My little girl turned 2 on February 19th. And in true Utterback fashion, we made it a whole weekend of celebrating. The weekend before and week leading up to the big bash, we all were feeling kind of crummy - sniffles, coughing and even fevers. But thankfully we all made enough of a recovery to enjoy a lazy Friday morning together. I even made homemade multi-grain blueberry pancakes with flax seed - Emma LOVED them.
Of course I made Emma's into hearts using a cookie cutter. And I made sure she had plenty of "dip dip" - or Emma speak for maple syrup.
Afterwards Emma decided she needed to play with her Yo Gabba Gabba toys in the middle of the kitchen floor. Little did she know the surprise she would have the next day at her party!
Later on we headed over to Grandma's house to prepare for the big event. Lots of cooking, cleaning & setting up commenced. Duane and I also decided that we wanted to give Emma our gift to her that evening. We figured she was probably going to be overwhelmed (not to mention over stimulated) by all the attention and presents on Saturday.
But first, we had to wake up from our nap with an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba.
She got the hang of opening gifts much better than during Christmas. But, she still was pretty fascinated by the first thing she opened - it took some convincing to get her to move onto the next one.
Notice how she is "rocka baby" in this one, and ever so gently lays the baby in the crib - so cute!
I think the dollhouse is a hit. Nevermind the fact that the stove/fridge end up in the bedroom, or the potty on the patio - Emma has such a good time setting up each piece of furniture or little figure just so.
It's no secret that Emma has a love for all things Yo Gabba Gabba. So, even though I always said I wouldn't do a character themed party, the look on Emma's face when she say all of the decorations was totally worth it.
Duane decided that we were going to make our own cupcakes instead of buying them this year. So with a little help from Duncan Hines and Grammy Lu's homemade frosting recipe we were pretty proud of the outcome...even though we were frosting cupcakes at 11:30 the night before. We did have a little help from Uncle Brian & Kristy though - so it really wasn't that bad.
Guests arrived at 11:30am sharp to a feast. Homemade pulled pork or sloppy jo sliders, cheesy potatoes, pasta salad, veggies, hummus & taco dip.
Larry helps to tame Max.
Brian & Kristy spend some time with Taylor.
Check out those cheeks - she might just have Emma beat!
Aunt Nee Nee helps Emma with her second (or third!) helping of pork.
There was a mountian of gifts to be tackled and a stubborn 2-year old who distracts easily. So, we moved onto presents pretty quickly in an effort to get through as many as we could. And she really did a great job - and of course Katie helped to keep her on task.
Emma is truly a girl - everytime she opens a gift with clothing she pulls out the outfit and exclaims, "Oooo, cute!" And she was such a little diva with her new sunglasses.
Katie helped supervise and little Gianna observed - she'll get her turn in just a few weeks when she turns one!
Did I mention that Emma loves Yo Gabba Gabba. So it's no surprise that she loved her oversized stuffed Foofa from Aunt Nee Nee. So much so that Grandma had to take care of her until Emma was all done with her gifts.
Emma's "big" gift from Grandma is an adorable little nursery center for her baby dolls. It is the perfect size and it's so precious to watch Emma put "lotion" on her dolls. She squirts some "lotion" in her hands, rubs them together and then gently rubs it on her baby's arms and legs - just like we do to her.
By the time we were done with all of the gifts we were treading dangerously close to naptime. So it was only fitting when my little diva decided to throw a full blown temper tantrum, complete with kicking, screaming and crocodile tears.
Until Daddy saved the day - with a little help from Emma's Blankie & "me".
And probably because she was tired and just not a big fan of sweets in general (seriously, what kid do you know that throws a fit when we don't have "brocky" with dinner!) she was just not into the blowing out of the candle/cupcake thing. But we did at least get a semi-cute picture of the 3 of us.
As guests left Emma went down for a nap....or so I thought. Maybe 15 minutes after reading her "Night, night Gorilla" I heard her insistent voice on the monitor calling, "Mommy, mommy". And I could tell by the tone that she was just not going to sleep. So, since it was her day I went up to rescue her and let her play with her new toys for a little bit before trying again.
But first she had to try on her new green tutu - just what a girl needs.
After a bit more play time a little, sleepy girl climbed into my lap. This time she was ready which was a good thing, because soon...
...this guy would arrive ready to play. Because of unexpected work obligations the Utterback side of the family couldn't make it earlier for the party - so we just had a party of our own. Who doesn't need TWO birthday celebrations.
So after eating more food (and cupcakes) we left Grandma's house and headed back home for more presents and playing.
Could it be Elmo? Thank you Ryan! (and Uncle Donny & Aunt Kim)
Notice how cutely dressed she is here - well as soon as she opened these cute purple shorts from Uncle Donny & Aunt Kim she insisted on taking off her shoes AND tights.
Hugs from Aunt Steph before the unveiling of the "big" gift from Grammy Lu & Grampy...
...her very own Step 2 Cottage! Another hit and something we have to go down into the basement and play with daily. :)
Notice the purple shorts - she carried them around the entire night.
All in all it was a great birthday extravaganza. We got to see and celebrate with most of our friends and family. Emma's toys have officially taken over the entire house. Not to mention that I now officially have a two-year old who I love more than words can express.
Happy Birthday Emma!!
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