Holy %&*#

I had a lot of possible titles for this post.  But, when I thought about the fact that my little man just turned 2 years old, the title just flew out of my mouth (sorry mom, you can't take care of everything). 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the face of a 2 year old (and if you're really bored, you know, like you're at work or something, you can read about his original birthday here and here):

And this is how the celebration started:

And, since I've been told that people have been asking about the birthday post I won't mess around with all the boring things, like how I did tear up the morning of his birthday, or how it freaked me out the first time someone asked how old he was and I said "2", or that I told Brian "thank God we have Chloe or I might be trying to get pregnant right now"... I'm not by the way, totally not trying to get pregnant (which was probably too much information for you since that is kind of personal)... and now I'm telling a story like my mom, with lots of detours.

Anyway... for Evan's birthday Brian's parents came down for the weekend.  Evan had been receiving boxes from family throughout the week and I was waiting to give him his presents little by little so as to not be overwhelmed (he still has one gift from my parents to open).  The actual day of his birth I let him open his gift from my sister and her family - the Tag Jr.  This has been a really big hit (I tell you because I never know what to get kids for their birthday and this one went over well).  Now, Evan is a book kid so I don't know if it would work for every kid.  And by book kid I mean he reads himself to sleep.  No kidding... I mean, he might not be reading but he does have his favorite books in his bed and he looks at the pictures.  Of course, he also has Lamb (blanket animal), Moo Cow (blanket animal), Blue Cow (blanket animal), Bear (blanket animal) - and yes I named his blanket animals, what of it? -, Papa Smurf figurine, Grouchy Smurf figurine, 2 blankets, 2 pacifiers, Sleep Sheep, and Twilight Turtle (and somehow he knows when something is missing).  So, he's a bit of  bed hoarder... but he does love the Tag Jr.

The following day I let him open some other gifts.  And now for the birthday montage (not in chronological order for those of you who need that sort of thing... sorry):

At this point everything had been opened.  Looks like Christmas... doesn't it?

This little thing is something from Mommy and Daddy... it's a drum pad and it's a big hit.  I know... I know.. you think I'm nuts that I bought him a drum pad. But here's the thing... he used everything else as a drum pad anyway - my walls, my furniture, my legs... so all this does is give him a constructive place to do what he was doing anyway.  Got it?  And stop shaking your head...

More drum action... look how he holds those sticks. I'm thinking Lars Ulrich here.  Go ahead... look him up, you know you want to.  I'll wait.

Satisfied?  Bet you didn't know I happen to love Metallica... I'm a woman of myriad tastes.

This is a gift from Uncle Joe and Miss Joanna... the Thomas at the Sodor Fair set.  Another ginormous hit (after my mother-in-law figured out how to put it together).  This has been hours of enjoyment.

Additionally they also got him The Little Engine That Could.  I've only read it about 50 times.  At least it hasn't made it to the bed hoard yet.

This is the book again (as it's being opened) but I had to show you the smile on his face as soon as he saw the train on the cover.  He is such a stereotypical boy.

This is from Uncle Tommy and Aunt Suga - a stuffed monkey and super cute monkey pajamas that will be awesome in the winter.  The monkey (which I've named Monkey... yes I did... remember, I had a cat named Kitty) has made it close to the bed and is in danger of joining the hoard.  But he gets played with too much to make it all the way to the bed.

And now, let me show you what happens when two presents collide:

Helium balloon + 2 drumsticks =

Whack and Chase (again, my name... because, you know, Evan whacks the balloon and then chases it - why not name things what they are... fine, we can call it something impressive like "Wee Chasing Yellow").



And of course there was cake.  In fact... there were 2 cakes.  You see, on his actual birthday I made Evan a chocolate cake with vanilla icing.  Then, since by the time Brian got home from work and we ate it was just too late to force cake (and I didn't want to force cake) we decided to do the cake on Saturday.  I wrapped up the cake and put it on the counter... silly silly me.  Because we were also having an ant infestation at the time.  So, by the time my in-laws woke up the next day, the cake was CRAWLING with ants.  That cake went in to the garbage.  Brian and I then went to Publix and bought another cake (big ups to Publix for their yummy tasting cakes...and yes, I did just write "big ups" move on).  So, let the cake montage begin:

Evan blowing out the candle with Daddy's help - you can actually see his lips "blowing"... and you can see how he is trying to squint through the one shaft of light that gets through the shades.

Mmm... chocolate coma.

Look at the adoration in his eyes... or maybe it's exhaustion.  He went right to sleep after this.

In addition to all of this, we also went to the pool, Grant Park Farmer's Market and Evan helped his dad and papa put together his dresser and put up the sleep guard on his big boy bed. Because... I almost forgot... Evan is now sleeping in his big boy bed (I'll do a post on that one later but I had to mention it).

And, just so she isn't forgotten on Evan's big day... here is Miss Chloe (because she's cute):

Asleep on Grandma (Brian's mom).

Post-bath fabulousness...

New Camera

Guess who finally got a new camera (even though this person really can't afford it)?  But, as Brian said, can we really afford to not take pictures of our children?  And can you all really afford to not see pictures of our children?  And, in case you missed it, the answer to the first question is me.  I got a new camera.

To christen the camera I thought I would show you what Monkey was doing the day before his birthday (yes folks, my little man is 2 years old tomorrow... let the tears commence - kind of like they did the first time I put him in a 2T shirt and it fit... but he is still wearing 12 month shorts sometimes, go figure).  Anyway, on to the photos:

That's right, we decided to go outside and color.  I bought Evan washable crayons a while back and his Music Class song book is actually a coloring book.  So, we went out to the screened-in porch, sang songs, and colored.

As you can see, Chloe was hanging out too (she actually fell asleep for a little while outside).

The Monkey in action. 

Chloe and my refreshing Fresca... nothing natural in this beverage but I'm currently obsessed.

I believe we dropped a crayon here and the little man had to get it.  He couldn't just leave it alone... umm... OCD anyone?

And this one is where he is telling me he wants the camera... I ignored him of course but I love the perspective on this picture (we want you...).

This one shows you just how strong the flash is on my new camera (and how incredibly cute my son is).

And of course I leave you with a picture of the lady herself.  Isn't my new camera fantabulous?  Look for birthday photos soon...

Backyard Fun

So, it has actually been beautiful in Atlanta the last few mornings (and by beautiful I mean in the 80s with low humidity... this is beautiful by anyone's definition - no?).  We've been to the park, Evan went out with a sitter yesterday (make-up from when the nanny had a sick day), so this morning we decided to play in our own backyard.

After about 30 minutes, my son settled in the dirt with his shovel and pail.

And of course the socks and shoes came off immediately.  I don't know why I even try to put shoes on this boy.

We played with the shovel until the plastic shovel I got for $1 at Target broke... go figure.  So, mommy had to improvise.

Cue the sturdy kitchen spatula (I believe originally "borrowed" from my own mother's kitchen) and monkey is smiling again.  Let the fun continue.

And shovel away he did (for anyone who will be visiting my house, I promise I wil wash this spatula thoroughly before I use it again).

But what is this?  The spatula can't even hold the Monkey's attention for more than 5 minutes (I've been told this is no unusual for 2 year olds)?

Aah, all we needed was a new game to re-interest Monkey.  This one involved banging the spatula on the wood to get that nice ringing sound.

And this game is all about trying to figure out what Mommy will let him do. The answer is outside almost anything goes.

I think Monkey likes that answer!

Oh wait, another new game.  This one involved shoveling wood chips into Monkey's sneakers.  This one will definitely be fun for Mommy to clean out later... but, outside almost anything goes.

Seriously, it's fun and it improves his manual dexterity.  How could I say no? 

And where is Chloe you ask?

Where else but asleep on our back patio in one of her bouncy chairs.  I figured the fresh air was good for her and might even convince her to sleep at night? 

You'll notice strewn around Chloe are some of the games we already abandoned...  a doll and a water gun...

... bubbles, construction paper and crayons, a scrub brush (what - you don't know that cleaning is fun?)...

... and the magic T-Ball set which keeps mysteriously making its way to the patio and dangerously close to Chloe.

Right now I'm writing this blog in our screened-in porch while Evan is crawling around me on the table trying to figure out how to connect my camera to the computer.  And he is coming really close so I should probably shut down the computer and try out some parenting skills.

It's Been A While

And here is what we've been doing:

Evan has decided that the toy box doesn't need to be empty to play in it.

And, in fact, it's more fun to play with the toys inside the toy box.

Chloe has learned how to sit up on her own.  Just kidding (she is only 3 months y'all).  She was being propped up by her grandmother (Brian's mom) who came to visit along with Papa (Brian's dad) a few weeks ago.

Chloe is showing off many things in this picture.  Her gym (that she no longer uses since she doesn't want her vision obscured by anything if there are cartoons or a cooking show on TV), her beautiful outfit, and how incredibly cute she is.

And she just got cuter...

... and cuter...

... and cuter!!

Aunt Amy came to visit for a few days and she spent some quality time with my little man.  I love how enthralled Evan looks as Aunt Amy reads to him.

And of course she spent some time with "Daddy's Princess" (that is what the shirt says and nothing could be more true - seriously... it's disturbing how quickly she wrapped him around her finger).

Evan then decided that it was shirt-less Thursday.

And this is proof that Evan does occassionally listen to us.  Before Brian took this picture he asked Evan to raise his arms over his head.  Of all the times...

And these are my children (that still feels weird writing that).  Evan isn't rolling over on Chloe but Chloe is grabbing Evan's shorts - this drives Evan crazy.  And why yes, those are my beautifully manicured fingers you see.  I got that manicure when my friend Robin (met in TX but she now lives up north) came to visit.

And to finish off our crazy past few weeks (which also included a playgroup at our house, dinner with Brian's boss, and many other things) here is a picture of my peaceful little girl doing something she doesn't often do anymore...

...sleep.