Happy 2nd Birthday, Lorelai!

On Sunday our sweet baby girl turned 2.  Brian reminded me that she hasn't been a baby for a while what with her running, jumping, dancing, climbing, and constant talking.  HA!

She still says she's my baby.  :)

What can I tell you about Lorelai at this age?  She loves Elmo, Tinkerbell, Hello Kitty, Disney Princess toys, and baby dolls.  She is a crazy whirlwind of energy, and I'm so glad she normally sleeps in a bit past Gabriel as he and I are not morning people and need to wake up a bit before we can deal with her 0-60 personality with a smile on our faces.  lol  She has the greatest laugh, and her little eyes sparkle when she smiles.  My dad used to say that about me.  I now know what he was talking about.  She loves to dip all food in Ranch...or pretty much any kind of condiment.  She loves to sing and dance, and of course copy anything Gabriel does.  She loves pretending to do hair and make up, putting on her necklaces and shoes.  And this girl...she could talk the hind leg off a mule.

She had a GREAT birthday.  She got necklaces...

Gabriel got a few presents as well (a Bumblebee Transformer)...

 Some nice big "Barbie" size Disney Fairies... (all of the above are from Grandma and Grandpa Wood)

 Granddad got each of the kids a fun place setting for the table...

 (there's something else from him a bit further down).

 Lorelai's birthday fun got spread out a bit.  As packages arrived the kids begged and begged to open them.  Eventually, for my own sanity...we began opening them.  Besides...who doesn't like birthday WEEK!!!?

On Saturday evening we took the kids to the zoo.  They've been begging to go all summer and it was in the 80's that night so we headed out for the last of the zoo summer hours.

 On birthday morning (side note...Lorelai picked her new winter pajamas to wear...we did not put her in fleece pajamas in the summer by our choice.  HA!) Lorelai was beyond excited to find a baby nursery center for her from Mommy and Daddy!  We hit the jackpot with her with that one.  She played on that thing ALL DAY LONG!!!!  :D

 We also got her a pretend make up set.

 Grandma Cherlyn and Grandpa Greg got Gabriel this great police dress up set.  He spent the morning handcuffing all of us and some of the furniture.

They also got Lorelai this double stroller (in addition to some cute fairy sheets for her big girl bed and the darling vanity for her room).  And Granddad got her this Elmo that has the dress up features for practicing skills like buttoning, zippering, etc.

 This kid could open up a daycare.  She knows exactly what to do with all of these dolls in the nursery.

If you visit my craft blog you saw me post about the Dresden Doll Quilt I made for her out of Little Red Riding Hood fabric.  It was a hit, and has been put to good use with many of the babies.  :)  So glad she likes it.  I LOVED making it for her.

The "theme" of Lorelai's birthday was Elmo.  These aren't the greatest, but she could at least recognize who it was.  lol

I also made some Elmo's out of paper lanterns and card stock.  I was really happy with these:

(Yeah, I'm in desperate need of a haircut...but I'm trying to grow it out.)  Surprisingly her candle blowing was so dainty that she needed a bit of assistance.

We all had a wonderful time celebrating this amazing, spirited, joyful, loving, smart, and beautiful little girl that I am proud to call my daughter.  :)  Happy birthday, my darling Lorelai!!!!!