Well, it happened. My baby is now 2. I can't believe it, and yet it's so shockingly real these days...if you catch my drift! Ha! Parker's birthday was on Saturday, and boy did we celebrate her. It's amazing the lengths a parent goes to to make a day extra special for their child. It feels so good and so overwhelming at the same time:).
Her birthday week started with mom going into a cleaning frenzy. It was about time. It had been over a month since my house had really been cleaned. Gross. I felt so bad that I just didn't care. But, the Lord gave me strength where I had had none, and we did it. Parker and I:). It feels so good. We even had our carpets cleaned (Lilly now lives outside- yahoo!!) and our house even smells good. My sister went as far as to say it still smelled new. *smile* Ahh. I love cleaning....
Moving on. The official celebration started on Friday, before her bday, at the zoo. We took her last year, and decided it was a good tradition to start, so back we went this year. She's been a little stuffy and has had a bout with teeth (bad rash from those darn teeth) so the day didn't start off so swell (she was just kind of sad). But after lunch, she perked up, had lots of fun with penguins, and even fell in love with the "gor-billas" (gorillas):). We had a lot of fun with her there this year.
Getting the day started off right with pink birdies:). She was impressed by those flamingos.
After remembering the huge hill that we climbed leads nowhere fun, we found a warthog. Ha! I know it sounds funny, but he made her happy. She has a book at home with warthogs in it, and she recognized the name, and was fascinated with the real deal. Super cute. 
Uncle Mike, Aunt Christy, McKenna and Ella came that day too, and we met up with them for a little while after lunch. I think that helped perk her up too. Thanks Kenna and Ella!! Fun girly cousins make days extra special too:).
Then we found the penguins (my favorite). I just have to say that exhibit is awesome. When a little kid can come face to face with a real live penguin....awesome. She thought it was pretty cool.
This guy followed her around for a few minutes, and she got a kick out of that. She kept saying "hi pengin, hi," then she'd do a little dance:). I love that kid.
There's the big man. She thought this guy was something else. She squealed, waved, danced, laughed, and carried on a little conversation with him as he laid there and stared at us. Pretty cool too. 
There's our big girl. Walking out in front, all by herself. I love her confidence. I pray it sticks. She'll try mostly anything these days. It was so fun to see her little face light up at the realization that all those things we look at in books and read about are actually real things. It's a pretty amazing thing to watch. I love being a mom.The next day was party day. She woke up and we gave her our gift, (we had quite a large number of people coming later, so thought it would be calmer then) a new kitchen:). Being the little mom that she is, she loves it.
After more cleaning and prep and a nap, she woke up just in time for guests to start arriving. She took most of them in to see her kitchen. Even boys like kitchens, and apparently Parker's been taking lessons from mom.....she has Gavin doing the dishes. hehe What cute kids.
Here are my aunts Linda and Carolyn, my Nana, Gavin's mom, Liz, and my sister Crystal. It was good to have her here all the way from Missouri (or as Parker says, "Mizery").
More family and friends gathered around eating.
This picture brings tears to my eyes. We have one last year of one candle, and now here it is, feeling like 2 days later, there are 2. Sigh.
She had a ladybug/polka dot party, and I had lots of fun with that:). Did you notice me in the corner with my stomach hanging out??! It came out just in time for the party. Geez. Suck it in Amber!
4 good friends. We were missing a couple of the short ones, but we had to get a buddy picture:). From left to right: Ella, Parker, Gavin, and Skylar. They did a good job, didn't they?
Presents! We actually did cake before presents, and I told her as she was finishing up that when she was done, we'd open presents (her and Skylar had already attacked a few so she was ready). My Aunt Sha was standing there, and she looked up at her and said "all done!" Cracked us both up:). She's an official kid! We had lots of great presents to open, and she did a great job getting into them. Thanks you guys! Parker is one loved kid, and we love you all back!
And there she is. My birthday girl. Does she look older? Does she look 2 years old? Um....the answer I'm looking for is no. She looks like a baby. If only I could stick her in my pocket and keep her this way forever.
We love you Parker Grace, and can't wait to see what you become. But can you slow down just a little? Oh, and enjoy being 2. You can only throw fits this way once in your life and have people understand:).
