Nate's 2nd Birthday

For Nathan's second birthday, we decided to keep the guest list to just family. While there was still ideas to organize and prepare, it was certainly a lot less stressful than having a large crowd over. It was also nice to visit with our dear families who arrived over the course of his celebration day, all of whom had driven from distant places. We truly appreciate and feel blessed that the Murray and Davolt families  came to celebrate Nathan and support us. The weather turned out beautiful and even a little warm at times.

Anytime we have company over, I like to use it as an opportunity to try new recipes. I suppose that's always a risky venture, but oh well. For Nathan's birthday, I decided to make a cake from scratch. Two days before his party, I tried one recipe to make cupcakes for Nathan to share with his classmates. On the eve of his party, I tried a variation of that first recipe but got a little impatient while trying to whip the egg whites. As a result, I made a two layer cake that was a little dense. I did make a raspberry filling from scratch, but opted for a good old can of chocolate frosting. Given that I'm no cake decorator, I put some of Nathan's favorite animals on top.

 Just because all the guests were over the age of 32 doesn't mean you can't have goody bags! I made Grown-Up goody bags that each held a recent photo of Nathan and a thank you note colored by Nathan.

 Prior to opening gifts, we all anticipated how Nathan might respond. Last year, you might recall, Nathan screamed and cried each time we tried to open a gift. It was a little amusing that this year, many of our guests brought gift bags. Whether a bag or a package, there were no tears this year. I sat across the circle from Nathan and Jeff and each time a piece of paper was torn or pulled from a bag, Nathan kindly included me by bringing the piece to me.

 Out of the bag from Great A. Sherry came a soft and cuddly tiger. Nathan instantly declared them to be best friends. He calls all tigers and lions "Rawr" so that is this little guy's name. As mentioned in the previous post, they cuddle every night.

Grandma and Grandpa Davolt

Great Aunts Sherry and Sheila

Great Uncle Dennis

Great Grandma Davolt (who was escorted by Great Aunt Debbie and she somehow escaped being photographed). 

Aunt Jennifer

Grandpa

Birthday Boy! The crown was a gift from school. 

 Although Nathan has mastered the art of blowing on hot food and blowing bubbles, he didn't quite understand the goal of blowing out the candles. Good thing Dad was there to help!

 Nathan has become such a picky eater, we cannot convince him to try most foods, even sweets. While we cut and shared his cake, he was content to enjoy another roll of bread.

Before the entire day slipped away from us, Aunt Jennifer tried taking a family picture for us. 

The first one didn't quite work, so we tried again.  And, well, oh well. 

Of course there was a few family members missing, but we couldn't ask for a better day all around. 

Love this Little Man! Happy 2nd Birthday!