I can’t believe my little girl is 2 already!  I honestly don’t know where the last two years have gone.  I know, that’s very cliche’!  I never thought I would say this (as I really do prefer the toddler years to the baby years), but I am a little sad to see we have moved past the baby stage in this house.  Not sad enough, mind you, that there will be another baby in this house… unless I’m babysitting that is!

I am not so secretly, however,  celebrating the fact that bottles, diaper bags, strollers (for the most part), those awful car seats, baby food, formula, baby swings, and all of the other baby gear that takes up 1/2 of your house is all getting boxed up and put away.  Diapers (hopefully) will be a thing of the past here soon… and I know it is just the beginning of a whole new set of challenges.  Oh yes, I know.

But I really am enjoying watching her little personality develop.  She definitely has everyone in the family wrapped around her little finger.  This girl knows how to play us all and knows how to get her way.  Instead of getting upset at her when she does something wrong, we find ourselves laughing and admiring how she so wisely manipulates the situation to not only get her way but somehow make us congratulate her on the process!

We had a great SHOE/swimming party planned for her 2nd birthday.  We had a blast despite the wind storm that decided to come in and wreck havoc on my weeks of detail preparations.  I was able to manage a few pictures before everything got turned upside down and the kids all had a blast, so really, that’s all that matters, right?

Some of the kids who would pose for a few seconds in the cold wind so I could get this shot… Thanks!

What would a shoe party be without SHOE relay races.  Funny thing… Kate loves putting on all our shoes and walking around in them all day long, but she refused to do it here!

My amazing sister, Anne, with help from my equally amazing sister in law, Shaliece, spent HOURS not only baking (from scratch… yeah, no cake mix) but decorating over 140 cupcakes (key lime with white chocolate and toasted coconut, vanilla with buttercream, and chocolate with vanilla whipped frosting).  Yeah, she made each of those edible flip flops!  AMAZING!  Thank you Anne!  They really did taste as good as the looked!

I love Kate trying to show everyone how old she is here…

She got her first dress up clothes this year… No more cars, trains and ball hand me downs from her brothers… apparently it is time to be a girl! 

And she just loved her little kitchen from Nema and Hepa!  She spent over an hour “cooking” food for her stuffed animals when we got home that night.  (Yes, it was almost 11pm before we got her to bed, but how could you possible put her to bed when she is this cute?  See… she is trouble I tell you.  She has us all under a spell!)

Thank you everyone that helped make Kate’s birthday amazing… friends, family…   Kate, we love you!  You truly are a joy!  We love the happiness and fun you bring into our family!