Dress Up

She got this from a friend for her birthday,

it's so cute!!!

Stop, Thief!

Pear thief in the produce department!

Um, I'm not supposed to eat before we pay for it?

Haha Mommy, you're so funny!

At least it's fruit she craves ;)

Big Birthday Present

The swing set didn't arrive until after her birthday but who cares because she totally loves it, and I know she will get many years of enjoyment out of it! She was so funny, she kept saying how big it is!

#2 Birthday Party

Since we were in Alaska on her actual birthday, I threw a party for her when we got home. It did not turn out as I had hoped. I kept the invitee list short, just close friends and family. I asked for folks to RSVP and heard nothing so I assumed that all were coming. Then two days before the party I started to get texts and emails letting me know that they were not coming. Two had legit reasons, but the rest were lame excuses. A total of 8 people invited showed up. I know that summer time is busy for everybody, so that is why I sent out invites a month in advance.  It's the lame excuses at the last minute that pisses me off.  Next year I'm probably just going to skip it. Birthdays and holidays are hard as it is for me so when so many people bailed at the last minute I was really hurt.

Serena thank goodness knew no better so I put on a happy face for her and tried my best to enjoy it. When we went to the party store I let her pick out the theme and when she saw the farm decorations and yelled 'Old MacDonald' she was so excited.

Note to self: do not buy cupcakes with red dye

frosting. The red stains e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.

The cupcakes were really good.

I thought it would be interesting to see just how much she has changed. Wow! I can hardly believe the difference one year makes.  Looking at photos of her from a year ago I realize how much we've been through, how much she has changed, how much she's grown. 

She's growing up so fast and sometimes the days pass in a blur. I'm glad I have this blog to help me keep track of the memories. The fact that she is now 2 years old is still sinking in for me…as the days & weeks pass, it doesn’t feel like they are going by too fast, but when I think about the fact that she’s been in my life for 2 years (plus 34 weeks)…it’s unfathomable! A part of me feels that Serena's always been a part of my life, then again, it feels like just yesterday I was pregnant! I am just so very grateful for every single moment. My life changed forever when my daughter came into the world. My life started over and grew so much better. And even through the stress of doing this on my own, I know how unbelievably lucky I am.

To my sweet Nina, I love you so much. 

I can't believe that you're already 2! 

I'm so proud that you're my daughter. 

Happy 2nd Birthday! 

Love always, Mommy
xoxo

Two Year Photos

While we were in Alaska I arranged to have her photo taken by the same photographer who did her newborn photos. It was very buggy, we all sprayed ourselves continuously with bug spray but we still got bitten pretty bad. But as you can see, Serena had so much fun and we got some awesome photos so it was all worth it!

 

 

Alaska 2013

We flew to Alaska this past week to visit family and friends. 

On our first day we took a road trip on the uber-scenic Highway 1. It is arguably the most beautiful drive you can take in the USA – the waterfalls, snow covered peaks, and sunny skies.

Taking a nap on the way

Along the way to the town of Girdwood we stopped several times to enjoy the scenery – including a stop at Portage Glacier.  It's a small glacier but the boat ride is only one hour, so it's perfect for a two year old's attention span.

The water is really cold

Ooooh, ahhhhhh

Pretty

It was in the 50's but the sun was very strong

Our next day trip was the Alyeska Resort. Alyeska is a ski resort, but even in July it was beautiful. We took a tram to the top of a mountain.

View at the top

 
Thankfully we did not come across any unexploded shells

 

We had such amazing weather on our trip. Summer in Alaska is unpredictable, so we were incredibly fortunate, we had sunny weather every day and temperatures in the 70's! Once back in Anchorage we did our best to enjoy the great outdoors.

There is tons more to do here than we could have ever done in just a week...but the focus was to see friends & family.

 Another day we hiked to Exit Glacier

Love this

We hiked to the glacier...because it is mostly uphill 

and had multiple drop offs my brother

did the entire hike holding Serena on his shoulders.

Exit Glacier so close you can touch it

More importantly, Serena turned two years old on our last day there!!!
I made this huge card in the hopes that it would get
shown on TV, but it didn't.

I was bummed.

But it was so cute!

On her birthday we invited a few friends over to celebrate.
The adults were playing games and she wanted to be

right in the middle of the action.

Everyone was so generous that
we had to borrow a duffle bag to bring all the gifts home!

 Ice cream birthday cake (my brother's idea)