Oh, what a weekend it was. Amelia's little party was truly wonderful. She had such an awesome time, and so did we. Yesterday was her actual birthday, and the three of us drove out along the old highway to Multnomah Falls for lunch, then came home and made lasagna and had cupcakes for dinner. She insisted on wearing her party hat at all times. It was a perfect day (except for the couple of times she snapped the elastic from the hat against her cheek and started bawling). She went to bed an hour or so past her bedtime, and had no nap all day. She is a partier!!!
So many toys, so many beautiful presents from everyone. Andy and I worked on ours for most of the summer — that's turning into such a sweet tradition for us. Andy's mermaid (from this pattern) — it was an epic experience. He worked on it every lunch hour for two months, and pretty much every waking free hour he was home. I tried to help him with a little bit of it and the hook was so small and the yarn so shreddy I seriously thought I was going to scream every time I picked it up. I truly don't know how he did it. He also made her a crocheted Clover doll. He is incredible. The mermaid's name is Ethel Shirley. She'll get her hat and her life-ring for Christmas. :) The doll I got for her was one I'd been coveting for years (from Happy to See You) — major splurge, couldn't resist. I made the beddy-bye-basket from this pattern (more or less, I had to add a lot more rounds because my yarn was thinner), her dress from this pattern, her nightgown from this pattern, and her sweater from here. I made the pillows and mattress and little quilt for the basket just out of some little pieces of fabric and trim that I had. Naturally, she is vaguely indifferent to both of our dolls. Naturally, Andy and I both prop each of our dolls up in front of her several thousand times a day. "I think she likes mine better." "No, she likes mine better." "No, mine." Etc. Her birthday dress and pinafore I made from a 1972 Simplicity pattern, #5277. I used a brown vintage calico I had, and some Liberty Betsy Ann in gray for the pinafore. I have to take pictures of the totally rad play food my sister Susie made for Amelia. It's incredible, and I will find out where she got the patterns, too. She also received some other really excellent presents I will photograph, too.
I had the best time over the past few weeks gathering ideas for her party. The balloon/lantern collection is ubiquitous, but oh boy did it please a two-year-old who went out for a walk with her grandma and came home to find it suddenly and magically floating above the dining-room table on Friday afternoon. That was cool. Andy and I made it together, and it was so much fun to do. Once it was up we decided it needed something distinctly "2"ish. He cut the number out of a thick piece of styrofoam, and then I covered the edges with fabric tape and the front and back with glued-on fabric (I just traced the styrofoam number and cut out the fabric — super easy). Her cake I copied from this adorable cake that I just couldn't get out of my mind (I think I pinned it ages ago). I used this cake recipe and my mom's frosting recipe (I call it Cloudburst Frosting). One of the best parts of the day was the rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" sung by all of us just before she blew out her candles — it really sounded like a chorus to me; it was truly awesome — and she looked around in complete wonder and delight at this big, bustling, beautiful family, fabulously doubled in size with her amazing birthfamily. All love. We are all just so blessed in this. I also loved watching her feed her little deer some coffee out of a wee teacup after the party as we sat quietly together and played and talked. Oh, how I love it all. I absolutely love it. Two. The best two years ever. Darling, wonderful, greatest girl. I love you so.
Joy! Joy! Joy!
Every inch a delightful looking celebration.
Happy Birthday, indeed.
What a fab party it was. Great pictures. Lovely presents. I just love that I can be a part of your life vicariously. You just exude so much joy. Thank you for sharing.
Happy mermaidy..swingy..sweet ..cakey..second birthday darling little girl.
*H*A*P*P*Y* * *B*I*R*T*H*D*A*Y*!*!*!* to Mimi! I just **LOVED** the cake decorations.. absolutely adorable and sweet! Her hair is getting so long and pretty.. she's growing up! I'm so happy for you all. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)
Happy Birthday Mimi!!! What a sweetheart you are! The photos of Amelia giving tea to the tiny deer made me teary eyed. What a wonder she is, thank you so very much for sharing your daughter with us! Love always!
Holy cow, what a beautiful celebration! I love the lanterns, and everything! You truly are an inspiring lady...though I kind of wish you hadn't posted those links to the Citronille patterns, I just ordered from them and it looks like I will be doing so again sooner than I planned. :)
Oh oh oh! The level of sweetness here is just so high! I was in your magical city this past weekend and thought of you and your cozy family doing fun things! But I had no idea it wias THIS MUCH WONDERFULNESS!!!
Oh happy birthdays, Miss Mimi. Two is terriric! Don't let the naysayers make you fret. It will be wonderful!
XO!
- Dottie
Such a precious birthday and you have captured it so beautifully. Amelia is so lucky to be surrounded by such love and your words show with such depth of feeling in every post how much you feel blessed by her. No one could read your blog without feeling good about all the possibilities that life can bring.
Shauna.x
Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Mimi ~ what a beautiful celebration you had ♥
Those teeny tiny hats on the birthday cake animals!
I'll second what commenter Julie M says - such a joy.
Beautiful! What a party! I love her mermaid. You are such kind parents.
Darling, Darling, Darling... just darling! The party, precious Mimi, your words here... I feel so much happiness for you and your family. You deserve it all, Alicia!
Such a magical world you've created for your little girl.
What a beautiful celebration. It just oozes love! Happy Birthday to your beautiful, clever girl.
First, that cake is possibly THE most adorable thing I've seen in my life - my birthday is next week, and I'm wondering if I can make myself one? Secondly, those tiny green Welles with the calico are precious. And thirdly - something I've thought before - how wonderful to see (even a partial) picture of *you* on here, Alicia!! You are a truly lovely person, and you create such beauty that it's honestly made me sad you didn't feature more. Thank you for being present.
Pure magic! When Amelia first came into your lives, this is how I imagined her birthdays to be. Sweet, magical and filled with love. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful celebration with all of us! Happy Birthday sweet Amelia!
Oh, and a huge high five to Andy and his sweet crochet skills! He rocks!
Thanks so much for letting us celebrate Mimi's second birthday with you and the rest of your family Alicia! My youngest grandchild, Joy, turned two in June and I concur that two is delightful and amazing. I just posted about my trip back East in which I got to visit my two grandsons...a rare treat for me, and my heart is filled with gratitude as yours is for the love shared with family and friends. I love seeing what you and Andy made to celebrate Mimi's birthday! Bravo! Before I flew home my youngest grandson asked me to knit a bunny for him which was an especially precious request since he just earned his black belt in Tai Kwon Do at the age of 9! :-) May God grant you and yours many more wonderful years together. xx
What a truly delightful, beautiful, charming birthday celebration! Amelia is sooooo gorgeous and I can see she already likes to pretend. You are very lucky parents....and she a lucky wee girl.
Happy BIRTHDAY!! To the most sparkling, precious, darling, sweet, loved, beloved and rosy little Mimi Amelia girl that ever there ever was!!! Spreading love and joy one glance, one smile, one everything at a time!!
Angel baby! Many more happy/glorious/full days to you and your mama and papa who adore you soooooo!!
Lots of love Alicia & Andy!!
xoxo, Vanessa
So sweet, you are such special parents. I know Amelia is adopted, but I gotta say the picture of her on daddy's shoulders.....she looks so much like your husband to me. They have the same smile in that picture. Such a blessed family, and such an inspiration.....blessings
I've had a fairly crappy day, but your pictures brought true and sincere smiles & grins to my face.
The first or second pic, with Mimi looking at the balloons, brought a flashback to my daughter's 2nd birthday party -- over 10 years ago! And those cake toppers! I want them on *my* birthday cake in a couple of months. Thank you for sharing, Alicia. Blessings to your little family.
That is the prettiest, sweetest party ever.
Happy Birthday, Mimi! You have brought us all joy as well as to your families! Lovely party, kudos to Andy on the mermaid. You are all so special! Have not missed a post in many years now! Love, Esther Sunday xxx
Hi, Happy Birthday to Amelia and congratulations to you two, too! We call presents we get excited about and the girls don't take to immediately 'sleeper hits.' They usually take 3-6 months to decide the item in question is their favorite thing ever, but it almost always happens.
Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful blog with us.