She's Two!

Okay, I am a little behind in posting this blog. Last Saturday, Aug 28, Betsy turned 2 years old! It's so cliche to say, "I can't believe it" and "time flies" but it's so very true. There are days it seems like I was JUST at the hospital, still pregnant with triplets, and then there are days where it seems an eternity ago. So Betsy's birthday is tricky for us. We want to go all out for her birthday because we want to celebrate this day with a bang. She is so lucky to have survived at all and the fact that she just continues to grow and thrive proves to us every day that she is a true miracle. We really like to do her birthday in a big way to celebrate this little life that we are so fortunate to have. The reason I say her birthday is tricky is because while we celebrate Betsy and her turning another year older, we don't know how to acknowledge that this is also Olivia's birthday, and even though Grace was born one day earlier, we would have celebrated all three girl's birthday on the same day, as one celebration. I often thought, what can I do to remember Grace and Olivia on "their" day? What can I do? The answer is just that. I spend the entire day thinking of them. We don't have to "do" anything. They are constantly in our thoughts and constantly on our minds and as long as I know in my heart that this is their special day as well then I feel okay in knowing I did them justice. We do have a balloon release at Betsy's party and that is our way of letting them know we will never forget them.

The day of Betsy's party was such a busy day. We were invited to go to another child's birthday party just hours before Betsy's party and although we were hesitant to do this and afraid we would run behind, we went anyway because we really don't want Betsy to miss out on things she has been invited to. We knew we would just have to leave the party a little early to come prepare for Betsy's. So that morning we went to my mom's house to inflate all our helium balloons. I researched just how long helium balloons lasted and the consensus was 18-24 hours so we felt comfortable airing them up early in the day and getting that chore out of the way. So we went about our day, had lunch with my grandma, aunt and cousins who came up and then went to our friend's little girl's party. We left a little later than intended and rushed to my mom's house to drop Betsy off and get the balloons and decorations. We were so disappointed to find that every single one of our pink balloons that we had aired up for the balloon release had lost all helium and were laying on the floor. So sad. I almost got sick to my stomach over it. All her other balloons were still up but not near as full as they were earlier.

We headed on to the park to start decorating and decided we would just release the different colored balloons for the girls since we didn't have any pink ones. Betsy loves the show "Yo Gabba Gabba" and that was her theme for the party. The balloons were the colors from the show so we felt comfortable sending those balloons up since we KNOW Betsy would have wanted them to have "Gabba" balloons! We frantically started decorating and was having the most difficult time with everything as the wind was blowing like crazy and nothing would stay put...not the tablecloths, not the centerpiece, not the balloons, nothing. We taped things down as best we could and started setting up everything. We had ordered Yo Gabba Gabba decorations and table settings for all the children at the party but had bought just generic colors for adults. Well, we forgot to grab those bags. I guess they got lost amongst all the other things we were trying not to forget along with Betsy's birthday presents. So now we were short 40 cups, plates, napkins, forks and two extra tablecloths. Just my luck. Thankfully my dad and step-mom were on their way with the drinks and were kind enough to stop and pick up those things for us. All the guests were arriving by the time we were so close to finishing decorating. I felt like I didn't really get to enjoy the party that much. I was busy trying to do so much and get everyone set up along with taking pictures that I couldn't even tell if my head was on straight. Not to mention the flys were horrible and there were even bees nearby. My cousin actually got stung. Lesson learned. Next year we are having a smaller party and we are having someone cater it for us or we are just having a play group in our backyard. Also I will be sure someone will take pictures for me because I felt as though I didn't get any good pictures or pictures that I really wanted to get. I was overall disappointed in the entire event and I didn't get to talk to any of my friends that came. I know Betsy had a good time so that is all that really matters. She had fun so I'm happy with that. I still stand by the fact that we really want to do big for Betsy's birthday. We still want to do that. Just a few changes that are duly noted.

Here are a few pictures of the party.

This is at lunch earlier in the day. This is my Ma with Betsy and Betsy's cousins Allie and River.


Betsy's Birthday cake.


Decorations at kid's table.


Presents.


Betsy shortly after arriving to her party!


Singing Happy Birthday.


Getting ready for balloon release.


We love and miss you Grace and Olivia. Happy 2nd Birthday.


Balloons for my girls.


Betsy opening her presents...with mommy's help of course.


So here is what's going on with Betsy at 2 years old.
She is a total mommy's girl. She knows approximately 31 signs. She is starting to talk alot although majority of the time it all comes out the same in the form of "ga-ga", "ba-ba" or "ma-ma". She says Gabba, more, yes, no, mama, dada, na-na, abi or allie, ball, jump, hop, book, thanks, bubble, June, wa-wa (Lovey), Dora, backpack. She loves to watch TV. she is obsessed with coloring. Her favorite food is hot dogs or chicken nuggets. She has a HUGE sweet tooth but won't eat ice cream. She loves giving hugs and passing out kisses. She is a sweetheart. She sleeps 12 hours at night and takes a 2-1/2 hour nap. She never cries. She is developmentally caught up to her age with the exception of her speech. She's amazing.

Here is what I know about Grace and Olivia.
Olivia would be the sweetest little girl. She would be very caring and loving and would never get in the way of her sisters. She would have dark blonde hair and blue eyes, same eyes as Betsy. She wouldn't be as tall as Betsy and she would be a little bit chunkier. I think she would love cuddling.

Grace would be the protector. She would not play rough like Betsy does sometimes but she would always make sure everyone was okay. She would have dark, dark hair and it would be long by now...probably long enough for pigtails. She would have green eyes because that is what I would have wanted her to look like. I think she would love her sisters like crazy and always make sure they did right.

Happy Birthday to my three beautiful daughters!