Maddie's second year passed by in what seemed to be a moment's time, (someone please tell me it eventually gets slower)!? From full body smiles, learning to run, twirl, and eventually hop, to finding out she had a "no" in her, and exploring her intense determination to climb anything she could find...the year went by in a flash!

Like most momma's on their children's birthdays, I had host of emotions that came with my little girl getting another year older. Birthdays make you realize that time isn't slowing down, and remind you that another year has already passed by. I always feel that a part of me is desperately trying to cling to time and make it slow down with each passing day; Yet with that comes an overwhelming joy to watch her grow and see her personality and unique characteristics unfold.

I am finding that is in fact the essence of motherhood; Bittersweet! Bitter to watch you baby grow and say good bye to the tiny features that seem to be growing all-too fast; Yet sweet to see the new stages of development and wonder that comes with your baby growing up!

I told myself after her first birthday that I wouldn't put as much time or effort into another party for her until she was old enough to truly understand, but let's be honest, when it comes to your kids the party is just as much about the memories that we get to look back on as well; So, party it was!

I decided upon a Peppa Pig theme, which was a tough toss up between Toy Story and Peppa (both of equal love in her little two year old heart), but Peppa won since it was easiest to think of how I could make it pink and magical, (of course!) We held the party at my parents house again, which makes for a beautiful summer gathering on their lake house.

For the special day, the birthday girl Maddie wore the sweetest white dress from Lilly Pulitzer which was a gift from my mom! My dress was from Target, (which I have been loving for clothes lately!) We kept the party pretty intimate, with just family and a few close friends; Which was the perfect size for this age.

I wanted to keep the price for the party minimal, so I decided to make a lot of my own decor and/or use a lot of what I already had. Anything that I bought in specific to Peppa Pig I found on Amazon, which was the best prices that I found after shopping around for Peppa party theme details.

My main focus was of course on setting out the food bar for the kids! I did a sweet and savory food table, (for her first birthday I just did desserts). Half of the table had kids food, (all Peppa pig theme foods) and the other had desserts.

I had Sean do little food tags that made the simple foods such as Goldfish come alive and become "Peppa theme" foods!

And it ended up coming together perfectly...In fact, you would of never known that just about an hour before this picture was taken, the entire table crashed and almost all of the food fell to the ground!!! Thankfully (God is so GOOD), being the planner that I am, I actually made way more food than we needed, and we were able to pull on leftovers on just about everything...Except for the cake! I was heart broken but our custom made cake was ruined with the fall, so my mom went out and quickly grabbed an ice cream cake. It was a good shake up of the already emotional day, but I made a choice to say, hey at least we have back up food, and the party must go on; And thankfully it did!

Most of the decor for the food table I had already from previous parties, but I did purchase the little pink pails and the pink rain boots (Amazon as well). I also got a pink back drop and cloud decal stickers that I stuck on to make my own very in-expensive back drop.

The food was all kid-friendly, and was pretty minimal on preparation on my part. I made "Pigs in a Blanket", cut out some star shaped PB&J and cheese slices, and made the Mini Muddie Puddle cups. (These were super simple to make...I filled them with my chocolate mousse, then crushed up some Annies chocolate graham bunnies on top.)

To make the party more "magical" I incorporated sweet elements of Peppa Pig (like rain boots, muddy puddles, etc.) with the Princess Peppa episode to make it more girly.

Most of the rest of the foods were simple store-bought snacks, fruit, and other kid-friendly sweets and treats, (that most of the time I would honestly never buy, but hey it's a party after all)!

The only thing I had made were the cookies and cake from a local baker...But as I shared, the cake went crashing to the ground before we even took a picture, but the cookies (thankfully) were saved!

I put some flowers in the boots to give it a sweet feminine feel.

The best part of the day (hands-down) was gathering as a family to pray over our answer to prayer! Her life is truly a witness every single day to the faithfulness of God, and we haven't stopped praise the Lord since the day we found out she was a miracle in the making!

The life-size Peppa Pig balloon was perfect for the kids, (a real live Peppa!!!) which I found on Amazon as well.

The kids sat at the perfect little picnic table; And it was at this moment I thought wow- I really do have a toddler now don't I!?

After food we were on to cake... And can I just say, why did no one tell me how scary it is to have candles with a two year old!? ;) She was dying to get her hands on them, yet actually wanted to blow them out... An interesting combination for sure!

Since it was a two-year old's birthday party, I kept the games minimal and simple. We did "Musical Puddles" which required just a few cut out felt puddles and some music, (the kids had to land on a puddle when the music stopped, but it ended up being mostly the kids jumping on them which was actually way more fun!) ;)

A Peppa Pig Pinata.

Pin the Crown on Peppa.

And of course a world of Peppa Pig toys for the kids to play with!

We ended the day with gifts; Which was more overwhelming I think for her (and us) than anything, because everyone blessed her beyond belief! Sean and I decided that next year we may do some kind of donation to kids in need rather than more stuff for our girl who already has the world! Less overwhelming- More giving. Sounds refreshing!

Happy 2nd birthday to our Miracle Maddie! We prayed for you and wanted you so very much! We celebrate the gift you are from the Lord today and every day! Your life sings a daily testimony of His faithfulness to us and all who know you! We will never stop thanking God for you sweet Maddie Joy!

(A special thank you to my sweet friend and wildly talented photographer Dayna Mager for the sweetest and most precious gift of all; These photos which captured every moment and memory!)