"I Two!"

Or so says our little lady, who celebrated two wonderful years last Friday, November 2.  Can you believe it?  I sure can't.  I'm pretty sure that it wasn't that long ago when we first met this sweet tiny girl:

And not much longer after that when she was smearing cake all over her face for the first time:

Anyways.  We kicked off this particular day, the day of TWO, with pancakes and balloons and a couple presents before Da-da-dee had to head off to school:

Note Ev marveling at her new pink Library Pete t-shirt in this one:)

Then it was time to load up the car and head to the zoo for a morning of animal-watching, snacking, bridge-bouncing, carousel-riding, playground-playing, and cupcake-devouring with a couple sweet friends, cousin Joseph and his parents, godmother Anna (and her precious 2-week-old baby Ellen), and Honey:

 Can you spy Anna and baby Ellen?  Ellen snoozed almost the whole time and let her mama have a nice stroll outside:)

All of that celebrating wore the birthday girl (and her mama) out, so it was back home for a short rest before four grandparents, one godfather, and a daddy invaded for supper:

 

Grammie and Grandaddy gave Ev a wonderful bag full of fun new art supplies, which we have already loved trying out!

 See all the reading going on in these pictures?  Little Miss was at the end of her birthday rope, so after opening a couple gifts and reading some books, she headed off to bed, leaving her candles unlit, her (second of the day) cupcake uneaten, and a pile of presents unopened.

I have to say, I am kind of with Ev on that one; her unopened presents and uneaten cupcake meant that we got to extend the birthday celebration all weekend, and open and enjoy a couple presents each day! Such a gift to have a little one who wants to take her time and savor the moments.  And speaking of gifts, our little bit was showered not only with all sorts of wonderful books and puzzles and art supplies and clothes, but more importantly with an abundance of love from family and friends near and far.  What a blessing!