Mackenzie's 2nd Bee-day

 I can't believe my baby girl is 2!! Her birthday was August 21st.

I had a 2nd "Bee-day" party for her with some family and friends a few days after her birthday.

For food, we went along with the bee theme. My mother-in-law made some awesome cupcakes! Not only were they super cute, but they were also so delicious. She made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate filling, and a raspberry buttercream (or maybe it was cream cheese?) icing. I don't know, all I know was they were divine. Some had fondant flowers and bees, and some were beehives with bees. We also had lemonade to drink with sliced lemons for looks, lemonade flavored jolly ranchers, an icecream cake (found here) and a "honeycomb" trail mix with Honeycomb cereal, dried blueberries, dried pineapple, and dried mangoes. It was quite the sugar overload. : )

Looooove her beautiful eyes.

Cheeeeseeee!

The kids playing the "find the bee" game. I decorated a lemon to look like a bumblebee, with googly eyes and all. Then I hid it somewhere in our backyard. Whoever found it got to hide it next. We played a few rounds of that then had the cake and icecream. It was wayyy too hot outside.

I love the little sign Tucker made for Kenz in the background. : ) Not only did the bees have wings, they had fingers on the end of their wings too!

Cutie pie.

I made this poster for a quick game. I just made "stingers" out of  black construction paper. I tied a bandana around their head to cover their eyes, gave them a spin, and let them try to pin the stinger on the bee!

Fooooood!!!

Handsome Colie-bear. He was super excited for the lemonade. Tucker was busy playing in his room and outside with his cousins during the party. I don't have much evidence that he was even at the party!

Lots of cute kids (mostly nieces and nephews).

I had Ryan print off some bee coloring pages from the internet to let the kids color outside.

She is such a wonderful part of our life! She is SO funny, energetic, loving, cuddly, kind, goofy, loves to help, and quite the tease.

She can say a ton of words now! A lot of them in sentence form too. Sometimes it is hard to understand her though, but I can usually figure out what she is trying to say. 

She loves for me to paint her nails and toe nails. She loves to play in my make up while I attempt to get ready. 

She loves to play with her brothers, and she is getting pretty good at defending herself when they get too rough with her. : ) Her fingers are like little razor-like tweezers. She has mastered the art of pinching.

She still uses her binky, mostly for nap/bed time. But I am trying to get her off of that darn thing soon! She is sleeping in her toddler bed at night, and sometimes sleeps on the love seat couch in her room for her naps. 

She definately knows how to eat when she chooses to. Sometimes she can be picky, but when she does like something, she goes for the gold.

She loves babies and all animals. Her popular phrase when she sees one or the other is, "so cute!"

She loves to read books and would have me read them to her

all day long. She loves to color like crazy, even if it is on stuff that is not supposed to be colored on!

She loves to make messes, and usually on purpose. She is a stinker sometimes, so I just have to breathe deep.

Right now, she is into throwing fits when I change her diaper, wash her in the bath, or try to buckle her in her carseat.

She loves to cuddle-when she is the one initiating it. And I love it. She will just lay limp and let me hold her like a baby.

The only time she uses sign language is to say "more." And it is only used in situations where candy or ice cream is being given.

She is SO adorable when we say prayers. She is almost always the first one now to kneel, fold her arms, bow her head, and close her eyes.  It is the sweetest thing. I try to point out her reverence to Tucker and Cole, who are usually hanging from the light fixtures.

She love, love, LOVES to sing. It is so funny because Tucker and Cole were never super into singing, but she can be found making up her own songs anytime, any place.

She loves to clean. She loves to clean herself with baby wipes, so if the wipes are visible, you better believe she is busting into those things and giving herself a sponge "bath." She also loves to help with doing the laundry, the dishes, and picking things up (like toys).

She has a shoe fetish and will put on any shoes that she finds. I keep my shoes in my room, and she will just take shoe after shoe after shoe off of the shelves, and try them all on.

She is such a goofball. I sometimes question if Chris Farley is actually her biological father. She can make the funniest faces that make us laugh so hard.

I can't believe that when I was pregnant with her, I was worried I wouldn't know how to be with a girl. I thought I was more cut-out for mothering boys. But let me tell you what, this little girl is the best. I love her so stinkin' much. We all love her to pieces. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. Tucker and Cole often get in fights because they want to be with her and be her favorite. I love seeing Ryan love his precious daughter. It is a sweet thing to see a father's love for his little girl! I will never forget Ryan singing to her when she was first born. Their relationship is just that much deeper now. It has been a wonderful two years with her, and I can't wait for many, many more! Happy second Birthday Mackenzie Leigh!!! We love you!!

These pictures were from her actual birthday.

: ) my sweet girl