Colin's Birthday Celelbration Part 2!

It's been a whirlwind week. Colin is 2! Alex is 1/2! We celebrated Thanksgiving, had aventures at the beach, Palm Springs and around our house!  I'll go in order I think.

Colin's birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, so we had a house full of people to celebrate with us!

Special Birthday Breakfast

Colin had so much with his family!  Grandma and Grandpa got him a work bench, an electric toothbrush, a guitar and some big boy clothes.  Auntie Cheryl got him the coolest book with moving pictures in it and mommy and daddy bought him his much wanted dyson vaccum, a magnetic whiteboard with letters and numbers and a car play mat.  This kid is crazy spoiled!

He also got another borthday cake!

While we will definiately need to watch the sugar for a while, it was so much fun to celebrate with everyone!

Happy Birthday, Bright Bug!

Birthday Celebration Part 1

My baby boy is going to be 2!!  While I was pregnant, my OB called him my little butterball since he was due so close to Thanksgiving.  This year, his birthday IS Thanksgiving!  I am so greatful for all of the joy this little guy has brought to my life.

We wanted Colin to have a special time with some of his friends so we had a small get together for some of his favorite little people the weekend before his birthday

Before Chaos arrived!

 Gavin and I were going with a casual cars theme, but at the store, Colin insisted on Thomas, so we did a last minute switch.  He was so excited to see his cake!!

Grandma bought him a fun Thomas train tent and him and his friends had so much fun!

We bought pizza and the kids sat and ate it pretty much on their own; like big kids.  Sniffle.

My favorite part was watching the kids interact and play.  But a close second was being reminded how many people love and care about my precious son.

 

Colin has apparently been practicing for blowing out his candle because as soon as he saw it, he started trying!!

We didn't really intend for him to open his presents during his party because ownership is a difficult concept for toddlers and we thought the kids would get bored.  But Colin had plans of his own.  He got lots of help!

Overall, the kids were amazingly behaved and we had so much fun.  It was pretty much exactly what we were hoping for: a low stress party focused on making sure the kids had a great time.

How the heck did I forget to write about Halloween??

We love Halloween!  It's been my favorite holiday for years.

It's also why Gavin says are family is officially in the running for cheesiest family.

First, there's the family themed costumes.

Then, there's the Halloween Cards. :)

What can I say?  I only have a very few years before my kids refuse to participate in either of those.

We had such a fun Halloween!

Colin had a costume parade at preschool.

Then in the evening, Mommy and Colin carved pumpkins.

After dinner (our normal Halloween Speciality of Baked Pumpkin Ziti!) we went trick or treating with Desmond the pirate.

Halloween looks a lot different around here, but it was so much fun!!  I can't wait for future Halloweens.

The Play Room

I am in love with our house's slow but steady evolution into our home.

Today, we will visit the room that should rightly be called "The Dining Room."

"Dinning Room" Today

Only, it's not a dining room.  If I use it's history, I suppose I could more accurately say 'fun room.'  But it currently goes by 'play room.'

When we moved in, or at least when we toured our house, it was a dinning room.

But we quickly decided that we didn't really need a fromal dinning rom.  Our kitchen is huge and we decided it would be a much better place for us to eat.  So we turned it into a Game Room!

We quickly made a few other changes, we tore out the carpet and painted it to be more 'game feeling.'

For a long time, it stayed this way.  It was home to Gavin and my rockband, as well as where I curled up playing elder scroll games during a few very difficult weeks.

Then somebody came along and it took a whole new direction!

Colin needed a place to play and grow and the game room became the play room.

But spending hours and hours in that room, the color really started to wear on me.  It wasn't a play room color, it was too dark and too serious.  So last week we made the latest revision!

 

There are still things we'd like to do, but the color made a huge difference in the feel of the room.

I know this room isn't done with it's evolution.  More than any other room in our house, it will need to grow and change with the needs of our family.  It will probably be a game room again, who knows, maybe it will even be a dining room again one day!

In the meantime, it's host to hours and hours of fun and play.

Two Under Two

Once upon a time, I had my dream ideal of what my perfect family looked like.

Boy was I wrong!

Amoung other things, I had no idea that someday we'd have two precious little boys less than two years apart.

We knew we'd love more kids after Colin was born.  When Gavin and I decided we were open to having another baby, we also knew that the timing and outcome were out of our control. But I don't think either of us thought we'd have another baby quite so quickly and easily!

We are lucky, our boys are awesome.  Alex is usually easy going and Colin is generally incredibly loving and gentle with baby.

Still, two under two is no joke!  Although I can't compare to having kids spaced further apart. I imagine some things are easier and some are more difficult.  It would obviously be less work if Colin could do a few more things on his own, but we've never known any differently.

When Alex was first born, the most challenging part for me was getting them both up or down the stairs.  That's improving, and new chalenges are always presenting themselves.  The hardest times for me right now are getting in and out of the car and bath time.  I'm sure once Alex is mobile, things will shift again.

The best part about having two under two?  I have two precious little boys who love me and love each other.

As hard as it is to believe, I only have one more month with "2 under 2".  The last few months have had their challenges, but they've also been filled with love and laughter and I can't wait to watch these two precious boys grow up together.