Happy, Happy Birthday Baby!

Our little girl turned TWO on Saturday! And for no really great reason, we decided to celebrate on Friday. We hadn't planned a big party, but I knew I wanted our girl to have a special day. I'd planned on taking her to Build-a-bear on Friday while her brother was in school and having lunch with Daddy. All of those plans were thrown for a loop after a conversation with Tatum that went something like this...

Mommy: "Tatum! Tomorrow is your BIRTHDAY! Do you know what that means?!"

Tatum: "Oh, ya.... I get BIKE!"

(Insert cricket serenade as Daddy and Mommy look blankly at each other, scrambling for a response.)

You see, the thought of getting a bike for Tatum never entered our mind. It's not something we'd talked about, or even considered. However, according to Tatum it was an absolute certainty. She'd been taking notes when her big brother got a bike for his birthday, and evidently she'd been waiting for her turn. Somehow, we managed to side-step the issue that night and all went to bed. Her daddy and I hoped she'd forget about it and we'd proceed with the Build-A-Bear plan the next day.

The next morning, I walked into Tatum's room to get her from her crib, singing "Happy Birthday" as I entered the room...

Mommy: "It's your BIRTHDAY today Tatum! You are TWO years old!"

Tatum: "Yay Mommy! I get BIKE!"

Needless to say... Build-A-Bear never happened.

Tatum's aunt Jackie and uncle Josh came over to help celebrate, Jackie made this amazingly adorable cake. I think it's funny that Jackie and I didn't talk about party decor or cake colors or anything and still, the cake matched the plates and napkins exactly. In every picture we have of the cake, Tatum is crying in the background. That's because moments before she was to blow out the candles, Tatum reached for the flame. No only did she touch it, but everyone in attendance yelled "No!" at the same time, which absolutely mortified Tatum. Even though Tatum is often the life of the party, she really doesn't like for others to notice when she's upset. And if you ever point it out, or even ask if she's okay, she'll bury her head in mommy's lap, tears welling up in her eyes. Trevor rescued her, and blew out the candles so we could on move-on to the eating part.

One of Tatum's favorite birthday gifts was a baby-care center. It came with pretty much every piece of baby gear you can imagine, including this adorable table high chair. Both kids are completely obsessed with it. Trevor asks to sit next to the baby, and they both insist the baby gets bites of their meals. According to Trevor, the baby is "a girl named Jonah." Tatum just calls her "baby" and takes her everywhere. It's the cutest thing ever.

No one in this house can believe our baby girl is already TWO! She is an absolute delight and keeps us laughing all day long. She has a sweet and fun free spirit. She is strong, and smart, and all around beautiful. She is my wild girl... and I'm certain she's going to keep things interesting around here!