Happy Birthday, Dorothy!

Well, actually, technically, Dorothy’s second birthday was Saturday, April 21st. But since it’s just her second birthday, she’s still not sure what all the fuss was about, and the actual date wasn’t super important. We spent her ACTUAL birthday photographing Kathleen & Michael’s wedding (which we sneak peek’d yesterday)… but don’t worry, we made it up to Dorothy!

Yesterday was 100% completely set aside for her. “Doofy Day”, we called it, echoing the way she pronounces her name. We started our day with a trip to our favorite donut shop, where Dorothy ordered donut holes (she calls them No Nos) and apple juice. We went to the store and she picked out a bright pink bouncy ball, and we took all our treasures to the park for lots of swinging and running and laughing and playing. We’re so blessed to be with our kids almost every day in the office, but it was especially nice to take a full day and just celebrate whatever this sweet baby wanted to do…

Please excuse my naked face, y’all… I didn’t anticipate being a part of these pictures, but I love this one anyway. 🙂

Doofy Day culminated in a family birthday party, all themed around Minnie Mouse, who she tells us is her “very best friend”. We were so glad so much of our family could come together with us to eat good food and celebrate this precious light in our lives. My mom made some killer Mickey & Minnie decorations for the party… she’s so talented!

My folks got the birthday girl this motorized scooter, and she just adores it. I mean, of course… what girl wouldn’t??

Thanks to Shannon at Wild Thyme Creative Designs for Dorothy’s fabulous birthday cake!

There’s my girl… she immediately broke off a piece of the edge and shoved it in her mouth. We don’t mess around with dessert!!

At two years old, Dorothy is talking in sentences, working on potty training, and loves her first pair of “heels”. (They’re one inch espadrilles. Training heels, if you will.) She loves to wear bows in her hair, and watch Mommy put on makeup, and go fishing with Daddy. Her favorite thing to do is jump, and read books with her brother. She watches “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” every day, and keeps telling us we need to invite Mickey to come over to our house to play.

Dorothy Jane is a beautiful girl, but more importantly, she is sweet and smart and funny. Not a day goes by that Mack and I don’t talk about how blessed we are to have this little princess in our lives, and while we may run ourselves silly trying to keep up with her, it will never stop being worth it.

To celebrate this milestone, of COURSE, we did a new portrait session. Just a little one… a few minutes at sunset on Sunday night. If you’ve been a long-time friend of McG, you remember the monthly sessions I did during Dorothy’s first year, but if you don’t, you can see a recap of those HERE. I pray she always loves picture time this much!

My sweet Dorothy Jane, you are amazing. You charm strangers, and your friendly spirit makes me so proud. You are growing your Daddy and I into better, stronger people, and even if you weren’t our precious girl, we’d be so lucky to know you. I’m blessed to be your Mommy, and so excited to see how you grow over the next year. I love you, angel!