Hadley’s Second Birthday Party

This past weekend was Hadley’s 2nd birthday party!  Even though we celebrated, just the three of us, her turning two on her actual birthday (the 3rd), we decided to wait an extra week to give everyone some time to unwind from the holidays (read: give me time to take down our Christmas decorations!) and give our families a short reprieve from driving to/from Dallas for Christmas.

I had visions months ago of throwing a “tu-tu cute” birthday party for our little two year old, but knowing how much she loves Elmo, I just had to cave into the character theme so we can remember this phase of life when we look back on pictures.  There wasn’t a lot of elmo – just some cookies, stuffed elmos, books, and paper decorations, and the rest was just girly pink, orange and red polka dots!  The party went so, so well, and we are feeling so incredibly blessed by the family and friends that God has placed in our lives.  How lucky we are that so many people were willing to come and celebrate the life of our sweet little girl this weekend!  So, without further adieu… party picture overload.

I used the same birthday banner that I had made for Hadley’s first birthday party (even though it didn’t really match).  I just did not have the energy at 35 weeks pregnant to make another one!  I found the elmo face “wands” on etsy and stuck them in vases with red, pink and white m&ms for centerpieces on the food table.  Then just made some tissue poms for the cupcake/cookie table.  I am so mad at myself for not getting better pictures of so many things.  I did the exact same thing with her first party.  Thankfully my sister came to the rescue and took a lot of pictures for me – I would have none of the décor/food if not for her! 

I didn’t get any pictures on my good camera of the favors, either, which I was bummed about!   Holly, from The Doughmestic Housewife made the cookies.  I ordered cookies from her before for my sister’s lingerie shower and not only were they seriously the best decorated cookies I’d ever seen, they were DELICIOUS too!  She’s actually expecting her 3rd little one right now, and I am so thankful that I’ve gotten to know her a bit (through social media) and she squeezed me in even though she’s really not taking orders right now!  Thanks so much Holly!

This is one of the extra favors – just took a picture with my phone.  And this one is actually a little different as the rest of them were slightly different buckets that had oval chalkboard labels on them so I could write each kid’s name.  The buckets had goldfish, crayons and an elmo cookie in them (if you’ve ever seen an episode of Elmo’s World, you know why they got goldfish and crayons…if you haven’t…enjoy not having that song stuck in your head.) 

The party started at 4:30, so we served an early dinner.  I didn’t get a full picture of the food, but we had a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray, Chick-Fil-A chicken salad sandwich tray, PB&J sandwiches, chips/dip, Elmo face fruit plate, veggie plate, pretzel/kiss/m&m’s, cupcakes and cookies. 

Two things about this next picture.  First – this Elmo book she got from my grandma was an instant hit!  She pulled it out of the box and just plopped down to start reading it and sat and read the whole book!  Second – how adorable is her outfit?  My friend, Hether – of Ditsy Daisy Boutique, made the shirt and Hadley and I both love it!  As soon as I pulled it out to put on her she said “oooooh! Melmo shirt! How pitty! (pretty)”  Thanks Hether!!

And a real life picture for you… this is what it typically looks like to capture a picture with a two year old…

As you can tell, the ice cream set she got for her birthday was a huge hit… as was this tunnel!