Birthday Party

Saturday was the day we had Lauren's birthday party. I sent out invitations at the beginning of the month. When hosting parties for Lauren, I've been more interested in doing a color theme versus a character theme - this may change as Lauren gets older and can voice her opinion. Until then, color themes it is... Last year's color theme was pink, green, and yellow. This year I went with chocolate brown and pink polka dots. Being the OCD person that I am, everything coordinated from the invites, to Lauren's dress to the decorations to the cake. As you can see in our family picture, Joe even got into the party spirit by wearing pink to my brown.

I found some brown and pink polka dot material at Hobby Lobby and used it so spruce up my tablescape.

I made the chocolate cake with homemade icing and the cupcakes the night before.

As mentioned in a the previous post, Lauren loved her birthday balloons and carried them around all day.

Here she is patiently waiting for us to sing happy birthday.

When we were done singing I told her to blow out the candle. Lauren kept saying "Momma blow out." We tried to blow it out together.

Usually Lauren is all about the sweets but on this day she only ate a little.

The following are some candid shots from the party (compliments to my photographer, Aunt B).

This is Lexi, Lauren's BFF from daycare. These two little girls play so well together.

I debated about what activities to do with the kids. Being 2 years old, organized games are pretty much out of the question. We let the kids play with Lauren's toy's in the family room and that was fine. The hit of the afternoon was this old canister of Mardi Gras beads my mom gave Lauren a few months ago. Every kid (boy and girl) was wearing them around the house. As the kids left, each child got to pick a balloon to take home with them (pink or brown of course). Overall, the party was a success and I look forward to birthday number 3 - as long as it doesn't come too soon.

Lauren Turns 2!

I can't believe it! Lauren turned 2 last week. Time sure has flown by. The day started with Lauren double fisting some "doughnies" for breakfast.

After breakfast, we got dressed and Lauren headed to daycare to celebrate with her friends. I sent a chocolate chip cookie cake for snack and Donna (her daycare provider) said she didn't eat a bite of it.

When Lauren got home, there were two Mylar balloons waiting for her. One said Happy Birthday and the other one was of Mickey Mouse.

We had wrapped birthday gifts sitting out for her with the balloons but she only had eyes for the balloons. For the rest of the evening, she had the balloons in her hands. Dinner was a challenge because she didn't want to let go of the balloons.

Farmor and Grandpa called her and sang happy birthday. Lauren opened her baby doll while they were on the phone. Aunt Sara, Uncle Andy and cousin Stephen also called. Early in the morning, Uncle Ken called but we were still asleep. Joe finally convinced Lauren to let go of the balloons so she could open her gifts. Here are a couple of shots.

Saturday was Lauren's birthday party for her friends. I will post a separate report detailing the party.

Visit with the Burbrinks

This weekend my roommate from college and her family came for a visit. Crista, Phil, Mason and Mallory arrived late Thursday night. After getting their kids off to bed, Crista, Phil and I stayed up visiting and snacking for a little bit. Friday morning came awful early. Lauren must have remembered we were having guests because she woke up at 6:30 am!!! We ate lunch out and Phil watched the kids at the mall playground while Crista and I did a little shopping. Joe was able to join us for dinner at the Macaroni Grill.

Saturday morning Lauren had an appointment at Sears for her 2 year picture. I wanted to get a picture of all 3 kids but they wouldn't all smile at the same time. Crista and Phil were able to get a good shot of them at the house...

After the Sears photo shoot we had lunch at home and the kids went down for a nap. Crista and I hit a few stores while the guys stayed at the house. We ate dinner in and then played a new game I picked up. It's called Scattergories the card game and it was a blast. I've been accused of thinking it was crazy fun because I won both rounds but it really was fun.

The Burbrinks left on Sunday. Lauren played very well the Mason and Mallory and we look forward to seeing them after the first of the year.