Birthday Party Fun

Talking to Grandma and Grandpa A (in Italy) on the computer via skype

Cara sitting next to her birthday cake!

Blowing out the candles

It was almost painful to Mommy to have to cut up her masterpiece

But it was worth it because Cara loved her cake and ice cream

Yummy!

Cara was blessed with so many wonderful gifts, including this medical kit from Uncle Joe, Aunt Amy, Vince and Charlotte

And this talking/cooing doll from Dendra and Zaina

She also got this big wheel from Aunt Cyndi and Uncle Danilo. They also had a Doodlebop Keytar send to Cara (just like Dee Dee Doodle's) and Cara opened it one day while they were on skype so they could see her reaction

This castle balloon fit the theme perfectly

She got this adorable Snow White dress from Uncle Mike, Aunt Lisa, Dillon and Oscar. I think we may have her halloween costume :)

Getting hugs from her best buddy Zaina

We took over a hundred pictures during the party, so I had to pick just a handful to post on the blog. We had such a great day! Cara was surrounded by friends and family and loved being the center of attention. We were able to skype with the family in Italy which made it seem like they were here! We walked around with the laptop and showed them the food, cake, presents, guests, and most importantly the birthday Princess! She enjoyed playing in her new kitchen with all her cousins. She got lots of great presents- some new clothes for the fall, a Mrs Potato Head, a couple of books, puzzles, her first Webkinz, as well as the things already mentioned with the pictures! We had such a fun day!

Sneak Peek to Party

Watching the icing mix

Adding more powdered sugar

Helping Mommy make the flowers

Ta Da!

The past few days we have been hard at work on Cara's birthday cake. She "helped" me make the flowers a few days ago so they would be set to put on the cake. Then we baked the cake on Friday and decorated it on Saturday. She napped during the decorating part which was good because it was challenging enough without a 2 year old helping :)

But here is the finished product! Mommy is proud of her hard work and thankful to Grandma for all her help! But every Princess needs a castle!!!

Birthday Fun

Watching the Jazz band at Animals and All that Jazz at the Zoo on Thursday

Walking around the zoo we found the giraffes

Walking around the zoo, which was very uncrowded because everyone was watching the jazz group, so we enjoyed walking right up to everything, Grandma and Grandpa F are following along. Despite the heat somebody preferred to walk instead of ride in the stroller

A quick change of clothes before hitting the splash park to cool off

back at home for birthday presents and cake, here she opened the porcelain Mickey Mouse birthday figuring from Grandma and Grandpa A. They had it shipped to our house for her to open on her birthday since they are out of the country still.

Here she is opening her new baby doll. She picked the doll out when we were in Chicago but we put it up for her to unwrap on her birthday.

Proudly showing off her new baby doll which she is calling Baby Cara. Note the matching dresses, of course we had to get her a dress at American Girl to match. Aren't they cute?

Time to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles, which she did with ease this year

Then we headed outside so she could give Baby Cara a ride in her car

What a fun birthday or as Cara says a "happy Day"! Our birthday started out with a skype visit with Cyndi, Danilo, Grandma and Grandpa A so they could wish her a happy birthday from across the other side of the world. We played and enjoyed the day and then headed to the zoo for some fun with Animals and All that Jazz. We enjoyed dinner and some jazz music and then headed off to see the animals. Cara would not let us be at the zoo and not see animals. A stop at the carousel for a quick ride, and then off to see giraffes, rhinos, elephants, and lions. It was quite warm so we changed Cara's outfit and let her run around in the splash park to cool off. Then we headed home to enjoy cake and presents.

Cara received this new kitchen for her birthday from Grandma and Grandpa F. Grandpa F came over this afternoon to put it together for us.

Sitting in front of her new kitchen

Playing in the kitchen on Friday afternoon

Hope you had a wonderful birthday Cara!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cara

Here are Cara's 2 year pictures!

She was not being the most cooperative for this picture session. Unfortunately I think it was a little too close to nap time, but the photographer sure gave all she had to try to get Cara to smile! But we did have some cute ones and probably if she was being her normal self we would have never been able to choose which ones to buy!

So 2 years ago our lives changed in a way you can never prepare yourself for or imagine. We fell head over heels in love with this little bundle of joy who has now grown into such an adorable toddler. She can count to 10, says the ABC's (all the time) knows about 5 US presidents by their picture, has an ever expanding vocabulary, she loves dolls, anything Mickey Mouse, Doodlebops or ice cream related. She amazes us every day with something new she says or does! She has lightened our lives in a way we can not describe, we often say that our lives must have been so boring before her. Even strangers that meet her are in awe of her personality and her good behavior. She is so polite already, says please and thank you. So on this her birthday we wanted to express our feelings for her and thank God for giving us this beautiful girl!! It was so hard but she was SO worth the wait!!

Happy Birthday Princess Cara!

In addition to birthday celebration on her birthday, we will also being having a party this weekend, so stay tuned for lots more birthday fun!!

Birthday Week

Oh WOW, this is all Cara kept saying when she walked out to the garage to find her very own car

Yeah, so happy

This driving thing is a bit harder than it looks

Cara's birthday week started on Sunday when we gave her this Jeep. She kept saying, oh wow over and over. It was so cute. We let her try them out in the store but having it in her own garage all charged and ready to go was another story. We bought it on Saturday, Daddy put it together while we were gone, and then it charged all night so it was good to go for our first drive.

The gas pedal will take some getting used to, as will driving it and steering at the same time, but we foresee hours of fun in this jeep. Everyday when we are getting in the car to go somewhere Cara says "Cara drive?" and we say no, but now Cara can drive!!

Happy Birthday Week to Princess Cara!!

New Guitar

Aren't I cute Mommy?

See my new guitar

it is as tall as me

The other day Scott and Cara were out and about and stopped by the home of one of his former students to visit. In the course of their visit Cara found this guitar and was so excited! One thing led to another and he gave her this guitar, which is a Taylor, which I guess is a pretty big name in the world of guitars. So now she has her very own guitar and can sit and play with Daddy while he plays his guitar!

Chicago Fun part 2

Cara woke up bright and early on day 2 in Chicago. We headed down for an early breakfast at the hotel, then for a swim. After we all swam and got showers and dressed for the day Cara was ready for a nap already! So she and I took a nice long nap. Then after our nap it was time to check out and go meet our friends at the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Of course Zaina and Cara had to sit together.

Here is Zaina posing with the frog, Cara was too scared to see him

After lunch we headed down Michigan Ave to Millenium Park. Here we are at the Bean! Cara is reaching out for herself.

Mommy and Cara in front of the bean

Walking the grounds of the park on the way to the water fountain

Just like when we were there almost one year ago, Cara finds the splash part so fun

Here she is watching the kids on the side of the wall get hammered with a huge spray of water, she wasn't too sure what to think about that

So, she lays down on the water instead

And here, she is laying down watching the water run back into the ground, she found that fascinating

Now we are on the walk back to the hotel to get our car and head back home

We wish we had more time to spend in Chicago because we didn't get everything done. We had planned to go to the aquarium but we didn't have time. But we had lots of fun anyway. It was fun to spend time at Millenium Park. And of course no trip to Chicago is complete without shopping on the Magnificent Mile, and we accomplished that on Saturday. Cara was her usual go-with-the-flow self, she makes it so easy to bring her wherever we want to go.

When walking down Michigan I was reminded of that same walk about one year ago with Cyndi, Danilo, and Grandma A when we visited Chicago. I am sure they are thinking the same thing when they see these pictures!!