Happy 2nd Birthday, Olivia!

Happy Birthday to Olivia! I cannot believe she is already 2 years old! Wow, I can still remember taking her home from the hospital and being able to hold her all wrapped up in a little blanket - so small and helpless! Now look at her! She's a big girl now and she can do all sorts of things all by herself!

We started out her birthday by letting her open her new play kitchen and accessories from Grant and I when she first came down in the morning:

Then, the party preparations began. I had already made the cake (with mom's help - thanks, mom!) the day before, so that was done. I made little honey pot favors the weekend before with my craft girls. Then at the party Sara helped me stamp their little thumb prints on them in yellow paint and we turned them into little bees!

The party was a good turnout. Everyone in town that we invited (except for one of our neighborhood friends) was able to make it. We also had our parents and brother's come into town. Even Ms. Angie and Ms. Mur-mur came. You should have seen Olivia light up when she saw them show up in the back yard. When she opened her presents, she had to go and show Ms. Mur-mur each one! She kept saying "look Mur-mur, see Mur-mur" after each one. It was very cute!

Here's Olivia and Gracie playing at the water tables in the back yard. All the other kids were out there, but it was so hot out, most of them had come back in for a break. But not these two - we had to drag them in to get cleaned up to do the cake. (they were both SOAKED!)

Here's a really cute video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Olivia. She got so excited!!!

Then it was time for presents! She has become a real pro at opening all the presents! She just tore right into them! Thank you to everyone who gave her such wonderful gifts! She is already enjoying quite a few of them!

Then we had to do our picture on the couch again. When Olivia was first born, we took pictures of myself with Olivia, Sara with Gracie and Becca with Drew. Then one of just the 3 kids. See those from before and then this time:

(Drew 4 1/2 months old, Olivia 2 weeks old and Gracie 5 1/2 months old)

(Emma - 2 months old, Drew 2 yrs and 4 months old, Olivia 2 yrs old and Gracie 2 years 5 1/2 months old) Not the best picture, but the best we got! They were not in the mood!

Now just the kids!

(then)

(Now)
Poor Emma was so mad!

Here's Olivia running around in the play dress shoes that her cousins, Emma and Drew got her. What a perfect gift! She LOVES wearing our shoes and now she has her own big girl shoes!

Unfortunately we forgot to pull out the party hats during the party, but Olivia had a good time with them that evening. (Sorry Harmony, I know you worked hard on helping me with those!)


Here's Olivia playing with her new kitchen set:

Then here's a picture of Olivia playing with her new play dress-up shoes that her cousins, Drew and Emma got her!

Olivia had something she wanted to say to everyone that was able to come to her party, sent their best wishes and/or were thinking about her on her special day:

Thank you to everyone! We really appreciate it!

We also had some pictures taken for Olivia's 2nd Birthday. We went to Lundies in Cary, NC. They did a great job. If you'd like to see the pictures of Olivia online, you can view them by going onto their website (see link above), select "Enter" under the left picture, then select "Clients" at the top. Then you can enter in our password (nelson10) to view them.