Jake's 2nd Birthday Party

After the craziness of throwing together last year's party, I swore that I would plan earlier this year. Next thing I know, it is the week before Jake's party & I've done nothing. I have about a million ideas in my head, but have not done the first thing. So, I just used the same ideas as last year, just with a different theme & colors. I SWEAR next year I'm going to come up with some new ideas!

The inviteThe Decor

I loved the cow balloons that I found at Party City!
Front door hanger

Back door hanger

The gift bag loot
Farmyard book for guests to sign

Birthday hat

Which he refused to wear. I don't know why I even bothered.

Tacky Party Display Disclaimer: I wanted something to cover up the china cabinet, so I could hang the birthday banner. I saw online the cutest barn made out of a red plastic tablecloth & tape. How cute, cheap & easy? Perfect! I start making my barn about 6 AM Saturday morning. It was cheap, but certainly not easy & it certainly didn't turn out cute. The tape kept wrinkling the cheap plastic tablecloth. It was a mess. I got it somewhat presentable & hung it up. (Which by this point, Jake had gotten up and was insisting on "helping".) Once I hung it, I realized you could see completely through it and couldn't tell that it was supposed to be a barn. By this point, I had so much tape & tacks in our ceiling, I figured that it would be an even bigger mess to try to take it down. So, we were left with a transparent wod of plastic & tape.

Menu Cards

Photo Banner

This was Jake as we sang Happy Birthday

He did like blowing out the candles though!

Birthday Boy!

Dru & his mom

Addie & her parents

Jake's cousins Maddox & Marrell came up with Nana & Gran to the party

David

Addie

Jonathan

Connor (the party picked up after the cupcakes!)

After the cupcakes. A little excitement.

Addie finally has a girl at one of the parties to talk to. I think she was telling Marrell to stay away from all her boys.

2 cute little boys in overalls playing

Our dear sweet friends. Words cannot begin to explain how much this group of people means to us. They made living in Chattanooga such a wonderful experience and they are the reason that it is so hard to leave. Thank you for coming, and making our last party so special.

To my little munchkin who all of this was for. Happy 2nd Birthday Jake!!

2 Year Checkup

Jake had his 2-year checkup on January 5. He lost 1 pound & his height is the same as his 18-month checkup. 37 pounds & 38 inches tall. Still off the charts for both. He got a clean bill of health. This was our last appointment with our pediatrician before we move to Birmingham & have to find a new pediatrician. Dr. Tigar has been so great. As soon as Jake was born, there were some medical issues and Dr. Tigar was just so comforting and knowledgeable. He has been a great doctor and we will miss him greatly. So what all is going on in this 2-year-old's life?

• His favorite thing is for you to read to him. He has to sit in your lap though. And he doesn't mind if you read the same book 100 times to him. Some of his favorite books are all Llama Llama books, his Thomas the Train book (which is missing half of its pages now), Thomas the Train Christmas book, the Laura Numeroff books (If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, etc...), Dr. Seuss The Foot Book & Are You My Mother, Curious George books and Eric Carle books. I love to hear him "read" the books. He remembers certain words from certain pages. It's so funny.
• He loves the shows on PBS. His favorites are Sid the Science Kid, Curious George, Dinosaur Train & Super Why (which his calls "Wyatt" because the main kid's name is Wyatt & there used to be a Wyatt in his class at school).
• He also loves sports, wrestling, cars, and trains.
• He doesn't love shopping (I've got about 10 minutes in a store until he looses it. He says "all done" and then stands up in the cart. And if you dare let him down to walk around, you might as well abandon your cart & just leave the store.
• He talks up a storm. Sometimes its gibberish, but 75% of the time you can figure out what he is talking about. And he will repeat ANYTHING. (Which is funny & scary)
• He has very good manners (which we owe to the daycare). He goes overboard saying "please" and "thank you". But I'll take it! It is so sweet. He says "thank you" every time you kiss him if he has a boo-boo. When we were at his checkup, they had to prick his finger to draw blood. When the nurse was finished he told her "thank you". She said that was the first time she had ever been thanked by a kid after drawing blood! He also says "bless you" anytime you sneeze (or cough). I love it! It definitely makes up for the times when his manners are not so good. (like "NO!" & "Stop it Mommy")
• He is still a great sleeper & actually likes his crib. I think that's why I'm scared to change his crib to the toddler bed. He goes to bed around 8:00. I wake him around 7:00 on the weekdays (which he doesn't want to get out of bed! I thought that didn't happen until they were teenagers.) On the weekend mornings, I'm not sure when he gets up, but he'll play in his crib until around 9:00. This past weekend we got to actually take advantage of it. Around 9:00 we could hear him in the monitor saying "mommy, I poo-pooed". Guess that was our sign to go get him up. He has also learned how to take off his pajama bottoms, so most morning & I find him with no bottoms on.
• He is really starting to mimic us, which if very funny. He likes to play with anything that's ours. You can tell he is also really starting to remember things. The other day, he had gotten our laptop, put it on the coffee table, opened it & had turned it own. He had about 20 windows open and somehow changed the background on our screen. When we found him, he was saying "Sid, Sid". He is such a lovable little mess.

Good-bye 2010

My word for 2008 was Surprise. My word for 2009 was Happiness. My word for 2010 is Peace. 2010 was a peaceful year for us. It was our first year since we met, without a major event. When Robbie & I met in 2006 my company was for sale and the whole year was filled with lots of anxiety. 2007 was filled with selling my house, moving to a new city, looking for a new job, getting engaged & planning a wedding. 2008 had a wedding, pregnancy & birth all in the same year. 2009 was spent adjusting to everything that had happened the previous year. Combined with going back to work much sooner then planned and just dealing with all of the emotions of a new baby, motherhood, demanding job, etc... 2010 I finally felt like I could breath a little. I got a little more comfortable with juggling motherhood & working outside the home. Life is so full of emotions and such a roller coaster. I know that you have to cherish those times when life is a little slower. Of course we packed a lot of changes in right at the end of the year, and those are definitely carrying over already into 2011. So maybe God was giving us that year of no change, to prepare us for this year! 2010 was a great year that included so many happy occasions. In February, Jake welcomed a new friend Owen & in March, he welcomed new friend Jonathan. In April, Robbie & I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in Savannah, GA. We enjoyed a vacation with my family in June in Seaside and then enjoyed a vacation with Robbie's family in August in Charleston. Also in August, sweet baby Beck graced us! In September, Robbie celebrated his 32nd birthday and I celebrated mine in December. Also, 2010 bought the year that Auburn avenged Alabama by having their own undefeated year, Heisman trophy winner & BCS championship. Congrats to my husband, his family & all of our Auburn friends. The only good that brought me (other than loved ones happiness), was getting to laugh back at all of the Auburn fans who made fun of all of the Alabama fans who showed up at Wal-mart to have their picture taken with the trophy. You have to love this state's love of their football teams!

I was looking back at last year's posts around this time seeing what I had written. I watched a video of one of Jake's 1st weeks of walking, that I haven't seen in forever. Now, I've never been one to mope about my child growing up. It has been such an adventure and I feel like every month is better than the last. But something about seeing that video made me miss that baby. His unsteady walk, white crazy hair & chubby little fat rolls. How did my baby change that much in a year? My eyes watered as I realized how much they change so quickly. Even though I know that this year will be crazy with lots of changes & adjustments, it is such a reminder to slow down and just enjoy those moments. I want to just close my eyes and hold onto them forever.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Happy New Year!

Last year, Robbie's best friend from high school, Robbie Page & his wife Denise came down from Delaware & spend New Year's with us in Chattanooga. So this year, Robbie & I went up North to spend New Year's with them. We had such a great time! We spent a day & a half in NYC. We shopped, walked around, saw the Statue of Liberty (from afar), Ground Zero, the financial district & so much more! We really packed in a lot for only a day & a half! On New Year's Eve, we went out to Long Island where Robbie Page's family hosts a HUGE New Year's celebration. It was such a blast! I've had the pleasure of getting to know Robbie Page's family since Robbie B. & I met, and they are so much fun! I feel like they are a family right out of the movies. We had such a great time & I have never laughed so hard. We recovered on New Year's day at the Page House in Delaware and then on Sunday we spent the day in Philadelphia. The Page's are such great hosts and friends. We had an amazing time and just can't wait for us to all get together again soon. We do have pictures from the weekend, but they are all on Robbie P.'s camera. I can't figure out how to download from Kodak, so as soon as I get the photos, I'll post them to the blog. Thank you Robbie & Denise for your amazing hospitality!!

Celebrating Christmas (December 24-26, 2010)

It was definitely interesting trying to get out of town this Christmas. Since Robbie was already in Birmingham, it was up to me to get Jake & I packed and down south. When the DVD player went out before we even got on the interstate, my heart dropped. Thankfully though Jake had grabbed a toy out of my mom's car when she up and he had left it in my car. We'd forgotten about it, but thankfully that entertained him for a lot of the trip. Granted we had to stop every 30 minutes for everything from having to continually wipe his nose (he kept licking it with his tongue. gross!) to picking up a dropped item. 3 1/2 hours later, we finally made it to Birmingham and were reunited with Daddy! About the time I think we are ready for a 2nd child, I just travel alone with the one I've got & I decide that we are okay for right now with just one!

Jake was very excited to see Daddy. He liked watching TV laying on Dad's chest. Christmas Eve morning we headed down to Prattville to see my family.

3 precious little grandkids that love playing together

My brother's bright idea to give the kids golf clubs to play with. Jake kept just walking around blindly swinging his. It's a wonder he didn't take someones head off.

Sweet Marrell

Jake on a mission

Fun dirt playing time

He was thrilled by the hat

Before the Christmas Eve church service

Of course Jake won't stand still or smile for a Christmas photo

The kids at the Christmas Eve service. Maddox was so sweet. She took Jake & Marrell down during the children's time. Jake sat in her lap while the children's director talked to them. Such precious little cousins. (By the way, Jake & Marrell made it half way through until Gran had to take them out to the hallway to play.)

Toys that Santa left for Jake (There was nothing too big. Santa remembered that Jake's mommy & daddy were living in a corporate apartment for a few months and there is no yard and limited room inside.) Jake didn't know what to think. He was really more interested in the fact that the cat was in the room.

That morning, our immediate family got together to exchange gifts. Marrell came in her Christmas pjs.Jake opening his Sid the Science Kid microphone

It was a little crazy

Jake & Marrell opening their big gifts from Nana & Gran (They each got one, but Nana & Gran left one in a box for easier transportation!)

My sister Lindsey & meLater that morning, our extended family came over to exchange gifts & eat lunch. What a wonderful time! Cousins Isabella & Maddox

Marrell & Aunt Lindsey

Marrell, Isabella & Maddox

Our family (minus Marrell who was sleeping)

Cousins Jackson & Jake

Jackson riding the train

On Christmas Day, we headed back to Birmingham to spend Christmas with the Bush's

Jake playing with some of his new toys at Mimi & Granddad's

Reading his new Llama Llama book that Santa brought

Granddad & Jake

Opening gifts

Reading more books...

... and more books

On Sunday, we got a treat, it snowed!

Jake was so excited...

... for 5 minutes. Then his feet were getting wet so he kept saying "inside, shoes". I guess he didn't like the feeling of his tennis shoes getting wet.

Playing with more new toys

Last year using a box top as a hat

This year using a Lego box as a hat

Jake & Granddad Jake (They are both making the same happy face. Of course, the problem could be, that I did request this picture at bedtime!)

More posts to come... I've just got a lot to catch up on & I'm way behind!