Lydia is 2!

Our little Lydia turned 2 on July 1st. I asked her a few weeks ago what kind of party she wanted, and completely unprompted, she said "Bubbles Party." So, that's what we did. We invited our family and a few friends to celebrate with us and Lydia enjoyed her Bubbles Party.

This year, I opted to attempt the cake (next year I will give it all back to mom:). Mom helped me out by making, leveling and buttercreaming the cake and then Catherine helped me with the fondant. I made it from a marshmallow fondant recipe which is supposed to taste better than regular fondant. I wasnt' a fan, but the kids seemed to be ok with it. They especially liked eating the "bubbles" that Catherine helped me roll into balls.

Lydia got a lot of summer toys for her birthday including a Slip N Slide and a big Ball Sprinkler. After the bubble fun, Harbin, Catherine, Lydia and Wesley got to play in them. They topped it off by eating popsicles and trying to beat the terrible heat we've had here in Georgia.

I love doing the slideshow each year of the kids with a picture from every month between birthdays. It reminds me of how much they've grown and changed over the last year. Lydia is definitely our Miss Personality and more recently our Miss Independent. You can see in all the pics that she likes to be a ham and is constantly cracking us up. She talks a ton and is sometimes too smart for her own good. Even though she's the second girl, she is most definitely our little momma. Lydia will kindly assist (push) the other kids when I am telling them to come here. She is quick to anyone's side when they seem sad or hurt and kind of tilts her head and says "ut happened?" She loves singing and for months now has been able to recognizably sing Jesus Loves Me, ABC's and Itsy Bitsy Spider. Now she has taken to repeating choruses to songs on the radio (sometimes I stil have to have Harbin interpret these for me). When I ask or tell her to do something and she doesn't want to, she just politely says no and goes on her way- she's the first of our kids to consistently count back to me when in trouble and not care about the consequences. She is a junk food nut and especially loves "My Mellows" (aka marshmallows). In fact at the doctor back in January, she insisted on getting her hands on the "my mellows" and wasn't happy when she finally realized it was a jar of cotton balls! Her recent loves are SLIDES- she will scream and point them out even when we are driving down the road and even if they are inside a fast food restaurant. Everything can be a slide as long as it's sloped and she's even tried to slide down our concrete oil changing ramp in the yard- not such a good slide. Her daredevillish side has definitely caused her to have the most bumps and bruises of all our kids, but fortunately no ER visits yet. She is fearless in the swimming pool and without swimmies, still refuses to let you help her even though she just sinks! Lydia has definitely not let being a 3rd child impede her place in the family. She is a unique personality and has kept us on our toes! We love that she is so smart, independent and nurturing. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

Happy Birthday Lydia!

The mom.