I was a bit frazzled that morning trying to get everything done. Which would not have been the case had I not been lazy the day before. Emily went to my dad's Friday afternoon so I could supposedly get the house ready for her party, but when I dropped her off, I had 30 minutes to get to my pedicure appt (it was long overdue). For some reason my appt took forever, so an hour and a half later I had just enough time to go to the grocery store on my way home, get essentials for the party, go home and unload, and then go to my hair appt.
Last February (as in 2015) I got my hair cut pretty short, like above my shoulder, and I hated it. Oh and I also got side swept bangs. I don't know what I was thinking, because I do not like putting any effort into my hair on a day to day basis. So I had to always have my bangs clipped back, and my hair was too short to all fit in a ponytail. When I wore my hair down, the length was just right that it hit right at my neck, and when you're suffering from post partum sweats, hair right on your neck is the last thing you want.
So I didn't go for any trims while I was letting my hair grow out, and then I got busy and I ended up not going back for an entire year. So the hair cut was very essential as well. When I got done with that, I picked up dinner, went home and ate and then it was time to pick up Em. Thankfully my dad bathed her so I didn't have to do that when we got home. So I put her to bed, I made her cupcakes and picked up most of the toys in the living room. By now it was after 1am so I gave up for the night.
The next day I had to frost her cupcakes, do some laundry, finish cleaning the living room, dust, vacuum, clean the bathroom and take a shower. I ended up finishing my hair and make up about 15 minutes before people arrived. But at least I got everything done. Of all days, it took Em forever to go down for her nap, so people were here for about 30 minutes before she woke up. It's always stressful for me to have both sets of grandparents at a function for Em. I'm always worried about making sure they all get time with her.
My dad and my stepmom are very "make yourself at home" kind of people. So when Em woke up from her nap, they took it upon themselves to go get her and put her birthday dress on. I am totally fine with that, but my inlaws are kind of the opposite. When they are at someone else's home, they are a lot more formal, and don't want to step on anyone's toes. So quite often my dad and stepmom play and interact with Em way way more at these things than my inlaws do.
Like for example, my dad took Emily outside to play with the other kids while we were waiting for pizza, but my inlaws stayed inside. They were more than welcome to go outside with them, and I am sure they knew that, but for whatever reason they didn't. I have also explained to them that they don't mean to "hog her" per se, and for the record I don't feel like they do, but I worry that my inlaws feel like my parents do. My MIL tries very very hard not to be the overbearing MIL or grandma, so her inaction tends to make other people seem over bearing just because they aren't always as concerned with how they appear. Like, my dad doesn't worry about seeming overbearing, but if he wants to play with his granddaughter, he just does it.
I guess others would see it as being rude, but in our family it's just how things are. Our family is not formal at all. If you rang my grandma's doorbell, she'd ask what the hell is wrong with you, why don't you just come in? If you asked her for something to drink, she'd tell you, your legs aren't broken, get it yourself. I guess to outsiders that's weird, but we have a very big, loud family, and if you don't interrupt, or get things yourself, or wait to be asked, you'll be waiting all day. When Em was a baby, one of my aunts would finally get to hold her, and then another would swoop in after just a minute and be like, it's my turn, and nobody took offense to that. But my MIL is just not the type to do that. With family any way. Out in public with people she doesn't know, it's a different story.
I've told her though, that I hope she doesn't think my family is being rude, and that if she wants to do something for or with Em when the whole family is together, just do it. I even tried to include her by telling Em to go see Nana and get a princess ponytail, since she is really the only one she will sit still for. But oh well, they're all adults. I guess I shouldn't worry about it. And I'm not saying that my parents love Emily more or anything, but Em is my inlaws 8th grandchild, and she is my dad's first. I have never ever seen my inlaws treat any of their grand kids differently, they are crazy about them all, be it their first or their eighth, but I do think it's kind of understandable that my dad is so gaga for Emily, being his only living grandchild. Especially because I think he knows there is a good chance she will be his only.
So anyway, the kids all played outside for a bit, which was good because it opened up some room in the house and it was a decent day temperature wise. Plus they got to play on our new playscape. Em is too small to really get a lot of use out of it yet, so I was happy to see the other kids climbing all over it and having fun on it. Then we had pizza, and then we opened presents. She got just the right amount of toys vs clothes. We got her a basketball set, a bath toy, and a mini Big Wheel. All outside toys, and bathroom toy (ie no more junk in the living room). Her Nana and Papa got her a princess duplo set from Disney World. She and I put them together yesterday, there is a little set up for Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella. It was fun to put together.
My dad got her a toy horse to ride on. You can either attach the rocker, or take the rocker off and it has wheels. My stepmom got her a Minnie Mouse sleeping bag. It's really cute, I think it would be good for her to use in our camper. My step sister got her a little Frozen metal purse and also some hair bows. Her other aunt and uncle got her a few pair of jammies and a summer outfit, my best friend also got her jammies, a summer outfit, and a Everest toy (from Paw Patrol). My brother got her a stuffed animal horse, two books about horses and a horse puzzle. Em LOVES horsies, so that was a big hit.
My husbands friend got her a little set of Sheriff Callie figurines. It was funny when he dropped them off. He has two boys, so he doesn't know girl toys. He was like, I got her some Doc Mcstuffins things, or something like that, and it turned out to be Sheriff Callie. But that was ok with Em, she loves Callie. Ryan picked up the little cactus guy and he asked who he was and I was trying to think of his name and Em goes, Toby. It still amazes me how much she knows and can say. I think that was everything. So she got some fun new toys, but also come clothes so that's good.
After that we had cupcakes. I baked them myself and made the frosting from scratch. I used mini oreos for ears, and then I found some candy Minnie Mouse bows to put on them too, and I used red cupcake wrappers with polka dots on them. They turned out pretty good. I got a silver cake board from the party store and put the cupcakes on them in the shape of a 2. So I held Emily's cupcake out to her while we sang. I thought she would do good with blowing out the candle since she knows to blow on hot food to cool it, but for some reason she gets sad and/or mad when people sing in a group. So while we were singing happy birthday, she had a mad look on her face and kept swatting at the cupcake. Haha, little weirdo. So she managed to hit it, and knocked it out of my hand but I grabbed the candle before it lit anything on fire and then I blew it out for her. I was afraid she would try to hit it and burn herself.
So it was a good day. Yesterday I hung up a sheet to use as a backdrop for her annual birthday pictures. I didn't think I got any good ones because she wasn't very cooperative, but then when I uploaded them to the computer and did some cropping and such, it turns out there were quite a few adorable ones. So here are a couple of Em's 2 year pics in her pretty birthday dress.
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