Lydia's 2nd Birthday

My little tiny sweetie is two! Two years old! Where did all the time go!? I swear it was just yesterday that she was born.

How did she grow up so quickly!? Sometimes it hurts my heart thinking about how much she has changed in the last two years. I miss some of the things she used to do, and I so wish that life had a pause button so that I could pause it and soak in every minute of her growing up. But - life can't be that way. So I'm trying super hard to enjoy each stage, and not to be sad when she grows and changes. Because with every new change, she leaves something behind but also learns something new at the same time. And that's exciting.

We had a lot of fun for her birthday. I tried to think of things she really loves to do, and then that's exactly what we did to celebrate. She started off the day by sleeping in (that crazy girl! She never sleeps in!!), and then after we had some breakfast, we watched a little bit of her favorite show, Finding Nemo (her favorite show has since changed to Monsters Inc., but it was Nemo on her birthday).

She also loves to jump, so I decided to take her to Kangaroo Zoo in Ogden. Parents are free to watch, but are 9 dollars to jump with their kids. I wasn't about to pay for that, so Lydia had to jump on her own. She was terrified at first, but then she met a little friend that held her hand and showed her how to go up and down the slides, and then she wasn't so nervous anymore. Thank heavens for that little girl! She was such a sweet heart.

She picked out her new birthday outfit.

They had a Nemo bounce house at Kangaroo Zoo and after she found that, there was no going on anything else. Only the Nemo bounce would do.

My mom gave Lydia a birthday crown to wear on her birthday, and Lydia wore it almost all day long. She loved being the birthday queen. Just like her mommy. :)

After Kangaroo Zoo, we came home and finished Nemo while we ate some lunch. We were supposed to go into Dave's work when she woke up to catch the tail-end of a pie social he was having with his corporate office folks, but she slept for too long and we missed it. She must have needed her beauty sleep on her big day, and I wasn't about to go interrupting that!

She doesn't usually get to eat on the couch, but for her birthday I made an exception. Nemo and lunch on the couch for the birthday girl.

By the time she woke up, it was almost time for Dave to get home. We read some books and did a few puzzles until he got home, and then we had dinner. She is a horribly picky eater, but one of the things she will eat is spaghetti. So, we made a spaghetti dinner for the birthday girl. She also likes peas, so we had spaghetti and peas for dinner. Weird combination, I know, but she loved it!

Spaghetti and Peas for the Birthday Queen. :)

After dinner, we went to the library to let Lydia pick out some books and puzzles. The Weber County library that we go to is AWESOME. It has a puzzle and toy section that you can check out and take home! They have puzzles, legos, blocks, sound makers, math games, lacing beads, and a bunch of other things that you can check out just like a book and take home and play with! It's the BEST, because when she gets bored of the toys, we just take them back and get new ones. We usually go every week, but we had to miss the week of her birthday, so we made a trip on her birthday for her to pick out new toys and puzzles, which she LOVES. She loves puzzles so much. 

Playing with the legos at the library after we picked out some new toys.

After the library, we came home for presents and cake and ice cream. She was such a slow-poke opening her presents because she wanted to stop and play with each new thing she opened. Which was fine with us! It was so fun to watch her play with her new things. She got some books, some clothes, and some new puzzles.

I made her a little cupcake for her birthday so she would have a little bit of cake and ice cream on her special day. She took about two bites of the ice cream and a nibble of the cake. NOT like her mommy there!! She's so strange! She loved blowing out the candles though!

This is the cutest little video. She was trying to kiss the candles instead of blow them out. Haha!

By this time, the birthday girl was WORN OUT and ready for bed. I think she had a great birthday though!!

The following Saturday, we had our families over for a party. She loved Finding Nemo and so we threw her a Finding Nemo party. She loved all the decorations we had, and was so excited that her house had transformed into "under the sea".

We played a little game called "How well do you speak Lydia-ese?" We wrote down all of the things she says, and whoever could write down the most correct translations of her language won the grand prize....get ready for it....a bag of goldfish!! Really exciting, I know. My little sister won. :)

Dave made her a Finding Nemo cake. He was so excited to make it for her, and he did a pretty darn good job too! She now plays with those cake toppers in the bathtub and thinks they're the greatest toys ever.

For her party, we just had dinner and then opened presents and had cake and ice cream. It was so fun to have everyone here, and we were so grateful everyone made the drive up to our house to celebrate with us. She was a lucky girl with the gifts she got! Lots of toys and some darling new clothes. She loves all of her birthday gifts and they keep her occupied and busy all day long, even now. 

Puzzles and a new doll from Grandma J.

A lego set from Hannah and Landon

A sweater from Ireland from Grandma D.

Finding Nemo bowl and plate set from Steph and Colton. Don't mind the lipstick on her lips. She had just given Grandma D a kiss. :)

Nemo sticker book from mom and dad

She is so skinny that her pants were just falling off of her bum the entire night! At one point, they fell all the way down, and then she decided she wanted everyone to see her "bee-boh" (her belly button). She was cracking us all up!

When we sang Happy Birthday to her, she just stood there in the middle of the room like a deer in the headlights looking around at everyone and not having any idea what was going on. Hahaha!

Lydia is my best little buddy, and I love her more than words can even begin to describe. She has brought so much joy and happiness to my life. She's brought some anxiety and frustration too, but mostly happiness. She lights up my day every morning, and I'm so glad that she is my little girl. I'm so grateful for temple covenants that allow her to be my little girl for eternity. I am grateful every day for my forever family.