Ally is TWO!

Today Ally is officially two years old! Because of travel schedules and such, we celebrated with a big party yesterday. Mama and Mommy were very busy getting ready for our party with Grandma Barbie, Grandma Debbie and Aunt Beth all helping us prepare. (The Grandpas helped out too - they read many, many stories to Ally to keep her occupied and out of the kitchen Friday night.)
We had a lot to prepare, as there were (I can't believe it) 41 guests in our house for Ally's party! Yes, that's right, forty-one guests. We were really touched by how many of our friends and family came to wish Ally a happy birthday. It's such a blessing to have such a great community of mom-group friends here in our neighborhood.

Ally's party was, of course, a ZOO THEME! Mama and Mommy had a lot of fun being creative in the decorations and food. And yes, of course, we served animal crackers. We made the animal cupcakes (yes, Mommy did the baking and Mama lead the decorating.)

It was really fun to have so many people sing happy birthday to Ally. She did really well for the first 15 seconds or so, when this shot was taken, but I think between the candles on the high chair and 40+ people in the room staring at her, she was also happy when the song was finished! She was a very good host, however, and we were both proud of how well she did with all the commotion.

After a lot of her neighborhood friends were on their way off to nap time, Ally and Alice got a little bit of time to play together, and completely on their own chose to sit together to color. It was so very sweet!