Two Days After Two

Sarah Grace is a Big Girl now. Just ask her. More specifically, if you ask her how old she is, she replies with , "SaayGyace ah Big Giwl". I wouldn't trade it for anything. She staunchly refuses to admit to her age, won't even say the word 'two'. I suppose it's that whole thing of never asking a woman her age. Boy, is she claiming that one early!

Sunday morning, we greeted her by singing Happy Birthday to her, then had a pile on in Mommy and Daddy's bed. Thomas and Sarah Grace are so sweet and cuddly first thing in the morning. We lounged around and played and laughed and sang to Sarah Grace a time or two more, then we had to step on it to get ready for church. Sarah Grace got a brand new dress for her birthday and was excited to wear it to church and show it off. I wish I had taken a picture, but I didn't. We were running late!

After church, we ran an errand or two, got home, scarfed down some lunch and then the entire family laid down to take a nap. Elizabeth had had a rare night where we were like jack in the boxes with her. Up, down, up down...almost made me regret having put her in a different room. Almost. While the family slept, I got started on making dinner for everyone. All the grandparents and Aunt Kim and Uncle Tracey were coming in to celebrate Sarah Grace's birthday!

After everyone got up, the kids filled the bird feeder. Rascally birds will empty it in 24 hours if we do it all the time. So we just surprise them a couple times a week, and the seed will last almost 48 hours that way. Anyway, you don't care about the birds.

Now, Sarah Grace wasn't really sure what this whole birthday thing was about. She kind of walked around looking at us oddly as we made over it being her special day and singing to her and telling her how much we loved her. Joshua and I were trying to figure out how she got to be two years old so fast! It doesn't seem that long ago, really, that we were bringing her home from the hospital. Time flies when your having fun, eh?

Now, this is where the day gets comical. The family all showed up, and it was about more than Thomas or Sarah Grace could bear. They had been begging for birthday all day long. (In this instance, 'birthday' means cake.) It had been sitting in a glass domed cake plate all day, taunting them with it's very existence! They managed to choke down some spaghetti, but only because I told them they had to eat it or they wouldn't get any cake. Mean ol' Momma. Then, I put them off even longer by announcing that Sarah Grace could open her gifts first.

Thomas really wanted to be the center of attention. He wanted the presents, he needed to open the brightly colored gifts. Much to Sarah Grace's credit, she was fine with him helping. All went smoothly until Sarah Grace opened a package and pulled out a Little Mermaid night gown.

Thomas, now, is the ultimate Ariel fan. He loves Ariel. Loves. He sings her songs, fights her battles, and in turn, Ariel (the imaginary one that is with us most of the time) sits in her chair, reads books with him, swims in the lake, eats dinner with us, and occasionally takes a nap, at which time Thomas insists we 'shhhhhhhh'.

That gown came out of the bag, and Thomas just about went nuts. He wanted it. Bad. This, of course, prompted Sarah Grace to treasure it all the more, and she immediately wanted to put it on. The gown has a sheer layer over the front, and Thomas insisted on trying to push the sheer layer out of the way so he could look at 'his girl'. (the cartoon one, not his sister) We all laughed as he followed Sarah Grace around like a puppy, just waiting to glimpse the front of her gown.

Next, we went off to blow out the candles and serve up some cake. We let Sarah Grace sit on the table with her cake and we all crowded into the kitchen. I lit the candles, and they were immediately blown out. By Thomas. We all laughed, reminded him he still had ten days to wait, and relit the candles. As we sang the Happy Birthday song (again), I had to hold Thomas back. He wanted at those candles! After much sputtering, or blowing as Sarah Grace called it, the candles finally flickered out. I made quick work of cutting up the 'birthday' and serving it. I handed off a piece of cake to my grandmother for Gracie, but didn't get the fork fast enough for that girl! I looked over, and Mimi was holding the plate out and Sarah Grace had her face in the cake, enjoying the yummy choclateness of it all! That's my girl!

All in all, it was a fun day. Sarah Grace is still resisting any attempts we make to get her to say her age. Big Giwl will have to suffice, I suppose. Happy Birthday, my sweet Big Girl!!!