We celebrated Kayleigh's birthday on Sunday, with just a few close friends and family. Grandma and Grandpa Newell, unfortunately, were not able to make it because Grandpa came down with a really bad case of cellulitis in his hand and spent the weekend at the ER! We saw them just the weekend before and they were both in great health, so this was a shocking development. However, we should be able to see them again this coming weekend.

Kayleigh's main present from Paul and me was a playhouse.  She and Abby love their cardboard cottage, which is unfortunately starting to fall apart, so we decided to surprise her with a plastic house that has a slide, an activities center, a picnic area, funhouse mirror, and much more.


Abby and Kayleigh loved the house and as soon as they saw it set up in our living room on Sunday morning they started playing and playing and playing....

So, by the time the first guest arrived, Kayleigh was 100% tuckered out!


Bob and Diane were here for our Super Bowl party earlier in the year and Kayleigh - who was always shy around Bob, despite having seen him fairly regularly since birth - really started bonding with Bob.


Here she is with her Gong-Gong.  Notice her complete lack of facial expressions in these photos!  I have never seen her so exhausted.


Po-Po held her while the adults got a chance to play with the playhouse!


Allen and Diane competed in the ring toss.  There were no clear winners.  Despite being less than 10 feet away, the activity was a real challenge!



Randi showed some excellent accuracy tossing the tennis ball at the ball toss target.



Gong-Gong was the most patient one.  Cameron and Kayleigh dragged him everywhere.



Here's Gwen in her pretty dress.  She recently turned 5 and it's so neat that she and Abby have been friends since they were only 18 months old!  When we see her 2 year old sister, Cameron, she reminds us so much of Gwen when we first met her.


Below is the result of a cake baking disaster from the night before.  It's a good thing crumbled cake turns nicely and easily into cake balls.  Who knew baking in altitude would cause so many problems?!!  More on the adventure of baking Kayleigh's birthday cake in a future post.


Kayleigh was so tired, but was still able to give us a smile when lunch was served.


Lunch was simply Parry's Pizza, with garlic and mild hot wings.  My mom made some delicious cream puffs and we had some simple snacks to wrap up the food for the party.





Kayleigh's really into dogs lately and the theme for her birthday party stemmed from her affinity for dogs. 

So, for her cake, I decided to make her one featuring Gromit, the dog!  The cake was totally inspired by the movie: "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit."  Again, details of the cake to come in a separate post.



Since she was so exhausted, barely a slight lift of her head was all we got from Kayleigh when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  She wasn't even willing to blow out her candle and Dad had to help.  Bob had to feed her every bite of her cake, too!


Randi was claimed by Belle, but we think the chicken bones on her plate might have had something to do with her feline buddy.


For those who didn't know who Wallace and Gromit were, we decided to put on the Were-Rabbit movie.  It was the first time Abby and Kayleigh have seen the movie.  We think a lot of the humor went above the kids' heads, but the adults enjoyed it!  I'm hoping that someday Abby and Kayleigh can look back and understand why Gromit was featured on Kayleigh's birthday cake.


At least having some cake gave Kayleigh enough energy to open her presents.




She got some great, great gifts from everyone, but I think the biggest hit was the giant stuffed dog!  The dog takes up most of her crib, actually, but she insists on sleeping with it.... During the day, she adores the numerous books she received and she has curled up in the pink, folding chair to read.  She also got some much-needed, adorable clothes, a sheep skin rug, and a few toys.  Abby thought long and hard and decided to get Kayleigh a Leap Frog learning cell phone, which Kayleigh likes a lot.


Thanks to everyone who was able to join us in celebrating Kayleigh's 2nd birthday!  The birthday girl had a blast.


Kayleigh turns 2 years old today!  

It has been another memorable year.  You have grown so much and are turning out to be a really smart, head-strong, silly little girl.  Despite your stubbornness, you are very caring and considerate of others, especially in looking out for your older sister.

We love you so much and hope you're having a great birthday.


We are celebrating Kayleigh's birthday with family and friends on Sunday.  Below is a teaser for the birthday cake I am making for her.
 
The Blissfully Ignorant Bunny: cake topper
I'm not sure what this song is, but Abby's learning it at school (the last verse should be about the "Tyrannosaurus," not a repeat of "Brontosaurus") and Kayleigh's trying to keep up the words and motions.

This must be a pretty old song because - did you know? - the Brontosaurus is no longer a recognized dinosaur!

Happy Easter!

This year, for a change of pace, we held an egg hunt for the girls at home. I actually enjoyed it immensely and I think the kids did as well.

About 100 eggs were filled and tucked into every corner of the main floor of our house, spilling into our backyard.

We invited neighbors over who had 2 girls who were Abby and Kayleigh's ages. It was a really laid-back, fun event. The older generously let the toddlers have their share and we spent the rest of the day trying to calm down the girls from their sugar-highs!