When we were told to stay home, we took it seriously as a family. At first, it was as if all the implications of this hadn’t really sunk in. Then, when I realized just how LONG we might need to stay home, new perspectives came to light. Staying home, social distancing and isolating has started to create a “new normal.” One of the things included in this “new normal” is figuring out how to celebrate LIFE and joy in these times.
My little girl turned TWO years old! How crazy is it that she has rocked my world, changed my life and entire being for two whole years? THAT, my friends, is worth celebrating. Even if it meant doing so in a socially distant way!
My intentions are to show you that you are NOT ALONE. There are people who are trying their best to figure out how to do life this way. Here’s a little look into how we celebrated…
The day started with mixing up some cupcakes! Hope knows the word “miiiix” and loves to help mix! This meant adding a cake mix and frosting to our previous grocery pickup list. We did not make an extra trip for the ingredients! My husband disinfected the packaging previously and we were ready for some fun! I also substituted flax seed egg for the egg since I knew Hope would be tempted to give the batter a try!
I’m an avid crafter so I had a 2 and a moon for her to colour! (You’ll see the theme continued later!)
We asked family and friends to send Hope videos so that she could watch them. She said “again” or more like “adain!” to many of them and her little fingers reached for the play button! She got a very special message from Skye, of Paw Patrol, because our friends at Kids Zone Durham were sweet enough to send us a personalized video. They are sending personalized videos in their mascot costumes to light up the days of some children who are missing out on regular birthday parties.
Throughout the day we also did video chats on houseparty and facebook messenger!
I had already been looking at themes for parties and loved the “Two the Moon” theme! While it was just the three of us in our home, I still believe her birthday is worth decorating for! So I cut these out of gold poster board with my cricut. I’m both impressed and slightly embarrassed that I had every single craft supply needed without going out to buy anything! ;)
After nap-time, the cupcakes were baked and cooled and ready to decorate! We had some sprinkles leftover from Christmas cookie decorating and had so much fun! I made these cupcake toppers the day before and attached them to toothpicks.
We had some generous friends order Hope gifts on Amazon. We kept the boxes in the garage for a few days and then still disinfected them and then we had some gift bags saved from past birthdays, so we wrapped them up so that she could open her gifts!
It was a really nice day out, so we went in the backyard and Hope requested a ride in the wheelbarrow!
I had to chase them around while walking sideways to get this photo! Worth it! Look at her haaaaiiirrr!! I love it!
I personalized this dress for Hope! I took a dress that we already had in her closet and asked my sister to digitally write “We love you 2 the moon & back”. Then I cut the lettering design out with my cricut on heat transfer vinyl and put it on the dress.
She didn’t have time to wear in on her actual birthday cause she was worn out from all the activities! So we were flexible and put it on her a couple days later and took some photos!
Here is our sweet 2 year old! We had bought a few too many gifts at Christmas so we saved one of them for her birthday. This teddy bear was our birthday gift to her and I’m so glad I had it saved because then we didn’t have to go out shopping!
When she’s a little older and we tell her about her second birthday, I pray that she will still feel loved and celebrated. To those of you looking for ways to make your children’s day special here’s my message to you:
While their parties might be cancelled, their birthdays are not cancelled.
They will remember, more than anything else, the atmosphere that you created and the time that you spent with them.
It won’t be perfect, it might not feel “normal” and it’s okay to grieve that. But you can still have an incredible day together.
Love to you all! We are in this together!
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