And then she was two

The night before the big day, Joe and I blew up 50 balloons. Out of everything we bought, this was easily the best 3 bucks we spent on Madeline's birthday.

Stop! Put down the phone and don't call CPS. We did not put them in her crib while she slept. Pinky promise. (She did that later and stood in her crib with adult supervision.)

We put them in her room while she was sleeping so that her floor was covered in balloons when she woke up. She was so stinkin' excited to wake up to her balloon-filled room on her birthday.

Despite her sincere love for all birthday-things that are edible, I really think the balloons were her favorite part.

And because she's Madeline, the lover of food, she thoroughly enjoy her cake. Her first of three cakes.

Have I mentioned yet I spent today dealing with her sugar withdrawal? Because I did. Tears came easily and quickly today after her festival of staying up late and eating gobs of sugar that was the weekend.

This was her trying to get every last sugar gram off her fingers. Can you guess what she's staring at?

She's looking at the newest member of our family.

She's gazing into the eyes of her beloved new fish.

Yes, I realize it's gross to show you an image of such a dirty fish bowl but it does capture how much she loves this fish. If a fish can die from a child gingerly yet repeatedly touching the glass of its home, then this little guy doesn't stand a fighting chance.

Joe had the fantastic idea to give her a Beta fish for her birthday because at the end of every Wal-Mart trip, Madeline gets to visit the fish. She goes la-la-crazy over seeing the fish.

I wish you all could have seen her face after we peeled her away from her balloon room to go see "a present on the table."

Her eyes were the size of dinner plates when she saw the fish bowl. After she stopped hyperventilating, we asked what she wanted to name her fish. She declared him Mickey the Fish and that name still cracks me up.

Now whenever we leave home, she says, "Bye home. Bye Maggie's home (our neighbor). Bye Mickey's home." And my heart melts.

Her love for Mickey made me realize why parents are willing to lie to their kids by replacing a small pet. I never want to say those three words, "Honey, Mickey died."

So let me just say now for the record, we will probably have Mickey the Blue Male Beta Fish for the next 21 years.

For our family birthday part, my newest sister-in-law Janna (just 12 days after Madeline threw a flower basket during her wedding) offered to make Madeline's birthday cake. Since my cakes turn out horrendous, I gratefully accepted her offer.

(I'm not being humble, I promise. The top layer of the cake I baked on Madeline's birthday was literally sliding off the bottom layer. It looked like the cake from Sleeping Beauty. However, it was this recipe so once we were able to stop the cake from sliding onto the floor, it tasted A-MAZING if I can say so myself.)

(Sidenote: I may or may not have just spent 25 minutes scouring the Web for an image of the Sleeping Beauty cake with no results. Come on People Who Fill the Internet! We need an image of that cake.)

Anyways, Madeline was beyond excited for her Pooh cake.

She loves her Aunt Janna. I do too, by the way. (And not just because she makes a fantastic Pooh cake.)

All in all, it was a great but busy weekend. My proof is in the fact that Madeline napped for FIVE HOURS today. 'Nuff said.