Birthday Weekend!!!!

Ryanna turned 2 last Friday and it seems like we celebrated all weekend long! Friday through Sunday morning we stayed in Provo/Orem because Brian did radio stuff at the high school state wrestling tournament at UVU. Wrestling is a big deal in Vernal. So anyway we started celebrating Ryanna's big day on Thursday. First of all she got to pick what to wear and of course she wanted her "sleeping beauty dress". That morning Kenna came over for "preschool" - we learned about the letter B. They had fun with the balloons even if they didn't pay much attention to anything else! Then we went to Brian's office for lunch and Ryanna got to show off her princess dress up. After a much needed nap we got out the cake and presents. Mary came over just like last year and we sang and ate as Ryanna was spoiled with princess everything. We got her the Cinderella pillow and princess PJs on the right - clearance at the Disney store after Christmas - cha ching! Mary gave her the princess nightgown and dress up shoes which Ryanna squealed over. Grandma Scoffield sent the Sleeping Beauty outfit and princess notebook, stickers, and pencils. The stack of clothes are were also from Brian and I - her birthday lands at the perfect time of year to buy clearance items at Walmart. Last year the clothes she got this way lasted all year long so let's hope these do to. Not pictured are the Dr. Suess books, puzzles, and playdough purchased with money from Grandma Baldwin and Great Grandma Scoffield. Needless to say she made a haul!
Rather than spend $30 on a princess cake at Smith's I tried my hand at just making one. Throw a $2 figurine of Cinderella on it and your little girl will think you are a professional cake decorator! Totally easy and totally worth it. 
The card from Grandma Baldwin had a black kitty on it that Ryanna carried around all week. Kitties are another of Ryanna's loves in life. She is all girl I tell you!
What 2 year old needs high heals???? Well this one apparently. She walks around all day in mine so I guess she might as well have her own. Thanks Mary - she seriously LOVES them. (Too bad I hide them and only get them out as a special treat.)
So on Friday while Brian was at the wrestling tourney we went with Scott and Steph to the zoo in SLC. It was flipping freezing outside but the kids had a BLAST! Not to mention there was basically no one else there. Ryanna enjoyed not only the animals but also the ride on the carousal. This is the first time she was willing to sit on one of the animals rather than ride on the bench with Mom. Way to be a big girl Ryanna! And thanks Scott, Steph, and boys for always including us in your fun. 
On Saturday morning we adventured around the University Mall in Orem. Ryanna loves the treehouse/play section in the mall and had a great time running around. 
We went to dinner at the Olive Garden and had Ryanna's favorite foods: breadsticks and noodles. She did great for the first 20 minutes and then had a major meltdown but hey she'd been up since 4:30am. Can't say I blame her and I won't complain because the food was even better reheated for lunch the next day. I'm not kidding - I love that place. 



Okay so this has nothing to do with the birthday weekend but these girls just crack me up! I watched Kenna and Kate today and Kenna brought her dress up to share with Ryanna. They were dancing and singing and in total princess mode. The best part though is when I asked where their prince's were. The rest of the time was spent looking for prince, talking about prince, explaining that prince was at work, or gazing out the window in search of a prince. I never thought 2 year old girls were this hard wired to be girly and princessy. HILARIOUS!

Watching these two play is very entertaining. They do well together as long as someone is there to referee ("okay now it's Kenna's turn. No hitting. Mommy is the boss, not you..." You get the idea.) The funniest thing about them is they both get excited to play together but can both be rather bossy. Ryanna is known for standing right in front of her friends and commanding "RUN NOW!" They are a crackup to watch together and Kenna is a common household name at the Baldwin residence.

Almost 2

*Warning* These videos are all pretty long. This blog is like our family scrapbook so I had to document Ryanna's latest interests.

Ryanna pretty much recognizes all the ABCs and has several puzzles and books that she like to play with that are all about the alphabet. Of course she doesn't have a very long attention span so we didn't make it all the way to Z but you get the idea that she knows most her letters.

Okay this one is a bit embarrasing for me but very cute of Ryanna. She loves princess anything and asks for us to sing her the "Cinderella Song" and "Sleeping Beauty Song" to go to sleep. The other day I got distracted and paused and she picked up where I left off with the words. So now she likes to say the words and have me sing them back to her. Please excuse my painful singing but enjoy the little princess coaching me.

Nothing like playing pretend with your stuffed animals. These baskets are now officially the boats.

For a long time now Ryanna will spend time in her room reading books to herself. She traces her finger along the words and then jabbers like she is reading the story. The older she gets the more real words are involved in the story. In fact you'll hear her talk about Poppy going to bed and she says Goodnight.