James enters the terrific two's!!!

Another fun birthday! Baby James is two! We can't believe it. Being much more laid back than his older sister, he didn't have an overwhelming grasp of and/or desire to largely celebrate his birthday this year! He is such a sweet, simple boy. Any time I would try to talk to him about how his birthday was coming up and we would have cake and presents and fun he just kind of ignored me or, if I pressed the matter too much, would get rather grumpy about it! So, although for Bethany's second birthday we did a big party, we decided to keep it simple for him. I am really beginning to see how their "little" personalities are so different! So, on his birthday, we had a few cousins/aunts/grandparents over and just let him play in the backyard! It happened to be conference weekend, so we just played in between the two sessions and it worked out perfectly. He had a blast. Here are some pictures from that day:

He started out the day by doing one of his favorite things: torturing the cat...ever since Bethany got a Mr. Potato Head for HER birthday, the kids have unfortunately decided that poor Scout has failing vision...James gets such a kick out of playing with Scout and luckily, Scout seems to be at least be somewhat amused by their interest in him!

We got James a t-ball...contraption of sorts...as a present from the family, so in the morning JC took the kids across the street to a greenbelt to play with it. It was a big hit! (Haha, I just made myself laugh for accidentally being funny...) Anyway, here's little James giving it his best shot!

Bethany was proud of her brother. Oh...I could just melt...so precious.

Now, of course, he gives her a turn.

Then, it's on to the backyard for some fun celebrating! Here comes Dad with the balloons!

Ben waits for everyone to arrive.

Then, the play begins. Here's Carrigan helping James up the slide.

And, of course, Ben gets some attention from Brittney.

After a while, it's time to open some presents. This is always really exciting for the kids (especially Bethany...she is really good at "helping" open presents). I think it gets a bit confusing though. They get handed something really pretty and told to rip it all up. But it's alright because there is always something really cool underneath! However, then, before they can even soak in what it is they have received, they are told to say "thank you" and the gift is taken from them, thrown into a pile that they are not allowed to touch yet and something new is shoved at them! Haha, there has got to be a better process! But, he sure loved all his new things!

The poor kid in the middle of the present opening process right after a new, fun gift has been taken away and not yet replaced by another one to open!

Aunt Monica entertaining Ben. He is not yet old enough to help open presents but, come next year, watch out!

Okay, so, here is the cake that James chose. After Bethany got her butterfly cake, she was excited for James to choose a cake. I kind of was too, if we're being honest. So, we ended up with an alligator cake which, by the way, I completely had looking like a gecko or shrek-like thing until I grabbed my sister, Monica, from the backyard and insisted she fix it! I didn't get as much of the visual arts gene! But she, and my nephew Colton, turned out a pretty impressive, very much alligator-looking cake! And, actually, JC baked it...I had very little to do with this cake! But, it turned out great and he loved it!
Blowing out the candles...
And, the best part...eating the cake!

After cake time it was time to say goodbye to everyone so they could go watch conference and we could get the kids down for naps. But, later on we ventured back out to explore some of the fun, new toys! Here is James, working with his new toolbench! Grandma Teri just knew he was ready to have a workshop like Daddy's!

Here's Bethany, really excited, as JC gets James' new bubble blowing lawnmower ready to play with. He was sweet and let her have the first turn!

And here she is! I love this because my mom got him one like my brother had when we were little! Memories!

A happy boy on a happy day!

Even though he wasn't sure about having a day all about him, James loved seeing some loved ones and enjoying some fun in the sun! I just love how happy and sweet our little boy is. There are so many hugs, kisses and random moments throughout the day when he just looks at me and says "Hi Mom!" that SO off-set any temper tantrums there may or may not be occassionally. :) Hey, what's a toddler without those? He's our fun, kind, determined boy. It's so fun to see them grow up. And, yikes! We've only just begun the process! That makes me so excited...and a little tired... :) Happy birthday James!