Leora Turns 2!!

My #3 has officially entered her Terrific 2's! I can honestly say that because I don't think she's officially entered her menacing-tantrum-throwing-stubborn phase yet... She's still fairly compliant. May she ever be so.

Most of her birthday happened the day before, on Sunday. While she took her nap we baked her cakes (a personal sized one and one for the rest of us) and the kids helped decorate. It was SUCH a blast!

(first balloon he ever blew up)

("Decorating" the tree with old party hats)

(I am an AWESOME photographer- I snapped this right as the streamer broke in 2... crazy cat.)

Gregory helping to set up the Disney Princess dome tent I found at Good Will for $2- I was pretty proud of that find. I also figure it's about time she be let in on the Princess obsession dominating our house. After all, we call her our "Baby Princess".

Decorating was SO fun. The kids took turns pointing to wear I should start one streamer and then where to tape the end of it. They also chose where to put the "Happy Birthday" banners, and put a lot of thought into where to put party hats from my box of party supplies I've accumulated over the years.

(the actual original cake mold from my own toddler years... I stole it from my mom when I moved here)

Quick great/painful story:

For my 3rd birthday my mom painstakingly frosted this cake into Birthday Bear with a star tip (like I frosted Leora's) - it was perfect! During the birthday party, my best friend Christian, and I, kept sneaking away from the games to lick the frosting off the cake in the fridge. By cake time, we had scraped off almost all the frosting. A sheer miracle that I am alive to tell the tale.

The instructions are about a 1/4 century old, so it didn't clearly say how much batter I needed. When one cake mix barely filled it 1/2 way, I quickly mixed another batch (I didn't have another of the same flavor) and added it, leaving a couple inches from the rim, and using the remainder to put in my mini-bear tin for Leora.




When I checked about 1/2 way through baking I was SHOCKED to see the batter flowing out of the top of the cake mold like gloppy lava!

heehee- looks like the Care Bear had a nasty accident... how appropriate- I plan on starting Leora potty training next week when Gregory goes back to school.

I LOVE this picture- as I frosted the cake, occasionally I would squirt a dollop of frosting on the kids' hands. They were very enthusiastic about getting more!

SO, after going through all the trouble of baking the cake, I wanted to spend some quality time frosting it, but the cake-eaters were getting impatient. Then my stroke of brilliance- I sliced the sitting bear in half so that I could frost the front at my leisure for her actual birthday the following day, and people could still eat cake on Sunday!

It started as a joke, inspired by the chocolate bottom. In the end we were laughing to tears, "diapering" the face-planted Care Bear in white frosting, hoping the brown tail would look like a cute lil' tail and not... something less appetizing.

I had refrigerated the frosting in the decorating bag, so it was SUPER hard to make the stars of frosting on Leora's little cake. After finishing the front, I figured Leora wouldn't care if the whole thing was frosted, so I didn't bother with the back :P BTW, it was all Gregory's idea to make her a kitty cake.

I needed to borrow a few ingredients from a neighbor, so I invited them to come help us eat our copious amounts of cake. Unfortunately, they were unable to make it. Charla waited for them faithfully by the stairs, finally zonking out. She ended up sleeping through the presents and most of dinner!

When we got Leora up she came down the stairs, all bubbly and happy as usual. She was SO excited to see the closed tent, and then wasted no time trying to pull out the gifts when Gregory revealed them!

She was so psyched about the little wagon, that once she freed it from the tent, she just took off down the hallway, pulling it behind her! She probably would've been happy without any other gifts!

Good big brother, carefully pulling her along. She's definitely easing into that princess role easily!

Gregory was VERY eager to help unwrap the presents! Practicing for next month, I guess

(Our awesome assortment of table decor: Princess table clothe, Winnie the Pooh cups, and Valentine's Day plates)

(Right before she bravely blew out the candles)

Enjoying breakfast in her tent the next day, ON her birthday

My finished product- I was pretty pleased :)

Leora, on the other hand, was not nearly as brave ON her birthday. The candles scared her. She burst into frightened cries and fled the table.

Aside from her reaction to her cake in the end, the whole birthday experience was a ton of fun for everyone. Now to brace myself for mountains of laundry next week...