Emersyn's 2nd Birthday Party

Emersyn's First Birthday

Emersyn's Second Birthday

Emersyn's second birthday was wonderful. I was SO excited to celebrate it with her this year. Last year was fun yes, but she was still too little to really appreciate it. This year I would ask her, "whose birthday is it??" and she would say shyly "Emersyn" with a big old smile. I loved it!!!

We started out her birthday celebration with a quick walk in the morning to get some pictures before we met up with Brett's parents and aunt for a birthday brunch. Ems just loved her "Abby Cadabby" balloon. We bought it at the party store the day before her birthday when Brett and I were out running errands while Ems slept at her Nana's. When Emersyn woke up on her birthday we went into her room with the balloon and sang happy birthday to her. We got it on video. It was pretty cute. She loved this balloon.

After our quick little walk and photo shoot, we headed to "Biscuits" for breakfast.

Emersyn's cousin Annabel was able to come to breakfast which was fun!

Eatin' strawberries and pancakes, yummy!!

After breakfast we went and picked up her cake and then headed home. I was hoping Emersyn wouldn't continue the "I don't take a nap on my birthday" policy that she instituted last year and luckily she didn't. She got a great nap and I had to wake her up to leave even!

Emersyn's party was at 5pm so it gave us a good chunk of the afternoon to get stuff done. I made PB&J and ham and cheese sandwiches for the kids and cut them up with flower shaped cookie cutters. They turned out really really cute! They were a little time consuming though. I also frosted all the cupcakes and made the toppers in the afternoon.

Emersyn and Daddy bringing the balloons to the park.

Someone's excited to party!!

For dinner I served BBQ Crockpot Pulled Chicken, coleslaw (that you put on the sandwich), a macaroni salad that Brett's mom made, grapes, strawberries, rainbow goldfish, kettle potato chips, a veggie tray, and then dessert.

Rowen about to enjoy a cupcake!

Cool cape from Christopher!!

Stella, one of Emersyn's bestie's enjoying the bubble machine. We rented it from a party place for $12.95. It was money WELL spent.

Ems got Minnie panties for a gift and she insisted on putting them on her head. Crazy girl.

Birth class buddies. I think they'll be friends forever. :)

Cake is DELISH.

The look on her face makes my heart so happy. Emersyn was running through the bubbles and screaming with joy. It was a memory I'll never ever forget.

I attempted to recreate this picture from last year:

However, the sun was in their eyes more this year and they were NOT interested in sitting still. Little turkeys. :)

All the kids:

Rishi, Sanjana, Deepak (head's cut off, my bad!!!), Hazel, Hudson, Addalyn, Annabel, Rowen, Charlotte, Christopher, Evan, Kaypha, Ashlin, Stella, Emery, Ellie, Maddie and Jaiden. Gunnar was there too but his mom must have already grabbed him when this picture was taken. Also not pictured: Sophia...her mom's due in 2 weeks. :)

We had such a great time. Emersyn was blessed with some wonderful memories and gifts. We had close to 40 adults and lots of kids. This was only the second birthday party I have ever thrown for my daughter but I learned a lot. For one, we won't be using that park again. :( The wind was just TOO intense. It was like that last year and I think I kinda forgot about it. But it made it so the balloons just wouldn't cooperate at ALL, plates and napkins kept blowing around everywhere, and it got pretty cold when the sun went down. We'll be looking for a different venue next year. Also, I will NEVER have Emersyn's party on her birthday again. At the end of her birthday my house was such a mess and I was cleaning up and I realized that all I wanted to do was snuggle with my birthday girl. So much of her birthday was spent concentrating on her party. Never again. I don't regret doing it this year on her birthday but feel like I learned a good lesson. Plus, it spreads the celebration out a bit too which is always fun. :)

I didn't get near as many pictures as I wanted to because last year my brother took most of them but he couldn't come this year; his sister-in-law was getting married that same day. We missed Uncle David and Auntie Jenny at the party, as well as Emersyn's other Aunties and Uncle that live out of state.

'Til next year! :)