My Little Birthday Boy

My baby turned 2 today!!! I don't know if he understood it was his special day, but we spoiled the crap outta him! I usually take his milestone pic standing up, but he wasn't cooperating much...

He slept in late this morning, then I made turkey bacon and scrambled eggs for our brunch. He went down for his nap at 1 and I kicked it into high gear to get everything done while he was asleep before his party at 5!

On the menu was PB&J sandwiches, tortilla rollups, veggie tray, fruit bowl, cupcakes, and punch. I wanted to keep it all finger food so that people wouldn't need silverware. For the sandwiches I put white bread on one side and whole wheat on the the other, then cut them into quarters and alternated white/brown in the rows. The punch was orange Hawaiian Punch and ginger ale with red koolaid star-shaped ice cubes.

A lot of my friends with young kids were working so there weren't as many people today as there were for his 1st birthday. But the family and friends that WERE here are very close and dear to my heart and I appreciated their presence!

^Brad with his uncle Eric

^Our good friends Rachel, James, and Jet

^My brother Eric and sis-in-law Teri

^My mom and sis-in-law Sarah

^My mother/father-in-law

My dad was also there, but I seem to have missed capturing him in a picture. We all ate snacks, then it was time for us to sing Happy Birthday to Brad and let him eat his own little cake. For the cake, I knew I wanted to make another one from scratch again like last year, but I didn't know what kind. I decided on an Applesauce Cake recipe from the 1950s out of my vintage Betty Crocker cookbook! It was kind of like a spice applesauce cake with raisins. Everyone loved it, and there were no cupcakes left at the end!

I made a special little star-shaped cake for Brad:

After that, daddy helped him open presents and read his cards from everyone. He got some good stuff and we are all very thankful for the gifts!

We saved the BEST gift for last though....

His very own Radio Flyer tricycle!!!! He didn't know what to think at first until we set him on it...then he didn't want to get off! I think he will catch on to the pedaling pretty quick, and we can't wait to take him outside tomorrow to play on it!

And of course we had to finish off the party with some swimming! Yes our pool is FINALLY blue, clear, and ready for action! Our new filter is 200% better than our last one and we can't wait to beat the heat in it for the next couple of months.

After our parents and family left, our friends Rachel and James stayed for awhile to hang out and chat with us. We got into the goody bags to see what the kiddoes could play with...and my little boy now has this....

He didn't even notice it was on there at first, then when he did he kept acting scared of it! But after a few seconds he got distracted and forgot it was there again. He's my tough little man!

All in all, I think the party went great and that my precious little boy had a wonderful birthday. I look back 5 years ago at how different things were--how different life in general was--and I count my blessings everyday for what God has given to me since then. I longed so much to be a mother and God helped me take a leap of faith to make it happen! My heart is full ♥