As most of you already know, when it comes to planning parties I can't help but to go a little bit over the top. It's who I am and who I've always been. When I was younger my mom happily passed on the party planning duties to me when it came to my younger brothers' birthdays.
With a new baby in the mix, Aaralee's second birthday kind of crept up on me this year. I ended up doing most of the planning rather last minute, but it still came together perfectly and she had a great time! I tried to keep the guest list small after seeing how jam packed our house was last year. "I'll only invite people with little kids..." I told Ryan. As it turns out, Aaralee has a lot of little friends and cousins. Our house was full of noise and toys and sugar high toddlers.
She loves puppies and doggies so her party theme was an easy choice. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a naturally crafty person, nor is baking/cooking my strong suit. That said, planning a birthday party can get really expensive, really fast, so I try to do as much of it myself (and with Ryan's help) as possible.
It was so much fun decorating for this party. Paw prints led to the front door, a fire hydrant helped guests find the washroom, and there were puppies and bones galore!
No party of mine would be complete without loads of candy and sweets. There was no shortage of junk food here, despite finishing off one very successful week of healthy eating... it was only one day, and it was for Aaralee, so it was a worthwhile setback.
The cake came together perfectly, no thanks to me! It was my idea, but in the end I think that I decorated an ear before Ryan took over. We were up until 1 am fighting with piping bags and globs of icing that quite literally looked like piles of poop, but when all was said and done, we had a sweet puppy cake. Most importantly, it tasted delicious and the birthday girl approved. She was beaming as we sang "Happy birthday" and wasted no time digging into her giant slice of cake.
After cake, it was time for presents! Although it took awhile (she needed to open every toy and read every book before moving onto the next gift), she's really got the unwrapping thing down pat this year. She tore into the gifts with excitement, pushing aside the cards and clothing as toddlers tend to do. She was so lucky to receive such fun new toys and pretty new outfits!
As the party died down, her little friends left with their very own puppies and we carried on snacking and playing the afternoon away. Despite the fact that she'd refused to nap the entire day, she was pretty happy for the majority of the day. It was a great party for a great little girl! Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated her turning 2 with us!
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