2 years with Maddie

I am still in shock that Maddie is two. Her second birthday was last Friday (sorry for the late post!) and while she very much looks, acts and talks like a 2 year old (an experienced 2 year old, if I might add), the last 2 years have felt like 2 months. It has to be because she's our second child, because the first 2 years with Jacob seemed to have lasted 2 decades. :)

We celebrated her birthday on Friday doing our regular routine. I made her a birthday shirt the night before and she enjoyed showing it off to everyone, including those in her Little Gym class and the people that work at Whispers (we go there for lunch after our class). When the server at Whispers asked if I had any other children, I told him I had a little boy who was 4. He looked at me and said "Two is enough, right?" HA. Surely I would have been offended if I had any inclination to have a 3rd child but since I apparently feel his sentiment, I could only laugh in agreement. "Yes", I said. "Two is enough!" I just thought it was hysterical (and bold) to make a comment like that to someone he didn't even know!

Anyway, that afternoon, we had our "Happy Hour" Friday playgroup at our house and enjoyed cupcakes, balloons and fun with friends. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of that afternoon because there were certainly some moments that should have been captured. Specifically, Maddie marching around in a cape, stethoscope, and a pirates hat on backward singing at the top of her lungs for an hour. It was either a sugar rush or an understanding that "this is my birthday and anything goes!" She was wiped out by the end of the day.

Maddie outside of the Little Gym



Opening presents!







We held her birthday party at Burton Park in San Carlos on Sunday afternoon. It was MUCH colder and more windy than I had expected which was a bummer but I think the kids had a great time anyway. I literally made this shirt for Maddie an hour before her party!



Her BFF Nathan. How cute is this kid, really?!





We brought our picnic table and did a craft! From left: Jaxon, Annie, Jaemie, Kathleen, Maddie and Jacob



Jax, Annie and Nathan (as a funny side note, I met Judy, Jaxon and Annie's mom in the parking lot of Costco a couple of months ago. We both had longhorn decals on our cars and just started talking. She's from Houston originally and went to UT as well and we graduated a year apart. After talking and realizing how many similarities we had -- including that both of our husbands work at Genentech -- we formed a new friendship immediately! Love it when that happens.)



And of course, the Kleins. Iris is getting so big!



Mark was the instigator of this pinata idea. When we were at the party store, he was very excited about getting it! I have to admit, it was the "hit" of the party. Watching the kids hit that thing with a bat was hysterical.



They had to line up by age to hit the pinata. Here are the 4 year olds. From left: Stella, Calvin, Jacob, Ali, Owen, and Jaxon.



Maddie taking a shot with Daddy's help



Then going after it on her own





I actually have a picture of each kid swinging at the pinata but that would literally take me hours to upload! Maddie's cake. I was NOT happy about how this turned out but it was still delicious. They did it last minute since they somehow lost our order so it looked very sloppy to me. Good thing kids don't care about how a cake looks and only care about how it tastes!



Jacob cracks me up in this video. He is all about trying to help her blow out her candle so they can all have some cake!



This child is OBSESSED with sweets. She really cannot get enough of them. Like mother, like daughter.



Burton park has a water feature and I'm just thankful she didn't insist on getting in until the very end of the party. Unfortunately, it was freezing by that point. But she still had a blast!