Happy Birthday to Julia!

Julia turned two today!  My darling baby, my daughter who was an infant in my arms yesterday is TWO today!

She has experienced a lot of change in the last year.  I thought she was "grown up" a year ago and yet when I look at pictures from last year, she seems so much older now... since her last birthday, she has learned to talk and walk, she has experienced her mama being pregnant and has become a big sister, she seems to have actual "friends" now instead of little kids that she bumps around with... she really seems to have developed a personality and wants to share who she is with us.

Preparation for today was key.  We had plans to have friends over for dinner, and that required prepping pizza dough and making a cake.  I've been trying to be better lately at planning ahead instead of trying to do everything last minute, and for the most part, it works well.  I baked the cake and made dough on Sunday, and thought last night would be a breeze... ack.  Adam did a great job decorating and corralling the kids and browning sausage for me... but the cake decorating didn't go so well.  Completely defeated, instead of screaming and crying, I felt satisfied when I heard the cake thud to the bottom of the outside garbage can, and I came back in and relaxed the rest of the night.

Today was a lot of fun!  We took Adam to the airport this morning, and after doing so, I took Julia to Hyvee to pick out a birthday cake for her.  I was going to buy a generic one, but the bakery gal said she could surely make a custom one if I was willing to come back tonight to pick it up... score!  :)  Julia went crazy over the Baby Einstein cake, so that's what we went with.  After we picked out a few Birthday Breakfast Donuts, we went home.

This morning Julia wanted to sit in her old high chair to play with toys, so she did that while I put up the tree. We ran a few errands today and that's when the fun started... first, I thought she needed a bath... well, 10 minutes into her bath, she pooped in the tub.  Well, the last two baths she has had, she's pooped in the tub (once I caught her quick enough and was able to get her onto the toilet; whew).  Each of these times, she has flipped out and tries to claw her way out of the tub as if she is scared of the poop.  Today she almost succeeded and was perched on the rim of the tub having a holy fit.  Well , after we got the tub cleaned out, I just brought her in the shower with me.  I thought for sure after that she would be tired because she had been up so early and hadn't napped yet, but nope... she wanted nothing to do with napping.  After being in her crib for a 1/2 hour, I went to check on her, and she had her diaper off and was waving it around in the crib... she was butt naked.  First. Time. Ever.  I gave up on the nap and was prepared for a bad night.  The thought running through my head the rest of the afternoon was, "Ack, she is two.  Is this what two is like???"

But... it was a WONDERFUL night!  After picking up the cake at 5 pm, I got the pizzas in the oven while Adam played with the girls.  We had pepperoni, pepperoni & sausage, barbeque chicken, and buffalo chicken.  Our friends (the Jablonskis and Steenhoeks) arrived shortly after 6 pm and after cutting up and dishing out pizza and a short prayer, we were well on our way to a fun evening.  Julia absolutely loved running around with her friend Lucas (Lukie) Jablonski... they had a ball together!  Yay!  After pizza, we had Julia open a few presents and then we had cake.  How fun that Julia even blew out her own candles... and this year she had no fear of the cake... she knew how good it would taste and dove right in!  :)  (Thanks to our friends for being here and helping make the night special for us and for Julia!) 

How fun that our little girl has turned two!  Happy birthday to you, darling!

erin

What a great evening of fellowship!  It was a wonderful birthday day for Julia