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!

Christmas Recap

Hadley’s second Christmas was a blessed one indeed!  We had Matt’s side of the family come and stay with us over Christmas and then my family came up over new years.  Between that and Hadley’s birthday party just a week and a half later, sweet girl is going to start thinking that presents are a regular occurrence!

I don’t really have a lot to talk about, but I did want to share our pictures, so prepare for picture overload!

This was Christmas Eve before church – just playing with her Little People Manger.  And below – checking out her ornaments on the tree.

Christmas morning – the first thing she went to was her table & chairs set, which was her big Santa gift. 

Helping to pass out presents to grandpa and mimi…

After we opened presents, it started to snow! It was so fun having a white Christmas!  This was the view out our front door…

One of Hadley’s favorite “toys” was this giant box that her little sister’s glider came in, so we left it out for awhile to play in.  She made daddy, Mimi and aunt Kelly get in the box here!

Just doing a little texting with Nana to see when she was going to arrive to celebrate our second Christmas. ;)

Picture perfect for Christmas #2!  I love having a wood burning fireplace (our last house was just gas).

Playing with her makeup set that Nana got her.  She is alllll girl.

Ummm, are y’all sure this one is for me?  I think this is a box of beer?  (Aunt Katie & Uncle Eric ran out of boxes )

I think daddy might be more excited about this rocking horse than Hadley is in this picture. ;)

It only took me 2 1/2 weeks to get a Christmas recap up… maybe I’ll do better next year.  Up next… birthday pictures!

Hadley Videos

These videos probably won’t be that interesting to anyone but family, but they have us cracking up, so I thought I’d share!  Please excuse Hadley’s “outfit” in these.  It was her birthday and she had on a dress all day, but requested pizza and “cookies” for dinner – so she got pizza and a cookie cake – which required us to take the white dress off so it didn’t stain!

This first one is of Hadley enjoying just the icing on her cookie cake.

 

The second one is VERY similar to the first, but we realized we didn’t ask her how old she was in the first one and wanted to have that on video for the future.  Also, my favorite part of this video is around the :47 mark she says one of her favorite phrases right now “oooh man” when she realizes how much icing is on her fingers.  (And in case you were wondering what she says around :38 – it’s “Abby’s Flying Fairy School” because her sippy cup has Elmo & Abby on it.)

These next two were taken right after her cake – you can tell she was on a bit of a sugar high!  She got this puppy from my grandma for Christmas and LOVES to dance with him!  The first one is just showing off her dance moves.  The second video is our little negotiator telling me she needs “two minutes” when I am telling her it’s time for bath.

Hadley’s dance moves

Hadley is Two!

Dear Hadley,

We made it to two!  I’m sure this will cause you to roll your eyes, but I will say it every year… SLOW DOWN!  I wish there was a pause button to keep you at this sweet, innocent, fun, spunky age forever.  That’s not to say that two hasn’t brought us some new challenges, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. 

You have grown SO so much in the past couple months that it’s truly hard to believe.  You went from a basic vocabulary with one word answers here and there to telling stories and repeating anything and everything your little ears hear!  The amount that you can communicate with us now just blows me away and is one of the reasons I am loving this age so much.  I think it’s helped your temperament a lot, too, as we have far more good days than bad ones lately.  {Unfortunately, I’m sure this will change once your little sister arrives next month sometime, but we’ll get through it!}  I want to remember some of the things you are saying/communicating with us right now, so I’ll just list them out.

• You know all of your colors (including hot pink!)
• Can count to 15 (with a little help)
• Sing: ABCs, twinkle twinkle, row row row your boat, itsy bitsy spider;
• You thank God for colors in our prayers, & list everyone you know
• Phrases: “carry you” = carry me; “momma (or daddy, nana, etc) show dat” = Momma look at this/I want to show you this momma; “whoopsies!”; “Momma, ‘mere” = Momma, come here; “No is?!” = That’s not what that is, or I don’t know what that is; “hard” or “heavy” – anytime something is too much for you to carry or figure out; “Whoa, what’s dat noise?!” (anytime you hear something out of the ordinary – you have great hearing!); “You otay??” (You say this to your babies – or some variation of it); “Momma? Are you?! (sometimes it sounds like “W’are you?”) – you say this when you wake up and I haven’t gotten you out of your crib yet.

You are so tender hearted.  Don’t get me wrong – you’re two, and definitely know how to test your limits, but overall  you are very sensitive to correction.  It breaks your heart if daddy gets on to you, and you willingly put yourself in timeout if I ask you if you’re being disobedient.  Hearing or seeing someone else upset or crying makes you very concerned. (This could get pretty interesting for us when we bring your baby sister home!)  You are also super nurturing and motherly.  You’ll tuck all your toys in with a blanket and pat their little backs while saying ny-ny and giving them kisses.  If your baby falls out of her stroller or you are pretending she’s crying, you’ll pick her up and hug her and pat her back saying “it’s otay…. it’s otay baby.”  I just love your sweet sweet heart!

When you are in your comfort zone, you love to put on a show, but as soon as you are in unfamiliar surroundings with new people, you become painfully shy.  Going to lunch with daddy and his co-workers has become so difficult because you will cry and bury your face into me for the first 30 minutes! 

You love to be silly and play and rough-house with daddy, but you are definitely in a “momma’s girl” phase.  (Although I think if I was replaced by Nana your world would be complete in your eyes… when she’s around, I’m chopped liver!) 

Words of affirmation is definitely one of your “love languages” right now.  You were so proud of the ornaments you made at school for our tree and just couldn’t wait for daddy to get home.  You’d run to the tree and say “Daddy, show dat” and I swear you would grow 6 inches every time he told you what a great job you did or how pretty your ornaments looked. 

Speaking of growing, your stats right now are:

Height: 35 3/4 inches (90th-95th percentile)

Weight: 29 lbs 10 1/2 oz – (75th-90th percentile)

Diapers (yes we’re still in diapers – I’m not pushing PTing until you are FOR SURE ready!): Size 5 or 6 depending on the brand

Clothes: Tops are mostly 3T with the exception of a few brands; bottoms are 24 month/2T – you’ve got short little legs for how tall you are!

Your current LOVES: Elmo, Violet, the iPad, looking at pictures, stickers, reading books (we read The BooHoo Baby and Llama, Llama, Nighty Night every night), puzzles, going on walks, playing with friends – especially “Binn” (Brynn)

Your diet right now consists of…not much. Grilled cheese, cheese quesadillas, tortillas, rice, fruit & veggie packets (thankfully), fruit – strawberries, grapes, apples, mandarin oranges, bananas, PB&J sandwiches, pretzels, cheese & crackers.  You have decided you are a vegetarian who doesn’t eat vegetables.  Awesome.

Thankfully, after our rough transition to one nap and a little bit of a struggle with our schedule when we moved, you are sleeping pretty well now!  11-12 hrs at night (bedtime is between 7:30/8 and you wake up anywhere between 7-8a); 1 nap a day – anywhere from 1-3 hours; 2 hrs is pretty average.  You still use a paci for sleep and your bunny and you’re still in your crib.  Please, sweet girl, stay in there forever!  I am in no rush for you to be in a big girl bed!

It’s so strange to me that pretty soon, you will have no memory of your time as an only child, and these last couple weeks feel bittersweet to me.  The past two years have been the biggest blessing for me and your daddy and we couldn’t love you more if we tried.  When I ask you how much mommy and daddy love you, your response is “way way [more than you know]” and that is so true.  {We have a book called “I Love You So” and that phrase is in there – you call it the “way” book.}  I am so proud of the sweet little girl that you are becoming and I can’t wait to see you grow into your new role as big sister!  Happy second birthday baby girl!  I love you way, WAY, more than you know! ;)

Love,

Momma