Time flies when you're turning 2!

At this very moment, 2 years ago, we were in the hospital in absolute disbelief at the little girl that we were blessed with. Now, 2 years later, here we are still in absolute disbelief that our little girl is two years old. And to top it all off, I almost ended up back in a hospital. Confused? Hear me out. Warning: Long overdramatic post ahead.

The past 5 days have been nothing but birthday birthday birthday. Since September, Kaylani has had to celebrate each of her friends birthdays, and kept saying "I'm not two yet. Almost two. I'm turning two. Not yet!" So when her birthday became next in the queue, she could hardly contain herself. On Thursday, she kept saying she wanted to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out a candle. In fact, she insisted so much that Mommy gave in and had her "practice" blowing out a candle in a cupcake. On Friday, Primitos Alisha and Rohan (and Titi Glenda) arrived, and she got to open up and play with her first gift. Then, on Saturday, it was time for her birthday celebration. That's when things got out of control. And by things, I mean me.

Kaylani's birthday party was at Uptown Playaround, which is a giant indoor play area. They had a giant structure with nets, slides, rope swings, blocks, tunnels, and ramps to climb up and through. There was also a play house and kitchen, grocery store, basketball area, puppet theater, and block area. If that wasn't enough, there was a dance area, virtual floor soccer, and bubbles. And if you still wanted more, there was just a giant space to run around in. Might seem excessive, but for 14 kids, and 20 adults to boot, all that space was absolutely necessary. I fully expected the kids to have tons of fun. I was not expecting the adults to do the same.

While Kaylani's favorite areas were the calmer ones (kitchen, grocery store, giant play area), Daddy, Bat Bat and most of the other adults ran around through the net maze and down the super fast slides over and over. After an hour, it sure felt like I needed to be back in the hospital, but this time, it would have been me with the back pain instead of Mommy. But instead of going there, I toughed it out, had pizza and cupcakes with everyone, and finished up the big party.

To continue the celebration (and after a nap), Kaylani cut into a piece of Papa's heart and soul, which was transformed into a Dora shaped cake. After slaving over baking and decorating it the night before, and seeing it come out better than I could have imagined, we cut up Dora's head ("Dora got a head cut" according to Kaylani) and had cake. Guess its true that you can't have your cake and eat it too (which should really be "you can't eat your cake and have it too" but whatever).

Sunday, the fun continued with a trip to the Animal Kingdom Zoo with the cousins to feed monkeys, giraffes, donkeys, and more. Thankfully we distracted Kaylani from having more cake, and instead opened up a few more of her presents that we hid from the party. And then, finally, Monday rolled around and with it, Kaylani's official birthday.

Kaylani was born at 4:09am on 11/08/08, so I guess it was inevitable that she'd wake up shortly after that 2 years later (at 6:35am). Can't blame her since who doesn't remember being so excited that you just can't sleep on special days? And after Kaylani spent the whole morning playing with Alisha and Rohan, and then talking to Mommy about her birthday, she took a nice nap so she could spend the night with Papa, Yin Yin, and Yeh Yeh at home. That's when she got crazy again.

After the last of her gifts were opened, she focused on a few of them, like her new roller skates from Padrino Tim and Auntie Meredith, and her house from Yin Yin and Yea Yea. And with one more round of Happy Birthday to Kaylani and another cake (ice cream cake this time), it was time to call it a day, or a birthday that is.

All in all it was an amazing 5 days of celebration, which is fitting since its been an amazing 2 years ever since Kaylani was born. Not a day goes by that we don't thank God for how lucky we are to have such a wonderful family, but its still hard to believe that its already been 2 years. Luckily we've got plenty of pictures and even videos to remember most of the time. So check out our pictures from Kaylani's birthday, and some more from Halloween too. And if you've got 5 minutes, watch Kaylani's video "interview" with Mommy below. Its priceless, especially the end. Or click on her YouTube page to see her using her roller skates with the Paparazzi around. So for now, its time to say good night, and Happy Birthday Kaylani. Until next year!