Annie's 2nd Birthday

Due to the wisdom of my wise, sometimes-balloon-bursting-but-always-loving husband, we spent Annie's birthday quietly at home with just us 5. If it had been up to me, there would have been stress expressed poorly, money spent foolishly, and lots of messes quickly shoved in corners or behind the shower curtain in an attempt to have a party worthy of our cute little girl. Instead, we spent time enjoying each other, playing on the floor, converting her room from baby-ish to big girl worthy, and just being a family. It's probably good that we (I) didn't try to live up to or exceed the sweetness of last year's party anyway...you can't replicate the essence of what the weather was like and how the kids were playing so wonderfully together and how our friends sang songs to Annie anyway.
We just opened presents right away (which goes against my general "Let's wait until later, when it is the Right Time to open presents" but doesn't actually make sense because opening them early gives the kids the fun of playing with the new toys all day!). We hid the presents for Annie to find and she did it all like a pro. One of her presents is my old My Little Pony nursery and she (and the boys!) love it--diapering the ponies and putting them to bed, so cute! We did venture out to Peter Piper Pizza because we had free coupons and we ended the day with the Birthday Donker and *pink* cake and ice cream.

Annie at 2 years old loves climbing, eating salad, and following her brothers. She is brave and confident yet still very attached to Mommy. She loves to say "My Nannie" which means "It's mine" (mine Annie) and pretty much says it about anything little or pink or cute. She speaks pig latin without trying--"ump-jah" (jump) "am-sah" (Sam) "up-kah" (cup), and also says "mink" (drink), "wank-ke" (blanket), and "bubbies" (brothers). She likes babies and she plays so differently than the boys, but she loves to take her shirt off and wrastle on the bed with them. She makes funny faces and sleeps in one place (not travelling all over her bed like Sam). She loves the water and is nervous around dogs. There's so much more I could write but there's just not time. Here are a few videos that are special related to Annie. The first (1 min.) is the precious one of us bringing her home from the hospital after she was born. The second (4 min.) is a little compilation of pictures I've taken over the past 2 years as she's grown.