Allison's 2nd Birthday

Our fun-loving, independent adventurer turned two on Monday! I can't believe we've had her in our lives for two years. She is an absolute joy to be with. She is such a giver and has a sweet little heart. She loves people and puppies! Our family definitely wouldn't be the same without her!

Good morning two year old!

Allison is so happy when she wakes up in the morning. One of the first things she does (besides pull the milk out of the refrigerator) is give Jackson big hugs and kisses and say, "Morning, Jacks!" She adores her big brother!

Jackson woke up at 5:15 on her birthday! I had been up late finishing her cake, so they watched Disney Junior while I showered and got dressed for the day.

We started off her birthday with pancakes, fresh whipped cream and loads of berries! She was so excited to eat but I was not moving fast enough for her.

Finally! Breakfast for my berry lover and her first birthday candle of the day:

Jackson was so excited to sing to her. She ate off of her birthday plate. (I had a special plate made for each of them on their first birthdays and it's tradition to eat off of it every year on their birthdays.) Jackson was wishing that he had his plate to eat off of, but I explained that I didn't bring it because he only uses it on his birthday (to keep it special) and I knew we'd have all of our stuff by the time November came along.

Jackson blew out her candle first because he thought he needed to show her how to do it - he's such a sweet big brother - but she had no trouble at all.

Jackson pulled out her candle so she wouldn't eat it. Her desire for independence prevents her from seeing how sweet his gestures are, but when she's older, I know she'll say, "Jackson, you were such a sweet brother!"

The berries were gone quickly. Allison loves berries. Then she moved on to the whipped cream.

I love her little fingermarks in the whipped cream:

More berries:

Jackson joined her for breakfast while I finished getting dressed. This is what you call the Little Einsteins trance:

I rarely let them watch t.v. while eating. In fact, before we moved this time, I can count on one hand the number of times they've watched t.v. while eating. I am ashamed to admit how much t.v. they've watch during this time of transition. It makes me feel like a terrible mom because I am not a big fan of watching t.v. I'm really looking forward to moving into our house in less than two weeks. They'll have a home to run around in and a backyard to play in and I won't have to worry about keeping them quiet so they don't disturb the people around us. (And that just sounded so bratty because even in these circumstances, I am blessed so much more than the majority of people in this world.)

Jason came home to see his birthday girl and to bring us the car so that we could go pick up birthday balloons. He leaves for work at 5:45 in the mornings and the kids are usually never awake at that time, thank goodness. Since we're living so close to his work right now, it's no big deal for him to bring us the car.

We get so excited for birthdays in our family! Jason's big on celebrating birthdays. He definitely gets that from his momma who set great birthday traditions.

After we picked up the balloons, we were going to go to the Treehouse Museum in Ogden, but it had gotten so late and it was abundantly clear to me that it would be torturous to skip naps, so we headed to Chick-fil-A instead. It turned out to be a great plan B. We haven't been to Chick-fil-A since we got here - gasp! - so they had a great time playing and eating every kids favorite nuggets.

I'm not sure what this face was all about!

Allison loves the Chick-fil-A playgrounds. They are just her size and have lots of bars for her to swing on like a monkey.

Normally, I let them play until their food is ready and then I make them finish eating before I let them play again. Clearly, I did not do that today. The white bits in her mouth are unswallowed pieces of chicken. Awesome! Allison was so excited to play. She would eat a bite or two and then run off to the play area. (She's known to hold things in her mouth for an extremely long time. I call it marinating her food because it's unbelievable how long she will chew on something.) No food or drink allowed in the play area, right? What if it's in her mouth? Does that count? Who am I to withhold such a pleasure from a girl on her birthday!

Making friends:

I think Chick-fil-A has the best customer service. Their staff is always friendly and happy to help with anything you need. Someone was walking around handing out balloons to the kids. What a perfect day to get balloons! The kids were so excited about them. On the way home, they played balloon fight. They were giggling and having so much fun. I wanted to capture the moment on camera, so I picked up my camera, turned it around to face the back of the car, and pressed the shutter hoping to get something. I was thrilled when I saw that I actually got both of them with their balloons!

Once we got home, they both went down for naps and I got her presents and cake ready. She must have been excited because she didn't sleep for long. Thankfully, Jason got home early and kept her occupied while I finished wrapping. They woke Jackson and then she came running into the living room for her birthday surprises.

We had a "Happy Birthday" banner hanging on the window. That was the first thing that grabbed her attention. She was excited to point out Minnie, Daisy and Pluto:

Alli loves Minnie Mouse, but not because she had seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Minnie and Mickey are on her Huggies diapers. Whenever we change her diaper, she asks for Minnie (who is only on every other diaper), and that is how her fascination with Minnie began. When I was trying to decide what kind of cake to make her for her birthday, we all thought she would love to see Minnie Mouse. It wasn't easy finding a Minnie Mouse cake pan, but ebay came to my rescue. I had so much fun baking and decorating her cake. I didn't worry about making it perfect. I just enjoyed the entire process. Jackson helped me make all of the icing. We had so much fun together and he did a fantastic job of mixing...

...and tasting!

Allison tested out the strawberry cake batter.

She was so excited to have two beaters. She always asks to have "two" of anything. It started months ago with vitamins. She only got one but Jackson got two. It didn't take her long to realize that he was getting more than her, so every time I gave them their vitamins, she would look at me, hold up her index finger and thumb, and say, "Two!"

The night before her birthday, I decorated the cake after I put the kids to bed. It took me a long time to finish her cake. I enjoyed the process but there were times when I said, "I will never again make one of these cakes that requires me to decorate the entire thing with stars!" My hand was so tired from squeezing the icing bag. The flesh-colored icing was a little too thick and that is what I did last. I almost woke Jason and asked him to finish it because I didn't think I'd be able to do it. That last part took forever because I had to keep stopping and stretching my hand. Once I was finished, I was actually pleased with the cake. (I know! I can't believe myself either. I was actually satisfied with something I'd done!)

Jackson was so excited for her to get her birthday presents. We bought her a kitchen and accessories and he asked me to hide everything inside her kitchen. I hid what would fit.

When I picked up her balloons, we found these Minnie Mouse ears.

I thought they were so cute on her.

They didn't last long, though. I should have known that my girl who rips bows out of her hair wouldn't wear a headband.

Jackson helped her get all of her presents out and then the fun began. The first thing she opened was a set of pots and pans.

She loved them and this worked out perfectly because while she was unwrapping, Jason realized that we only had six minutes of recording time on our video camera. Oops! I guess I haven't burned DVDs in a while. For a brief moment, I felt the reality of parenthood come over me. It was one of those moments that you hear your parents talk about - I took pictures but there was no film in the camera, I was videoing but forgot to press record, etc. I quickly grabbed the DVD burner, made a DVD of some older videos, deleted the files off of the camera, and gave us one hour of recording time. Yay!! While I did all of that, she happily played with her new kitchen.

And then the unwrapping continued...

We had such a great time watching her with all of her presents because she had plenty of time to enjoy each one before opening another.

"Whoa!"

A birthday favorite - plates, cups, bowls and eating utensils.

Jason's mom sent Allison the American Girl Bitty Baby. Allison LOVED it!

It took them a while to get her out of the box, but Allison was so patient while Jackson worked on that box top.

Lovin' on her baby:

She's looking like a little momma already!

We did things a little backwards - presents first, cake second - but it made everyone really excited when it was time for birthday cake. We tried to get that picture perfect birthday photo. Do those really exist?!

Our precious two-year-old!

Believe it or not, she actually blew out her candles before we even sang to her! We had to relight the candles, sing to her, and then let her blow them out again. She got lots of practice today.

Yummy birthday cake! (Her piece was actually dry because it was on the edge and I'm never good at making these kinds of cakes moist all over.)

I think homemade vanilla ice cream is the perfect compliment to birthday cake. So did Alli!

Jason said we should make her an ice cream cake next year. She loves ice cream! (I guess we did something right for her first birthday.)

Jackson was in heaven. He requested his cake be in a separate bowl from his ice cream. He did not want the two to mix. He is so much like his daddy!

Proof that Daddy was really there! So often, parents don't get in pictures from our kids birthdays. We wish that we saw more photos of our parents from our childhood birthdays, so we try really hard to get at least one...for our kids' sake.

Allison celebrated two years and I celebrated 31 weeks of pregnancy! We're getting closer to meeting this precious blessing!!

After the "party" was over, Allison got comfortable (clothes off) and enjoyed all of her birthday blessings.

The next day, a big box arrived from my parents. Jason grabbed it on his lunch break and the kids were so excited to open it. The box was full of birthday gifts!

They got her an adorable pram, which goes perfectly with her Bitty Baby from Grandma.

Dress-up jewelry! Wow!

A Hello Kitty purse!

I love how she's trying to keep the purse on her shoulder while she opens the next present.

They even sent Jackson a gift. He was so excited!

A pink water bottle! My mom has an orange water bottle just like this and Jackson loves to use it every time we are at their house. My parents found one in pink (a Jackson favorite) so they got him one. He loved it!

Allison loved her birthday card. Minnie Mouse talks when it opens. She opened and closed the card tons of times.

Princess Allison trying on her jewelry:

Taking Bitty Baby for a stroll around our TLF room.

Allison, you are an extremely blessed two-year-old! Celebrating your birthday was so much fun. Thank you for being such a giver. It's such a pleasure to bless someone who shares so freely. We love your generous spirit!