Darcy is 2!

Darcy had her second birthday yesterday. Up until this point it hasn't really been sad for me to have her get older. I still mostly love to watch her grow up and change and progress, but this second birthday has given me a twinge of sadness that she isn't so much a baby anymore (even though I might call her that for a couple more years). I keep trying to think of a way to say how we feel about our sweet girl without sounding too cheesy or cliche, but I just can't come up with anything, so cheese it is. We love Darcy more than we knew it was possible to love someone. I read this quote today, "A baby fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty", and I totally relate to that. She has really changed our world and our way of thinking. She definitely challenges us now and then, but then we catch glimpses of how we have changed and grown from being her parents (especially in the patience department). She has lots of energy and a personality we can't get enough of, and she fills our days with JOY. We love her to pieces.

Some things we want to remember about Darcy at two:

- 35 inches tall! They used to say that if you measure your little girl on her second birthday (and your boy when he's 2 1/2) and double that you will get their adult height. That would mean Darcy will be 5'10"! That would be really shocking coming from a mom as short as me, and she would only be 1 1/2 inches shorted than Drew. :) HA. I heard that theory on my family website and it was proven wrong many times in my family, but it's fun to try. She really is tall though. She's one of the younger ones in nursery, but quite a bit taller than mostly everyone in there.

- 33.2 lbs. Still loves to eat!

- She loves to sing and have songs sung to her. She sings Twinkle Twinkle, and knows some of the words of the Eensy Weensy Spider and Popcorn Popping along with all the motions. She also can fill in some letters here and there in the ABC song. She loves Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam (Sun Beep according to her). She has her own version of the Wheels on the Bus with made up verses with actions about different family members. She sings her own made up songs off and on during the day too.

- She talks all the time! She is putting together sentences and saying new words every day. She loves animals and making all the animal sounds.

- She loves play-doh! She asks to play with it about 100 times a day. She loves books. She is willing to watch short videos of songs she knows on youtube, but really still no TV. She loves going on walks to the park. She loves playing in the water.

- She sleeps in a big girl bed.

- She loves to see and point out airplanes. She likes to point out motorcycles but she is still scared of them.

- She still hates nursery, much to our dismay.


We had a birthday party for her yesterday at her Grandma and Grandpa Christensen's house. It was so hard to know who to invite because we have so much family around. I think there were around 20 adults there to watch Darcy open presents, blow out candles, and play in the water. She had quite the audience! :) We're so happy she has so many people around her that love her and that were so generous on her birthday.

I have to apologize before I start the pictures because all three of her sets of Great-Grandparents that were there and Haley and Brian and Emily all got her great presents but I failed to get pictures somehow! I promise we love them!! :)

Haley called me one day and asked me if I had any crafts I wanted her to make for the party because she was bored. I hadn't really planned any crafts, but I said if she really wanted it would be fun to have a banner. Man she came up with a doozy! She made the most adorable banner!

Justin and Misty got her this cute cash register that she loves!

My mom got her the craziest pop-up book I've ever seen. I didn't really look through it until this morning when I read it to her and I was amazed. It's the story of The Old Woman that Swallowed the Fly.

Ashley got her this piggy bank with three dollars in pennies and she has spend a lot of time putting those pennies in the hole. It was a hit!

Neil and Becky got her this easel with a bunch of art supplies. She has also spent some time today writing on the dry erase board wearing her cute art smock. I think this will get lots of use! (This picture cracks me up because if you make it big you can see Drew and Ashley are making the same face as Darcy in the background.)

This was what Drew and I got her. I think it might take a while for her to really get the hang of pedaling. Right now she can do it if she's on a slight hill. Neil, Justin, and Darcy's "G.G." are the spectators in this picture.

I had this vision in my head of taking a picture of Darcy riding her trike down the big open road. This wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it was too hot outside to really work on getting it right.

Another attempt.

Darcy and Ashley playing in the water. Darcy could do this all day!

Some of the fan club. :) From farthest to closest. G.G. Donna, Great-Grandma Jo, Grandpa Neil, Grandma Becky, Great-Grandma Beth, Great-Grandpa Dave, Aunt Haley, Grandma Lorraine, Grandpa Tim, Great-Grandpa Bob, and Uncle Brian.

Cake time! This was my attempt at a tricycle. It was kind of abstract I guess.

Once Darcy figured out how to blow out the candles she wanted to do it over and over again. I think she did it about five times before we decided that was enough.

Darcy with Drew and me. (Grandma Jo and Grandpa Bob in the background)

I just thought this picture was so cute. Darcy and my dad playing with her new piggy bank in front of the birthday banner.

Happy Birthday Darcy! We love you so much!!