Embracing 2.

 

Our sweet Bree is two.  She is full of spunk and love and laughter.  She brings us so much joy.

 

 

 

Bree, Mommy and Daddy and Hayden love you so much.  We wanted you so much for so long and then you showed up right at the perfect time and you have our whole hearts.  Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Here comes the Easter Bunny!

 

 

Sister's actual birthday was Saturday, and although we'd had quite the celebration the day before, we kept it going with an egg hunt and birthday cake and presents at home.  Here we are at our favorite local hunt with the man in charge.  Sister told me several times, "I not hold the rabbit", meaning she didn't want him to hold her!  So I was happy to snuggle up to him for our picture.

She had no qualms about the hunt though and was hunting with the best of them as she collected her eggs.  She only got pink.  I really think it was by design as there were so many colors...

Maybe she just wanted to match?

Here she is with Daddy.  They definitely have a resemblance and are both pretty funny too!

Peanut wearing his ears for the 5th year in a row...I have the pictures to prove it.  Smile.  He's such a good sport.  I just say "Hear are your ears to wear" and he puts them on and off he goes! 

He was in a whole new age division for the hunt this year which was nice so I was better able to get pics of he and Sis.  It goes fast when its just a big field of plastic eggs...not much hiding to it.  The funniest part was when I said, "Let me see what you got" and he showed me his bucket with ALL BLUE eggs!

Sis fell asleep in the car on the way home so Best dropped Peanut and I off and sat in the car with her to let her catch a little more rest.  We came inside and put the finishing touches on her birthday cake so we could surprise her when she woke up!

On to the presents!  Mom and Dad sent her some Winnie the Pooh books and toys,
and Peanut gave her a birthday set to play party with and she loves it.  We eat a lot of pretend cake here.

                      And real cake to for that matter!

So after the afternoon festivities Best and I had another round of surprises to get ready...

 

Peanut is really into Legos and I was so excited to find Lego undies for him!  And Sis got a new talking person for her dollhouse.  The bunny hid some eggs...in keeping with their preference we hid blue for him and pink for her...

the Easter bunny somehow knew that Peanut had been doing chores and saving up for a special toy so in lieu of candy some of the eggs had money!

Sis was pretty happy with chocolate and marshmallows...

Gammie and Papa came home that afternoon and we went to visit and Sister got more birthday loot from them and the Smiths in the form of Princess dress up clothes, a new doll and princess night gowns.  She looks so cute in it all. 

And Peanut scored a Lego football kit! Aunt Kiki showed up the next weekend with a purse, hat, and sticker pad.  This kid was in hog heaven!   And Best and I were worn out after that weekend...but happy.  She is just amazing and so engaging.  She converses so well now and gives us plenty to ponder and chuckle at!  We are so happy you are our girl.  We love you Sis! 

 

 

Two-reffic!

 We have 2 birthdays in our family on the same week and even more exciting than my 40th on Monday was celebrating our girl turning 2 the following Saturday.  Here she is dressed and ready to go on her special birthday outing.

We planned a day of fun for the family to celebrate our girl and started out with Build a Bear.

 Anxiously waiting for it to open.  Per usual, we were the first ones there.

My sweet girl who brings me so much joy each day.

Here she is with her not yet stuffed floppy furry bear.

The lady who helped Sis make her bear was so sweet as she showed Sis how to step on the pedal to pump the fluff in.

Before they sewed it up Sis was given a small heart to tuck inside and said some special words to her bear.

Here she is with the finished product!  Later we even got them to find a pink cupcake for us on one of the displays so it would match the birthday shirt Peanut picked out for her.  He was so happy for her and pleased to contribute. 

Next stop Rainforest Café for the birthday meal and lots of jungle animation.

This place was awesome.  We had not been in so long and the food was even better than I remembered plus there is just so much to see.  Sis and I walked around looking at and listening to animals, touching rainbows, and waiting for the jungle to come alive when the "storm" began.

We got the giant souvenier cups for the kids which came with a fun plastic head and even a toy inside!  Tree frog for Sis and Gorilla for Bubba. 

Her favorite part, at least the one she is still talking about a week later is when the staff came out and sang Happy Birthday to her and she got a piece of birthday cake.  She was so happy.

For our final adventure we went to the mall's pop in playplace, which is an extension of the Children's Museum.  From dining in the jungle to riding a dinosaur I'd say this girl had a pretty exciting fun filled day!

Here she is playing dress up.  Although we had been to this playspot before, we had not been since they changed the theme to dinosaurs and everything was new!  So much fun for both kids.

 "How's my bow look?  Big enough?"  Yes we gave Sister a Texas size bow for her hair...or at least for the picture.  She can understand almost everything now which makes it so much easier.  So we give lots of choices..."Do you want to wear the bow all day or just for your picture?"  She is always ready with a response.  Her brother is so sweet to her and freely gives her compliments.  Sometimes out of the blue I will hear him say, "Bree you are very beautiful."  I'm happy he finds so much joy in showing her kindness. 

So there you have it.  The big birthday outing...we were aiming to make our girl feel loved, special and give her a day of fun and frolic.  I think we did just that!