The Birthday Party

This past weekend we had Lili's 2nd birthday party. She doesn't actually turn 2 until July 9th, but with the holiday and an upcoming vacation, we didn't have too many other options. I'm a freak about stuff like this, which means that I probably shouldn't host birthday events at all, but how can I deny my children the fun and excitement? The answer is, I can't...which means that I usually bite off more than I can chew and then FREAK OUT as the date gets closer and closer and I realize how much still needs to be done. This year we decided to do a Hello Kitty theme. How did we choose this amazingly unique theme? Lili threw her 1st MAJOR temper tantrum over wearing Hello Kitty socks. I attempted to put white ones on...she had a meltdown...I had no idea what she wanted...15 minutes later she screamed "Kitty socks!"..........and that is how our theme came to be. I tried to make things as easy as possible...I ordered a cake, I ordered a veggie tray, I ordered pizza...but in the end, it was still a lot of work. We still had to clean the house while wrangling in two little munchkins...we still had to buy snacks and beverages...we still had to set up tables, provide entertainment, etc. In my mind everything has to be perfect, but it never is...and it always takes me until the day of the event to "let it go". Initially my plan was to invite no more than 15 people and to keep it low-key. Of course that is not what happened and instead we experienced a domino affect........the kind where you casually mention the party to one person...then to another...then to another...and when you make your list of attendees, you realize that 15 turned into 35-40.

Despite all of the stress that I have a tendency of creating for myself, the party was SO MUCH FUN! My only regret is that in a situation like that, you don't really get an opportunity to visit with your guests. There is too much to do and things are so crazy! Outside of that though, seeing the smiles on Lili's face and her constant giggling made everything 110% worth it! We had our friend, Jenn, take pictures for the event so that we wouldn't have to worry about the camera and I swear...every picture she captured of the birthday girl showed just how excited she was! We decided to invite a few of her little friends over as well and the party was in our backyard. We had a sandbox, water table and giant beach ball sprinkler set up to keep them busy. The menu included GIANT 40" pizzas from Jimmy's called "Monstrosities"...Jello jigglers...Chex Mix...Sun Chips...veggies & dill dip...fruit salad...and of course, CAKE! I don't think Miss. Lili even knew what to do with herself. She was running after the other kids...playing in the water...attempting to drink out of the hose... During the present opening, she got "bored" and was more interested in eating her Jello. She watched as the OTHER kids opened HER presents and would occasionally come over to inspect or grab a gift that was particularly exciting. When it was time for cake she thought it was so funny to hear everyone singing Happy Birthday to her. She wore her Hello Kitty head bopper proudly and dived into a HUGE piece. At one point she got some frosting on her barefoot and decided that she needed to lick it off! Her recent infatuation with her feet is HILARIOUS...though messy........... Lili is so random sometimes and spent a lot of time "stealing" from other kids. If she saw a sippy cup (it didn't matter who it belonged to), she would swipe it and take a slug...an abandoned piece of pizza would end up hanging from her mouth...the kid had no fear and wanted it all. In between all of the activities and playing, she would leave her giant piece of cake on the little picnic table and go back to it for a few more bites. We would find her randomly sitting by herself at the table, stuffing her mouth...totally unaware of what was going on around her. She was really enjoying her independence! I'm so glad that things went well and that Lili had such a good time! She probably would have stayed up all night playing if we would have let her!