Birthday!

Even though Macyn's party isn't for another day, we decided to let her open up her presents from Mommy & Daddy when she got home from daycare. (Mom was busy baking lots of cake and cleaning the house!) She wasn't too excited about her presents and was a little bit crabby. (Isn't that what the 2's are about?) Since we already gave her the kitchen when we rearranged the living room for it it to fit, all she had to open were some realistic pots and pans along with some utensils. All this stuff came from Ikea when we were in Minneapolis a couple of months ago. Here is how the kitchen turned out. Oh, and I built it all by myself!

Macyn has a great time playing with and it occupies quite a bit of her time. She loves to cook and give her baby a bath in the sink. The burners also turn on and she cooks things on the cook top, and she always remembers to turn them off. Here are some pictures of her playing with the kitchen and cooking with leftover sprinkles from the fun-fetti frosting.

After present opening, we ate a nice meal of chicken nuggets and shrimp. They are two of her favorite things and she happily devoured an entire plate. Then we had a late notice phone call for a birthday party (for her 1st cousin, once removed - I'll let you figure that one out) at the Ranch. So we let her eat a cupcake, blow out her candle, and headed over for some cactus bread. It was a nice little party and a nice family birthday with just Mommy & Daddy. Tomorrow will be the "big" party!

2 Years Old

Where has the time gone?! Our little girl is two years old. It seems like just yesterday I was holding her for the first time in the hospital. I never knew how much work kids are and how tired you always are (even 2 years later!) But, I wouldn't change it for the world!

Macyn is her own little person. She enjoys playing with her babies, cooking in the kitchen, and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way :)

She is also super sweet too. I told her my tummy hurt and she comes up and gives it a kiss and says, "All better!" Last night at the supper table, Josh said, "here wife!" and Macyn chimes in and goes, "Here you go wife!"

She enjoys saying please and thank you for pretty much everything, even though it doesn't make much sense. She loves to be tickled and often says, "Teeek ulll!" or "No Teek ull, Mommy."

Even though she says pretty much anything you ask her, sometimes we can't understand what she is saying. This usually results in a fit of frustration. Like last night, she was in the kitchen yelling, "BEES!" "NO BEES!" "BEES!" and we finally figured out she wanted a Mr. Freeze. Its nice that she can talk, but not so nice when we can't always understand her. She also talks with a slight lisp with her s's.

She has a hearty appetite (when she feels like it) and loves yogurt! She will sit down and eat an entire serving. Bedtime can still be a challenge. We still rock her and i feel ridiculous doing that with a large child, but I figured soon enough those days will be over. So I continue to do it and cherish it every time I put her to bed.

I never knew how much love someone could have for a child, until I became a mother. I still stare at her in amazement, that I created that. She's beautiful. Happy 2nd birthday Macyn, we love you!

Minnie Mouse Shirt - DIY

Since the dress Macyn wore for her Minnie Mouse pictures is too big, I came up with another idea as to what she should wear for her pictures - I would make her a shirt! I ran over to Walmart and picked up a white shirt, iron on letters, and ink jet iron on transfers. I also had ribbon and stick on jewels leftover from other projects.

I made a pattern of Minnie Mouse ears and printed them out on the transfer paper. I also laid out the way I wanted Macyn's name.

After that, I ironed everything on and added jewel stickers to make the 2. I wasn't sure if they would stick, but i figured I wouldn't wash it anyways. In fact, the iron on transfers do not suggest washing the garment! Crazy! I added a Minnie Mouse bow, and ta-da! A custom Minnie Mouse shirt on a budget!

Can't wait for her to wear it!

Minnie Mouse Ears - DIY

I thought it would be a cute idea to have the guests at Macyn's party to wear Minnie Mouse/ Mickey ears instead of birthday hats. I still think it was a good idea, but had no idea how time consuming it was! But I did this on a pretty cheap budget and was happy with the way they turned out. I first bought some cheap-o headbands from Gordmans. Then, you cut out long strips (I used felt) that will cover the entire headband. Use hot glue to attach. Then, you make an ear pattern by making two circles with a rectangle in the middle. Dimensions will vary, according to what kind of headbands you purchase or how big you want your ears.

Then, you cut out 2 ears for each headband. You also need craft foam to cut out circles 1/2" smaller than the felt ears. You glue this circle to the center of the ears. Fold the other side over to cover up the other side of the foam and glue, but not the bottoms yet!

Once you have all the headbands covered, slide the ears onto the headbands using the loop you created when you made the ears. If my directions don't make sense, go here. Way more detailed than I am :)

And you are done! If you wanted just Mickey ears, don't add a bow. If you want Minnie ones, add one. I created the bows myself using ribbon (see previous post) That simple. Here is how mine turned out.

And here is how they look on my 2 year old!

I made enough ears for everyone at the party. We have decided if the guests refuse to wear them, they will have to donate $20 to her college fund :)

Cupcake Tower - DIY

Remember when I blogged a couple of weeks ago about the Halloween cupcake stand I bought for $1? Well, it is officially finished and it turned out great! I started out by wrapping white pieces of cardstock to cover up the centers of the platforms where there were holes. Then, I wrapped zebra & pink ribbon around the canned goods that will work as the support for the tower.

There was also a topper that I decided to modify and put on top of the giant cupcake on the top tier. I first measured how large to make the ears, which I cut out of craft foam. I then bought stick on jewels to make the 2 on the center of the ears.

All that was missing was the bow! You can make a simple bow by making a loop with whatever ribbon you like, pinch in the middle, and tie off. I also hot glued it so it would stay.

After I attached the bow to the ears, it was time to assemble the topper. I just hot glued it to the bat and covered the bottom with some zebra ribbon.

Before and After

Here is how everything turned out all together. I couldn't be more happier. I also found some cupcake wrappers from Hobby Lobby that match the Minnie Mouse theme.

Birthday Invite

Macyn turns two today! She is getting so big! Even though her birthday is today, we are having her party tomorrow. Here is the invite (and a little sneak peek of what her party will look like). I took the pictures and designed the card myself and had them printed at Hills. Can't go wrong with 10 invitations for $3!

Pink, Zebra print, Minnie Mouse ears, what more could a girl want?

Pumpkin Patch 2011

 Since it was a nice day out, we decided to go to the pumpkin patch! We went to the same one last year and once again wanted to hit up the one nearby, but we are so busy on Saturdays and unfortunately, they are not open on Sundays. We love this pumpkin patch and small town feel. Initially when we got there, it was only us and one other family. However, Macyn was super scared for some reason. Not sure if she was scared by all the pumpkins or what. Who knows. She did warm up once we began taking pictures in the cutouts.

After she warmed up to the cutouts and seeing all the pumpkins on the field, we decided to go for a ride on the wagon ride. She was not a fan and stayed cuddled in the entire way.

After all the "scary" stuff was over, it was time to hit up the patch and find some pumpkins! We had a good time out in the field with only a couple of tantrums over who would pull the wagon. :)

And then, all of a sudden, it happened! Macyn found the perfect pumpkin!

After we paid for all our pumpkins (5 for $9!), you had the opportunity to paint the pumpkins for free. Since Macyn does a little bit of painting at daycare, we thought we would give it a shot. We were pleasantly surprised to find paint shirts, fresh cups of paint, and blow dryers to dry your creation faster. Macyn was totally into this and painted her pumpkin with minimal paint on her hands (she hates ANYTHING on her hands) and only a little bit of pink paint in her mouth. She did the painting 100 percent by herself and picked out the colors she wanted. Her favorite color is "mink!" (pink).

It was a fun afternoon spent together. Here is how her first ever painted pumpkin turned out. I'm so proud of her artistic skills :)