Peter's Second Birthday!

I just love my little guy so much. It's hard to believe that he's already two years old! It's hard to believe that I've been a mom for that long...and then again, it's hard to believe that Peter hasn't been here with me forever. Plus, throw in the fact that I'm going to have ANOTHER baby next month? Oh my goodness! Life is just crazy!

We celebrated Peter's birthday with my side of the family at our weekly Sunday dinner. Peter was just so sweet (that is...until it was time to go...he was NOT ready to leave the fun behind!).

Last year, Peter cried and cried when we sang the happy birthday song to him. I was worried that it might happen again this year, because he cried only last week when we sang the song to his cousin Mckinlie on her birthday. But for his time to shine, he was in a lovely mood and enjoyed it immensely.


Above: Peter looking sweet while we sing to him. We put a candle on a cupcake for him. His cake is on the table in front of him too. Peter blew the candle out all by himself (Daddy helped blow out the candle too).


Above: Peter happily preparing to eat his cupcake. He ate most of it, until he became distracted by a ring pop from his birthday cake. The ring pop took the honors (very messy honors) for the remainder of the evening.

Above: Peter's birthday cake. How am I ever going to top this cake next year? Seriously though, I am dang proud of this cake!


Above: Peter preparing to tackle...er...open his present from Nammy Joey. Notice the ring pop in his mouth...yup, that's not a binkie. This large box contained some train accessories that went along with the train set that Peter got from Mom and Dad at Christmas.


Above: Peter wearing his little hard hat from the Black and Decker tool set that Nammy Joey gave to him...it went along with the gift that Mom and Dad later gave him on his actual birthday. More on that to follow!


Above: The hard hat doesn't fit Uncle Clayton quite as well as it fit Peter. Peter still needs to grow into the hat a little, but Uncle Clayton has definitely grown out of it!


Above: Aunt Kim, however, looks fantastic!


Above: Peter mixing his train and construction fashion with a little baseball and Pampers chic thrown in for good measure.


Above: Peter definitely needed a bath after enjoying one of his pirate cupcakes the following night!

Today (January 19th--Peter's actual birthday) was a great day. I decided that Peter needed to have a really mellow day and that I would just let him set the pace.

I got up and exercised, threw dinner in the slow cooker, and baked Peter's birthday cake before he woke up. He slept in a little and woke up around 8:20 a.m. Then, I got to cuddle my little guy while we watched Sesame Street and he was treated to breakfast in bed (he promptly dropped a wedge of cinnamon toast and made my bed all crumby...oh well!).

Then, Peter got into a fort-building mood. So, I made him a fort using our smaller couch, blankets, and pillows.

Above: Peter playing in his pillow fort. We basically spent the majority of the day playing with forts, pillows, and blankets in one form or another. It wasn't until about 6 p.m. that Peter allowed me to put the cushions back on the couch!


Above: Daddy came home to visit during his lunch break and we unveiled Peter's birthday present then. He got a cool Black & Decker work bench and some fun tools. Here, Peter and Daddy are sporting their protective goggles.



Above: Peter was VERY excited about his goggles! Maybe that's because he's always trying to play with Mommy and Daddy's glasses and can't!


Above: Peter's business is already booming. He's taking calls and scheduling appointments!



Above: Daddy helped Peter to utilize his tool belt.


Above: Part of creating a mellow day for my guy was letting him call the shots on a few things. This little guy of mine is kind of "clothing optional." Now, I wouldn't go so far as to call him a nudist because he doesn't like to be without his diaper (though he does think it's funny). But I tried a couple of times and he was NOT in the mood to get dressed today. But tell me, have you ever seen a sweeter half-naked little carpenter?


Above: Here is the simplified treasure chest cake I made for Peter's actual birthday. It is basically just a cake mix, canned frosting, generic vanilla wafers (pulverized into "sand" in the blender), topped with a tin treasure chest, plastic gold coins, and beads from a party store (Zurchers). Not anywhere near as cool as the other treasure chest cake, but still super cute and a whole lot easier! Tasty too!


Above: Peter checking out his new Elmo DVD from Mimi and Papa after successfully making it through another rendition of the happy birthday song! While we were singing, Peter had the cutest little "hide-a-smile" expression on his face. It was a combination of him being very shy and very pleased to know that he was the center of attention and the song was all for him. It was so cute. I recorded it on our camcorder. I'll have to upload the video later. I don't know that his sweet expression could fully be captured on a computer screen video player, but it is definitely sweet to watch on our TV! Peter was too shy to blow out the candle, so Daddy helped. But after Daddy did it once, Peter wanted a shot at it, so we lit the candles again and Peter blew them out all by himself that time. What a big boy!

Peter has even started sleeping in his toddler bed over the past week. This wasn't really planned. We set the bed up to get Peter used to it. I planned to sneak him into his toddler bed on the days that he fell asleep on me prior to his nap. But one night last week, Peter just really wanted to sleep in his bed. That was a super rough night on Mommy, let me tell you! But eventually, Peter did sleep in his bed and he hasn't turned back since! He loves his little bed.


Above: Being held by Uncle Bri and showing off my Elmo DVD. Mimi and Papa also gave Peter a cool little Leap Frog book reader with three books. You put this little doohickey over the pictures on the book and it says out loud what the pictures are. It also alternates the songs and sometimes makes animal noises or sings a song. Way cool.

Peter then showed Mimi and Papa his new workbench and tools. After a nice visit with Mimi and Papa, it was time to get Peter settled down for the night (not an easy task after such a momentous day!). Even though Peter went to bed at about 9 p.m., he didn't actually fall asleep until almost 10 p.m. So, who knows what tomorrow will bring!

But I'll tell you this, I know that tomorrow will bring me a lot of happiness. I love being a mom. I love building forts for my little guy. I love to see how excited he gets when we do little things for him. I love his personality, energy, and zest for life. I even love those blasted crumbs in the bed...because it means I have my little guy snuggled up next to me. And now I get the blessing and opportunity to bring another little guy into the world next month. I'm going to be tired and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage it...but I'm going to love it! That part is for sure.