Countdown To The Big 2

It is just four weeks until Abbey turns two.

Firstly, I'd just like to ask when, exactly, my little girl grew from this...

... to this?

The last two years have flown by. It's all a blur, really.

But we must face facts and not look to the past too much. It's time to gear up towards the celebrations!

There are a couple of things that, as parents, you must do leading up to your child's birthday. The first thing is to buy presents.

My biggest issue here is my wish list for her. It's long. Seriously long - and expensive. Steve and I prefer not to buy her too many things; we're not really into kids having masses upon masses of stuff. Instead, we'd prefer Abbey to grow up appreciating - and playing with - a smaller amount of things. Toys that encourage her to use her imagination.

Unfortunately, this means my list will require some self control, and a lot of lines through items deemed the most unnecessary. Boo to our principles!

The second thing we must do is organise a birthday party. For her first birthday, we chose to have a small family lunch (although this is not so small when there are five cousins, grandparents and several aunties and uncles involved!). But I said I'd arrange a proper party for Abbey's second birthday.

It seemed a long way off when I said it.

A few weeks ago, I looked at the calendar and had a mini freak-out. I wanted to set a theme for the party and start organising it, but I had no ideas. None. I looked at dress-up costumes, but most of the costumes for little girls are fairies. Abbey doesn't even know what a fairy is, so that seemed a bit silly.

In the end, Steve suggested a theme-less party, and I reluctantly agreed. I knew that if I kept waiting until I'd thought up a theme, the party would never happen (exactly like my thirtieth). I went online to search for nice invitations.

And there it was! Right on a beautiful party invitation, staring me in the face, was the perfect theme! (No, I'm not telling you what it is. I'm going to be really mean and tell you when I post some photos of the party - in four weeks' time). (He he he).

So. The theme is set. The invitations are sent. The RSVPs have started coming in.

Now for the real fun: organising party games and food! But that's a whole other post... or two...


Megan