Gigi with daddy and Judah watched Krissy from the bassinet out in the hall. Then later in the day, Papa Ed and Nana Joyce came to hold Krissy again. Even Uncle Philip had some cuddle time.