Tatum's 2nd Birthday

I'm still in denial that my baby girl is TWO. Time is just flying by and I can't seem to catch up. I am so proud of her! Just who she is and how kind and empathetic she is. She's so smart and loving and every night I just look at her in amazement. Every day I thank God that she is ours and for this sweet little person in our family. 

Some of her favorite things are mac n' cheese, Minnie Mouse, and playing in water, so naturally her party had to include all these things. We had an "Oh Two-dles" themed Minnie birthday party with Hot Diggity Dogs, Mickey's Mac & Cheese, Pluto's PB&J's, Donald's Cheese & Quackers, Chips & Dale's Dip, Goofy's Grapes, and Toodle's Noodle Pasta Salad. And obviously, a Minnie cake. 

We set up her pool in our backyard and put her sprinkler pad on for most of the time, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for the adults, and enjoyed the beautiful day! Luckily our backyard is mostly shaded because it wound up being 85 degrees on her big day which was perfect pool weather but not so enjoyable for the adults supervising had it not be in the cool shade! We got a cupcake pinata which the kids loved, but ultimately Brian had to break open haha.

We tried to keep it more low-key and two year old themed (no cotton candy machine or bounce house this year LOL) so we did it during the day on her actual birthday, which was a Friday, and had all her little friends from church and close-in-age cousins to come celebrate. Brian took a half day off to be there and my dad and stepmom flew in the night before and spent all day on her birthday with us, and all day Saturday at the beach. Overall, it was the perfect two year old's birthday!

I read online about these people who were having "Fiver Parties" for their children and decided to do the same with Tatum's party (shoutout to all our friends for understanding and contributing!). Basically, instead of all the little presents, people are encouraged to gift the birthday child with $5 if they feel the generosity to bring a gift at all. I slipped a note in all the invitations explaining that Tatum wanted a ride-on fourwheeler and any gifted money would be going towards that. Personally, I love the idea. I always wind up spending way more than $5 for a child's present. The bag and card and wrapping can cost over $5 by itself! We have a small home right now, we're about to have another baby, and Tatum is TWO. She doesn't need a bunch more toys and I don't want to fill my house up even more LOL.

Brian and I purchased her Minnie Four-wheeler the week before and had it all charged up so she could ride it on her birthday after her party and she LOVES IT. I put half her birthday money in her piggy bank and the other half went towards gymnastics lessons! Brian and I have really been focusing on experiences over things this year, so when all her grandparents asked what Tatum would like for her birthday, we asked for cash to help pay for gymnastics. My friend, Whitney, has invited us to open gym at a gymnastics place by our house a few times and Tatum loved it so much, I checked into lessons there. Turns out she could start at 2! So we started her a few days after her birthday and she has been loving it! 

We are so grateful for our friends and family for celebrating our sweet girl with us. We love you, baby girl!

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Catch Up & Tatum’s First Birthday!

I should stop saying I’m going to try to be better about posting on here because I’m the worst at it. To be honest my next series of posts will probably months down the road, despite my best intentions.

January wasn’t that exciting but February was jam packed full of fun! In January, we took advantage of a discount Walt Disney World was having for Florida residents and bought 4 day passes that can be spread out through mid-June. I am LOVING that Tatum is still free for so many fun things! Brian and I laugh that she's been to Disneyland and Disney World before she turned one. We used our first day at Magic Kingdom in January, and hit Animal Kingdom on February 19 to kick off Tatum’s birthday week!

There are a few travel tips I learned as a travel agent that I didn’t take advantage of the first time we went to Magic Kingdom... at WDW, you can book your fast passes months in advance online. Although we rode everything we wanted to except Space Mountain our first trip, we swore we would be better prepared next time.. When we went to Animal Kingdom, we booked our fast passes two weeks in advance and ALL OF THE PANDORA ONES WERE GONE FOR THE WHOLE DAY. We should have known to decide on a date and book at least a month before but we didn’t and we weren’t waiting 3 hours each so we missed out on those. We did however hit everything else. We got fast passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari which we all enjoyed (and enjoyed not waiting even more), hit the single rider line for Expedition Everest and each only waited 5 minutes, and Tatum loved the Triceratop Spin and Finding Nemo live show! She wasn’t sure what to think of the Wildlife Express Train but when we got to the Affection Section (petting zoo) she was obsessed with brushing the goats haha.

My mom and stepdad were able to come down starting the day after we got back from Disney, Brian’s parents came into town on Tatum’s actual birthday Thursday, and my dad and stepmom made it in town for the weekend. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all spent at the beach. My mom and stepdad and Brian’s parents both stayed in hotels or condos right on Clearwater Beach so we had free parking and a short walk to the beach all week. On Tatum’s birthday we had our parents over for a spaghetti dinner (Tatums favorite) and her first smash cake. Friday, Brian and his dad and my stepdad went parasailing while my mom and I and Brian’s mom prepped for Tatum’s party the next day which we held at my grandma’s house! It was an Under the Sea theme for my little mermaid and we had a piñata, cotton candy maker, bounce house, and pin the tail on the mermaid! We’re so grateful for all our friends and family for making her first birthday so special and showering her with love and sooo many presents! She is definitely a lucky little girl and we loved having all her grandparents fly in from different corners of the country to be there for it! My mom also made Brian and I the cutest "Mer-Mama" and "Mer Daddy" shirts for the party so we could correspond with the birthday girl in her shell onesie and tutu.

The next few days after that we’re filled with more family time and beach time, with yummy Clearwater Beach restaurants thrown in! I’m happy we live in such a beautiful place, it makes more people want to come visit us! :) I can’t believe my baby girl is ONE. Time has flown by and I’m trying so hard to document as much as I can!

*images below are scrambled between birthday party, Animal Kingdom, and family time with grandparents here!*

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