Lucy turned two! And we celebrated with costumes, doughnuts, games and candy. We had so much fun! About a month before the big day, I turned to Scott and said something along the lines of, "I want to keep it simple this year." And Scott just laughed. He was right, of course. We maybe didn't make a ginormous pinata but we did want a fun area for all the kids. So we created pumpkin bowling, and pumpkin decorating, and filled balloons with candy, and strung them across the patio. The candy filled balloons were a hit and a behind the scenes disaster. We got it all ready the night before, but somehow in the process of stringing them up, they kept deflating, and the strings got all twisted, and we were stuffing candy and blowing up balloons, right to the very last minute. But the funniest thing was that they kept popping all during the party because it was such a hot day. It was like, "Free Meal!" at Cafe Rio, except the kids yelled, "CANDY!" and dived in. There were a few balloons left to pop at the very end, and the popping of the balloons was the hit of the party.

But the best part was seeing Lucy so happy and surrounded by all those who love her. We feel grateful that Lucy is growing up with cousins and aunts and uncles and grandma's and grandpa's and friends, who make her feel so special.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! You aren't really my baby anymore, but I'm going to keep calling you that for just a little while longer.