Elizabeth's Birthday!

I cannot believe that my baby is TWO!! She has been really excited for her birthday (we got to go to a friend's party and she started to realize how cool it would be) and would randomly start singing 'Happy Birthday to Me' the couple days before the big day.  

In the morning we went to the store and got donuts; she told everyone in the store that it was her birthday.  After coming home, our neighbors came over with a present for her; new sidewalk chalk.  We then went outside and played and played with sidewalk chalk; Elizabeth mostly liked having me draw things and her stomp on them.  It was such an uncharacteristically warm day, especially for the winter we have been having, that we loved spending time outside.  To extend the 'outside' time we had a picnic in the backyard; which really means that I had a picnic while Elizabeth played and then she had to eat once we came in and sat at the table.  But it was fun and she now LOVES the idea of picnics. 

Spinning!

Silly Pictures Elizabeth took of Mom during our picnic

 While she was sleeping, I made the cake and then we decorated it together when she woke up.  I don't ever make cake (it is not really one of my favorite desserts), so when I was supposed to fill two round pans and it only filled 1/3 of each pan, I panicked that I had done something wrong and made another cake mix to go into the pans (to fill them).  Little did I realize that cakes triple their size while they are being cooked; so I had WAY to much cake (one round pan was a big cake on its own and I had two). Another vital error was that the two cake mixes that I used were not the same type of cake but I figured, cake is cake- right? Wrong, they baked completely different and at different speeds- Ugh! So after the frustration of making the cakes I was able to put it behind me and see the JOY of decorating a cake with a 2 year old!

Elizabeth said she wanted a chocolate pink sprinkle cake. I died the actual cake pink and purple (which kind of looked gray) and so that was taken care of.  I bought some frosting, which Elizabeth got to put on, until she tasted it and then she just wanted to eat it.  Then we put some parchment paper in the shape of a 2 on the top and she got to go to town with the sprinkles.  I had to try to direct the sprinkles to different sides of the cake, or one corner would have been covered in them all, but other than that, she did it all.  After taking off the parchment paper 2, it was cute to see her sprinkle cake.  *She did not initially want cake, because she doesn't really like it, but at a friend's birthday party she had cake and decided that you had to have a birthday cake.

 

She started our slow on the sprinkles and soon threw caution to the wind and sprinkled everything!

 

 

 

Silly Daddy!!

  

We went to the Newson's house that evening for dinner and presents.  They had the house decorated and she felt very special.  For dinner we had...can you guess? PIZZA!! She ate so much pizza that when it was time for dessert she had one bite and was full.  She was so excited to blow out the candles that she  prematurely blew them out and we had to light them again. She is an expert candle blower and I do not think there was even too much spit!

 

 

 

You can't really hear, in this video, because the adults are so loud, that she is trying to sing to herself (super cute)!

She got some fun presents; princess books from Rachel, doll clothes from the Grandparents, dinosaurs from Mom and Dad and a "big girl bike" aka tricycle.  She was so excited for everything and ran around playing while Dad sat and had to figure out how to assemble the bike.  She had such a wonderful birthday and was energetic but exhausted that night!! Our happy little 2 YEAR OLD!!

 

 

 

 

 

She tried to convince Dad that this was the helmet!

 That Friday (Feb 13) we went to the Stones Grandparents house to have a joint birthday party with Alice (turning 8).  We had pizza for dinner and cake and chocolate fondu for dessert.  Elizabeth and Alice blew the candles out together and it was pretty adorable! Mom made the cake and the frosting thickened into berry flavored fudge and the fondu was a perfect blend of messy and delicious.  We then got to open presents and Elizabeth got a beautiful new knitted dress from Grandma Baker.  

I LOVE these 'blowing candles' pictures!

Chilling out, watching a show with Grandma Baker

We love Elizabeth so much; she is my everything.  She is so smart and brilliant, which also makes her clever and a bit mischievous.  She is so sensitive and kind (lots of hugs and kisses) but is one tough cookie.  She is also very mature and aware of herself and what is going on around her.  She is everything that I hope to someday be all wrapped up in an adorably perfect little 2 year old girl! Happy Birthday Love!