Birthdays are AWESOME!!!

December 8 our Willybird turned 2! He is so grown up now, I just can't believe it. He loves Yo Gabba Gabba so his party was all Gabba themed. I didn't know this going into it but nearly all the Yo Gabba Gabba stuff has to be bought online. Since I am such a good mom, I started planning this one early enough that I actually had time to order party stuff online and get it shipped without having to pay for expedited delivery. And thanks to black Friday I got it on super sale with free shipping.

Thank you Pinterest for the Muno-inspired chocolate dipped pretzels--they were a hit with the kiddies, and delicious too.

Grammy made him a fabulously scrumptious DJ Lance Rock fluffy orange hat cake.

What Gabba party would be complete without Gabba land?? I thought I was buying a Yo Gabba Gabba book for Will on Amazon, but when it arrived it was really this fold out-paper doll play set thing. Not super fun for a 2 year old but made for cute counter top decorations for the party. Luke has enjoyed playing with it.

Luke spun Gabba tunes all afternoon in the play room and showed off some sweet moves.

Will was a fabulous host and welcomed all his friends with big hugs!

He blew out both his candles like a champ.

Grammy made some cupcakes too per special Willy request. Will ate his one sprinkle at a time in true Willy fashion.

 Playing in his Gabba tent filled with balloons! I am still finding balloons all over the house.

The kids played pin-the-eye-on-Muno.

A couple of cute DJ Lances at the exclusive after party.

 It was a fun party and we were so grateful to the friends and family who helped us celebrate. Fitting in one more event in the already busy month of December is no small feat! We had all been at cousing Maya's party the day before so it really was a weekend of birthdays for our families. Next year we are going to try to plan consecutive parties for the two. Hmmm. We'll see if we can be organized enough to pull that one together.

20 facts about Will at 2:
1. Loves cereal. Eats bowls and bowls of it. Probably at least 4 bowls a day. His favorite are Froot Loops, Chocolate Cheerios, and Honey Nut Chex.
2. Loves to jump. On things. Off things. Just jump around. The kid has got so much energy to burn.
3. Favorite TV shows are Yo Gabba Gabba and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Still has a little soft spot for some Baby Einstein though. (Seriously, do kids ever outgrow Baby E??? Even Luke enjoys one every now and then.)
4. Not so much into wearing clothing. Really likes to show off his undressing skills in public places.
5. Temper. Temper. Temper. Stand back.
6. Bangs his head on things when he is really upset. Not just things, he specifically finds hard things. Shelves, tables, wall, ceramic tile. He will get up and walk over to the tile just to bang his head on it.
7.  Wants to be just like his big brother when he grows up. (And this drives Luke bananas.)
8.  Favorite CD is Mama Mia. He can't help but dance when its on.
9.  Gives some pretty sweet snuggles when he needs some love. 
10.  Knows a billion words. Speaks in sentences. Says "Awesome" on a daily basis (which makes me laugh).
11.  Knows all his capital letters, some of his lowercase letters, and numbers 0-10. Can sing most of the ABC song by himself.
12.  Loves to be read to. Current favorite books are Knuffle Bunny, anything Llama Llama, Dr. Seuss ABC's, and Berenstein Bears Clean House.
13.  Charmingly crooked teeth and cross bite create a cutie-pie smile but mommy and daddy forsee a lifetime of orthodontic bills.
14.  Will never turn down ham. Loves the stuff.
15.  Loves dogs, all sizes.
16.  Loves going to "school" and likes the idea of wearing a backpack. Once its on though he rethinks the decision and would really prefer if someone else would carry it.
17.  He needs a haircut. I can't stand when the hair falls over their collar. I'm sure when they are teenagers, my boys will make up for all the short cuts I keep them in now.
18.  He loves to put on a show when he is supposed to be sleeping. He has come up with all sorts of acrobatic tricks to "fall" (read flip, slip, jump, skip, etc) out of bed at bedtime--over the toddler rail of course.
19.  Watching him do somersaults is hilarious. I had him in tumbling once but it's mommy & me classes and he wears me out.  He can't go by himself until he is three.
20.  He is the funniest, sweetest, most energetic, smartest two year old I know and I wouldn't change him for the world.!

My Special Date with Luke

Today was my special date with my Luke. We started off with lunch at BJ's. We brought along the Pigeon game to play while we waited for our food. The waitress gave me the stink eye a few times for having the game spread out all over the table, but, seriously? It was barely eleven and we were the only people in the restaurant for at least the first thirty minutes we were there. We weren't taking up a table for waiting customers. 

AND we ordered desert. 

AND we were super cute and had impeccable manners. 

Luke had macaroni and cheese, homemade root beer, and one of those cookies with ice cream on top. He gave it two thumbs up and a fist pump. (I swear I don't let him watch Jersy Shore. I don't know where the fist pump came from??!?) 

Then we headed on to our movie. Luke is the Cars franchise's number one fan. He has been wanting to see Cars 2 since we first heard it was in the making. Today was our big day that we've been counting down to. I had heard some not-so-good reviews that it had a lot of violence and wasn't a great story line, but I couldn't go back on my promise. How on earth was I going to convince him to go see Mr. Popper's Penguins when there was a Cars movie available? Have you seen how many cars he has? Did you know he wants to be a race car driver when he grows up? We talk on a daily basis about being 16 to go to driving school.

He doesn't get to go to the movies that often. (He can thank his little brother for that one. . .) Of course I had to be super mom and get him the kids combo (popcorn, soda, AND candy!) at the theater even though I just let him eat a chocolate cookie sundae. He's just so sweet--how could I say no?

 Sheesh! He looks like he's seven or something in that picture!

Okay, there he is, back to my four-year-old. Whew.

Anyway, he enjoyed the movie. He loved all the fast driving and didn't seem too confused by the story line. He got real annoyed when I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie. The violence didn't seem to bother him, but, tonight at dinner he started asking what a bomb was and what it could do to you. Then he wanted to know why they put the bomb on Mater. Tough questions to answer.

Happy July 4th! By the way. . . Whoever feeds the baby blue icing, gets diaper duty for the next 48 hours. Just saying.

A study in hearts. . .

Getting crafty for Valentine's day. I heard this idea and thought it would be fun to try out.

The pictures didn't come out exactly as I thought they would but I think it is because it was so wonderfully bright and sunny outside today!  We may have to try this again sometime though, because I really like the way some of the pictures came out!

Step 1:  Find empty paper towel roll.

Step 2: Mold towel roll into a heart shape.

Step 3: Hold heart shaped towel roll in front of camera to shoot through.

Step 4: (This is the one we had trouble with) Convince your kids to cooperate! Because there was such a small area to shoot through, any wiggling really made it a strange picture.

Cooperation came to a standstill, so I thought I'd take a few shots of things that were NOT moving targets.

Like grass. . .

and brick walls. . .

and the fence.

And then I thought, "I kinda like these shots, too!"

Finally, I got some shots of Will when he was at a moment of less movement.

Then we took our paper towel roll heart and turned it into a stamp by dipping it into a cup of paint to make some Valentines for Daddy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mommy's Little Overachiever

Since the beginning of his life, Will has always been developmentally ahead on his gross motor skills.

My "What to expect" book says that around 11 months my baby "may even be able to stand alone well." 

By 11 months, Will had been walking for two months. This is when he began climbing on things, and subsequently falling off things as well. He is a risk taker and is not afraid of anything.

We've started a collection of places we find him where he is not supposed to be.

No assistance was provided in any of these pictures.

He loves climbing in the open dishwasher. Doing dishes while Will is around is very difficult because he likes to empty the dishwasher for you and then climb in it.

These little yellow chairs will be the death of me. He is constantly climbing on them. He even knows that he can push them somewhere to use  to climb on something else.

This wasn't just standing on the swing, it was swinging on the swing standing up. He was laughing and enjoying himself so much!

The only thing that intrigues Will more than climbing is outlets. Reason #2 I can never take my eyes off him.

Obviously, he wasn't climbing here, but boy, was he stuck! And mad! Mommy points again for taking the picture before rescuing the child.

Poor Aunt Kim. She couldn't let him stand on the table alone. . .

But Mommy can!

C'mon. When you see it every day it's not as anxiety-provoking. He was actually doing this to steal things off the counter.

I took him off the table, so he takes his little yellow chair over to the other side of the room to reprogram my computer. Seriously, child!

As much as this drives me crazy, I think he has the most wonderful personality. I think this risk-taking is great because he is never afraid to try new things.  Once he got over his nine-months-of-colic business (who said colic ends at six months?) he has been one of the happiest kiddos I know.

Signs of Halloween

1. A gigantic orange spider spinning a web in your backyard. This web was huge! It spanned two trees that are at least five feet apart if not more! With the evening sun backlighting it, the spider looked like it was glowing orange!

2. Kids are being forced to pose with pumpkins in the pumpkin patch for a "great fall picture" (my kids are especially subjected to this.)

3. A terrified infant is stuffed into a fake pumpkin.

(and here is Luke in the fake pumpkin three years ago)

These kids don't think the pumpkin pot is nearly as cute as I think it is.

4.  FLETCHER'S!!! I prefer to eat them at the state fair, but due to all our illnesses the past weeks, we didn't get to go. However, we lucked out because there was A FLETCHER'S BOOTH AT THE PUMPKIN PATCH!!!

Luke scarfed this one down and asked for another. Aww! I'm a sucker for a corny dog.



5. Babies in ridiculous costumes.

Don't ask about the fork. It was making him smile, okay??

This was Luke's costume when he was a baby and we (Luke & I) thought it would be fun to dress Will in it.

Will did not think it would be fun (remember the fork?)

I think the part he hated most was that his feet were trapped in it. He couldn't move like he normally does, so he was pretty much stuck wherever I put him.

Until he fell over--see that little patch of white flowers/weeds next to him up there??

See them now?? Fell over. Poor guy.

Gee, there is just something about pictures of kids showing raw emotion that I think is so cute! Bad mommy--taking a picture of the baby crying. That is -10 mommy points.  Don't worry, I snapped it quick and comforted him. He was over it in a snap (pun intended)! See??

And of course, how could I leave this out of my post??

Luke in the pea costume!

6.  Pumpkins, pumpkins, and pun'kins.

The tractor in this picture makes it look like we were really out on the pumpkin farm.

Will loved riding in the wagon.

A bad shot because his head is cut off but he was trying to lift the pumpkin and making this guttural, primal sound that made me laugh so hard I lost focus on the camera.

Why so many shots of Will and none of Luke? Well, Luke did his time and posed for a few obligatory shots before running off to play. Will, unfortunately, did not have that option.