Happy Birthday Leyla!

Leyla turned **TWO** today!

I can't believe it has been two whole years....WOW. She was born 45 minutes and 2 years ago :)

We had a great party. We celebrated big for her 1st year, so this year we didn't think it was necessary to go all out again. I really wanted to try my hand at a fondant cake, so, I thought I have to at least invite a few people over to help eat the cake! So I decided we would have just a small party. We invited Angel and Carmen and their son Isaac (Leyla and Isaac are great playmates); Kyle and Bety and their daughter Mia (She will be 3 in December); Amanda, of course; and Eda. Everyone got here around 6:00 and Leyla showed up with Abuela shortly after. We surprised her with balloons at the door! Then she got really excited and started playing with all the balloons.

We all ate Chinese rice, YUM.......and visited some before cutting the cake. The kids had fun running around with the balloons and playing on Leyla's little tricycle-bike. Mia was very distracted by the cake and kept asking when we were going to eat cake! We finally convinced her to eat rice first or she wouldn't get any cake, and she understood that REAL well!

Tried to get a birthday picture with Leyla but she wouldn't put her water down!

And now, my first attempt at a fondant cake......The marshmallow fondant was easy to make but SO difficult to work with! It sticks like crazy! I used almost 2 lbs of powdered sugar! I had trouble at first but finally got the hang of it and it turned out pretty well. It slid a bit and definitely didn't look professional.....but it was pretty, and everyone like it :)

You can see the 4 layers in the cake! Oops...

I added dots to hide some holes....

The cake says "LEYLA" around the side and has three groups of balloons on top. Although I didn't ice it very thickly, the fondant started sliding a little and tore (I didn't notice until I had finished covering it). So using a friend's advice, I added extra details to cover the holes! But, for a first-timer, and for a two-year-old, I think it turned out alright :)

Leyla LOVED it (so did Mia.....) and she blew out the candle all by herself! She loved the singing and all the attention - she loves to be in the spotlight! Here is the video of her blowing out her candle:

And here are some more photos!

 Mia wanted to get in on the licking too!

 Leyla, showing her how it's done!

 Opening her present from Joni!

 She loves her little Cabbage-Patch Doll!

 Dancing with her new doll :) Love her skirt, thanks Tom and Katherine!

 Balloons from Abuela....aren't they neat??

Well, that's it! We had a great night, and Leyla really enjoyed it (She's passed out asleep!). Everyone loved my cake too. Thanks to all who came to spend the evening celebrating with us. Happy Birthday Leyla!