Two Year Old Birthday Girl

It's official. I have a two year old child. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that. Time flies is a cruel understatement. 

I wanted to surprise her as soon as she woke up in the morning to make her feel extra special. I splattered some gold and black paint on a few balloons and placed them throughout her playroom. As soon as she saw them, she was like "bawoo!"

Of course, she immediately saw her present waiting for her and couldn't wait to open it. I bought her a couple of books, including Where The Wild Things Are (aka the best book ever!) and a tutu she can play around in. I'll surprise her at her birthday party this weekend with a little something I've been working on.  She can't stop talking about her birthday "par-y." I've been gearing her up all month for it. She can actually comprehend and get excited about a birthday party this year, and I can't wait to see her face.

We are in full two year old mode, let me tell you. I usually wake up about 5 am and get a few things done before I get a workout in. Yesterday, while waiting for my coffee and rice cake to digest I whipped up a batch of funfetti birthday pancakes to surprise Anabelle when she woke up. When I lit the candles and tried to sing happy birthday, she bucked away from the fire and screamed, "no!" Rude. The pancakes were awesome though. She ate them all and I ate the rest. She's a feign for anything covered in maple syrup. 

After nap time, I took her to get some birthday cake ice cream. She had a choice between ice cream or the playground and she chose the former. A girl after my own heart :) I'm also pretty sure she didn't want to spend anymore time outside in this freezing weather. Freezing our insides is way better anyway. 

Post ice cream coma, we went to the store and I told her to pick out one birthday gift for herself. Bad idea. I was tortured for nearly half an hour trying to convince her to make a decision. She eventually chose a 45 piece Elmo puzzle that I'm sure is going to take some work to put together. I was never the best at puzzles and I certainly can't rely on her nimble fingers. Yet. 

At two years old, Anabelle is sweet, kindhearted with a gentle, sympathetic spirit. She is always smiling and laughing with every chance she gets. This kid absolutely adores affection and requests "mo" hugs and kisses until I suffocate her in love. Her manners are on point too. She's always saying, "dank ou" (thank you) and repeating it until she hears a "you're welcome" in response. Let's see how long she can keep this politeness going.

Cheers to two, my delightful girl! Thank you for choosing me to be your mommy.

Life Via The Camera Roll

I cleaned up my office area during an organizational fung shui move and put my DSLR inside a shelf drawer out of reach from grabby toddler hands. In a punishment move from fate, I keep forgetting to bring it with me. Or even take it out of the drawer. So, here are a few snapshots from our weekend, courtesy of the camera roll.

Waiting for breakfast inside her baby's stroller. The baby rolls safely on the visor. Hah!

Being 4'11 has it's advantages, like hanging with my best girl in her wagon on the way home from the park.  

She doesn't want to swing in the toddler swing, so I have to jump on with her. Sans makeup and sweatpants. It was a lazy Saturday :)

Post lunch (which she barely ate any of) she played in the sandbox while I hovered like the helicopter mom I am. I keep telling her, "I'm always watching you!" Always. Like a creeper.

We're making progress with these two. My tomcat is still trying to boss everyone around, and doesn't want anyone to forget he's the "man" of the house. Even with three other animals and a toddler fighting for attention. 

As soon as she woke up this morning, she yelled, "Elmo!" And brought the vday cards her grandparents bought her from her bed. She slept with them last night, because, you never know when you'll need to hand them out to your friends.

Happy Monday!

DIY Valentine's Day Felt Tote

I've been pumping Anabelle up for the past few weeks about giving and receiving "presents" on Valentine's Day. She's so excited. I mean, who wouldn't want presents usually in the form of candy? I wouldn't mind either.

Since I can't figure out what to gift toddlers for Valentine's, I figured I would start with step one. The bag. She needs a bag to hold the outrageous amount of sugar deliciousness and heart punny that will come her way.  

I saw something similar while we were browsing the Target dollar aisle and thought, "I can totally make that." Since Anabelle was super psyched to spend the entire day running errands with me and going to the storwe, we grabbed the supplies from the craft store for less that $4. Cheap crafts around these parts, folks. I don't discriminate. 

Speaking of storwes, she had a meltdown after I broke the news that we had finished all the errands we had to. She was completely heartbroken. You would have thought I told her she could never have another bite of ice cream ever again. That would be heartbreak city. Not finishing your errands for the day. She was like, "Nooooooooooo! Mo' storwes." Homegirl can spend hours browsing like her mama. And she's only 23 months. I can't even imagine what the years ahead will bring. Oh my. 

The whole tote project, as we'll call it, took about an hour because I couldn't decided if I wanted her bag to look like a bag or a tote. The tote idea won. 

Supplies:

- stiff red felt 

- stiff white felt 

- white thread

- adhesive glue

Instructions 

1. Cut into the red felt into two pieces measuring 5x9 (this is the front & back), two pieces meausuring 2x9 (side), one piece measuring 1 1/2x9 (handle) and one piece measuring 2x5 (bottom). 

2. Cut out the white felt into a heart shape.

3. Sew the back piece to the two side pieces, starting with the right side down to the bottom and around to the left side. 

4. Sew the front piece on to the side pieces. 

5. Sew the handle to the side pieces. 

6. Glue the white heart to the front of the tote using permanent adhesive glue. 

I haven't shown it to Anabelle yet, since I'm going to wait until Valentine's. I have a few other crafts I'm working on to give her throughout the month of February. I can't wait to share with you all!

Happy February! And go, Cowboys ;)