THE BIG PARTY!

Today was finally the day for Will's big Mickey Mouse birthday party!

A lot of work went into this party and it ended up being a great day.  This morning was a little bumpy. I was stressed and Will was upset.  I am not really sure what was wrong with him but he was super clingy and he didn't want leave the house.  Of course, once he got to the gym and saw his party all set up, my stress went away and he was a happy boy!  He was in awe of all the Mickey Mouse stuff and headed straight for the bounce house.

Mickey was the central theme and I used phrases from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse throughout the party.

So many of our family and friends came out to celebrate. We are so blessed to have people in our lives who love Will so much! It brings me to tears thinking about how much he means to so many people. He really has brought our family closer together and made our friends like family.  He is definitely a bright spot in all of our lives.

We had the party around lunch time so we served lunch and had birthday cupcakes.  My mom did all the food and made the cupcakes. This party would not have happened without her!  Also, Julie and Kristen helped me so much. They did everything I asked of them and I am so glad to call them my friends!

This year we continued the tradition of collecting gifts for a charity instead of having everyone bring a gift for Will. Once again, our family and friends went above and beyond, but I am going to save the details for another post!

The party can best be explained through pictures so here we go...

"Mickey's Art Show" - Coloring Table for the kids...some adults colored too!

"See Ya Real Soon!" - Favor Table - Gift bags for the kids and candy favors for the adults.

"Hot Dog Hot Dog Hot Diggity Dog" - Food Table - We served hot dogs, Mickey chicken nuggets, chips, animal crackers, and grapes for lunch.

"Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse" - Sign-in Table

Guest tables

Cupcake table

Yummy Cupcakes!

Party!

The Birthday Boy!

Sweet Friends.

"Mickey's Mousekersize" - Sign pointing to the Bounce House!

Will having fun with friends!

Family

Gift Table and the "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" Theater

All our guests

Gavin in the bounce house.

Will and "Bess"

Singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out his candle.

Watching Mickey.

Photo I used for the sign in table.

Cute boys!

All the kiddos

YAY!

Berkley at the coloring table.

Will with Uncle Al and Mawmaw.

Our little family at the end of the party!

We were all completely exhauseted at the end of the party, but it was a fantastic day. It was so much fun hanging out with everyone and celebrating our boy!

Go HERE to see the rest of the pictures from the party. 

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!

Tonight we celebrated Will's birthday at home with family.  Uncle John ordered pizza for everyone and we had an Edgar's cake.

Will was in a great mood all night. He kept everyone laughing. 

He ate his pizza fast because he knew there was CAKE! He couldn't wait to eat his own special little cake.

I lit the number 2 candle and we sang Happy Birthday!  When I set the cake and candle down in front of him he said "hot" and wouldn't even come close enough to the candle to blow it out.  I guess that is a good thing!

Everyone enjoyed sitting around eating cake and talking.  Mawmaw, Pop, Pawpaw, CC, Uncle John, Aunt Kate, Uncle Gray, Richard and Julie were all here.

After cake, we opened presents.  When Will would open a gift he would get this shocked look on his face and say "WOW!!" It was precious.  He is definitely an animated little boy!

He got some great gifts.  He got a backpack, new clothes, a new Mickey and books, some Play-doh, money for new shoes, and a new movie!  He loved all his gifts!

We finished the night by playing.  Will was all over the place. At one point, he wanted all his clothes off except for his diaper, shoes, and socks. I am not sure why, but he the best time running around "nekked". 

I will never forget the day he was born and I am so glad that our family comes together to celebrate it each year.  It is a bitter sweet moment.  Clay and I are sad that he isn't a baby anymore but we are so happy to get to raise this sweet boy!  He made us parents and we couldn't be more grateful that God chose us to be a family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY BOY!  WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Birthday Snack at Daycare

Since Will's birthday fell on Friday this year, I planned with the daycare to bring a special birthday snack to his class.  It was there snack at 2 and they had just gotten up from nap. When I walked in the room, Will ran to me and gave me a hug. He was really excited I was there. His little class is so sweet and his teachers are wonderful.

I took thumbprint cookies from Edgar's, goldfish, and juice boxes.  They loved it!  All the kids devoured the cookies.

Of course, Will's best friend Gavin was there because they are in the same class.  Tabitha was also able to come in while they had their snack and Julie went with me to help me out.

I am sure it was the first of many birthday celebrations at school.  It was a fun afternoon and I am grateful that the daycare allows the parents to participate on their child's special day!

2 Years Old!

Will and Tiger - 2 Years Old

Will is 2-years-old today!  Can you believe it?!?!   He is growing up so fast and Clay and I are so proud of our little boy.  He amazes us everyday with the things that he remembers and the things that he is learning.  He is smart, independent, strong-willed, and silly.  He is the most perfect little boy!

Here is what he is up to:
--He talks all the time and we even have little conversations with him
--He can count to 11
--He knows most of the letters in the alphabet but rarely says them in order
--He know the following shapes: triangle, circle, and heart
--He knows all his colors but still mixes up orange and green
--He loves going to church and asks us almost everyday to go
--He is learning his first bible verse: "Every good and perfect thing is from above" James 1:17.  His favorite part is saying "sebentine" (17). It is really cute!
--He loves school and we have not had a meltdown in a long time. Most of the time he would rather stay at school and play with his friends. 
--He is not found of bathtime these days, but loves to brush his teeth afterwards.
--His favortie tv shows are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Little Bill
--He loves all sports.  Baseball, basketball, golf ball, soccer ball, and football are words that you will hear around our house all the time. He also loves watching all sports on tv.  It definitely makes Clay happy!
--He is an extremely picky eater. Right now he only eat chicken nuggets, pizza, apples, bananas, grapes, cookies, and any sweets. We are trying to push him to eat other foods but he is stubborn about it. He is also the slowest eater.  He will sit in his high chair forever if we let him.
--He is wearing 18-24 month clothes, size 5 diapers, and size 6 1/2 shoes

We take him to the doctor on March 9th so we will get all his measurements then. I am guessing he weighs around 28 pounds and I have no clue how tall he is.

There is so much more but there is no way to list it all here!

As usual, I will include some outtakes from our photo shoot with Tiger:

Showing me how old he is!

He wanted me to take a picture of him kicking his soccerball.

To see more pictures of Will and Tiger each month, go HERE.

He will be TWO tomorrow...

but I will always remember his like this:

What a Weekend!

We had a busy weekend!

Friday was the most low key moment of the weekend.  We cooked dinner and then headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for the birthday.

Saturday we got up and Clay, John, and Richard headed to Atlanta for motorcycle race.  Julie and I hung out with Will at the house.  Kristen came over and we made all the favors for Will's party.  We had a few extra favors left over so Will got a slinky. He calls it a "tinky" and it is so cute. He also got some Mickey Mouse ears. Julie took a picture of him with the ears on and when he saw the picture he said "I Mickey Mouse!!"  Love him.

Will had to go down for nap a little early because I needed him to rest up for his 2-year-old pictures that afternoon.

After his nap, we headed to downtown Leeds to take his pictures. It was a beautiful day and I was so glad we got to be out and about.  Erin wanted us to meet her at the train depot, and Will was in love. There was a red caboose there and he told everyone that it was "Will's train". He got to see a real train up close when one came by and he was a little freaked out about it. He wanted me to hold him.  I thought he would love it but it was big and loud so I think it was overwhelming for him.

Will's Train

We walked around downtown and Erin took some great pictures. I can't wait to see them. Will was a totally ham and was all over the place. I was so happy that he was in a good  mood!

We went to Wal-Mart after we finished his pictures and Julie was such a big help to me.  It was nice to have someone to push the buggy and entertain Will.  I had to get a bunch of groceries for the week and stuff to make chili for our church's chili cook-off the next day.

Saturday night, we cooked a pizza and just hung out and waited for the boys to get home. I couldn't go to sleep so I stayed up until Clay got home at about 1 am.  We were both exhausted!

Sunday was a crazy day.  I got up early to make my chili and then we headed to church. We had a great service. Bro. Brad is doing a series on family and it is definitely what Clay and I need to hear right now.  After service was the chili cook-off, and guess what, I WON FOR THE BEST CHILI!!! Are you serious?  I laughed so hard when they called my name. I just made my chili to help out because it was fundraiser for our children's program, I never entered to actually win.  I got a little certificate so I am framing it and hanging in my kitchen. Winning a cooking award is something Clay never thought I could do. Thinking about it now still makes me crack up!! 

Will before church wearing Clay's visor. He looked like a little golfer.

Sunday afternoon, we headed over to the outlet mall to meet up with Will's Pawpaw and CC so they could get him some clothes as his birthday present. We got so many cute things and I am so thankful for the new clothes.  THANKS PAWPAW AND CC!

On the way home from the outlet mall, Will fell asleep in the car.  He was so tired!  We went home and he got to sleep for an hour and then it was time to head back to church. Clay and I had a youth committee meeting before bible study.  After bible study we went to Wendy's with a bunch of people from church. There were like 25 of us there.  Our pastors daughter, Abby, entertained Will for most of the night. She is turning 9 the day after Will's birthday and she was so sweet with Will. 

It was an exhausting day so we went home and crashed.  It was a good weekend and now it's Will's birthday week!!!  Can't wait for my baby's big day!