A week of "2 old..."

Our sweet Aubrey has thoroughly enjoyed her 1st week of being "2 old!" She refuses to say "2 years old", so people often get confused when she answers their question of "how old are you now?" and she says "2 old." But...it has only taken a week for her to learn how to show she is "2 old" with her fingers =)

She will make sure to tell you that those other finger have to stay down ;-)

Last Tuesday evening, we had a little birthday celebration at home on Aubrey's actual birthday. Aubrey wanted to invite our neighbor, Mr. Fleming, over for cake. He was happy to join the festivities; Aubrey acted as if she was an ol' pro at the birthday gig.

Everyone helping frost the birthday cake. (Then mommy realized that we had thrown out the loose candles that were in the drawer when we moved. Before the celebration could continue, Daddy had to make a quick run to the dollar store!)

Aubrey opening her presents. She ripped into her cards and money fell out. When we asked her what was in her card, she replied "Paper.." She even called Grandma Bernice and said "Thank you for paper!" If she only realized how valuable that paper is....

 Aubrey then got tired of presents instantly. She refused to open her last present and instead questioned us, "Where's my cake?!"

"There it is, my cake. Candle!" She was so happy =)

Aubrey blew the candle out without any prompting. She was just on a roll with the party activities. However, she did get a little confused on the next part.... After the candles were blown out, she plucked the candle out of the cake to lick it. Here is where she got mixed up, she licked the end of the candle that had just previously been on fire!!! No, it didn't burn her but it wasn't nearly as sweet as she had expected.

Aubrey had a wonderful birthday on Tuesday, which was verified by the fact that she sang herself to sleep with "Happy birthday to you!" =)

Wednesday brought her 2 year checkup with the doctor. Of course, Dr. DeKlotz wanted to see all the big girl skills Aubrey has acquired... Aubrey wanted to show him her personality! Dr. DeKlotz asked if Aubrey knows her ABCs, so I asked her to tell him. Her reply went like this, "A, B, twinkle! HaHaHaHaHa!!" Yep, she refused to say anything else. He could only laugh, as could I, which has now reinforced this new versionn of the ABCs.

A Mommy side note, our new couch finally arrived and makes it much easier for everyone to snuggle at the same time!

Saturday was Aubrey's birthday party with all her little friends at OGA. She got to jump and play her little heart out. It was a great place for a party, there were 2 coaches that split the kids up into a group of older ones and younger ones. Here are some pictures from the party:

Whats not fun about jumping off a trampoline into a HUGE pit of foam blocks? Aubrey couldn't think of anything =)

Concentrating so hard on running and jumping down the big trampoline!

Time for pizza, a caterpillar cake and presents in the party room. I would love to say Aubrey remembered her lesson about the candles from earlier in the week... but she did not! Another burnt end into the mouth...

Its SIlvermist (from Tinkerbell for those of you without little girls!). I didn't get many pictures of her opening her gifts. We had planned to just open them at home, but EVERY little kid wanted Aubrey to just open their gift before everyone went home. It was sweet, she had a blast and there was a large group of little kids with presents and paper everywhere.

As if this all wasn't enough excitement for one week, we had one more big celebration. 

AUBREY WENT POTTY IN THE BIG GIRL POTTY!!!

She has been trying for the past couple of weeks, and she finally had success. I had told her that as soon as she went potty in the toilet she could wear Dora undies. I'm not so sure that she was that impressed with the pottying part, but she was SUPER excited for undies!

 Ella was so excited for her little sister. It was one of those moments that just gives you those warm fuzzy feelings and you can truly remember how precious our family is!

And that sums up our week =) Happy Easter to all. We have lots of plans for the weekend. Hope your weekend is full of fun too!

[[[[ Happy Birthday to my sweet sweet girl ]]]]

My precious Aubrey Grace... I can't believe that 2 years ago I was still ever so patiently waiting to snuggle you in my arms. The personality that we saw then (stubborn, determined, oh-so-sweet) is growing even bigger today. And your cheeks, those chubby little cheeks, are also growing bigger every day. Mommy, Daddy and Ella love you so much!!! May you have a wonderful birthday.

We are celebrating Aubrey's birthday at home with our family tonight. Then on Saturday, Aubrey and all her little friends will spend some time running/jumping/tumbling at a local gymnastics place. Sound be lots of fun!! Pictures to come...

Disneyland---From the eyes and mouth of Aubrey

Aubrey talked a good game about Disneyland. She knew we were going to get on an airplane, go to Disneyland and there she could meet Mickey Mouse. But she really didn't comprehend what all that meant ;-) She was completely in awe of being at the airport. She spent lots of time just hanging out at the window looking at all the airplanes. 

Watching all the planes =)

After her initial hesitation with the characters, she was all smiles for Disneyland. I was so surprised by her lack of fear for anything! The few times that she couldn't go on a ride, she would stand by saying "Aubrey's turn!"

Riding on the Astro Blaster. Then HUGE smiles on the carousel =) 

 We borrowed the cute little puppy backpack that Aubrey is wearing from a friend. It was a lifesaver because she was able to walk on her own without getting too far away or lost. I was actually shocked at how much she walked versus rode in the stroller. She was a girl on a mission!

That smiling face makes you forget about all the $$$ it cost to get in the gates ;-)

All that excitement definitely takes its toll on a little girl, but she was a great sport and wanted to keep on truckin'.

Her mood perked up drastically when she won Mickey Mouse on one of the pier games. He was quite the arm load but she was not about to let anyone else carry him for her. It was quite cute to see her dragging him home. She remembers where she got him even now...she will say 'Mickey Mouse at Disneyland!"

Aubrey's favorite ride by far was the 'Umi cars' aka Autotopia. One of the cartoons the girls like to watch is Umizoomi, little tiny people who go on adventures in their Umi cars. I guess it makes perfect sense when you are a little girl! 

Anyways, we get in the car and Aubrey takes charge instantly. I have to push the pedal, but other than that I'm not allowed to do anything...especially help steer! I'm pretty sure that everyone behind us was super bummed at how slow they had to go around the track. Aubrey was crashing constantly!! She would run into the center runner whenever there was any sort of turn and we would be tossed around the car all crazy. This, she thought was HILARIOUS!!! ***See the pictures below*** I would tell her, "You are a crazy driver! Who gave you a drivers license?" Again, she would just laugh and laugh! I was bummed that they didn't have fast pass open for this ride, we would have definitely done it again if it weren't for the wait.

Those smiles can't deny the fun Aubrey had in Disneyland!!

Now its been almost 2 months since we got back from our Disneyland vacation. The girls still play 'going to Disneyland.' Aubrey will put on her little pink puppy backpack and say "Go to Disneyland. See Mickey Mouse." =) If it were only that easy! 

Although she may only have the memories of this trip that are associated with these pictures...that in itself was well worth it for Neal and I!! Hope you all enjoyed our trip as much as we did =)