P-A-R-T Y??? Because it's Ava's birthday!!!

Today's was Ava's 2nd birthday party. My 6+ mths of planning was about to come to life. Since I plan major projects for a living it was only natural that Ava's birthday follow the same route. I made her monkey cupcakes and rice krispy treats. It was my first time ever baking sweets for a party so I was a little nervous. I even did a trial run about a month before the party just to make sure I could do it. I also made some of the food, but all of it was too much work. I got a few party trays from HEB and one from Chic-fil-a and they were so great. Debbie was also AWESOME and helped me with food, balloons, and general sanity checks! Always good to have her around! :) Earlier in the week she gave me something that she said was for after the party...it was a bottle of wine! I had a glass when the party was done...to toast to the celebration success! It was tasty...
We had a lot of friends and family join us for the party. Some were from near and some came from far...thanks to Carolyn, Claire, Teresa and Melissa for making the long drive from the Arlington, Grand Prarie, and Canton! It really meant the world to us to have you all there. The party was a great celebration with lots of food and fun. Ava got lots of great presents and she even blew out her candle this year. I told her it was really hot so she had to blow on it to cool it off..a few puffs and it was out. The crowd roared in excitement which was really great!
She also opened her gifts. She is still a little unsure of wrapping paper, but she has tissue paper down. It is so sweet because her first attention is to the card in the bag. She wants to read each one...
After the party was over she had fun digging into all of her new toys and playing with all the balloons in the house...there were 60+ of them and she was happy to have each of one! Here are a few pictures from our great day...











We also missed a few family members this year. We hope that Nini gets to feeling better! Ava loved reading your card too Nini! Also, Chris and Samantha welcomed their 4th child, their first baby girl a day before the party, September 4th! Congratulations on the arrival of Savannah, we can't wait to meet her. Ava and her will have lots of fun playing together for sure. Finally, my Dad was called to work last minute...Ava missed her Grandpa but we sent him home a party kit...hope you liked the goodies Daddy! Thanks again to everyone for coming out to celebrate the 2nd year of our little girl's life. So hard to believe that this much time has passed. I still remember that eventful delivery day...to many more exciting birthday parties! Back then until now...all that I can say is WOW!