Lydia's 2nd Birthday Party!

Get ready for picture overload!!! Lydia turned two on September 16. We celebrated her birthday with family last Sunday. It was the perfect day for an outside birthday party it was warm, the kids got to run around outside, and we had lots of fun visiting with our family.

Lydia is still such a little farm girl. She loves both of her Papa's farms. She loves tractors, the animals, and Papa Matt's Backhoe. So we did a simple farm girl birthday party. We had her cute piggy cake, no bake cookies for "mud pies," rice krispies for "hay bales," and ice cream of course. I found a picture of this piggy hot tub cake on Pintrest and thought that it looked like something I could handle. I'm not a great cake decorator, and this cute cake was perfect for a beginner. I just used two cake pans and split a cake mix between the two, I used chocolate frosting to frost between the cakes and around the outside. Obviously I used Kit-Kat's for the fence. Brian helped me mold the pigs out of pink fondant. Lydia helped, by playing with her play dough while we played with the fondant.  It was a really fun cake to make, and the best part was all three of us got to participate.

Photo credit, as always, goes to my sister Kami Leishman. She takes such great pictures!! If you want to check out her photography blog the link is here.

Her best buddy Claire was right up in the action and squealed with delight with every present Lydia opened. Claire loved all the clothes, the baby doll, and purse Lydia got, but the only toy my little farm girl wanted to play with was her tractor that Great Grandma Susan and Grandpa Milan gave her.

Lydia wasn't too concerned with eating her cake after opening presents. She just wanted to play with her tractor so the only way we got her in her high chair was to let her take her tractor with her.

Wow look at that giant baby bump! A little over 36 weeks pregnant here and feeling huge!

Cute little Brielle wanted to join in the little girl fun! Check out her matching pants with Lydia's romper. Cute huh?!

                                          I love this picture of Lydia! She looks so happy!

Claire giving her bestie the best goodbye hug ever! We love that these two are such good friends!


Lydia had a wonderful 2nd birthday! It was so much fun to see her open her gifts, and so wonderful to see that she is loved so much!

                                                          Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Lydia LoRaine Rose 2 Years Old!

My baby is now two years old! Where did the time go? I swear we just brought her home from the hospital yesterday! The age old saying "Don't, Blink" does in fact ring true for me. I've been holding onto my baby praying she doesn't grow up too fast. I still curl up in the rocking chair at night and read her a story, and I take all the cuddles she'll give me. I've been trying to soak up all the Lydia and Mommy time I can while waiting for the arrival of our sweet boy.

These are some of Lydia's official 2 year pictures. Is she not the cutest?! I can't believe how big she is getting.

This girl talks all day long. I can usually interpret what she is saying by catching the "real" words among the gibberish. :) She loves to sing in her carseat, we usually sing her favorites which are "The Wheels on the Bus," "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and "Let it Go."  She loves to play catch, still loves to ride the tractors and 4-wheelers, and she still runs circles around her mama all day. 

She loves sorting and counting objects. She can count to ten, and knows quite a few of her colors. She loves being read to, and now she will "read" familiar books to mommy. :) It's my favorite. She talks about the pictures and turns the page and looks up at me to make sure I'm paying attention.  

Though I'm a little sad that my baby is growing up. Being the mom of a two year old is so much fun. I love watching her learn new things, and conquer her ever growing vocabulary.  My heart just melts when I put to to bed at night and she says "Love you, Mom"  with the sweetest voice and smile you've ever seen.  You know your baby loves you by how their eyes light up when they see you, and how they reach for you before anyone else. But hearing a toddler say  I love you as clear as day, and with understanding is truly something special. 

I love you too Lydi Bug!