"I BE TWOS"!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful little girl!

You bring such light and happiness to my life, I couldn't begin to thank you enough. Your giggles tickle my soul.

You are the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me- my angel, my peanut, my ruggle, my bend. My little beansprout.

This year, we threw you two parties, so it wouldn't be as crowded as it was last year. We invited our Dads and their families on Saturday (which was your actual birthday), and our Moms and their families on Sunday, which also happened to fall on Mother's Day this year. It was great to be able to see both of our Moms on this day, for TWO most party-worthy occasions. :)

Bumpa and Nana couldn't make it on Saturday, so we started out the weekend with a visit from Pep, Grammy ("Gammy" to you right now), Nana, Uncle Dru and Uncle Jack. We spent a big part of the day outside, enjoying the nice weather and our newly green front lawn :)


You and Uncie Jack, feeling the grass on your piggies

Feels so soft, right ruggle?

Gammy gets a big ol' smooch

But then you left her in the dust to go and pick flowers for Momma.

Thanks, Bend! They are SO PRETTY! I love you!

Flowers for Nana and Gammy, too.

Peppie and Nana sitting on the porch. I just love this shot. It speaks of happiness and motherhood, which is apt, considering the holiday that was right around the corner.

You had fun opening your presents!

You can actually rip them open on your own now. I love that! But it can only mean one thing... You are getting to be a big girl now. And that stings, just a little.

**You didn't have the stamina to open them all right then, though... You waited to open most of your first batch of presents from Mommy and Daddy (I had wrapped half for the first day, half for the next) until later that night, after Cey-Cey came. You stripped down naked and ripped them open like a banshee!**

We all ate our cupcakes:



But you looked the prettiest doing it.

Then you had some more fun playing with your Uncles:


And letting them help you set up your new car track! Who says girls don't like cars?


We said our goodbyes:

You hugging it up with Pep!

And started preparing for the next day's festivities. Cey-cey came up that night to help us get ready and have some special time with you before everyone else got there.

Side note: Not only do you like to play with cars and car tracks, but you like to do it totally, BUTT NEKKID! (This is right before you decided it was time to finish opening those presents of yours!)

Better watch out for you, girl... Boys will be lining up for the girl who plays with cars naked someday, I just know it ;oP

However, you do play with it in your clothes, too. *phew*

It seems like it's one of your favorite presents, actually.

The next day, we set everything up and waited for our guests to arrive. You were VERY excited and kept saying "Is it my BIRTHDAY?! Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to ILYANNNNAAA!"

When you came down the stairs and saw the new pile of presents, you exclaimed "MORE PRESENTS!"

When everyone got there, we hung out for a while:

Cousin Kaden and Auntie Brigitte playing the Wii- you running through the frame :)

Uncle Mitchie, Cey-Cey, and the Grumps!

We played outside for a while, and you got to ride your new QUAD! Nana and Papa brought it with them- Kaden passed it on to you because he wanted you to be able to have as much fun with it as he did!! You got out to a strong start tooting around on it, and quickly picked up on the need to steer:


I couldn't believe my big girl riding a Power-Wheel type trike, all by herself! *sniffle*

You and "Gumps" playing in the front yard.

Some of the gang hanging out- L to R: Papa, Nana, Dada, Cey-Cey and Uncle Mitchie

We were having such a good time chatting, I even caught your Daddy SMILING! With the CAMERA! Shocker, I know. He never wants his picture taken, so he always makes funny faces. Not this time, Dada! This time we GOT YOU! :)

Nana doesn't like the camera, either... (Wonder if that's where Dada got it from?) I had to be sneaky getting this one- I thought for sure I had caught her smiling too, but right as I snapped the shot, she moved her hand to her mouth. Nuts!

Uncle Mitchie, squinting in the sun. He was watching you truck around on that quad. :)


Cey-cey and her amazing shade-changing glasses :) I think this is a good unposed picture of her.

Then we decided it was time to open presents:

Those PJ's on the right have already become your new favorite pair, even though you've only had them a couple of days. They have long cuffs that can be footies or not. You call them your "Sunglebunnies" :)

Nana was helping me by picking up the wrapping paper and helping you open your toys. She's nice, huh?

You got some more cars, too. I thought they would work with your new track, but they don't, which was a cause of much frustration last night.

Kaden sat patiently next to us and watched you open your presents. He also helped explain what things were to you, and he helped me pick up your clothes when you decided they weren't interesting enough and you wanted to throw them all around the room instead of looking at them.

He also showed you the awesome princess card he picked out just for you- it played the song "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" when you opened it up!

You didn't quite understand how to work your new REAL camera quite yet here, but you figured it out pretty fast, and you love it!

You were pretty good about opening your presents! I was so proud of you, watching my big girl open everything on her own and not get burned out. You were pretty well-behaved, too... Except for that one snafu when you opened your Dora book- the one about sharing. As soon as I told you what it was, Kaden went to look at it (not take it away, mind you!) and you screamed "MINE!" But since it was kind of ironic and cute, we all laughed it off. Kaden was a good sport about it, too... And a minute later you decided you would share with him anyway, so all was well. :)

We all sang you Happy Birthday:

And you blew out your candles... Well, you tried. I had to help in the end. :)

Then you gobbled down more cupcakes!

Well... we all ate cupcakes. And some other snacks. Here's what the table looked like toward the end of the day:

And then we hung out, and chatted some more, and said our good byes. It really was a wonderful, fun birthday weekend. I had a blast, and I hope you did, too. I just can't get over that it's actually been that long since you were born... Where did the time go, and when did you get to be this adorable, smart little kid?

Happy, happy, HAPPY birthday, my princess. I love you with every inch of myself.