Two!

On James' actual birthday, we celebrated again!

He wasn't in the mood to have his picture made...until we let him climb behind the wheel.  He was all smiles then.

That night we went to Chuck.E.Cheese to play and eat pizza.  What better way is there to turn two?!

His favorite ride...with Chuck.E. himself.

The day after his birthday, we went for his two year check up.

Mommy and James waiting for the doctor.

His stats:

Weight:  30.8 lbs (75th percentile)

Length:  37 inches (97th percentile)

He had a great check up and didn't even have to get any shots.

One of his favorite things lately is grilled cheese and tomato soup...evidence:

On September 10, Emma lost her fourth tooth.  Now she has a big gap on the top.  At least her bottom two had time to grow in a little bit before her top two came out.

Happy second birthday to James - we love you!  Can't wait to see how your personality progresses in the year ahead. 

Buzzing Around

My baby boy is turning two on Thursday!  To celebrate, we had a birthday party today at the park.

The plan was to play at the park until around 11:00 and then walk next door for our scheduled visit with the fire station.  That would be followed by lunch, cake and a pinata.  

James is obsessed with Buzz Lightyear...so naturally, we had a Buzz theme.  He has Buzz night time diapers and he will NOT let you put any other kind on him.  He says, "Buzz, Buzz" and if you try to put another kind on him, he will literally rip it off.

The Buzz party favors.

Having fun on the playground.

 

Juice break {it was so hot}.

 

See-saw with Emma

 

The other half of the see-saw.

After all the kids played for a while at the park, we headed over to visit the firemen...BUT halfway across the lawn, we saw them pulling out with their siren blaring.

And here we all are walking back to the park.

So we went ahead and had lunch.

He looks so grown up here.

He loves a bottle because it means he can put the lid back on himself.

The crew eating lunch.

Then it was time for everybody's favorite part...CAKE!

Blowing out his candle...

...licking his candle...this was right before he ate a chunk out of it.

 

Enjoying his cake.

Adorable.

Time for the pinata...instead of hitting it with a stick, each child pulls a string.  One string opens up the bottom.

Emma's turn.

After about four or five children, the bottom fell out and it was a scramble for who could get the most pieces of candy.

It was a great party and we all had so much fun!  After everybody left, me and Emma headed out while Josh and James went to the store.  Before they made it to the store, they spotted the firemen coming back.

So they went to the fire station to climb aboard and meet the firemen.  Josh said the firemen felt terrible for having to leave right as we were scheduled to come over but obviously they had to take the call which we obviously understood.  They were so nice to let him come over once they were finished.

Christian still hadn't left the park, so he was able to join them!

He was so happy.  He loved sitting behind the wheel.

After a much needed nap, we opened his presents and then headed to dinner.  We let James and Emma have milkshakes because they both ate so well.

He.ate.every.bite.

So.did.this.one.

My boy is growing up and I am enjoying every minute of watching it happen!

Big Kid Now

Okay, so here's the thing...I haven't blogged in a while. Technically, it's been about a month. It was a busy month. Emma and James went to Charleston to visit my parents, Josh and I went to the lake for our anniversary, Emma had her last day of pre-k, Emma was a flower girl in Alison and Tony's wedding, and then Emma went to stay with JD and Honey and then Nana. These posts will come...later. 

 Today's event was too important to push back. Today my little girl started kindergarten! 

Here she is...my big kid

In her new class with her seat next to Sam and across from Anderson.  I'm so thankful that she has these two boys in her class so that she has some familiar faces.  We walked in the room this morning and we heard a loud, "EMMA is here!" which came from her good buddy, Sam.  He sure knows how to make a girl feel welcome.  She had no trouble saying goodbye to me.

During orientation on Monday morning, their new teacher read them a story called The Kissing Hand.  What a touching story about a raccoon that was starting kindergarten the next day but was anxious and nervous.  The mommy raccoon took her little boy's left hand, spread out his fingers and kissed his hand.  He felt her love and knew that any time during the day that he was sad or missing his mom he could feel that kiss in his hand and would remember how she loved him.  After the story, the teacher was so smart to tell the children that she knew they'd all be perfectly fine...but that their mommies may be sad.  She gave them all a heart sticker to give to us this morning.  Right on cue before i dropped her off, Emma took my left hand, spread out my fingers, kissed it and told me she loved me.  Then she put the sticker on me so that I could look at it all day and remember those words.  SWEET!  I wore it all day long.

I picked her up from school and she was all smiles after she crawled into the front seat.  Somehow she looks more grown up here than she did when I dropped her off.

Then she told me she was done posing for pictures and she took the wheel.  I had a flash forward moment of when she would someday get her drivers license and this picture was frozen in my mind.

I know these moments will go by so fast, but I know she's more than ready to grow up.  I ask her to stop growing and she always responds, "You know I can't stop growing...I eat too good."  She's got me there.

After dinner, we celebrated with cookies.  James didn't know or care why we were celebrating, but he was more than willing to partake in the cookie experience.

I look forward to this school year - I know it will be full of new adventures!

Boom!

We celebrated July 4 with JD and Honey at the zoo.  It was beautiful weather and the kids both had a fabulous time.

Two monkeys watching the train go by.

She's so happy up on Daddy's shoulders.

Feeding the turtles on Daddy and JD's shoulders.

The boy has rhythm.

He's so cute!  He is happiest outside and climbing.

These two are picture perfect together.

He loved watching the baby bears play with each other.

Us watching one of the elephant eat watermelons.

James didn't want the lion training to be over.  He just kept starring through the gate.

Enjoying a strawberry popsicle after dinner.

With my girl waiting for the fireworks to start.

The little man with his Elmo {he is slightly obsessed with Elmo these days}.

In amazement with his first fireworks experience.

Boom.

James showing everybody where to look.

Family selfie.

Playing in the sprinkler the next morning.

Chillin' with his bubbles.  He looks like such a big boy in this picture!

They made their own water table out of the chair and it served as a long period of entertainment.