Gracie's 2nd Birthday

Gracie Lou's second birthday was this past Sunday, November 1, and we celebrated with a small party for our family and the coaching staff here at NGU. The birthday girl woke up happy at 7:30 and enjoyed eating "cake" (cinnamon rolls) for breakfast. Last week she was diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease, so we were super-happy to see her back to normal! After breakfast, she opened her first gift of the day: a Laugh and Learn Tea Set. I thought she might be a little too old for this set, but she loves it and has played nonstop since opening it.

We had a fun morning playing and watching Elmo. Macaroni and Cheese was served for lunch, and then we attempted to put Miss Priss down for a nap while we prepared for our party. She never did go to sleep, which made for an "interesting" late afternoon. We did a total "homemade" birthday with a cupcake tower (funfetti cake and icing, yum!), some balloons, and party favors.

Once we got her up from her nap, we set up her gift from Grammy and Poppa: a bouncy house! Thankfully, after a nasty Halloween day, Sunday's weather was perfect, so we could set it up on the back deck. To say she loved it is a total understatement. You would have thought we had given her a pony!

Grammy hung out inside and acted as "lifeguard" for the overexcited birthday girl.

Her first trip down the slide. "Weeeeeeee!"

It took her a while to figure out how to "climb" up the slide by putting her feet in the little holes. By the end of the day, she was an old pro.

Disclaimer: This could be one of the most unattractive photos I have ever taken. My mom has a knack for catching me at some pretty awkward moments.

BUT just look at how huge I am!! This was the day before my due date (duh), and I look like I swallowed a basketball. Oh-and my bellybutton is now offically an outie :o)

In order to get the birthday girl inside (and for me to be able to climb out of the bouncy house) we had to deflate the whole thing around us. Her reaction was so funny: "Oh man. The house fell down!"

As usual, Miss Priss refused to pose for any pictures. This is the only picture I got of her "cake" dress. We got this dress a couple months ago for her birthday, and she has asked everyday to wear it. Don't you love the brown leggings? We had to put them on her to prevent her knees from getting "rug" burned in the bouncer. :o)

Singing Happy Birthday!

The stuff behind her is my school stuff. No, I'm not kidding. It is piled to the ceiling in our dining room until I get a classroom to put it in.

A happy cake-eating girl

Gracie's friend Kayla ("Kay Kay") helped her open some of her gifts.

She loved this Furreal Kitty from Mimi. It moves and makes noises when you come near it. After she opened this, she lost interest in opening gifts. She still hasn't opened some of them. I figure that's a good thing: she might need a little pick-me-up in the attention-deprived weeks to come!

Thank you to all our wonderful friends and family for joining us in celebrating Gracie's 2nd birthday. By the end of the party, she was melting down (no nap will do that to a kid), but she had a blast!

This picture isn't from her birthday, but I had to get one in of the little "monster" on Halloween. The weather was terrible here on Saturday (rainy and in the low 60's) so we did not go trick or treating. She was actually a Carolina cheerleader, but Mom found my first real Halloween costume, a fuzzy monster, in the attic and we couldn't resist putting her in it.

Happy Halloween!