Ian's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Ian's 2nd birthday with a party for his friends at MANE . . . Montgomery Area Non-Traditional Equestrian Horse Project. One of Ian's favorite toys is his stick horse. A cowboy and horse themed party seemed like just the ticket and MANE was the perfect location for such a fun event!

Since I am clearly VERY pregnant, I wanted this party to be as stress free as possible . . . a location other than my house so I wouldn't have to clean it for a group of 2 year olds, easy food that didn't take much preparation, and decor from around my house. We were on our way to the perfect, stress free party and it all changed for me at Publix when we were filling our balloons with helium. They lady was SUPER nice and gave us the balloons for free for the inconvenience, but it took FOREVER to get our balloons filled. And, then she lost a couple on the ceiling and it took FOREVER to get them down. We finally left Publix at 9:40 am. The party was at 10:00. We arrived at our party location about 5 minutes before the party was supposed to start and one of our sweet guests had just beat us there. For a lot of people, this would be a little stressful, but not devastating. For me in my NORMAL state, this would have been really stressful, but something I could overcome. For me in my CURRENT state, I had a hard time bouncing back to be honest. I felt so overwhelmed and out of control. However, the party came together; my amazing friends are priceless for helping things move along and not judging me; the kids had fun running around and looking at horses; my son thanked God for his birthday party in his prayers at the end of the day. I would call that a success.

Our food consisted of cupcakes (of course!), a Happy Trails Mix (goldfish, pretzels, cheerios, Craisins and M&M's), a Horse Delight Tray (carrots with ranch dressing and apples with caramel dip) and Lil' Doggies (sausage biscuits). It was all pretty yummy and seemed to be a hit with the kids and adults alike.

We had the sweetest friends at our party and they made the day perfect for my little boy who loves his friends.

It was cloudy and overcast, but we got to play outside and see the horses before the rain settled in.

We opened gifts from family after we got home. The pile had grown huge by his actual birthday and he was SO SWEET to wait to open them all! And, what is even sweeter is that he continued to be happy and patient as we spread the opening of gifts out over a few days so he could enjoy all of his new toys to the fullest. He truly loved everything he received and has played with all of it until it has been broken in completely! Don't you just love the look of delight on his face as he sees all of his new things??? Love that sweet boy!

Ian just had to call Mam and GranPappy to thank them for his present. He did it while being hauled around in his new wagon! Adorable!!!

Thank you to everyone who helped make Ian's 2nd birthday a huge hit! We are blessed immeasurably with wonderful family and friends!