Olivia turns two

Happy 2nd Birthday my girl!

*click here for her 1st birthday

My first time making a double layered cake! Good thing my Mom was here to help!
Strawberry cake w/ pink buttercream frosting = delish and girly

Yummy food! Ham Sammies, creamy tuna on mini bagels, farfalle w/ spinach and mushrooms, veggies, and of course cake and butterfly cupcakes!

She LOVED the hanging balloons

Trying to figure out how she's supposed to blow these candles out

After we cut her a piece of cake, she made me put the candles back in her piece so she could blow them out again and again

Jumping in the balloons

more balloon fun

trying on her lovely bracelet from Claire-bear

kissing her baby from Brett and Shannon

After all the presents were opened, she just wanted to pop balloons! This kills me! Her face! She loved it.

*the deets (for myself)

I've been planning this little shindig for 2 weeks, thank goodness for pinterest! 

I didn't have time between packing, a mini vaca in PC, and the actual move to even bother with thoughts of a party, but I knew I needed to do something to make this little one feel special. It was just a family party because we don't really know any kids well enough yet to invite them to a party, and that was probably really good for her. She still having a little trouble with her new surroundings so it was nice that she knew everyone that was there, but we wished so badly that she could have had some of her Utah cousins there too! She would have really loved that. 

When we got here, I got to work scheming and coming up with ideas. It was so nice to be at my parents house because my Mom already had a lot of the stuff I wanted (ie: cake stands, mason jars, a furnished home!). Thanks for letting me make a mess of your kitchen and house! I think the only thing I had to buy was fabric to make the banner, the paper straws, washi tape, and tall candles. The rest of materials came from my own crafting bin that has started to accumulate some good stuff over the past 4 years, and of course my Mom's crafting supplies! When it was all over, my dad said, "I think the Momma had just as much fun planning the party as the baby had AT the party" Probably true! I love planning, organizing, and crafting!

After starting the party with a mini meltdown, and then dropping her juice cup only to have have it break open (has NEVER happened before) and spill juice everywhere, things went smoothly. The best thing we ever did was have birthday candles and balloons. That was all she needed! 

She called the candles "fireworks", and she made us re-light her 2 candles over and over and over so she could blow them out again, even though she couldn't do it on her own, ha! We spent a good few minutes trying to teach her how to blow, but she kept sticking her bottom lip way out and blowing her bangs everywhere. It was quite funny.

She LOVED the balloons! We knew she would so we were prepared. We hung balloons upside down from the ceiling, and every time she saw them her eyes got big and she said, "OH, balloon"! Then we had  two bags of balloons blown up on the floor where all her presents were. I hung streamers from the doorway (which I loved to do because I remember having that for all of my birthdays and every single one of my brothers and sisters birthdays as well) and when it was time for presents she slowly peeked through the streamers, and then bolted into the room to jump in all the balloons. She didn't notice the presents for quite awhile.

The very first thing she noticed about her presents was a little bracelet made special from her cousin Claire. She made me open it immediately! She didn't really understand the "ripping the paper" stuff so I ended up opening most of the presents. She was happy to take what was inside, but she wanted to take each toy out of the box right away. I could have given her one present and she would have played with it and been overjoyed.

Today when she woke up, instead of doing her normal routine of getting some juice and watching a cartoon, she jumped out of my arms and ran into the living room to check on all her new toys. To her delight they were all still there along with all the balloons! She literally touched each toy and said something. Oh how I wish I knew what she was saying! Then she played and played. She is one very happy birthday girl!

**I just have to share this because they are so darn cute and great for decorating anything kid related-- the abc cards hanging over all the presents is a free download from here!