blown away

two and five.

gah. look how little she was!

DIY invite

super proud of my creation for Lovie's birthday party invites:

i used the free version of picmonkey (love!).

i'm so ridiculously excited to put the whole shebang together. should be a ton of fun.

oh and btw, happy halloween!

It's been a while, eh? Almost two months. Nothing much to report on truthfully.

School is going quite well for Lovie. She still loves it. We still love it. Her teacher is constantly telling us how smart she is and the other day she started compiling a list of kids she wants to invite to her FIFTH birthday party (in less than two months #omgholdme). She sat there and sounded out each name and wrote down the letters that corresponded with the sound. I was quite impressed. She's also been impressing me with her reading lately. In addition to sight words and other words she knows from memorization, most of her reading is still figuring out the words with the picture, but she totally gets sounding out the words when I tell her to LOOK at the word.

It's pretty awesome. She's pretty awesome. And pretty. ;)


***
We went on vacation last week. We drove from Chicago to (near) Clearwater Florida. The drive down wasn't so fun. Lovie got carsick twice on the first day. What should've taken us 11 hours, took us 17 that first day. But the second day went much smoother. And of course the time spent in Florida was nothing shy of fabulous. Really and truly.

Now I'm generally NOT a sun and hot weather person. In fact, I hate it. But if you can get me right. on. the. ocean. I'm game. And that's what we did. We found a condo to rent that was RIGHT on the water. The view, the price, it was all just too much to pass up. We laid around in the sun and swam in the ocean the majority of the time. We also went on a pirate cruise (which I'd recommend anyone to do- especially if you have kids). On the last day, we left the condo at 10AM (checkout time) and headed to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium... home of Winter the dolphin.

This place was really and truly fabulous, and a great way to spend our last day of vacation. I have never in all my life encountered a place where every single employee was SO nice. And if you've seen the Dolphin Tale movies, you absolutely MUST visit this place with your kids. Worth every penny.


***
Next up is preparing for the holidays and Lovie's birthday (in less than two months #omgholdme). We already know where it's going to be and what we'll be doing, but I do still need to book it. I'm actually super excited about this party as it's not a jumpy house. Not that anything is wrong with jumpy houses, Lovie LOVES them and had her last two parties at them. I just think what we have planned, if pulled off, will be super damn fun and cute and memorable. You only turn five once, right? Why not make it a memorable one?

on turning four

Apparently Four is a big deal.

Three, two, one are fun, too, but four is ... big fun. Not just fun. Not just big. But big fun.



Saturday, the day before Lovie's actual birthday, we partied it up at a jumpy house like last year. (Taye took photos, I'm hoping, during the jumpy part. It pretty much looks like last year's party except not quite as many kids and they're bigger.)

The party was 2:30-4:30 and at 5:30 we had dinner reservations with a bunch of family. Not really in honor of Lovie's birthday, but just to gather in a calmer setting.

Then the morning of her actual birthday, Lovie woke to a (messy) room full of balloons for the fourth year in a row. It's a fun tradition I stole from the interwebs that I plan to do for as long as she lives in our home.

Besides her party, her gift from us was a pink electric guitar. Like a real one. Lovie was quite smitten and that made us quite happy. After a late breakfast and a late nap, we headed out to a kiddie place that has games that spits out tickets that you can collect to win prizes. Lovie, being the big 0-4, insisted she now can have gum, so she had her eyes set on winning a little gumball machine.

We finished off her birth day night with some ice cream at 9:30 at night... well past her bedtime, but hey, you only turn four once!

Yesterday, much like the day following Christmas, I stayed home with Lovie to relax and play with new toys. We didn't play much with anything other than the balloons though-- having balloon fights and ballet balloon (twirl balloon instead of smacking it toward your opponent). All per Lovie's request.

This morning, two days after her birthday, Lovie asked when she'd be five.

She loves being four so far and she does not want to get old like me and daddy, but I guess she wouldn't mind being five already. Me, on the other hand, I still need to catch up to this business of my baby doll being four years old already. 

So it's Tuesday and Hey, it's my husband's birthday, too!

I honestly don't know what's going on with me, but I'm really trying to stay focused and keep writing but it's not easy. It's just not. I'm going to blame it on the fact things always get so damn crazy and busy end of year. 

Lovie and Zoe, taken the night before Zoe died. We had no idea. Besides me, Lovie is the only person Zoe ever allowed to get close to her. She was kind of a mean cat like that. Heh.

My cat Zoe died last Saturday. I could write about that, I suppose but-- and this will get me plenty of side eyes and what not-- I'm just not that upset. Sure I shed some tears, but they were mainly a result of Lovie's reaction to it all. Sure it was a ridiculous shock, but... she was a cat. She lived a good life with us. And now she's gone and now we're stuck with the one cat that makes a bunch of noise crying all the time.

I made this in Picmonkey! for FREE. I'll be printing it out and attaching it to lollipop sticks and popping it into her cake as a cake topper.

Lovie's birthday is coming up in... 41 days. A couple months ago, I found a company that does parties dressed as Disney Princesses. For less than what it would cost to have a jump house party, I could get Rapunzel or Ariel or whomever to come to my house for 90 minutes and be all princess-y and girly with Lovie and her friends. As much as I detest princesses, I had a feeling Lovie would be over the moon with a "real" princess sitting in her living room. Alas, she's been insisting on another jump house party and since it's her birthday, she gets to choose. She's also decided within the past couple weeks that she'd like a Paw Patrol cake and goodie bags. At least it's not Dora.

Speaking of birthdays, today is my husband's birthday. Lovie colored him a card last night and made a heart and signed her name inside it and gave it to him this morning. Then she had him read her a book we just took out from the library last night. Yay, it's your birthday, read to me. On the way home from work and school, Lovie and I will stop off for a cake for tonight. And then Saturday? Eek, Saturday the Tayester and I will be going to a hotel. Overnight. Alone. Together alone. Without Lovie. That's my gift to him. It'll be our first night together without our Lovie.

on turning three

December 29, 2012- 7:30 AM(ish):

she insisted on the bandage on her forehead, nothing is wrong.

After waking up to a room full of balloons, Lovie made her way into the living room where she was greeted by an unwrapped keyboard set up for her and one wrapped gift (new baby doll) on top. After playing the keyboard for a while, she wanted to watch TV. I was planning on making her favorite breakfast- pancakes- but she insisted I just sit and watch TV with her. Could she be any damn sweeter?

We left the house around 11:30 AM and drove slowly out to the burbs where her party was going to be held. I had to stop at Costco for the cake and water bottles and Taye and I ate Arby's in the car all while Lovie napped. I knew getting a brand new 3 year old in the car for a couple of hours was the only way she'd nap.

The party started at 2:30 and ended at 4:30.



this is my favorite collage- love some of the parents climbing OUT of the inflatables. :)



Such a fun, fun day.

 

Big shout out to PUMP IT UP for an amazing, amazing space and set up. We went from one jump house room to another before going into the party room to have cake and open presents. We were the only guests in each room during our time period and they brought in cake, etc, and set up all the presents, cut the cake, piled all the presents and belongings onto a cart, cleaned everything up... I mean, I just cannot say enough good things about this experience and I have a feeling we'll be jumping back over there in a year for her 4th birthday party.

 

three years ago at 1:20 in the morning

(taken from my journal written 12/30/2009)

12/29/09:
-shortly after midnight the decision for a c-section had been made and I was to "relax" until the anesthesiologist was ready to hook me up. I was absolutely miserable - very warm and very anxious. The more time they let me sit there and wait, the more I started to worry that something would go wrong. At this point it had been 16 hours since I could last feel my legs or anything and now they were about to make it so I couldn't feel my stomach either. I was drop dead tired and pissed off, to be frank. I feared that I would miss the birth of my baby because the whole thing had taken so long!

-about 12:30am, they finally wheel me away into the sterile surgery room and hook me up like Jesus onto a flat table. Drugs were being IV'd into me and soon I went from sweating to shivering.
For some reason I thought the surgery wouldn't take too long but it did and I tried so hard to stay awake. I was so tired though - and scared. DH sat by my side the whole time trying to make me smile. Finally after a near hour or so of laying there (or so it seemed in my head) with a big sheet hovering over me, people started to move about, peaking over the curtain and telling me that I'll feel some pressure but no pain, etc. Different voices saying different things. Pressure on one side and another. "It's going to feel like someone is sitting on your chest now," was one of the statements told to me.

-at 1:20AM I felt a tug and heard excitement in the various voices as the narrator of the event, the anaesthesiologist, told me they pulled her out. And she cried and screamed and ... my sweet Lovie was born unto us.
I had to lay there with the curtain enveloping me, while daddy was able to go see Lovie... and I later learned it was the most awesome experience for him - to meet his baby girl for the first time. Shortly after he met her, a nurse brought her over to me to see and my eyes met the most beautiful thing I have ever in my life seen.

My Lovie

Born December 29, 2009
1:20AM
7 lbs 12 oz
20 inches long

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY

TO THE MOST AWESOME,

MOST BEAUTIFUL,

SWEETEST LITTLE GIRL!

three years ago, 12/28

(taken from my journal written 12/30/2009)

12/28/09:
-7am Cervadil is taken out and another exam reveals more effacement and a softer cervix; they start the Pitocin

-contractions start to get stronger and stronger and closer together by around 9am

-at Noon I get up to pee and get into bed and as I situate myself into the uncomfortable bed, I feel a sort of twist inside on my right side near my lower abdominal area. I then feel like I wet the bed and this makes me start to freak out a bit. Surely my water couldn't be breaking just five hours after the Pitocin started! Something must be wrong with my sweetpea! DH calls the nurse and she's on break so her replacement comes in and at this point, I now feel the urgent urge to take a dump. This makes me freak out even more because I've heard time and time again how real labor pains feel like you have to push out the hugest poop ever - and that's what was happening to me... but again, surely it was too soon!
I try telling the nurse that I think maybe my water broke but had no clue - and that I had to really go to the bathroom. Apparently I wasn't very kind or maybe I was just freaking out a bit because the nurse, trying to remain calm and keep me calm, looked at me like I was crazy. She wanted to check and see if indeed my water had broken but I told her that I really needed to go to the bathroom. We went round and round for a hot minute. I have a feeling that while I did have the urgency to have a bowel movement, I was more freaked out that the whole "labor and delivery" thing was ACTUALLY happening. That, and I couldn't get all the I Didn't Know I was Pregnant shows I had seen out of my head where the moms end up giving birth to their babies in the toilet!
I finally calmed down enough to allow the nurse to ensure the water had broke and that's when my regular nurse came back in the room - and she did confirm that my water had broke and I was in active labor!
The contractions were fierce and scary. I was asked if I wanted an epidural and I immediately accepted. The room became incredibly warm and sweat dripped from every pore on my being as I clutched onto the nurse and rolled my back in position while listening to the doctor in charge of the epidural tell me not to move over and over again and again. The whole procedure took a good twenty or thirty minutes to complete (at least it did in my head), but once completed, life was good again. I felt NOTHING for hours to come.

-my cervix was checked a couple times in the hours to come and things were progressing nicely.

-finally around 9PM the doctor had come to see me to do an internal and I was 100% effaced and almost 100% dialated, but not quite there yet. She waited about an hour and in the meantime, I told them I was feeling quite nauseated to which they said "was good" as it would "help push" the baby out.

-around 9:30PM, after 28 hours without any solid food, I vomited for about 10 minutes straight

-around 10PM, the doc came back and I still wasn't quite 10 cm dialated but they decided to let me try and push and see what would happen.

-just before midnight, after two hours of pushing, the doctor urged me once again to have a c-section... this time because the baby's heart rate dropped every time I pushed. I assured everyone I was willing to keep trying to push her out but was wanting the best for the baby so opted for the c-section after a couple more minutes of pushing (apparently baby's head would start to come out and the doc would get a grip but as soon as I stopped pushing, the head popped back up inside the birth canal).

three years ago

Saturday, December 26, 2009 - week 39:

This is it, my love. This is my final pregnancy photo (posed to show growth progress at least).

This time tomorrow I'll be trying to relax and breath as I prepare to call the hospital to ensure there's a bed for me so that I can go in and get induced.

You should be in my arms sometime on Monday.

I can't wait. I really can't... but a part of me is a little sad, too. Sad because you will no longer be with me at absolute all times by default. But I know there is so much more greater and far more wonderful things to come, to witness, to revel in.

It really won't be long now, my love.

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Sunday, December 27, 2009 - 2 hours:

I just called the hospital and they're looking good for tonight so we'll be leaving in about an hour or so to go to the hospital.

WOW.

I'm trying not to freak out too much but this is pretty big. I mean, this is it.

WOW.

Sometime tomorrow... we'll finally meet in person!!

WOW!!

if your child is coming to Lovie's party don't let them see this

The goody bags have been assembled and I cannot wait for the 29th!

 

There will also be Bubble Guppies party hats (and the birthday girl will be wearing a Bubble Guppies birthday shirt). I took some short cuts to save a ton of money but I think they're super damn awesome bags if I do say so myself.

 

Firstly, I got everything from Shindigz.com whom I discovered when I hosted my Fisher Price Playdate via HouseParty.com.

 

Then I google image searched high res Bubble Guppies artwork and found the image shown on the bag, downloaded it, and added the Thank You message. I then printed them out in color, cut them down, and glued them onto the plastic bags (from Shindigz for an insanely cheap price).

 

NickJr.com actually has a ton of printables so that's where I got the images for the hats (not shown yet). You can just assemble the party hats after printing and cutting, but i took it a step further and ordered super cheap plain party hats from, you guessed it, Shindigz and will affix the Bubble Guppies image to them.

 

For her cake, I'm just going the same route I did last year and getting a big sheet cake from Costco. Then I'll make lollipop sticks of some Bubble Guppies to stick in the cake- much like I did last year with her Team Umizoomi cake and Ni-Hao Kai Lan cupcakes (wow, do we need to back down from the TV much or what?).

 

Man, I cannot wait till the party day. And, bonus! I just ordered some new bras so maybe I'll be able to jump with the kiddies without injuring anyone! : )

All opinions stated here in this post and elsewhere on my blog are my own unless otherwise stated. None of the companies mentioned here even know I exist; I'm not being compensated to write this. We clear?

The last month

One month from today, my sweet baby doll will be turning three years old.

 

THREE

 

There's one thing I can say for certain about that...

These have been the best three years of my life.

 

 

Oh me oh my I'm so incredibly blessed.

 

Now, please excuse me as I get a bit verklempt thinking about all this.

 

 

 

TILTW: 10.20-26

Jumping in rain puddles is AWESOME!

***

Lovie is kinda famous thanks to MommySHORTS!

***

Two months and three days till Lovie turns three and we get to party on her actual birthday! Yay for Saturday birthdays! Earlier in the year, I was sure we'd do Bubble Guppies, then we moved on to MMCH, then Little Einsteins... I was sure we were doing Little Einsteins. This week, however, I decided I needed to make a decision and I went back with Bubble Guppies...but after our drive home from school yesterday, we've come to the decision that birthday number three will be all about... Kai-lan! Hahah where did that come from?? Last year we did Team Umizoomi and that's cuz Lovie was really and truly all about Mili, Geo, and Bot. But I also made Kai-lan cupcake toppers for school cuz she's loved Kai-lan for(her)ever now. Apparently she still is crazy for Kai-lan. So now I need to find someone to make a Kai-Lan (and HoHo and Rintoo and Yaya) #3 shirt. Also need to make a decision if we're going with Pump it Up or Jump Zone for the party day. But we do know we're doing it on the 29th at a Jump House type of place, and I'm super excited about it already!

TILTW: 9.1-9.7

* Turning 40 (yesterday)? Aint so bad! : ) Flowers from the hubs arrived just before I left work for the day, flowers from my BFF/cousin and a plant from my momma arrived later in the day so that when I came in to work this morning, the celebration continued. The hubs and Lovie made, from scratch, molten lava cake and sang me Happy Birthday while I wore a princess crown Lovie made.

* I'm hosting a Fisher-Price Playdate Party and am getting damn excited. I received notice that two boxes shipped early in the week and last night, on my birthday, one of the boxes arrived: goodies to be given away to my guests!! Now I just wait on the the box of goods with the toys that we'll be playing with (big ticket toys like this, this, and this which Lovie will flip over) and that we get to keep! What's the catch? A) I'm blogging about it, right? B) I'm so damn excited about it and am constantly talking about it. C) I've got like 12 kids coming to the house to play play play! Word of mouth can be a very powerful tool.

Happy 40th Birthday to me!

When I was younger I was damn cute.

So damn cute when I was younger.

on loving me, life, & the big four oh

Just one month ago I was on the beach laying on my stomach with my back baking in the sun. A Cabana boy walked by asking if we’d like an “iced towel” just as beads slid from my back to the front, creating a pool of sweat under my ridiculously ample chest. The iced towel felt like absolute bliss on the back of my neck and soon my eyes dropped for a bit until I could no longer take the heat from the sun, the sweat laminating my skin. My bare feet swept across the prickly hot, shell-littered sand as I made my way into the warm salt water of the Gulf of Mexico which held me up with such ease. I floated with the back of my head submerged in water, marveling over the pristine blue sky with its cotton balls painted ever so daintily here and there.

 
Just one month ago I was in heaven…on earth. And I was there celebrating the first 40 years of my life alongside my BFF/cousin who also turned 40 this year.

We laid around for three full days doing absolutely nothing, and, when we grew tired of that, did a little more Nothing. It was glorious and it was by far the best birthday celebration I’ve had to date.

Oh, but there were other memorable birthdays, don't misunderstand me:  

• 10: I was super giddy to be hitting the double digits; there was no turning back!
• 20: I found my very first gray hair whilst sitting on the stoop outside my sister’s house in Utah where I was spending the summer taking care of her children. I was more than ready to return home, return to my life as a college student at one of the country’s largest arts and media colleges: Me, myself, and my new gray hair.
• 21: Cheap beer in hand, brand new driver’s license with blue background ready to be whipped out, I left the grocery store plastered with WE CARD ANYONE UNDER 30 signs without ever being asked for my ID. The one time I wanted to get carded, I didn’t get carded.
• 25: I had a date with the dentist after biting into a Now and Later candy while working the customer service job I hated and feeling and hearing a POP from inside my mouth (the candy pulled off one of my caps).
• 28: I felt like a 12-year-old with the case of the giggles as my boyfriend (now husband) took me on a “romantic getaway” to a little suite adorned with mirrors EVERYWHERE and a swing in the closet that was to be hung above the illuminated bed.
• 36: I got shingles IN MY MOUTH after spending the day at an apple orchard with little kiddies just one month after having a d&c.
• 39: I spent 6 hours in the emergency room after having been feverish and extremely exhausted for nearly 2 straight weeks (turns out I had some cousin virus to mono).

But now, maybe you can see why laying on the beach with nothing to do for a couple days seems heavenly to me, yes?

So heavenly.

And well deserved, dammit.

I'm not saying my life my 30s haven't been good to me because while there’s only been a couple memorable birthdays in my 30s and not for good reason, I have absolutely no doubt and pause not one bit to say that my 30s have been the best years of my life. There were some damn trying hard times and some very dark days, but overall, they were the best days of my life:

• I learned to love all of me
• I learned to truly not care what others think, how others live
• I learned to live each and every day as fully as I can
• I learned to grab life by the horns and celebrate, which landed me in Heaven on earth one month ago.

And now tomorrow, I really celebrate; because tomorrow is the day I finally turn 40. Yay me!


 

 

 

 

WW: Sneek a Peak into our future

coming this October

coming this December (i think)

both images courtesy of google images

WW: Zip line fun

from her party on the 7th.
want more from her party (and/or bday)? click here, here, here, or hey why not here!


linking up with Parenting By Dummies

Party recap

Lovie's 2nd birthday party was Saturday and it was a blast. Better than anticipated, really. Absolutely no regrets for doing this. Sure she's still very young and won't remember this party, but she'll have pictures and some video to help remind her. And she had the time of her young life (and we had very little set up and clean up to do!).

Look at that smile!

When we first arrived, she didn't really think much of it. We were just at Gymnastics (as she calls it). But then her first little friend from school came and she started getting super excited as she wanted to show her friend around.

notice her shirt? it's a big 2 with Team Umizoomi characters on it- matching her invite

They jumped on the trampoline. They dove into the ball pit. The ran around squealing and giggling.

After a bunch more people started to arrive, the teachers gathered everyone around a large circle and sang Happy Birthday to my Lovie who sat with a big grin on her face. Then they brought out a huge parachute and laid it down for everyone to grab a hold of and start to shake. And sing Happy Birthday. Then Lovie laid down on top of the parachute and everybody shook her back and forth. Then others joined in.

They played with puppets. One of the teachers hid a bunch of small toys around the place so they had to run around and collect them and bring them back. They brought out a buttload of pom poms for the kids to play with.

They hooked up a huge swing that all the kids were able to sit on and ride. (This was funny to watch because all the parents grabbed their cameras to take photos.)

They built a fort and played hide and seek (Lovie hid by covering her eyes with her hands- *cutest thing ever*) for a couple of minutes before hiding Lovie in the back room for everyone to find.  After a minute, they directed everyone to the front of the gym to wait as they brought Lovie out in a car.

And it was the cutest 30 seconds of her life. I swear to god. She was smiling from ear to ear as one of the teachers wheeled her out in circles while everyone clapped and the Beatles Birthday song played in the background.

Then the teacher got her out of the car and brought her to the cake (Team Umizoomified with little toppers I DIY'd), lit the candles, we all sang and she blew out her candles.

The kids ate pizza and cake and went back out to play for another 10-15 minutes.

The party ended with another sock puppet show followed by bubbles. Lots of bubbles (they brought out a fan and huge thing of bubbles they placed in front of the fan causing all these little kids to try to pop all the bubbles).

After the last bubble was popped, the teachers announced that all the kids needed to get their socks and shoes on so they could get a goodie bag. The party was over but hopefully not forgotten for a while.

Nearly two hours of smiles, giggles, laughter erupting from all corners of the room. It was pure fun, fun, fun.

I'm pretty darn sure we'll be doing this again in another year, too. Yahoo for winter birthdays keeping us indoors!

everybody craaaazy shake!

Tomorrow. Her party is finally tomorrow! : )

I designed the invites myself. Not too shabby, eh? Well I don't think they are (I mean did you see I got a photo of Lovie inside of Bot's belly-screen?!??). I think they're damn cute, tyvm!

Because I blurred it all out, the party is going to be (for little kids) at a little kid gym place...The place Lovie's been going to since October for her "Gymnastics." She loves this place. Loves it. So it was really fitting to have the party here. And the price really couldn't be beat- especially considering we don't have to worry about doing any kind of set up, clean up, entertaining, etc. Nope. We just show up with a cake. Play. Pizza will be delivered at 3:30 (party starts at 3). We'll eat pizza and have cake- after singing Happy Birthday to my girl, of course. Then it's back to play play play!

My header at the top of the blog? That's from the last time we were at Gymnastics. They have a ball pit which Lovie adores. Ack, she's going to have SO much fun. She always does but once she realizes that everyone is there for HER... eek! :) I can't wait to see her reaction.

I'm a bit nervous because every single person RSVP'd that the were coming except for a small handful of people so we're going to be at the max the place allows! And then there's the chance that some additional child(ren) will show up as my husband's family kind of does their own thing.

I can't worry about any of that, though; we'll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

My main focus is Lovie having a blast... and somehow, someway getting some pictures of it all to help us remember. We can only do what we can do and the H and I have already discussed that we would swap taking pictures and playing whenever we could.  So fingers crossed we get some decent photos (I'd love to have a group shot of *all* kids but not sure how/if that could work with 20 kids.)

Eek, this is gonna be so much fun!!

• After work today, I pick up the cake (just a generic one from Costco... I made Millie, Geo, and Bot characters to stick into the cake. Was hoping to keep the cake in the car overnight but our temps are supposed to be in the 50s today!).
• Bottled water and juice boxes are in the hallway at home.
• Little goody bags assembled and ready to go (with a Team Umizoomi sticker- that I made- on them)!
• Pizza to be delivered at 3:30.
• Paper plates, napkins, plastic forks, candles all in a bag ready to go, too.
• Team Umizoomi "2" shirt ready to be worn by the birthday girl.

This is gonna be soooo much fun.

And then on Sunday, we get to go to a 1 year old's pizza party! So it's definitely going to be a busy weekend. How about you?

December 29, 2011

I still haven't recapped our Christmas and that makes me sad- because it was AWESOME- but I couldn't really touch on it until after Lovie's birthday.

My girl turned TWO yesterday.

My big girl.

My sunshine. My love. My life.

Originally I wanted to do something special with her but because she loves going to school, we decided to just let her go to school and then celebrate there and after school. So yesterday was damn busy for me.

It actually started on the 28th when I spent nearly 2 hours blowing up balloons to cover the floor of Lovie's bedroom so when she woke she'd see something- a room full of balloons- she hadn't seen before. Something to make her day more special, you know? After the balloons were done, I spent another several hours on the computer trying to finalize her 2nd year video- which still isn't finished.

When we woke on the 29th, Lovie was surprised by the balloons (I do have some pictures just no time to get them off my camera) but pretty much over it as soon as we left. Then it was all about donuts because I told her we would stop to bring in donuts to school- for her birthday. So the entire car ride in to school on slick roads consisted of singing about Donuts! Dough-nuts! Dough-nuts! It's time to get the dough-nuts! Over and over again. We sang about these donuts so much that by the time we were driving home after a busy day at school, she still remembered the song and started singing it! =D

I left work early to pick up the cupcakes I was bringing in to her school for their afternoon snack.

Check out the cupcake toppers I made- by hand- for $1.99 (cost of lollipop sticks):

One side with Ni Hao Kai-Lan character, other side with Lovie's 2

Then I met my mom at her school at 3 where Lovie and some of the others were just waking up or still sleeping. She woke up quickly once she saw us but was a bit whiny (she likes to snuggle after waking from a nap until she's ready to get going) and stuck to me like velcro until everyone woke up and it was time to get the chairs for snack. Then I told her that she needed to help out with the chairs and sit down for her snack so that we could all sing Happy Birthday to her.

At first she was really happy and excited about the cupcakes and the Kai-Lan characters (it's one of her favorite shows- she even says Hello, Bye, and Thank You in Chinese). But then we started singing to her after lighting a little 2 candle and she was like, WTF:

hehe she cracks me up!

Once we got done singing to her, she blew out her candle like she'd done it a hundred times. Then she spent about half an hour sticking her finger in the frosting and then licking her finger.

She's never been much of a sweets person, but I'm glad she at least enjoyed the frosting.

After she was done, we left daycare and went home. Lovie watched a little TV while I tried getting most of the balloons out of her bedroom and into the front of the house and her playroom. I ended up taping a good dozen to the walls just to get them off the floor.

When daddy got home, he brought her a hot dog and fries of which she chowed down on. Then we lit a candle on a small piece of cake I picked up when I got the cupcakes, sang happy birthday to her, and she, once again, blew out her candle like a pro. She opened all her presents and played for a bit then got her PJ's on, drank some milk while watching a little TV before heading to her bedroom for some stories and bed.

She was asleep by 8 (Mama was asleep by 815) and today she's home with daddy while Mama "works."

And there you have it. A run down of Lovie's 2nd birthday. I'll probably post pictures from our little party at home at another time, but until then, just know it went really, really well.

And we still have her kid party coming up next Saturday, January 7th! I'm exhausted just thinking about it.