Our Little Cupcake Turns 2! {Ilah's Birthday Party Recap, Part 3}

I have loved looking through Ilah's birthday party pictures and reliving the fun-filled day!! I know that at 2 years young, she won't remember this birthday party but she will have these pictures to see when she is older. As the years go on, I'm not sure what each of Ilah's birthday parties will entail - whether they will be very simple, or extremely planned out as this years was. For Ilah's 1st birthday, it was just an intimate dinner with just our families - but I still put a lot of love into it just as I did for her 2nd birthday party. And that's what will always be in her celebrations...my love.

This final post of Ilah's 2nd Birthday Party concludes with A LOT more pictures!! Unfortunately we didn't take a photo of every person that came - once we sang Happy Birthday to Ilah and the gift opening began, the camera wasn't picked up too much after that.

Speaking of singing Happy Birthday to Ilah....I went and got a candle to place on her cupcake....that's right... "a" candle...I put just one in and said "Alright, we're gonna sing Happy Birthday now"...and then one of our friends said, "Hey, where's the second candle?". I looked at him and said, "Huh?". And then it hit me and I realized that Ilah was TWO!! Funny moment...but it also was a little tear jerker moment for me as well. The years are just flying.

Ilah was all smiles as we sang Happy Birthday to her!!....

Blowing out her candle....

And grubbin' down that cupcake!!!....

Time to open presents!!!...

Ilah getting some help from her buddies!....

Reading birthday cards together....

Such cuteness!!....

For her birthday we got Ilah:

Cupcake Plate/Bowl/Utensil Set

Melissa & Doug 123 Puzzle

Coat and Hat

Cupcake Sandwich/Snack Trays

Cupcake Book

A Doll {in a cute cupcake dress!}

Cupcake Jewelry Pennant

Lil' Chef Set {Apron/Mitten/Towel} and Play Cookies

Disney Princess Cash Register

Play Dress Shoes....

Ilah loved ripping up the tissue paper out of the gift bags!...

Ilah's other grandma {Dele's mom}...

Dele's sister video recording the party : ) ....

Riley being a cute little ham!!

Ilah's last gift was her cupcake necklace that we got for her!....

As you can see, there was wrapping paper, tissue paper, ribbons, cards and gifts everywhere...and even more to open!...

Ilah laying across a mound of gifts! Ha!....

These gifts were from my mom {she brought them in after the party was over and Ilah opened them later}....

Here's the doll we got Ilah....

How cute is this personalized apron and chef hat?!?! My friend Michelle MADE them for Ilah!!....

I bought Ilah one too so now there's an extra one that one of her friends can wear when they are playing : ) ....

I made a little cupcake craft for the kids to do...I cut out felt in different colors {for "the cupcake", "frosting", "cupcake liners" and "cherries"} for them to assemble their own little cupcakes.

Build A Cupcake!

Take home goodie bags that I made for the little ones!....

This is what was inside for the boys.

And baby Kaylee got her own goodie bag too...

Filled with special things just for her!...

After the party came to an end, our friends Rishi and Michelle {and baby Kaylee} stayed until around 10:30 p.m. We hadn't seen them in a while and it was good to catch up! After we put our little girls down to sleep around 7:00 p.m., we took to some games!!...

Our little cupcake had a wonderful day with family and friends {and so did we!} and her special day was everything I imagined it being!

This week I've been working on sending out her Thank You Cards...

Naturally, they are also in her birthday party color scheme ; )

Ilah is one blessed little girl - and we are very blessed to have her!!

Our Little Cupcake Turns 2! {Ilah's Birthday Party Recap, Part 2}

Yesterday I began posting details of Ilah's cupcake themed birthday party - if you missed it, just see the post below this one.

Ilah's birthday party started at 2:00 p.m. That gave me the entire morning to get the house party ready and prepare the food that I planned on making. Starting on my "diy" crafty stuff a few days ahead {party hats, Ilah's first name initial wrapped in yarn, prepping the floral arrangements, doing the goody bags, wrapping her gifts, etc.} - and also laying out my serving dishes the night before and putting a post-it note on each tray [labeling which food would go where], meant that I was relaxed and not running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to do last minute things the day-of. I'm telling ya - early prep is key! I breathed easy the morning of Ilah's party since there wasn't anything to really do other than hanging tissue pom-poms, putting tablecloths in place, laying out food, filling drink dispensers and putting final touches in place {while the hubby picked up the cupcake order!!}.

Do you remember these pieces that I purchased over the summer and posted about here....

They were all used to hold the delectable treats on Ilah's special day....

When everyone walked in, they went for a party hat! Us adults were more into them then the kids! Ha!...

Ilah's special birthday hat that I fancied up a bit to stand out from the rest....

There was lots of food, lots of cupcakes, and lots of cookies!!...

Ilah had her own special cupcake set aside {do you see it below, sitting inside of that dome with a ribbon wrapped around it?}....

We had big cupcakes as well as mini's!!

Dessert plates....

We had so many different cupcake flavors! All from my favorite cupcakery!!

More mini cupcakes!!....

Strawberries n' Creme, Birthday Cake, Ultimate Chocolate, Cookies n' Creme, Salted Caramel, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Black & White. YUMM!! We also had large cupcakes in all the same flavors!! I was in cupcake heaven that day!!

And as if cupcakes weren't enough, I made cupcake cookies!!....

Cupcake anyone?!....

In another area of the kitchen I placed the plates, napkins and utensils....

And MORE food!! Chicken Spring Rolls and Vegetable Simosa's....

And Meatballs and Green Beans for the kiddos....

Ilah greeting her first little guest!....

Here's our friend Michelle with her daughter Kaylee; the party hat fit her so perfectly!!...

Soon after, Ilah's little buddies showed up!! Adorable brothers Rhett and Riley....

And they got right to playing!! No time wasted!!

Ilah had SO MUCH fun playing with them!!

Rhett is such a GREAT big brother!! He naturally assumed the role with Ilah too....

They went up and down the house pushing their strollers and shopping carts. Cutest thing!!....

Those adorable boys belong to these great friends of ours!....

Can't you tell just from that picture how much fun they are!?!?

Dele and I didn't manage to get a picture together with Ilah - or even one with just the two of us. Woops! But here he is chatting it up with our friend Rishi {you saw his wife Michelle & daughter, Kaylee in a photo above}....

After some play time, the little ones sat down to eat....

How adorable that little Riley wore a tie for the special occasion?!?! Ha!....

Pretty big utensil you got there Riley!...

This will always be in my mind Ilah's first date! ; )

And under parental supervision!...and at home! Doesn't get any better than that. Can the one at 18 be under parental supervision and at home too?! ; )

In the next {and last} post...a cupcake craft, the birthday girl blows out her candles, present time, take home gifts and a late game night with friends!