A JOY AT TWO

It's official: I can't stop time. My adorable little one becomes less and less little every day. She is a joy and I try to just treasure each new thing she learns as she grows. Since Stella's birthday this year came right after two big wedding jobs for me, and also was on Father's Day, we didn't make as huge of a deal out of it as we did last year. However, it still ended up being a pretty big party with way too many presents and so much fun for the luckiest two-year-old I know.

As everyone arrived, Stella spent most of her time running through the backyard with cousins Ava and Christian. It was easy to lure her in to blow out her candle though because cupcakes were on the menu! Stella smiled as we sang her "Happy Birthday" and she blew out her candle all by herself. Actually, she was so ready for her big blowing moment that we had to stop her from blowing it out before the song even started.

I always try not to buy too many gifts, but there still always ends up being too many. Stella was in love with every present and was kind of annoyed each time that we told her she had to abandon her new treasure to open up another one. We even had to take a break after Stella and Ava opened their hand-made totes with crayon pockets from Aunt Beth.

However, we eventually made it to the grand finale, which was Stella's new kitchen set from IKEA. She loved it and she spent a good hour totally enthralled by the functions of her new toy.

Thanks to all of our family that came and spoiled our angel for her big day. Thanks to Brent for cleaning the house on Father's Day. Thanks to me for making awesome food. Thanks to Ashley and Kathy for being on camera duty. Thanks to Stella for being a great kid that is a joy to spoil rotten!

One more thing--we put up the inflatable cupcake again this year. I wanted to post a picture from yesterday and last year so you can see how she has grown.