party animal

Olivia's official birthday celebration took place this past weekend. It was our first chance to entertain in our new house so we were very excited. The theme for the party was safari animals. Over the summer Olivia became obsessed with the zoo and really started getting into all of the animals, so it was the perfect choice. I found some adorable party decorations that were really bright and cute. We decorated and set-up while my Mom prepared all of the food (bless her!). She also made Olivia's cake! It was so stinkin' cute...not to mention really yummy!

The party was on Saturday and we wanted it to be later in the afternoon so Olivia would be well rested from her nap. Saturday was also Olivia's first fall swimming lesson so she was pretty tired. I ended up having to wake her up in time for the guests to arrive. But once she was up she immediately went into party animal mode! There was a twinkle in her eye as people started arriving and gifts started piling up. After some social time we decided that we would dive right into the gifts. No sense in making the poor little thing wait!

I was so surprised by how into opening gifts she was. She knew the drill, without any help at all. Being a kid, she would find the card, toss it to the side and start tearing off wrapping paper or pulling tissue out of the bag. Her reaction to each gift was the same. It was usually, "WOW!" or "LOOK AT THIS!". Each gift was as exciting as the last, whether it was clothes or a really neat toy. Of course she wanted to take each present out of it's respective box immediately and open it up so the hard part was convincing her to wait until we were all done with the gifts before we could start playing with them. She was understanding and just went on her way, tearing open another present. It was such fun watching the joy in her eyes as she tore through those presents. Once she was done with her gifts we told her that she had one more present down in the basement. Everyone followed Olivia downstairs so they could see her reaction to the wonderful kitchen that Todd's parents had gotten for her!

She was thrilled and from that point forward we hardly saw her the rest of the night. All of the kids at the party had a good time cooking with Olivia. It was the perfect gift for her. Now whenever we want her to come upstairs she says, "NO mama! I'm cookin'!". Too cute! My Mom is hoping that the cooking gene has been instilled in Olivia since I do not have much of an interest. She believes that the love for cooking must have skipped a generation! We will see!

Olivia was able to tear herself away from her favorite birthday gift long enough to come upstairs for birthday cake. I have never seen a child's eyes light up the way hers do when it comes to cake. After singing "Happy Birthday" to her I was smart enough to remove the white birthday shirt I had made for her. Chocolate cake, white shirts and toddlers are not meant to go together!

There was a big difference in the mess from last year to this year. There was not nearly as much cake on the floor or on Olivia. She successfully used her fork to eat the majority of her cake so the clean up was a "piece of cake"...so to speak.

Olivia received a wonderful surprise on the day of her party. While she was napping the most adorable little truck pulled up in front of our house only to drop off the most amazing "Edible Arrangement". In case you have never heard of this company they design these awesome fruit bouquets for any occasion. It arrived at our door with a birthday balloon and an adorable teddy bear attached to it. I knew immediately that it was from my Uncle Larry who lives in Florida. He always remembers special occasions and was thoughtful enough to recognize Olivia's party by sending her some of her favorite things...fruit, balloons and teddy bears! Olivia could hardly keep her hands of this delicious "edible arrangement" all night. It was a huge hit and was completely devoured in no time. Thank you, Uncle Larry! It was such a thoughtful gesture!

I am still adjusting to the fact that my baby is two! She acts like she is two and she definitely looks like she is two, but it does not seem like she should be two already. The time has gone much too fast and I am worried that the next time I blink she is going to be five and I am going to be wondering where my baby went. So far this is my favorite stage of Olivia's life. If I could freeze her at this age I would. She is just so full of energy and personality right now. Her vocabulary is off the charts. I find it hard to believe that I am able to have a full conversation with my two year old...while understanding everything she is telling me!

I think it is safe to say that our girl enjoyed her 2nd birthday. She partied until every single guest was gone. She then crashed hard and we were able to put the birthday celebration behind us until next year. Hopefully Olivia's third year won't fly by so quickly. It was a great party. Thank you to all of our family that attended. Also, thank you to my Mom for making the food and the cake. I want to leave you with some great family pictures from Olivia's party....