The first time we looked at this house, I envisioned having Madeline's birthday parties here. Well, thats not entirely true. The first time we looked at this house was after a long day of attending about 7 open houses, and I thought" cute house', but really, they all blended into one another at that point. So the second time we looked at this house, I envisoned her birthday parties, Christmases, Easter egg hunts in the backyard... making memories in this house. We've already hosted the holidays here, but yesterday was Madeline's 2nd birthday party, and I woke up feeling like it was Christmas morning. I put an almost embarassing amount of effort into this party. You know how some effortlessly throw together a meal , or a party, whip up some cute crafty-type stuff, and everyone walks away and says " Oh sure, typical Christina (for example :) )". Yeah, thats not me. So this party was a Big Deal. I doubt Madeline will remember it, but I will.
Madeline likes monkeys so I decided to do a monkey theme way back in the summer- I called it a Monkey Brunch. (I just edited that previous line b/c it originally read " we decided" . Greg is a great father, but he's hardly thinking of birthday themes, you know? It just read kind of funny to me. ) I made an incredibly easy French Toast Casserole that I thought came out pretty good. The cake was a trip to make. Martha Stewart gave a recipe for a homemade banana cake; I just bought a Dunkin Hines cake mix. I did make the icing from scratch, though. To get the ears on this monkey took a lot of patience. The icing was thick and the cake kept falling apart as I iced it. And then to keep the yellow and brown frosting from blending together . The ears wouldn't stay on, so I tried using toothpicks to anchor them- but the cake was so moist the toothpicks kept getting lost ( sorry if anyone ate a toothpick yesterday). In the end though, it came out great and so delicious. Madeline loved it, and keeps asking for monkey cake this morning. 
The Birthday girl, she kept hiding under the table and shouting" Cousins!!"
Some of the cousins waiting patiently for Monkey cake. Ok, maybe not so much Emma :)
Going in for a taste of frosting...
"Happy Birthday to ME?? Thanks, you guys!"
"Back up, Emma"
Opening presents. She got great stuff, not the toy overload I was expecting. Cute clothes from Aunt Debbie and Uncle Steve , Dora Playdough from Uncle Eric and Aunt Christina, a bathing suit from Mimi and Papa D, and a tricycle from Aunt Kim and Aunt Donna. It was a great party, I hope everyone had fun !
1 comment:
I wish we could have been there. She looks so cute and so grown up! Now you have to be sure she wears polka dots at each birthday party! Didn't she wear a gorgeous one last year as well? And you are a 'Martha Stewart' at heart...who are you kidding?! The cake and decorations alone and don't forget the Kitty Cat birthday party last year where you also outdid yourself! Don't sell yourself short!!! Everything looked fabulous and the Cousins had a ton of fun. They can't wait to go back. Happy 2nd Birthday Madeline! We love you!!!!
Post a Comment