The Party: Celebrating 2 Years of Liliana

I just finished reading 8 pages of memories of Lily's birth that I typed up just a few days after she was born.  That seems like FOREVER ago!  So much has happened, and labor and delivery (blessedly) seem so far in the past.  But then, too, it's gone by so quickly!  Have I cherished each moment?  Have I made the most of each day?  Have I taught her all that she needs to know thus far?

The answer to each of those questions is, in some ways yes and in some ways no.  But here is what I do know: each birthday, each year, each day is worth celebrating.  So, we celebrate birthdays at our house!

Lily was born on a very special day - she was born on my older brother's 30th birthday.  But the thing is, he died when he was only 17 years old.  So her birthday, in particular, is a great reminder to me to celebrate each and every birthday and even every day, because you're never assured of another.  I, myself, have been critical of the way others celebrate birthdays.  "They invite too many people," I've said.  "That party was so overwhelming," I've commented.  "I wonder how much money they spent," I've whispered judgmentally to my long-suffering husband.

But yesterday, again, I was reminded that it's not important HOW you choose to celebrate, but simply that you DO celebrate especially each year with your loved ones.  They are SO valuable, and such a blessing!  So I'll get off my little "celebrate however you choose to, but make sure you celebrate" soap box and get to the good stuff:  Lily's party!  Here is how it went...

Saturday, Lily's birthday and the day of the party, she napped at Grandma Becky's house so Daddy and I could get the house ready and decorated.  Grandma Becky brought Lily to the house about 30 minutes before anyone else got there, so she had a chance to take it all in.  I got her first reactions on video, and it was hilarious!  The first thing she saw as she walked into the house was her cake/present table:

As she walked in and saw everything, her little mouth hung open and she just looked around for a solid 20 seconds - mouth hanging open in a big "O" the whole time!  Then she got this look on her face for the rest of the day:

We had a VERY happy little girl on our hands.  She noticed (and obsessed) over the cupcakes throughout the party...

Her daddy caved and let her have a little one before anyone got to the house, and I think it was a good thing, because she was on a sugar high and didn't get shy when people got here.  Our theme was a "Zoo Party" (going off of the fact that Chase and my gift to her was her trip to the zoo).  And here was how we partied like animals:

Chocolate penguin cupcakes with white frosting and Oreo faces and wings.  They were on a bed of coconut with pretzel rods dipped in chocolate making up their cage.  (The cage looks kinda cool, but seriously for all you DIYers out there - DON'T DO IT!  It was the most complicated part of the whole cake process...)

What's a zoo party without lions?!?  Funfetti cake with caramel corn manes and M&M ears.

These were supposed to be monkeys.  But Lily called them bears.  And Wendy called them pigs.  Maybe they're the missing link.  I'm really not sure, but they tasted delicious!  Chocolate cake with M&M's for ears.

And last but certainly not least (and my favorite!), elephants.  Even though the Henry Doorly Zoo does not currently have elephants, we still celebrated as if we'd seen them the day before.  Ears out of pretzels dipped in white chocolate that we colored with a bit of black food coloring.  Trunks of white chocolate I made with the left overs from dipping the ears.

We had an entirely themed menu as well that included Monkey Snack bananas, Elephant Food peanuts,

Chimp Chips, Tiger Tails cheetos,

Sloppy Joeys (joeys are baby kangaroos for those of you like my husband who had no idea what a joey was...),

Zoo Keeper Salad, and Rabbit Food veggies.  Aaaaand my photo-bombing husband.  (That's what you get, dear, when you photo-bomb my pictures.)

After supper Lily opened her presents, which was fun to watch.  She loves every single gift she got, and took a minute to play with each thing.  She got great basic toys that we were missing like blocks and cars.

The above car was her favorite - a gift from my grandparents.  When you hook it up to it's key and push a button, it zooms across the floor.  Lily was so thrilled with this toy that she didn't want to open the rest of her presents!  I actually had to bribe her with cupcakes.  It went something like this, "Lily, do you want a cupcake?"  "YES!" (as she drops the car and turns to run for the cake table).  "Then you have to open your last 3 presents."  My mom commented, "You'll never have to do that again!"  :)  I can never remember being more excited about cake than I was about presents, but my girl does love her sweets...

In the end, she was glad she opened the last 3 presents.  As soon as she pulled the book out of the present from Grandma Gayle, she ran over and asked her to read it - that is definitely my girl!

And the above is the rocking chair that I had when I was little, but it wasn't as cute then.  My mom redid the chair for Lily.  She likes rocking in it now, but I suspect that when baby brother or sister comes along and I am rocking in my rocking chair a lot, she'll be extra excited to have her own big girl rocking chair to rock her dollies along with me.

We finished the evening by eating cupcakes and playing with Lily's new toys.  By 8pm, she was one very, very, very tired little girl and despite her best efforts at a sugar high, she was tanking.

Thanks to our family who came to celebrate our dear girl with us - we are so grateful for each of you and the role you play in her life.  And for our family and friends who were not at the party, please know that we love you and are grateful, too, for all that you invest in our Lily.

Here's to 2 years, and hoping for many, many, many more!  We love you Liliana Jo!