Erika's "Buh-Day"

Here's the Birthday Girl!

Erika's day started out marvelling over the streamers and her "sign!", and most importantly (to her) the "tinko!" (meaning: her present.  The only one I had wrapped.  It was in Tinkerbell wrapping paper.)  She was SO excited to open her present!  I've never seen a 2 year old so excited to open presents!  And not just when present opening started, but ALL DAY!  It was really cute actually.  I explained to her that she would not be opening her presents until her party.  We talked about what her party was and who would be here so then all day, whenever she would think about her present, her thoughts were then lead to the party, and then to everyone who would be here.  It was adorable.  "Puhnuh (present).  Pawdee (Party).  Sewah (Sarah) and Awnee (Alvin)." 

So she came with me and Nate to take him to work.  Nate was glad he got to spend a little time with her on her birthday morning.  I think it's actually a bummer for him that he doesn't get to be around on the kids' birthdays every year.  I would die personally, so I can't imagine that.  I love making their day all about them. 

When we got home it was rush rush rush to get the big kids to school, but this did not stop Erika from needing to sit by her "Kitty cake" all morning.  She talked about it and pointed to her "favwit" kitties over and over.  Did I love it?  ABSOLUTELY! :)  I'll give my whole cake shpeal in a minute.  After we got the kids to school it was time to take a birthday bath :).  Erika and Noah played in the tub forever!  Gave me some time to work on the cupcakes and pumpkin bars. After her  bath we stared at her sign and cake some more :)... and then slowly Erika talked me into opening one of her presents (another thing I did during the bath... wrap presents).  I couldn't help it, I had to let her!  So she and Noah (she kept reminding me that "Noah hep me!" all day too) opened one of her presents. 

this is her "I'm still not going to smile, no matter what crazy stuff you do, Brad" face.

It was the Very Busy Spider book.  She LOVED that book about a year ago when we got it from the library (and had it for well over it's due date).  So I had to give her a giant version of it.  She had me read it about a million times and she laughed and said, "Funny mom" through all the same parts.  It was a lot of fun. I love the days when I can just sit and play.  The days when I would feel more guilty if I cleaned or did housework than I would sitting and playing with the kids.  It was fun.  So we made her a little "Birthday Girl" name tag, and gave her a princess crown.... which I never did get a picture of because she was not all that impressed with them once she had them on.  Then we all went downstairs and watched Tangled :)  Erika's choice.  It's been a while since I sat there and watched that with the kids.  It's so fun to watch with Erika and Noah.  They love it! 

After the movie we had lunch and finished the cupcakes which totally BOMBED in my opinion.  I made the ice cream cone kind, and totally over-filled them.  They overflowed.  It was probably a combination of the too low temperature and the overfilling, but they were ruined in my mind.  I'd already made the cute purple frosting though, and bought sprinkles for cupcakes, so I finished making them.  Even though I was completely disappointed.  If I'd had extra cones or more cake mix, I would have tried again, but I realized that was a little silly, so I didn't take it any further :).  Erika liked licking the spatula.  She LOOOOOOVES frosting.

So after that we had to pick up Lukey from Carter's house and then go check out Bradley from school.  This was the part of the day I regretted from the minute I agreed to this Doctor appointment for Bradley.  I had completely spaced my child's birthday (that's what happens when I don't look a t the calendar), "Thursday the 10th" didn't ring a bell.  And since I have been trying not to obsess TOO much for my kids' birthdays, I figured this would be a nice little break from the spoiling and give her an hour off.  Well, I never felt good about it and as the afternoon went on, sitting in the waiting room for WAY too long, then sitting in the dr. office WAY too long, I began to HATE the idea.  I felt really rushed during the appointment.  It was just a well-child visit (Brad's first in 2 years), and while I felt it was important, I wanted to get back to Erika's day, and making her feel special :).  Bradley made us all laugh with his comments about "tooting on him" when the Dr. would have to check his... uh.... privates.  So after the Doctor lectured me about a few things, it was time to offer the flu vaccine.  I have managed to put that out of sight out of mind this winter I guess because I had not htought about getting the kids at all until I was getting one in Heidi's kitchen.  So when they asked, I had to accept!  I had 4 of 6 kids there, that was perfect!  Course after I suggested that they do everyone, I remembered whose birthday it was and didn't want her to have to have a shot on her birthday.  But then they assured me that she would be able to do the nasal kind and all would be well.  Sure.  Sounds good.  Well, Bradley, Luke and Noah all did very well, with very little coaxing from the crazy nurse, but unfortunately Erika, who took a LOT of coaxing from the crazy nurse, coaxing that didn't really take, needed to be held down and screamed her way through the whole thing!  I was frustrated because I still had Noah on my lap too.  So after the awkwardness of the first one, I asked the nurse to wait just a minute to do the next one and either she didn't hear me or she thought she new better because she just went right on in.  Poor little Erika was not restrained enough and just thrashed her whole body around with the thing jammed up her nose.  I knew it was not going to be pretty, but I didn't realize it was going to bleed.  The nurse ran out of the room as soon as she could, didn't say sorry, didn't even hand me a tissue, which I think is just rude.  And I love nurses!  I want to BE a nurse.  So I have a lot of sympathy and gratitude for that position.  I just get frustrated when they don't know how to admit mistake or take responsibility for something they did!  We've had a lot of nurses who have made mistakes on us!  The one who was watching "Home Improvements" on the TV while she was screwing up on my IV when I was in labor with Charity.  Mary, who cut Kelly's pinky finger when she was putting her cast on, leaving her with a cut that needed antibiotics and a follow up visit!  Those are just a few (and this should probably be in a post of its own :) )  But I was bugged.  And that was even BEFORE I knew it was going to bleed ALL EVENING!  All through her birthday party!  It's going to drive me nuts that she has blood in all of her birthday pictures, I'll have to go through and edit some of them I think!  Anyway!  I'm never going to make that mistake again.  We will never have a dr. visit on ANYONE'S birthdays again!  (you'd think kid number 6 would be free from trial and error.... nope.... I'm still making tons of mistakes everyday!) 

So after the world's longest and most annoying Dr. visit, Nate took everyone (except me and Noah- It was so cute: I was totally joking and said, "Who wants to go to the store with Daddy to pick out presents and treats for Erika's party? (all excited sounding) And who wants to stay home with me to help me clean? (not as excited sounding)"  And cute, sweet, little Noah says, "I'll stay home with you, Mom!"  It was absolutely adorable :).  But the poor kid probably regretted it later on, I really did have a lot of cleaning to do!  Though I did play some Mario Cart with him, just to make up for him missing out on all the fun to be with me :)  I love that little guy!) shopping for last minute gifts.  (Our two hour trip to Toys R Us was unproductive, but I think we all just forgot that we hadn't gotten anything)  The kids were all excited to spend their hard earned money on gifts for her, so they went to All A Dollar :).  It's surprisingly very easy to please a 2 year old with dollar store gifts. 

Chris and Stephanie and Sophie were the first party guests to arrive and before the guest of honor.  As soon as Erika got home and realized that her party had started, she was totally on the presents!  And I really couldn't stop her... she had waited so long and been so excited about them all day!  She was so fun to watch open her presents too.  Her first one, Stephanie laid out Sophie's blanket for her to sit on and she sat just outside of the blanket area (haha) and knew just what to do with the wrapping paper :)  Her first one (well, second I guess :) ), "Tinko", was some blocks from Mom and Dad (or maybe they were from Noah... he seems to think they were from him :) ).

She picked up the huge back and lugged them around the room over to the other side of me and then dropped them in front of me with this look...

Probably cause I asked her what she got...

Then her begging got her another present... from Sophie.... They had wrapped it in a cute orange pumpkin garbage bag, so she wasn't as sure what to do with it....  Everyone took care of that....

It was a big stuffed Dinosaur with a cute soft sleeping bag inside!  SO CUTE!!!

She loved it and climbed right in!!  It was so cute!

Kelly gave her a kitty a purse and a monkey, plus some M&Ms.  This is one spoiled little sis.

I love that my boys are manly enough they don't mind playing with pink and purple girl blocks :)

Grandpa Hatch and Pam came next, they gave Erika an outfit and a super soft jacket... way cute, and some lollipop dolls.  Erika LOOOOOOVES dolls!!  Especially babies!  Which is where Steve comes in :).  Steve gave her this baby.... she loves it and keeps telling me that "Dee gae me."

I know I shouldn't love this, but this is the perfect, "No, I will not share with you!" face...

Grandma Hatch and Simon came and gave her this doll stroller, she watched everyone open it for her, her hands were full of M&Ms... then she watched me and Grandpa put it together.  She looked SO adorable pushing it around, it's a really cute one.  She keeps telling me that "Gwahma gih me swowa".  I know I keep saying this, but it's so amazing that my 2 year old can remember what everyone gave her for her birthday.... and she keeps talking about it over and over again.  Even to herself in bed at night.

She got lots of presents from her older brothers and sisters... I loved watching their faces as they helped her open and get excited about the thing that they got her.  She was very enthusiastic about everything too, so that made it even more fun for me ;)

After all the presents were opened it was time to blow out the candles!  I can't believe I even did this part, she HATES fire!!  It was a horrible trick to play on a sweet little girl.  You can tell she was disgusted with this act of putting to flames on either side of her kitty's head!  She didn't love it, Kelly and I blew out her candles, and then she turned around to Kelly and cried on her shoulder for a minute.  Traumatizing!!  I wish I could erase that from the day as well. 

But her cake was cute :).  Should I do my cake shpeel now?  Okay.  So!  I saw this cake last year when I was making her first Kitty Cake (we knew she was going to like kitties!).  I took one look at it and said, "no way!"  It looked too complicated and I wasn't too keen on fondant.  The taste and the work.  So anyway, as I went online to find a kitty cake for this year (as per request), I came upon this one AGAIN!  I LOVED it, and thought about doing it for a minute, but just knew there were too many factors that would make this one un-doable.  So I decided to pass.  But as I wanted to show it to Nate first.  He took one look at it and REALLY wanted me to do this one!  I showed him how much work it was and explained it all to him and all he could say was, "Let's do it!!  We can do it together!"  hmmmmmm.... well.... so I gave in.  An excuse to do something with Nate and I, and a cute cake, all in one! 

So we started planning it.  We shopped around for a play doh kit that had a thing to make the yarn.  Found one that we htought would work.  Then priced the spherical cake pans and had to pass on those.  I started getting really excited for it and planned to prepare the cake halves (in the kitchen aid bowl) and the fondant the night before, the day before (you read that right, two days before her day!).  Well.... that was the night that Steve and Grandpa came over!  So I totally spaced it and didn't get that part done.  So it was a total cram the day before her birthday to get it all done!  Unfortunately Nate had something come up and he was unable to help me with ANY of it!!!  I was bummed because I had looked forward to his company and artistic talent.  But as I got going, I realized I really could do it on my own!  And it started to get really fun!  Course there were so many flaws!!  When I was baking the cakes they would not bake!  So by the time they were done, they were WELL done and very overcooked.  I knew right then I was going to have to make something else for the guests to eat, I was not going to serve them dry, crappy cake.  So that was a bummer right from the start.  But then after I covered it with a thick layer of fondant, I realized it was virtually inedible anyway.... so no loss.  Fondant is so gross.  So anyway.  The play doh thing didn't really work either, thanks to the density of the fondant.  I'm still wondering if real fondant (not my homemade marshmallow one) would work better.  But I really did have such a good time!!  Making the kitties was my favorite!  I think they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!  The yarn was another story.  I had pre rolled them out as the cake was cooking, and they had dried out so much that I couldn't use them as they were.  I had to smash them all back up in a ball and remicrowave them and start over.  That was a bummer.  It was pretty hard to wrap the yarn and I didn't love the way it turned out.  It was good enough, but when I do this again, it will be more thought out and planned.  And I will have more fondant.  I actually ended up with EXACTLY enough of the pink fondant!  I give all the credit to Heavenly Father for that one.  Tender mercy!  I couldn't imagine how difficult it would be to match the pinkness again :).  Don't get me wrong, I knew this was just a cake.  And for a 2 year old at that.  But I do love being able to express myself through this art, and I like it when it can turn out good enough ;).  So anyway, that's that!  It took me 2 bags of powdered sugar, 2 bags of marshmallows, 2 cake mixes, and 2 stinkin' long!!  All day to be exact!  2 make it :)  (notice all the 2's!  It was perfect for Erika's 2nd birthday :) ).  And it was a lot of fun!

So we fed our guests a choice of pumpkin bars or ice cream cone cupcakes, and a bunch of different flavors of ice cream.  I thought it was all a lot yummier than overbaked cake covered in hard fondant ;)

I'm not sure which picture of the cake I like better :) so here are both :)

Right after we cut the cake, Sarah came with her boys.  That always happens when I finally stop waiting for someone :).  Charlie had picked out a dump truck and a pickup truck for Erika :)  How cute is that!  And she loved them!

She also go ta cute flower pen and....

Some silly glasses!  (I can't believe he let me take this picture!)

Kelly did some haggered old man moves with it :)

The kids all wanted to be part of the entertainment for the evening, so Bradley put on a magic show, the girls danced around and sang, it was pretty chaotic, but a lot of fun.  And Erika loves that :).

I think everyone had enough fun.  And Erika... well... she's already wondering if her "buh-day comin up?"  So I think she enjoyed it enough!  I can't get myself to take down all the streamers and sign, or throw out the cake, even 3 days later!!  She keeps thanking me for the cake as she pets her kitties and tells me which one is her favorite!  She really is an unusual little 2 year old as far as I can tell :)  I like her personality so much!  She really does show so much gratitude already and so much appreciation!  And she just LOVED all the attention and all the support from everyone.  I really think it meant a lot to her!  It was a fun night!  Here are some of the random pics I took because I didn't have anything else to do ;)

This picture is our birthdays in a nut shell :).  People on their phones, luke on SOMEONE's, Charity and Kelly dancing, toys and garbage everywhere... it's just funny.

She doesn't love to smile for the camera.  It's starting to bug me.

I wish I'd gotten a picture of Erika hugging my Dad.  She gives him THE biggest hugs!  And then tops it off with a cute little kiss!!  She doesn't do that for ANYONE else!!!  In fact, I'll offer a reward to anyone who can get her to do that for them!  It's so cute!