a happy birthday party

today we held elenora's second birthday party. we were lucky enough to have many of the same people present as last year... people who have been there and loved her from the start. this year was so fun to see how the girls have all grown. last year ella and penelope were still crawling around on the blanket, and this year they are all running around and chatting.

i set up two easels and put out the sidewalk chalks and crayons as well as the tricycle and the tyke trike. so the children really had fun today!

one of ella's favorite things was the little chairs we brought for the children to sit in.

here's a., who is 25 weeks pregnant!

here are s. and aurora!

here is e. with penelope!

ella got a tricycle ride with j.

then it was time for presents!

here she is with the quilt i picked up at art in the park a few months ago. elenora wanted to cozy right in.

a. gave elenora a beautiful toy cupcake baking set! all the girls were really excited to play with it.

we had a special butterfly balloon above her high chair.

ella actually did manage to blow out the candle all by herself!

mmmm... carrot cake cupcakes!

elenora sang happy birthday to you by herself for everyone's enjoyment. then she clapped and said "yay!"

here she is with mamaw and pop-pop (and her pumpkin pie and cupcake)!

here's uncle j. making her smile!

j. made a "pin the tail on the doggy (and kitty)" set with various accessories for the girls to tack onto the picture (a hat, a collar, a bone, a ball). elenora wasn't into it for very long, but the other 2 girls really enjoyed moving the various pieces around the paper.

here's my happy girl.

the weather was absolutely perfect. we couldn't have had a more fun day.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Elenora Mae!

when i went into elenora's bedroom this morning i sang "happy birthday to you" and when i finished she said "today is your birthday!"

after a pancake breakfast, ella opened 3 presents, including a music box with a ballerina who spins and plays the nutcracker suite, a matryoshka doll from russia, and a cd of mr. rogers' music. she was so busy playing with them that when j. and i urged her to open another present she said "want to not open any more presents now?"

you can see how engaged she is with the russian doll in this video:

i took elenora outside while j. got ready for the day. she wanted to wear this hat that momby got for her for dress-up.

when j. came out i snapped these:

we took ella to russell orchard to go apple picking. she was pretty excited to have both of us on an outdoor adventure with her.

there's not much better than a crisp apple straight from the tree.

after apple picking we took her out for lunch.

when she got up from her nap i changed her outfit to get ready for an afternoon trip to the playground with aurora. while we waited for aurora to arrive, ella dug all of her jewelry out of her new jewelry box. she's such a girly girl.

it was a lovely day. i'm so happy i could make her second birthday so special for her.

after ella went to bed, h. came over to babysit and j. and i walked downtown to a pizzeria to relax after such a busy day.

as i become the mother of a 2-year-old

this afternoon elenora and i went to zumis to split a chocolate ice cream cup. then we walked up to a bakery and she picked out three cupcakes for us to share tomorrow on her actual birthday (pink, purple, and green). as we walked back to our car we saw auntie h. walking along and she said she'd meet us up at the library, so we went there and ella played with the teddy bear and looked at books while h. and i discussed how excited we are for the birthday party on saturday. then elenora and i headed out to the farm to get our vegetables. our farmers let elenora pick some special zinnia and sunflowers to take home to decorate her room with.

on my way home j. called and we decided to take ella out for a special dinner at woodmans. we never really take ella out to dinner, since she eats so early. we either eat dinner with her, or do dinner separately after she goes to bed. woodmans is a seafood restaurant right on the salt marshes of essex, and we got haddock and baby shrimp. she surprised me by really loving the baby shrimp. it was a lot of fun, and i could tell she really knew it was a special night in honor of her.

when we got home it was past bedtime, so i gave her a super quick tub and sang her songs and put her to bed.

there will never be a year where she will change quite as much as she did this past year. she's gone from a (bald) baby who couldn't walk yet to a curly-topped toddler who speaks in full sentences, recites poetry, sings songs, and makes up her own jokes.

this past year has been wonderful. parenting has continued to become more and more fun and rewarding. our routines and friendships are established and bring us satisfaction and joy. i feel really lucky to have such a wonderful little girl.

this next year will probably bring various changes. j. is going to take his licensure exam and possibly make a career move. and we might start thinking about baby number 2 somewhere down the line.

but it's been wonderful to have such a stable year of growth and fulfillment.

thank you to everyone who has loved us, prayed for us, and encouraged us.

bring on the "terrible" twos!