My baby girl is TWO!

Chyler celebrated her 2nd birthday today! She now has to officially pay full pop for airline travel! LOL!

She celebrated simply - with just her brothers, grandparents, a cake and some presents. She was in heaven! We splurged on a beautiful cake from Cold Stone - red velvet cake with cake batter ice cream! I took Brennen and Chyler with me when buying the cake and was trying to veer towards the individual cupcakes - they were pink and cute and a lot cheaper! But, Brennen insisted his baby sister needed a pretty cake. So, we got the confetti birthday cake. I think Brennen insisted on that one because it was covered with sprinkles! He originally said that she needed a Princess cake but hey, you don't need a princess if you have sprinkles! Doesn't she look like she's thoroughly enjoying her cake??


One funny note: Dallen was appalled that I would take Chyler to buy her own cake...he thought it should be a surprise. I told him Chyler doesn't know the difference but I was touched that he was thinking of her happiness. I didn't even give it a second thought...hmmm, bad Mommy! Note to self: Surprise him when his birthday comes up, which is around the corner!

Since we're still recovering from Christmas, I thought presents? Bah Humbug! But, thank goodness for Aunty Dorothy, Uncle Masaya and Uncle Eric for saving the day - lots of presents for Chyler! She loved opening her gifts and completely fell in love with her Hello Kitty doll. She'll be carrying it around everyday - plus, it came with a purse so what could be better??



To describe Chyler, I'm taking an excerpt from our Christmas letter:

Chyler is now almost 2 and Lad calls her a TIGER! Whatever I imagined having a daughter would be like, I’m not sure I thought it would be like this! She has a very strong personality - is that a nice way of saying she’s bossy? She loves to ‘discipline’ her brothers often telling them “No!”, “Stop it!”, or “Wake up!” – always with an exclamation mark in tone and volume. She loves animals, loves dolls, loves pretty things like hearts & flowers. She loves the word ‘pretty’ but looks pretty disheveled, albeit cute, most of her days no matter what I do. Chyler is fearless – she gives nothing a second thought, just jumps right in. Her favorite pastime is piling up pillows on the floor, climbing up on the couch then jumping off onto the pillows. She is super friendly and EXTREMELY talkative. She speaks well for her young age - the boys were never like that - but I think girls are just naturally wired to state their opinion! She loves to eat and if you don’t share, you’ll probably get an indignant, “HEY!!”. She is feisty and tough and can usually give as good as she gets while still being the sweet, cuddly, and sensitive little girl that she is. Everyone tells me that she needs to be tough what with her 3 older brothers but, I think she got a double serving of attitude and independence. We’re looking forward to watching her grow up with much anticipation, as she gets older and even more determined because she’s been a hoot to have around!

Things she loves at this moment: Finding Nemo (she calls it Nemo Daddy - "I want to watch Nemo Daddy" - her first request of the day, everyday); milk; Hello Kitty (she calls it pretty kitty), and animals - real or stuffed.

Impressions I'd like to remember of her now: She always asks with hope in her heart, "candy?" and when the answer is no, she replies..."aawwww!"...but is never upset. She always has to leave the house or car with something - a bag, a stuffed animal, a bottle - something. She's rarely empty-handed when leaving somewhere. Which usually means that I end up carrying it because she isn't that intent on keeping it with her once we are out and about. She loves dirt. I have 3 boys who never dug in dirt but I have 1 girl who loves it!

My message to her: Chyler, we love you so much! Heavenly Father knew that you were needed to complete our family! What a blessing you are to your Daddy, your brothers and especially to me.