It's My Party!

Last Tuesday, we celebrated Monkey's birthday at home with just the three of us.  She doesn't really eat cake, so we got her a cookie to enjoy as her "birthday cake".  She of course loved the cookie!  This birthday was much more enjoyable than last year.  Last year she threw her first tantrum on her actual birthday.  This year, we got to celebrate and open presents with no tantrums!

We got her some Sesame Street wall decals or "stickers" according to her.  She got to put them on the wall in her room and the greatest part is she gets to move them around on the wall.

Learning how to open her own presents...

Yesterday, we had her party for family and some good friends.  She still LOVES goldfish, so I decided to have an Under the Sea theme for her party.  I still LOVE my Cricut and all the ways it allows me to be creative without taking too much time.

It was such a fun party.  She gets more and more fun each year.  Watching her interact with everyone this year was so much fun.  I made a big cookie cake for her since again, she doesn't eat cake!  She loved looking at it, but wouldn't eat a piece with icing on it.  :)  After awhile she finally ate a bite of regular cookie.

She loved opening her presents this year, and she got some great things to play with!

It was so great to be able to celebrate with family.  We are so thankful for our little 2 year old and the blessings she brings to our lives.  Enjoy some pictures from the day:

This new smile is killing me!!

Opening a puppy dog pillow from her great-grandmother that she loved!

This is "Sherbert".  When we were at the beach 2 weeks ago, So-So had a stuffed turtle that she calls Sherbert.  Monkey loved playing with Sherbert and was sad to leave him.  She got her very own Sherbert from Uncle Chad, Aunt Birdie, So-So and Goose.  She LOVES him!

She loved taking her presents to people to show them what she got!

Funny girl!!

I told her Uncle Brad to get her a Cookie Monster because I thought she would love him.  When she opened him, she ran from him and started crying.  She was scared the rest of the day.  But rest assured Uncle Brad, she now loves him and told him goodnight tonight and told him she would see him in the morning!

This was by far her favorite gift from her second cousins.  It is a bottle and cup that have disappearing liquid.  They are much bigger and better than the ones we grew up with.  She loved them and had to find her baby immediately before she could open another present.

Aunt Co-Co came out to celebrate.  We have been friends for almost 10 years and have only managed to get maybe 5 pictures together.  We vowed to get some good ones during the day!

Monkey actually cooperated for the picture!

Starting to not want to cooperate! :)

She wasn't sure what to do with herself when everyone was singing Happy Birthday.  I actually thought she was going to start crying, but she held it together...

and managed to try to blow out her candle.  She made a great effort and almost made it. I'm confident she can get it next year!

Happy girl eating a cookie with Ju-Ju.