Happy Two!

How To Plan a 2nd Birthday Party:

1.) Decide on a theme. And make it good. This may be one of the last times you get to choose it; Dora or Disney princesses may hijack birthdays from here on out.

2.) Plan an exorbitant amount of DIY projects. And then do half. And then throw up your hands with a big "Oh well!" when the other half turn out waaaay less cute than you'd planned. At least it will taste good? At least the people coming are ones that love us anyways, no matter how lame-o the decorations? A for effort?

3.) Spend the week getting little bits of the party done here and there...and let the rest of your house fall apart. Then, when the party comes, just shove it all in the rooms and shut the doors.

4.) Get teary-eyed at your husband several times for not being able to read your mind and spend every spare minute helping you out. Have him ask you if you're pregnant.

5.) Come straight off a sugar fast into a week of making treats. Make those treats throughout the week  to cut down the workload the day-of.... and eat WAY too many of them. Get sick to your stomach after the party is finally over and your system can NOT handle one. more. Smartie.

6.) Right before the party, put the birthday girl down for an early nap so she'll be happy. Let her nap in your bed even! Then end up cleaning up a mess of shampoo ALL. OVER. THE COVERS. and pillows. and girl. Strip her down and make her take the rest of her nap in her own bed, dressed like this:

 Also, when getting her into her birthday clothes, put her hair into soapy little pigtails because there's not time to wash her up before everyone arrives.

7.) Invite a bunch of family and friends. And revel in their company and their love for the birthday girl.

8.) Add a cute two-year-old. One who has a secret dimple on her right cheek, who loves to say "CHEEEEESE!" for the camera, who seems to pull out new words every day, who is equal parts sassy and sweet, and who gets SO confused as to why everyone is staring at her in her high chair and lighting a cupcake on fire in front of her. And then they start singing? Weirdos.

9.) Add some awesome presents. Including a BIKE from certain grandparents, like, 6-months in the waiting. Which she's still too little to ride on her own, but which she is ridiculously excited about anyway. Spoil that kid rotten with all those fun new toys AND colouring books AND clothes AND...

10.) After the party, clean up a little. But leave the balloons up. Take the next day off and let your house slide a little more. Write a birthday blog post, but get lazy about loading all the pictures. Make all blog readers grateful for that. And squeeze that two year old a little too tight, a little too often...because you can't believe it's been two whole years since you held her teeny tiny brand-new baby body in your eager arms for the very first time. Two whole years since she made you hers.

Happy Birthday, Renae-ner.