Noel turned two two months ago today. Eek. And while part of me feels extremely guilty about not writing about her birthday before now, the bottom line is that the celebrations took awhile.
Family photo at Noel's party the week after her birthday.
Noel's actual second birthday began with us getting up early to eat breakfast, take showers, and finish packing. We left around 9:30 a.m. to head to the airport to catch our first flight headed towards America. There was no birthday pancake, no birthday presents, no nothing. I'm not even sure if we sang to her on her actual birthday…it was such a crazy day that I honestly don't even remember, nor do I have a single picture of December the 12th. Our flight was delayed and then it seemed that some of our bags were missing, so we ended up not getting to our hotel until 6 or 7 that evening…we ordered up room service for dinner and all went to bed promptly. Poor Noel didn't even get a good night's sleep since she slept in the bed with me and Shannon (which she doesn't usually do), so in turn Shannon and I didn't sleep well. The only benefit to the overnight in the hotel was that Lane started our really long travel day with 8-9 hours of good sleep in her.
So Noel's actual birthday was a bust.
She loved this ride. It had animals that moved and made noises when you pushed their button. She sat in my lap and waited about five minutes (an extremely long time for a 2-year old!) for another child to finish their marathon riding session so she could ride some more before we left.
A week after we had arrived in America we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's for her "real" birthday celebrations. We purchased a Dora ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen, invited her grandparents, uncles, and cousin who live in the Birmingham area, and let that girl ride the same ride about 30 times to appease her poor, birthday-deprived soul. She had cheese pizza and apple juice for lunch and was happy as a lark until Chuck E. himself came by, when she looked down at the table and refused to look up until he was gone. She opened a few presents and fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Getting ready to be sung to and blow out the candle!
This is exactly what she did the whole time Chuck E. was near her. She looked at her plate, continued to eat, and would occasionally look up with her eyes (while keeping her head down) to see if he was still there.
It was a fun birthday bash and even though it was about 99.9% not what I ever wanted to do for any of my kids for their birthdays, the bottom line is that she had a blast. She didn't care that I didn't make her cake or plan anything beyond the day and time of the party and pick up some birthday plates and napkins. And while I still feel a little guilty about her "poor excuse for a birthday party," sometimes you just have to let things go. And when you fly across the world on someone's actual birthday, live with two different sets of grandparents/parents/in-laws the two weeks afterwards, and have jet-lag to deal with…fancy birthday parties just don't make the cut of important things in life. Maybe next year will be better, more up to my expectations. Although I don't think she'll give a rat's behind next year, either.
I mean, does this look like a kid who cares that her party wasn't color-coordinated and that her mom didn't make her cake? I think not.
Family photo at Noel's party the week after her birthday.
Noel's actual second birthday began with us getting up early to eat breakfast, take showers, and finish packing. We left around 9:30 a.m. to head to the airport to catch our first flight headed towards America. There was no birthday pancake, no birthday presents, no nothing. I'm not even sure if we sang to her on her actual birthday…it was such a crazy day that I honestly don't even remember, nor do I have a single picture of December the 12th. Our flight was delayed and then it seemed that some of our bags were missing, so we ended up not getting to our hotel until 6 or 7 that evening…we ordered up room service for dinner and all went to bed promptly. Poor Noel didn't even get a good night's sleep since she slept in the bed with me and Shannon (which she doesn't usually do), so in turn Shannon and I didn't sleep well. The only benefit to the overnight in the hotel was that Lane started our really long travel day with 8-9 hours of good sleep in her.
So Noel's actual birthday was a bust.
She loved this ride. It had animals that moved and made noises when you pushed their button. She sat in my lap and waited about five minutes (an extremely long time for a 2-year old!) for another child to finish their marathon riding session so she could ride some more before we left.
A week after we had arrived in America we took her to Chuck E. Cheese's for her "real" birthday celebrations. We purchased a Dora ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen, invited her grandparents, uncles, and cousin who live in the Birmingham area, and let that girl ride the same ride about 30 times to appease her poor, birthday-deprived soul. She had cheese pizza and apple juice for lunch and was happy as a lark until Chuck E. himself came by, when she looked down at the table and refused to look up until he was gone. She opened a few presents and fell asleep in the car on the way home.
Getting ready to be sung to and blow out the candle!
This is exactly what she did the whole time Chuck E. was near her. She looked at her plate, continued to eat, and would occasionally look up with her eyes (while keeping her head down) to see if he was still there.
It was a fun birthday bash and even though it was about 99.9% not what I ever wanted to do for any of my kids for their birthdays, the bottom line is that she had a blast. She didn't care that I didn't make her cake or plan anything beyond the day and time of the party and pick up some birthday plates and napkins. And while I still feel a little guilty about her "poor excuse for a birthday party," sometimes you just have to let things go. And when you fly across the world on someone's actual birthday, live with two different sets of grandparents/parents/in-laws the two weeks afterwards, and have jet-lag to deal with…fancy birthday parties just don't make the cut of important things in life. Maybe next year will be better, more up to my expectations. Although I don't think she'll give a rat's behind next year, either.
I mean, does this look like a kid who cares that her party wasn't color-coordinated and that her mom didn't make her cake? I think not.
I just have such a hard time believing she is two!! My goodness! And there's no shame in a fun, easily planned time for the birthday kid! You are an awesome mom, Michelle.
ReplyDeleteNo worries - Ava didn't even HAVE a birthday party when she turned 2. We just spent the day at the museum where she had a blast. The birthday kid having fun is more important than a party. You did good.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like she had a great time! Noah's birthday was also super low key compared to Nathan's second birthday - what's important is that they have fun.
ReplyDelete