And now I have a 2 year old

It didn't seem so worth it when Nic and I were blowing them up at 10 p.m., but filling Norah's room with balloons to wake up to on her birthday was a huge success.

After getting her dressed for our Build-A-Bear adventure, I was able to get one picture of her behaving.

And then she remembered that she just turned 2, so she doesn't have time for things like picture taking or obedience.

Have you ever been to Build-A-Bear? It's a magical money pit where one Hello Kitty will cost you $50. Norah loved it.

We let her have her pick and we ended up with what she calls Purple Kitty, complete with a tutu and sparkly sneakers.

She proudly paraded around Fashion Place mall, where we ended with her favorite: Ice Cream! Actually, frozen yogurt with strawberries, but I also call carrot muffins "cake" to get her to eat them. Don't tell her that I'm a liar sometimes.

Her birthday celebration actually lasted a week. We celebrated at Dennis and Debbie's, where some of the most adorable present opening I've ever seen happened.

And we celebrated on the boat when the Wilcoxes were home from Virginia. Which really was fun, although you wouldn't know it from our faces right here. Norah got pulled on the tube for the first time!

Thanks again for all the love. The last two years have been full of more help and support than I could have ever hoped for. We're a lucky bunch!

Being fancy

Between being evacuated because of the Dump Fire and my spending most the next week at the Salt Palace for work, we squeezed in some time with the little Stewart ladies. And I'd say Norah's first Fancy Nancy party was a success. Not because of me, of course, but because Grandma Debbie is willing to make an extra crown and basically put ribbons and a glue gun in my hands to make a tutu.

And then I nearly died from the adorableness.

And then we flew to Virginia to throw up on Josh's white carpet

Having Norah on a set schedule is awesome when we're home. We all know exactly what to expect. Take her out of her routine though and you will pay dearly--which makes her a horrible traveler. Add that to a stomach virus and I give you our week in Reston at Josh and Jess's house.

Norah started puking the night we got there and didn't stop until the day before we left. Luckily, my mom was prepared to drive Jess to the hospital in case she went into labor, so she knew her way around to take Norah and I to the emergency room at 4 a.m.

The idea was that Norah and Ellie would play and that me, my mom, Alexi, and Jessica would have a girls' week before little Piper was born. Awesome, right?

Here's what most of the week really looked like:

And did I mention that Josh and Jess have white carpet? Norah threw up all over their white carpet.

So we were the opposite of helpful and fun. But for me, it was nice to not have to be home by myself with a sick kid. I got breaks from the puke monster to go shopping and see an actual movie in an actual theater. Plus, I never get to see Josh and Jess, so it was great just to be able to chat it up and watch some reality TV.

My mom managed to get a picture of Norah looking happy and not ill on one of the walks she went on with the girls.

Norah was well enough for one outing. We all went to the Taste of Reston for food and a little carnival. So adorable to have cousins together!

Norah was not convinced that the carnival games were fun.

But she did enjoy the prizes.

A BIG thanks to Josh and Jess for being amazing hosts and to my mom for being so darn helpful as always. I really am so glad we got to go. Sure, I wish that Norah wasn't such a baby--but kids ruin everything, right?

About the month of June...

Any time Norah sees something out of the ordinary--something that is particularly large, strange, unexpected, or awesome--she says, "It's a big one!" But she kind of slurs the sentence together so it comes to life sort of like "is-a-big-whon." It's our favorite thing that she does right now. Nic comes home with a different truck: It's a big one. I give her a piece of pizza: It's a big one. Moxie and Sup run by really fast: It's a big one.

So about June: It was a big one.

Our trip to California for Russell's birthday started it off. Because what better excuse to take one last trip where Norah flies for free? Although she could have left the attitude at home, as I captured so perfectly here:

And here:

It's as if she has no idea how few kids get to go to California, like, four or five times before their second birthday.

We celebrated Ham Lincoln style, complete with a life-sized Lincoln log house.

And a group of adorable kindergarteners.

This birthday boy is extremely lucky to have the best party-throwing mom pretty much in the universe. You can check out a full slideshow of the event on Alissa's blog. I was behind the camera, but I swear I was there and it was extremely awesome and I'm pretty sure I'll have to do it again next year.

I'm lucky I got to be a part of this guy's special day. Thanks King family!