Clay’s 2nd Birthday Party (Beach Theme)

I can’t believe our baby is TWO! Our sweet Clay Willa turned two on November 8th and we celebrated with a small family party at our house on the 12th. Just like last year’s daisy-themed party, I had so much fun planning this! I decided to go with a beach theme as a nod to Clay’s beachy nursery, plus she loves to play with shells that my mom brought her from the beach almost every day. Keep reading for photos and details of the party with links to shop everything!

Here’s the inspo board I started with! I wanted to do a completely different color palette then last year, so we did mostly cool colors (purples and blues). I found the cutest stuff!

Let me tell ya… parties with a 2-year-old are MUCH different than with a 1-year-old. The party was scheduled right after Clay’s nap (that one nap in the middle of the day is hard to work around, especially when considering daylight hours post Daylight Savings), and of course she wanted to sleep late that day. We had to wake her up since guests were already arriving and she wasn’t thrilled about it.

She was super shy at first and absolutely refused to put on her dress for the first portion of her party (and instead wore her PJ shirt and diaper), but we did eventually get it on her. This delayed our photos a bit, so the lighting wasn’t as good as I would have liked, but hey, that’s life with a toddler! My dress was creased from its shipping package, and I didn’t have the time or energy to self-tan like I would have liked to… but honestly, I was happy that I was able to get ready and clean myself up, after months of being so sick from pregnancy. I’ll take it as a win regardless! Oh, and I forgot to decorate with the faux pearl necklaces I bought too. 🙃

Once again, her cake was made by the oh-so-talented Taylor Made Cakery. She made my bridal shower cupcakes, wedding cake, and now Clay’s birthday cakes every year. She always does the best job executing whatever I throw at her and making it even better than my expectations! We chose chocolate cake this time since it’s a favorite of Clay’s. It was just as yummy as it was beautiful and we got to snack on the leftovers for the rest of the week!

We had so much fun celebrating our daughter, and I especially loved watching her excitedly open her presents and eat cake. We’re obsessed with our sweet little chatterbox girl!

Lastly, here is a list of things I want to remember about her at this age:

She LOVES playing pretend, whether she’s cooking in her kitchen, cleaning, taking care of her baby dolls and stuffed animals, or putting makeup on us
She has amazing vocabulary/language skills, can count to 10, and knows all of the colors and body parts
She never stops talking
She loves to say that people are “at work,” “mommy tired,” and often asks if we’re okay. She’s so nurturing!
BIG Cocomelon fan these days
She loves mixing all of her food together and eating it
Enjoys coloring, reading books, singing and dancing to If You’re Happy and You Know It
Often requests for people to dance
She’s really into accessories
She has to give everyone kisses and hugs before bed, including our dog Lucia

SHOP THE PARTY