Charlotte Turns Two!

Waking up on February 8th was pretty surreal. I remember what I was doing at that exact time 2 years ago. I remember the day Charlotte was born like it was yesterday. I remember all of the crazy emotions, the friends that stopped by on their way to or from work, the pain of the contractions, the excellent epidural, the fabulous dance mix we listened to while I pushed, but I especially remember the moment when they said, "It's a girl!" One of the craziest moments of my life. I remember the moment when that chubby, smooshed face looked up at me crying and those dark eyes opened and she checked me out. I was hooked...and I am still hooked. This child is amazing.

We woke up at Mom and Dad's house on Charlotte's birthday. I wanted to make it a special day for her even though it was pretty cold and dreary outside.

She woke up to one of her favorite things... BALLOONS!!!

She LOVES balloons. 

And she woke up to a brand new birthday cup (with "Gaga"/Tangled on it) and a donut with sprinkles. We put the candles in the donut and sang her favorite song... "Happy Birthday". Best. Day. Ever. So far...

Delicious.

Aunt Bare couldn't sleep (she is a night shifter) so she made Charlotte some cupcakes and a birthday cake.

We got alllll dressed up to go out on the town for the day.

Both girls were busy getting their purses ready.

Sawyer and Uncle Poop were ready to head out.

Poor girl was partied out before we left. She already needs a nap and it is not even lunch time.

So, we headed to Chuck E Cheese. It was between that and Monkey Joes. Uncle Poop likes to play the games at Chuck E Cheese so we headed there. When we walked in, she spotted this horse right away. Check out Mom's face :) Hilarious.

Hanging out in the toddler area. Aunt Bare come and met us.

"Oh hey, Barnie. Mind if I jump on too???"

Papa came to meet us for a "delicious" lunch. 

She drove that mouse around for a very long time...

And Papa hung out in the backseat.

Papa even taught here where to put her "moneys".

So, we played games, rode rides, really ate up the Chuck E Cheese experience. I ordered food for everyone (that stuff costs a million dollars for a bunch of frozen pizzas and chicken strips) As we were sitting down to eat, I had put Charlotte in the same side of the booth as me. We were going to share a table with Mary. Well, I got up to grab something and right when I got up the Chuck E Cheese mascot came from the back to make rounds in the place. Charlotte looked up expecting to see me and she saw this mouse. She started SCREAMING and CLIMBED OVER THE TABLE as fast as she could into Mary's arms. The mouse just sauntered off... At that point, she was hysterical... which is what she remained until we left. She wanted to leave right that second. John had to leave and she wanted to go with him. She just kept talking about "That Mouse".  She would  say "I don't  yike dat mouse." Then she would describe him... his nose, eyes, hat, and shoes. 

We finally left. It was funny but not funny all at the same time. Alex was supposed to come meet up but got caught up at work so we went by his work to take him the leftover pizza and chicken strips. We sat with him for a few minutes then headed out. The birthday girl needed a nap... and we hoped that when she woke up she would forget about THAT MOUSE.

After her nap, we ate some cupcakes... DELICIOUS.

And while she ate her cupcake, we sang to her again...and we Skyped with Aunt MeeMee while we did that. She wanted to see the birthday girl and sing to her.

The girl loves her sweets... especially cupcakes.

We ate a low key MOUSE FREE dinner...although she talked about the mouse the entire day. All day. Every sentence included the mouse. She is scarred for life.

When Daddy got off of work, he came over to Mom and Dad's house to sing "Happy Birthday" and enjoy some cake with us. 

She loves to blow the candles out. Later on that day she saw my dad's sleep mask and she started crying. She was completely traumatized by Papa's mask. So she had two very traumatizing moments...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Charlotte. You have no idea how much joy you have brought us. We love you with everything that we have in us.

(I am writing this on April 6th and she talks about the mouse EVERYDAY and she brings up my Dad's mask every few days.)