Shut the front door, my Aniston is 2!?!?!? Seriously where does the time go? I was warned, like most first time parents, about how quickly your child will grow up. Since time had gone so slow previously to Ani being born, especially during the whole pregnancy part, I am pretty sure I chose to ignore that warning. But seriously.... Now it's been 2 years and I feel like it was yesterday that she came into our lives!
Aniston is pretty unique. She is amazing of course, but so grown up and knowledgable for a 2 year old. She talks in full sentences, still blows my mind absorbs like a sponge, sometimes Dad and I have to really watch what we say, and is just so dang smart. Her imagination is out of this world! Yesterday, at the parade, there were multiple airplanes flying by. We asked Ani what they were doing and her response was, "they need to go get food." I'm proud to say that my child understands and acknowledges the importance of food! She has these, what she calls, baby dinosaurs, that she plays with all the time, and I love listening to her in her toy room play by herself with them. She always has a mommy, a daddy, and a baby. One of them is always going to the doctor for a check up (thank you Disney channel) and they always sing songs together. It's pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen!
I'm kind of big into comparing pictures from the exact same day, in different years. Here is Ani the day she was born, the day she turned 1 and on her second birthday!
Ani's favorite thing right now is Minnie Mouse. So it was kind of a no brainer when it came to the theme of her party. Why do we spend hours and hours prepping for a 2 hour party? The things we do for our kids. I wanted to make as much as I could to save money and I am loving how it turned out! Thank goodness for Pinterest! How on earth did I ever get married and plan a reception without it? We put her to bed in her new Minnie Mouse jammies, and she woke up happy to Spencer and I singing Happy Birthday to her. I think she thought she was pretty cool.
I found these super cute invitations on etsy, but I didn't want to spend $40 for 10, when I knew I needed more. So I got onto publisher and made my own version. I got 20 invitations for less than $5! I just love to save money and still have a quality product.
I also found a cute birthday banner on etsy too, but once again, my cheapness overcame and I buckled down and just made the banner myself for less than 75% of what it would have cost me.
I did however give into etsy for her birthday outfit! The outfit also came with leg warmers (way too hot) and a bow, but she liked wearing her Minnie ears much better. Super cute though! You will see more of her in this adorable outfit when I get her 2 year pictures next week!
Aniston just wanted to eat Cheetos and not smile for mom...
A very important part of any part is the food of course! I probably went a little overboard, but Pinterest had the cutest ideas and I just couldn't say no. Getting a grill for Spencer for Father's Day was definitely a good choice. But we have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much left over!!! Snacks for days, I can't complain.
We also had Minnie's Hammy Burgers and Mickey Hot Diggity Dogs! So yummy!
I found a cute cake on Pinterest, but then Aniston came over and started looking with me and informed me that she must have cupcakes. So I found a cute cupcake. Even though for whatever crazy reason we could not get the frosting to be red, they turned out pretty cute! I bought a chocolate mold for the bows off Amazon for like $1, and luckily my hubby has experience in chocolate molds. Is there anything that man cannot do? Also my youngest brother Ryan did the frosting... Cupcake War here he comes!
I definitely made her cupcake stand out of can food and $1 poster board and I had the ribbon... I am so cheap!
So what is the best and most fun way to get candy to kids during birthdays? A Pinata of course. When I was younger my Dad would always make pinatas for our parties and most of the time we could not break them. We would break the broomstick or dowel or bat that we were using to attempt to break it before the pinata would break. So of course I asked him and my brother to make the pinata for us. It turned out as an egged headed Minnie, and ended up providing us more entertainment then we could have imagined. All of the little kids took turns hitting it, but because they all ranged between the ages of 2-4 it wasn't super successful. So we offered Spencer the opportunity to break her open. Can I just say how glad I am that I recorded this?
As you can see, Aniston did not like it so much. I think she was pretty upset that her Daddy just broke open Minnie's head with a stick. Let's be honest, it's a little barbaric, but also pretty darn hilarious. And once she saw that there was candy all over the place her tears disappeared.
It was a lot of fun to have friends and family come spend the day with Aniston and to celebrate her. She was pretty blessed! Later that night we went into Idaho Falls with our friends Tara and Ryan and ate at Red Robin. It's kind of tradition considering we did it for her first birthday and now again for this one. She loves being sang to so it's perfect. Plus free ice cream.... kind of awesome.
Here is her reaction from last year...
Here's the reaction from this year...
We went to Walmart to pick up a few things before heading back and I couldn't help but to catch this moment between Ani and her Daddy. She just loves him so much!!!
Apparently we have a thing for shoulder riding on her birthday, because I found this picture from her last birthday pretty much doing the same thing with Dad... I just about died from the cutest of how these two bonds in the same ways and we didn't even recognize it.
She also loved all the fireworks she saw driving home at night. How many people are lucky enough to have fireworks on their birthday?
Basically we had a GREAT day! It's pretty exhausting having a child born the day after a holiday, and isn't it funny that my due date is the day after Thanksgiving? We must have a timing thing going on. But I wouldn't change anything!
They say it takes a village to raise a child and boy is that the truth! I want to take the time to thank everybody who had helped Spencer and I survive the past 2 years. Because let's be honest... To be a parent is to survive. It's not even close to being easy and it is probably the hardest thing Spencer and I have ever done, but it's also, by far, it's definitely the most rewarding! To everyone who gave us advice, taught Aniston, played with Aniston, set good examples for Aniston (and she had so many good examples) and who have loved Aniston, thank you! She is such a beautiful, smart, hilarious, stubborn, sassy, talkative, loving but most of all happy child. We couldn't have done it without all of you! Spencer and I are so incredibly blessed to be the parents to such a fantastic child! We love you so much Aniston Kate! This year is going to change your life! But I know without a single doubt that you will be an incredible big sister and that you will only grow and develop new talents and skills from these future changes. You are such an inspiration and motivation to us! Thank you for allowing us to be your parents and for giving us the opportunity to learn about love and all that fun parenting stuff!
Happy 2nd birthday my little Minnie Mouse!!!!
Super cute! Love it!
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