Oink! Quack! Moo! Harper Grace Turns Two...

Where to even start??  This past weekend was a whirlwind, frankly the last few weeks leading up to it were also.  In preparation for the birthday bash, I turned into a bit of the psycho mom that everyone dreads, worrying and nitpicking over every little detail and nuance, nagging Hunt incessantly, etc etc.  Suffice to say, I think everyone at my house was wondering why on earth I decided to throw such an affair this year and by mid week last week I was a hair away from calling the whole thing off as naturally Harper came down with a miserable virus and it looked like we were headed for inevitable disaster.  But, with three months of planning and hundreds of dollars spent, it seemed like the only option was to push forward rather than cave to defeat. I am beyond thankful to now be able to say on the back end that I made the right decision and that they party and the weekend were a huge success and really fulfilled my hopes for what it could be.

The weekend started with picking up Auntie Carson and soon to be Uncle Jon on Thursday.  Harper began screaming as soon as they got in the car, and I thought to myself ohhh noooo, this might be bad.  She's always a little cautious around new people, but I was surprised with the degree of meltdown.  Much to my extreme relief, however, once we got settled at home (and half nakies), she warmed up. Jon made her a purple monkey out of playdoh (impressive, really) and after that the two of them were good.  She even hugged him before bedtime.

Friday morning was brisk and fall like, so we headed out to Stuckey's farm for a little Americana and apple picking.  It was a little chillier than I expected, so I was glad that I had put HG in a jacket and since Carson had borrowed my jean one as well, there ended up being super cute pics of them together without even planning it.  Harper woke up asking for "Joooon", and was totally content to be toted around by him while they reached up for the high pickings- really just so precious.

On the hunt for some apples

Eureka! Found one just for me!

I'll eat this... Didn't even know that she knew how to eat a whole apple.

Hard work for toddler chicklets

Ooohhh, look at what we found!

Twinsies with the jean jackets.. soo cute

Sampling some of Jon's namesake

Squirms the worms

I have so few pics of just us, so this made me happy- she is almost smiling!

Hah, not sure what she was going on about, but these faces always crack me up

Couting, onnne, twwoo, treeee, apples with Uncle Jon.. If you ask how many apples there are, the answer is always TWO!

Apparently, we sat on the flatbed long enough that they relented in a tractor ride.. HG fussed for the front 2/3 and then realized she actually really liked it. 

Adorable.

More counting

Friday afternoon, Carson and I went bridesmaid dress shopping which was super fun.  The dress that I have been eyeing for some time was there, and they actually had my size which was some sort of miracle because most of the dresses that they had there were the tiniest things ever.  How awkward to be shoving yourself into tiny dresses.  This one was obviously meant to be, and I can't wait to see it in navy and find some fabulous earrings and bracelet to go with!

Friday night, we went to El Rodeo where the boys dominated some massive margaritas and then came home to meet up with Aaron's family.  Hunt did some reading of the Potty Book, which has become a staple at our house these days.  Harper actually let me dress her in one of my infinity scarves and looked the picture perfect fall toddler!

And last but not least.. Oink! Quack! Moo! Harper Grace turns Two Party!!  It was a lot to get ready for, and waaay more work than I had anticipated at the conception, but really did turn out great and made me feel a bit like super mom to actually be able to pull it all together. Harper was adorable holding and hugging the bunnies and guinea pigs, and was obsessed with Nacho, the mini horse.  The neighbor kids were slightly more into the candy bar than the animals, which was somewhat annoying but remedied by moving a lot of the foot outside.  I had not anticipated that kids gather around food the way adults do at parties, and I also learned that kids this age have very short attention spans for activities.  I had reserved the animals for two hours thinking that was being conservative, and as it turned out was more than enough time.  Lessons learned for the next time I get the idea to plan something like this.. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am a little excited that Carson's wedding is the same weekend as Harper's birthday next fall so the option of doing a massive party won't really be there.

Mini fondant farm animals from Etsy with individual bows added. The perfect addition to simple cupcakes.

The cake was ahmazing.. the same baker that did her adorable first birthday elephant cake did this as well, and for a fabulous price. I could not have been happier with the end result.

Did not notice the slanted letter until I saw this pic.. oops!

Party favors with individual cupcakes to take home

The haystacks left over from our neighbor's party ended up being the perfect addition to our backyard set up!

The animals arrive!

Checking out the 1 week old guinea pigs

Hello goats

Nacho the mini horse

Hugging the bunny

Throwing hay is pretty fun too

Just sittin on my hay, back turned to the party

Checking out the animals with Miles and Harrison

Touching a guinea pig gently with one tiny finger

Carson was 100% most excited of everyone there about the baby guinea pigs!

Not every day that a wild turkey is wandering the yard free

Dominating some pizza

Harper surrounded by all her little friends singing Happy Birthday.. completely brought tears of joy to my eyes

It is amazing what a difference a year makes.. last year she was just cautiously digging her hands into the cake, and now this year sitting at a picnic table and eating with a fork!

Pretty sure we are talking about Nacho the mini horse or the bunnies

Bunny needed a drink after all those toddlers

Lil Kickers

This weekend was our first Lil Kickers class, and it was pretty much as adorable as I was picturing it to be in my mind.  Part of the attraction was definitely putting the little nugget in a sports uniform, but it was also the opportunity to have a weekend activity to burn some toddler energy come cold weather time here. The class is very well done, and Harper was pretty into it.. There were definitely some moments of her randomly running off on her own with a ball, and she was somewhat nervous around the new adults, but I think that she will warm up to it as it becomes a routine.  I was pleasantly surprised to see her coordinated enough to run and kick the ball, and even into the goal with some direction. Very, very cute! Can't wait for Auntie Carson to be here next weekend to see the action in person!!

Mac N Cheese Toddler Style

Sometimes utensils are really just not necessary, especially when fingering one's foods or trying to drink it is so much more fun, and messy.  I guess I can't really blame the girl for wanting to get her fingers wrapped around some noodles laden with faux cheddar- pretty entertaining from a texture standpoint. Now if only there was something that would make all of that cheese vanish off of her before I end up with another cheesy hand all over me!

Sweetie Pie Love Bug

The colors in these pics aren't great with the phone, but they are sweet in content.

Reading books in bed this weekend. 

"One Foot, Two Feet". It's a counting book, but each page has an airplane on it, and that is what she finds and calls out.

I soo wish that these were less grainy.  Taken in the evening while hanging out on the couch and drinking some "Mo".  Makes my mommy heart happy!

Mumford my Loves

There are certain bands that I just love- their music speaks to me and energizes me, and Mumford and Sons  is very high up on that list for me.  Since we foolishly missed the chance to see Florence and the Machines last summer, I was delighted to make up for that loss with this one.  It did not disappoint- our seats were super close, they were amazing, and we had great early Fall weather that was perfect for an outdoor concert.  When the first song started, it was so charged and powerful that I felt a bit choked up, and the experience continued from there..

The big screens were fantastic for seeing better detail of the band while they performed

Love the lighting

I believe these may have been Hunt's first selfies..

Birthday Photo Shoot

When I went to work on the second birthday invitation, I quickly realized that while I take a bazillion pictures of her, most are with my iPhone and so totally crappy in quality and few actually have her looking and/or smiling at the same time.  I was going to use some of the professional ones from when we were in Mexico this spring, but she has already changed so much since then that they didn't even really look like her anymore!  Soo, in my typical quasi-compulsive fashion, I decided that post-nap one Sunday afternoon we would put on a cute outfit and try and catch some decent pics over in the Village park where all the flowers could be pretty background.  Definitely managed to eek out a few cute ones, much to my mommy delight!!  I think that I took close to 150, but as Hunt says "it only takes one good one".

The invite winners..

Loved this one even though it was random, but you can see her real smile from laughing in her eyes

If only you weren't fuzzy!

Perhaps a pause to comment on the pearls.. This strand, which has now become a fixture in many of my recent pics, has generated a lot of buzz!  While I love seeing her look girly, cute, put together, etc it's actually really not my intention to have be over the top in this area.  I am completely not a fan of the overly traditional smocked look, or the recent surge in really frilly shabby chic little girl clothes either-- suffice to say I am drawn to the same toddler styles as I am for myself.  Sooo, how did the two year old then find herself accessorizing like a southern sorority rushee??  For probably the last month or two, she has really taken to putting things on around her neck- a particular favorite is taking a stack of my clean panties off the bed and putting them all on one by one until she has a giant panty infinity scarf.  She would wear this all day if you let her.  While cleaning out my closet, I had put a bunch of these necklaces out that I don't wear anymore, and this strand was in the pile-- it seemed a nice alternative to the panties, and certainly more acceptable for wearing outside the house.  And so a pearl wearer was born.. and since she doesn't protest, and I think it is the cutest thing ever, I just keep sticking them back on her!

Who said candy isn't a good bribe?? I knew that the attention span would be limited for pictures, and I figured the lollipop might generate some cute birthday themed pics.  There is a very cute little candy shop in the Village that I hadn't had an excuse to check out before so once she started getting annoyed/bored with walking around staring at flowers (understandably), we popped in for a diversion.  I didn't anticipate the multi color drool all over her face and hands, and did feel a little bit like a shitty parent bribing my two year old with a huge piece of candy to get some cute pictures, but nevertheless it did extend her tolerance of me for just a few more minutes, and it was probably an adequate reward for spending an hour dressed up in a park staring at random flowers while you are a toddler.

I mean this picture literally makes me laugh out loud every time I see it..