It's party time! Isabelle is 2!

Isabelle turned 2 on Thursday and it was quite the day! She has been waiting for her birthday for a long time! With my birthday in August and then Charles' in September, she kept asking me when it was going to be "Isabelle's birthday." So the countdown has been on for a while and boy was she ready for it to be her day. We were sad that Charles wasn't here with us to celebrate this special day. But we did get to talk to him on Skype several times, so hopefully he felt like he didn't completely miss out on the celebration. Charles had me pick up some roses just for Isabelle. Of course she loved them.

Originally I wanted to take Isabelle to Disney for her birthday. She absolutely loves Disney, I will post about our recent visits there soon. But, I didn't think I would be up to taking her there by myself with only 6 weeks left of my pregnancy. So I decided to have a little birthday party for her with her friends instead. Initially we planned to have the party at my house because the weather forecast called for rain. But when I checked the forecast two days before the party and it said clear skies, I decided to change the location and have the party at the park in my mom's neighborhood. That way there was more for the kids to do and less for me to clean up! I am so glad I changed it to the park, it made life a lot easier and the kids had a ball. We ended up with 11 kids there plus all the moms. It was a great turn out.

Isabelle loves the swing!

Isabelle and Addi thought it was so funny that they both could be in the swing at the same time.

Isabelle's best friend Kayla and Ruth

Roland stopped in and entertained the kids with juggling and some "dancing" or at least that is what he calls it. Isabelle thought he was so funny.

Isabelle is absolutely obsessed with all the Disney Princesses and Tinkerbell. So I decided to narrow it down and picked Tinkerbell as a theme for the party. It is amazing how well they market everything for kids. Disney sure knows what kids like.

Isabelle and Kayla, patiently waiting for food.

Me and my birthday girl!

Isabelle loves Chick-Fil-A, so we got a tray of nuggets from there and had some grapes, carrots, string cheese and Capri Suns for lunch.

After lunch it was cake time! Isabelle had been patiently waiting for her Tinkerbell birthday cake.

Having been to a lot of birthdays lately, Isabelle knew exactly what to do when the "Happy Birthday" song was over. She climbed right up and blew out the candle. It was like she had been practicing.

"Yummy, birthday cake!"

"Do you think this whole thing can fit in my mouth?"

Isabelle loved her Tinkerbell balloons.

After a little more playing on the playground it came time to open presents. Isabelle was absolutely spoiled with presents. She got lots and lots of princess stuff, which of course made her so happy, some clothes, a game and pretty hair bows. She loved it all. Thank you everyone!

Trying on some of her new Princess Aurora shoes (she calls them Aurora since they are pink of course).

Testing out her new Princess sleeping bag.

Princess Tea Set

New hair bows.

Isabelle loves to play dress ups. In fact, if we are home she rarely has normal clothes on, she always wants to be dressed up as one of the princesses or Tinkerbell. So Charles and I got her a new Aurora dress. Of course she wanted to put it on right away.

Reading her new Beauty and the Beast book!

The party was a hit. Isabelle had a great time and still talks about it everyday. Thank you to everyone who helped make it a special day for our darling girl. Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Cake Time

I decided to explore my domestic side and make a Tinkerbell cake for Isabelle's birthday. Since I had no idea where to start I called up my very talented friend Tanessa for help. She came and spent the entire afternoon with me, helping me create this magical Tinkerbell cake. Charles didn't believe that I could really make a cake, so I had to take pictures along the way documenting the event.

First I baked 4 cakes, two small round and two large round. I spread a layer of strawberry jam in between the layers.

We made our own frosting and Tanessa covered the cakes.

Then came time for the decorating. We made lots of leaves and flowers all along the cake. With that done, we put Tinkerbell on top and the cake was done. It sounds pretty simple, but the decorating took almost 5 hours alone. Now I know why they charge what they do for cakes at the store. In fact, I almost think they are under priced. But, there is nothing like the sense of accomplishment in creating your own masterpiece. Thanks Tanessa for teaching me!

The final masterpiece! Pretty good, if I may say so myself.

Here is a little video of the kids singing "Happy Birthday." Isabelle likes to watch this video over and over on our computer. Every time the end of the song comes she climbs up on the desk and tries to blow out the candle again. It is too cute!