a lovely living

Well friends, my baby is officially 2 years old! Two years ago she flew into the world the day before Mother’s Day and I took home the best present I could have received :) My husband and I refer to sweet Audrey Grace as the cherry on top of our family. She is loving with a most tender heart and adores her big brother and sister who have instilled in her an eagerness not to miss out on anything! She is thrilled to twirl around in tutu’s with her older sister but will jump into a wrestling match with her big brother without hesitation! A third child was certainly something my husband and I discussed and prayed hard about, but we had no idea just how big of a blessing she’d be to our family, and everyone she encounters!

My inspiration for this party came from a clearance box of cupcake toppers that I snagged at HomeGoods. I love when inspiration happens that way. Completely unexpected but perfect nonetheless. We celebrated with our family and a few close friends at our house and I can’t speak for Audrey, but I’m pretty sure she loved every minute ;)

I was talked out of making a cake this time (which I really enjoy doing!), but I have to admit that party prepping without the added time consumption of baking went a whole lot smoother….my husband will vouch for that ;) My cake baking days are certainly not over, but I’ve learned that I don’t have to do it all…all the time. And with that extra time, I was able to make a few things, such as the tulle tutu I used under the cake. I quite simply tied a piece of string in a circle and then tied pieces of tulle all around it and placed it under the cake. I did something similar for the topper which I tied to two grilling skewers I had on hand. Very cost effective!

I mentioned this on my Insta-stories, but a fun little tip to fancy up your cupcakes is to pipe on store bought icing. I saved time by using a boxed mix and store bought icing, but took a few extra minutes to fill a bag and make them look like they could have come from a bakery…maybe.

This little doll was the most patient thing waiting for us to sing to her. And just as a side note, every time we now sing to her (which we continue to do because it’s so darn cute) she blows out a pretend candle at the end! Cute overload.

Audrey loves her food, but she’s not a fan of getting messy. I can certainly appreciate that!!

I had made these tissue paper flowers from a pack a while ago for my little sister’s wedding shower and they have come in handy a number of times since then. The sign was another HomeGoods find and it came with a number of letters to be used to interchange greetings.

This letter board is one of my most favorite recent purchases for sure. I’ve used it for events as well as displaying quotes and bible verses around our home.

I found this cute hooray banner at Target and figured it could be used for any number of upcoming events/parties.

Audrey officially turned two yesterday, May 9th, and I fear it’s all going by too quickly. I just plan on taking advantage of the fact that she still loves to snuggle and rock with me (or her dad) for as long as possible before bed every night. Procrastination I’m sure, but as the baby she’s going to get whatever she wants ;)

Sources:

Cupcake toppers: HomeGoods (similar)
Tissue Flowers: JoAnn Fabric (similar)
Letter Board: BurxCo
HOORAY banner: Target
Happy Birthday banner: HomeGoods (similar)