Josie's Birthday BASH

Maybe it's taken so long for me to post about Josie's birthday because I haven't been ready to admit yet that it's over. It was really so much fun! And there were these "standout" moments throughout the day that just made me feel so grateful, loved, blessed, honored, etc. Here are some photos from Josie's party at the Winton Place Community Pool. We had it at 10am - which ended up being the perfect time for toddlers to 'throw-down'! :)
Here's Josie in her birthday best:
And here's the outfit she spent the rest of the party wearing:
And here is Josie's cake. On the way home from Florida, we started talking to Josie about her birthday and asked her what she wanted on her cake. She said "Two Yellow Bunnies" - so matter-of-factly. We kind of laughed it off, but for the next two weeks, she kept telling us and everyone else that she was going to have a birthday cake with two yellow bunnies. She was amazed that her wish actually came true!
Here she is marveling at her cake:
Standing on the cooler...best seat in the house:
This photo marks one of those "standout" moments I mentioned above. There's Josie standing on the cooler, leaning over her birthday cake, and about 50 of her favorite people all singing "Happy Birthday" to her and here's the look on her face:
I just remember standing behind her looking at the whole scene and thinking, "Wow, what a lucky little girl Josie is to have so many people who love her." Really, it was such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and I want to thank all of you who made it happen! Clearly, Josie enjoyed the moment, too. Here she is blowing out her birthday candles:


And almost immediately diving into one of those yellow bunnies:
Time for cake:
Yum!
Actually, the little dear spit most of it out (what can I say, she doesn't eat a lot of sweets):
All told, her birthday was really incredible. I'll post the link to the full photo album as soon as I get it uploaded. There are lots of great photos there of all her little friends and all the families who came to help us celebrate (but I didn't want to post them on the blog without your permission considering everyone's in their swimsuits). Thanks again everyone!!!

"The After Party"

Thanks to Carissa, Josie had her regular nap post-party and the whole family returned after naptime for the "after party" to open presents. She had a HEAP of gifts (thank you everyone) and we had about as much fun watching her open them as she had ripping off the paper and playing with each new gift. Here are some photos from the afternoon.

Josie modeling her new charm bracelet from Carissa (SOOO sweet of her "sis-sis"):
Her new workbench to balance out all that 'girly' stuff:
Her latest obsession - SHOES:

Enjoying some delicious tea:
Reading a new book with her Granddaddy:
Feeding her new "Baby Stella" doll in the great antique highchair that Grandma found:
Trying out the new "doll" bathtub:
Special guests Lyla & Makayla get a ride in the red wagon:
"Who Dey" Josie playing with her new musical puzzle:
YAY - Josie *finally* plants one on Lyla:
And off to bed that night in her new jammies, with both new dolls, and look closely - her cinderella shoes.
The next morning modeling one of her new outfits, back in the dolltub. ;)
Thank you to everyone for your generosity! We've all had so much fun playing with the new toys, books, games, etc!