Zara's Second Birthday!

Miss Zara Hope Malone had a birthday last Friday and she had a grand old time. On Friday afternoon, we got together with some of my friends and their children at Bicentennial Park in Provo. It was a beautiful day, not too hot or sunny, but perfect park day weather. The kids played on the playground, swung in the swings, and ran wild and we had a little lunch and cupcakes in honor of Zara's birthday. It was low key and enjoyable. I'm glad that so many of my friends were able to come because, let's be honest, a two year old's birthday is not for the two year old. Zara had absolutely no concept that Friday was any different than any other day, but she got to eat cake and I got to hang out with my friends. All in all, a win for both of us.

David came home from work early and we played together and then went to Cafe Zupas for dinner since we had a gift card. We came home, ate MORE cupcakes, opened presents and put Zara to bed, completely hopped up on lots of sugar.

Zara loves cupcakes.

Can I eat it now?

"Daddy, I can't eat my cupcake if you kiss me!"

Zara shows you how a cupcake should be eaten.

No hands!

Today being Labor Day, we took the holiday to make a trip to Ikea. I really wanted to buy a toy organizer for Zara's room since her toys are all over the place, mostly stored in various plastic containers (mostly in our living room) and they are not easily accessible for Zara to play with. We ended up coming home with this pretty white storage unit and fun pink and white containers.

We may have also bought some new train tracks for Zara to play with. She loves pushing the trains around and saying "Choo choo!" the whole time.

The containers are HUGE and hold all her toys and there's still room for more. (I do want to toss several of her toys out soon as well.) I love the fun colors and the ease with which Zara will now be able to play with all her toys. And maybe she will play with them in HER room rather than taking over the limited space in our front room.

I know that this is far more a gift for me than for Zara but like I said, a two year old has no expectations for their birthday so I'll just buy her what I want for myself until she starts having an opinion of her own. And when that day comes, heaven help us. That girl is stubborn.

We just love our Baby Zara and may soon have to wean ourselves of calling her baby all the time. We are just so proud of our little girl and I think she's just the best dang kid out there. We're so glad she's ours and hope to have many more birthdays to celebrate with her. Happy Birthday Zara!