tea for two birthday!

Our Charly girl is TWO now! I thought I'd be really sad about this...but she's acted like a two year old for so long that it just makes sense for her to be two. :)

But when I think about where we were two years ago, in that hospital room, it's hard not to get emotional. I held this little warm bundle in my arms a second after she was delivered. She looked right at me with big deep blue eyes and I cried. She didn't cry at all until I handed her over to the midwife to be weighed. I remember her cry being so sweet and girly- it broke my heart and filled it, too. I knew at that moment that becoming a mom to a daughter would change me, and it did. She's taught me to stop and giggle when I'm busy with life. She's soothed my pain with her tiny lips and nose. She's made me a more calm and gentle mother. It's a total different experience raising her than it is our son- not better, but unique in its own way. I feel so blessed to have a daughter, and she is perfect to me in every way.

Her birthday was the 17th. We had a pretty low-key day and it was lovely. The night before we put her surprise present in the entryway and hid it behind streamers- the hope being that she'd come out and knock them down with lots of excitement. HA...instead she crawled underneath the streamers but she sure was excited! She kept saying "wow...wow wow.." It was really cute.

So the thing with the kitchen. I only wanted to get her one thing and have it be something she would really play with a lot. We've never had play kitchen for our kids...and I always look when we go to Goodwill or yard sales but I was never the lucky mom who found one. She's been obsessed with her play food and tea set lately, so I knew she would love it if she had a kitchen. I was browsing online for one a few months ago and came across the darling vintage pink kitchen. And it was $70 off of its original price with free shipping! I called the two grandmas and proposed that we all pitch in money towards it and they both loved the idea. When it arrived, we assembled it and stuck it in the garage under an old curtain. It was killing me to have it hidden for so long..hehe. A few days before her birthday I decided to go ahead and pull it out but hide it in our bedroom. I kept sneaking peeks at it when the kids weren't around. :) But while it was cute, it was also a little plain...

I used the Silhouette to embellish it a bit and make it ultra girly. ha. Luckily I had an entire roll of unopened hot pink vinyl sitting in my Silhouette bag, so this project was free. We also had a little apron and oven mitt that I got a long time ago, so I got some tiny command hooks to hang the set on the kitchen. It turned out pretty adorable, I think :) But it's even more adorable to see Charlotte be a little homemaker in her kitchen.

The rest of the day consisted of chunky monkey pancakes {birthday tradition in our family}, a mommy-daughter shopping trip to Goodwill & Trader Joe's, and snuggling on the couch. It also happened to be President's Day so Jonathan had the day off. This was really helpful because I had lots to do to prepare for her party the next day.

I've been dying to throw a tea party since C was born. The theme was indoor garden tea party {because we live in OR and its soaking wet outside} with lots of lemony things, and the colors pink and yellow. I had some burlap and lace accents, and real tree stumps for the seats. :)

Also- I'll admit these pictures aren't the greatest. It was pouring rain and cloudy outside so there was little natural light to work with.

Mason jars for drinking, since I was afraid that tea cups would be too fragile.

Found these fancy little plates at Goodwill for dirt cheap!

 

Pouring Activity: a bucket of water and plastic tea cups with a tea pot, so the kids could practice their pouring skills!

"sirs" & "ladies" containers. In the "sirs" there were stick-on mustaches and in the "ladies" some play jewelery.

Ready to {tea} party her heart out!

Little stinker kept sneaking cheese cubes while the I was busy talking to the other mommas. haha.

So many wonderful little friends!

The tea party was a success! After all the guests left we were all exhausted and took naps :) Throwing parties is fun but it's a lot of work and stress, too. We will be doing something simple and fun for T's bday in April but after that I think I'll take a break from big parties for a while! haha.

It feels a bit insane/ridiculous that I now have a two and three year old..but I love this crazy mommy life! I wouldn't trade it for anything.