Birthday!

Can you believe my little girl is 2 years old?  Seriously, I am wiping away the tears as I think about how quickly time passes and how much my baby has accomplished in two short years.

From this:

 

To this:

 

To this:

 

I seriously love this picture of her.  It is refreshing to see her without her glasses.  And even though her eyes look different and you can see the "problems" with them, all I see is a lovable, sweet, happy little girl playing with a naked baby.  Because what little girl doesn't like to play with a naked baby doll?

 

Julia's birthday was a smashing success.  My husband and I have decided that the cost of paying for a party is a worthwhile trade off for the craziness of cleaning, cooking, and prepping for a party.  So we had her bash at Pump it up.

 

Julia loved the slides and the bouncy houses.

 

Seriously, we all had a blast.

 

Even the grownups!

 

 

I had an epic mom fail moment when I realized (the morning of the party) that the store I ordered her cake from didn't open until 9:30 and the party started at 10:00.  So we grabbed a cake from the grocery store and called it done.  And really, it must have been meant to be, because there was a pink camo cake in the cake section!

 

Turning two also means starting preschool!  Julia will be attending United Services two days a week.  She spends the morning in a special education room that is provided by First Steps.  They have speech activities, PT, OT, all kinds of things to help her continue to develop.  The amazing thing is that she does not touch her patch AT.ALL. when she is there!  She fights me tooth and nail, but will leave it on at school!

 

 

Notice her holding the patch in her hand?  That is where the patch spends most of its time nowadays...except at school, like mentioned above.  She really does like school.  The only hard part is drop off.  She didn't cry the first day, but now she realizes I am leaving and cries when I try to sneak out.  It is heart breaking.  But just one of those things that you file under the "times it is hard to be a mom."  Of course, that file is SUPER big and I am realizing there are lots and lots of those moments on a daily basis.  When Julia says, "No patchy!" and buries her head in my lap to avoid getting stuck with an eye sticker - that is definitely one of those moments.   When you see your daughter struggle to navigate a trunk or treat event because she is patched - another moment.  When she takes off her diaper and poops on the floor - another moment (and yes, that really happened - you can stop laughing at the mental image now.)

 

But even with that super big "hard to be a mom" file, there is an even bigger "being a mom is fabulous" file.  With moments like these:  watching your daughter jump in a bouncy house and grin from ear to ear, hearing your son ask your daughter if she is his "best friend" and then hearing her say yes, and watching your daughter pick up a small toy off the floor (and you almost cry because you realize she can see the toy).  Those are the moments.  Happy Birthday Julia.  It has been a roller coaster couple of years, but I have loved every moment.