28 February 2013

Alethea's 2nd Birthday Celebrations! My baby is TWO!!!!!


               Wow, I can’t even believe we just finished celebrating our sweet little girls 2nd birthday.  It doesn't seem like she has been around that long and yet it feels like she has always been a part of our family.  We love her so much and are so blessed each day by the fact that God has placed her in our care.  So this month we had the pleasure of celebrating 2 years of life for her.

Not the most amazing pic, but she is sporting her birthday shirt. :-)

                I wanted to make her birthday special for her, but at the same time, the stage we are in life, there wasn’t a lot of time or energy to plan a big shindig.  So we just kept it simple and kept the focus on making her feel special.  My brother, Camden, and my parents, Mamaw and Papaw, came to visit for a few days prior to her birthday and stayed until the morning of her birthday so it was really special for her to get lots of extra attention and love around her birthday.  She loves all three of them very much!

Alethea cheesin' it

                Since my family was leaving the morning of her birthday, we had her “party” the night before she turned 2. J  It started with dinner and I made some of her faves which included homemade chicken nuggets, homemade russet and sweet potato fries, and steamed broccoli.  All three were served with ketchup (yes even the broccoli) and she loved it!  Then after dinner I sent her on a walk with Mamaw and Papaw so I could get things set up for cake and presents. J  I decorated everything in Minnie Mouse (table cloth, napkins, plates, party hats and stickers for the bday girl), set up all of her presents on the table behind her chair, and put out the balloons we had purchased (including a Mickey and an Elmo balloon).

Birthday Dinner

digging in

Everyone except Mamaw enjoying dinner

                Prior to sending her off for a walk we had told her she was going to have a party to celebrate her birthday so when she returned that was the first thing out of her mouth “pahtee Lala?” (translation: party Alethea?).  So cute!  Of course we said yes and told her to come find her seat at the table.  She came around the corner and shouted “MINNIE!”  She loves Minnie Mouse a bunch!  We told her to get in her chair and the first thing she said was “pahtee hat” (translation: party hat) and made sure everyone had theirs on and then she said “cook Lala?” (translation: cookie Alethea?) since she had seen me making her cookie cake, lol.  She is not a huge cake fan, but she LOVES cookies, so I made her a homemade cookie cake and decorated it in strawberries and homemade whipped cream in the shape of a 2.  She absolutely loved it and we even let her have 2 pieces because she loved it so much and we couldn’t say no to the birthday girl. J

Birthday girl's seat

All the goodies

Cookie cake

"pah-tee hat"

Loving her cake...even though she didn't want to blow out the candles because they were "hot"

                After cake she had a blast digging into her presents.  She got a play dough set, cookie cutters, and a Dr. Seuss book compilation from Mommy and Daddy.  Mamaw and Papaw gave her a super cute outfit and an amazing toy organizer that is definitely Mommy’s favorite present. J  Uncle Camden gave her some awesome play food that we are putting away for a few months so she can have something mid-year that is new to play with, but she was dying to open it, lol.  Uncle Cody and Aunt Justine gave her a new Louisville shirt, a doctor kit, and several great books.  Granpeg and Grandaddy got her a very cute outfit and an Elmo book that sings If You’re Happy And You Know It.  She also opened a dress from Grandma Dorothy that had come in the mail earlier that day.  Plus earlier in the week Grandma and Boppa’s package full of a doctor kit, Elmo sheets (for when she gets her twin bed after we move), Clifford books, and some new snack cups.  Grandpa also sent her two more books and a seated spin toy.  And then someone very sweet sent her a magna-doodle in the mail, but don’t know who yet.  She is one very blessed girl.

She loves Elmo and she loves books so this was perfect

Checking out Mamaw and Papaws card....she was so into the cards, lol

investigating her play dough set

Presents done, time to play with balloons. :-)

                And if that wasn’t enough celebrating for our sweet 2 year old, the celebrations continued on her actually birthday.  Before my family left, we all sat down and enjoyed birthday cupcakes (homemade muffins with homemade strawberry cream cheese to top them) for breakfast with Alethea and sang her happy birthday.  Then after Daddy went to work and my family left it was a day all about having fun with Alethea.  After we both got ready for the day, we headed out to Target to pick up more glow sticks and simply walk around the store which is one of her favorite things to do.  Then we went to the pet store to look at the fishes, kittens, “piggys” (guinea pigs), birds, and more.  She had a blast at the pet store and just kept walking from one animal to the next.  We went to grab some yummies to eat before heading to Marble Slab Creamery to pick up her free ice cream cone (in a cup of course).  This was her first time getting her very own ice cream and her first time ever trying an ice cream cone.  The flavor I chose for her was cinnamon and she loved it as well as the cone.  I truly thing she ate more than half of it for herself and then Mommy just had to finish it off, lol.  So fun!
               We had to go home for nap time, but after nap time was over the fun didn’t stop.  While anxiously waiting for Daddy to get home, we went for a walk around our neighborhood.  Alethea loves to go for walks and simply be outdoors so this was a hit.  Then Daddy got home and we hopped in the van and headed to Alethea’s favorite restaurant (and Mommy and Daddy’s too), Mellow Mushroom.  She loves pizza and she actually ate almost 2 entire medium slices by herself (minus the crust on one). 
We had such a fun time making her feel special and attempting to make the day/days as much about her as possible.  I think she loved celebrating her birthday this year and she even learned how to hold up 2 fingers and say that she is 2.  Though I don’t think she really gets what that means, lol.  She loved her “pah-tee” and she loved her day of fun so I would say this year was a big birthday success.  So thankful for our big 2 year old Alethea!
When looking for pictures, I realized I don't have any from her actual birthday...oops...must have been too busy having fun. :-)

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