Sam's Car Party

It was very easy to decide on a car party for Sam.  He loves playing with cars.  I knew I had made the right decision when I bought a car pan and he carried it around for days playing with the cake pan.  My cousin, Ginger, did the banner for the party!

For the food, we kept it real simple.  The fruit is supposed to look like a stop light, although I don't think anyone saw that!  Zeb smoked some b-b-q so we had sandwiches and chips with it.

There was a hummus dip and black bean and feta dip for appetizers!

The cake and cupcakes---Do you see that little orange car?  That is the car that started Sam's fascination with them.  I keep it above his changing table and since he was tiny I handed it to him and said, "Daddy's car".  It is now a prized possession and he tells everyone that it is "Daddy's car"! I love all the stuff our moms saved for us!

The red chevron fabric is new, but all the other is from his one year old party.  I also used the green for Christmas and all of the orange stuff for fall.  Also, several friends have been able to use the fabric for parties.  All of the fabric if from Premier Fabrics and it last a lot longer than normal table clothes!

Sam is 2!!

Two years ago today this little guy surprised us!  Our life has never been the same and we are forever grateful to God for a healthy baby!  I learned so many life lessons during  infertility, then a very hard pregnancy, followed by an emergency section.  I have seen firsthand that God's timing is best.  This is something that I have obviously known forever, but being a bit of a control freak, this has always been one of my struggles.

This has been such a fun year.  He has been so much healthier this year!  Because of that, we have really had the chance to see his personality blossom!  He is a very particular little guy!  He knows what he wants and when he wants it and he wont quit until he communicates that to you!  He is quite reserved.  He talks a lot, but he won't talk unless he is very comfortable around you.  This reminds me so much of his Daddy! He loves his sisters!  He is very independent and doesn't want their help, although the last few weeks I have noticed him letting them hold his hand and or open something for him.  He loves cars, trucks, balls, and being outside!  

This picture makes me laugh--I'm not sure if this means he is a doctor's kid or if he has just spend way too much time with an otoscope down his ear!  Either way he has no idea what a drill is!!

Time out works like a charm when he is misbehaving!  He is so stinkin cute in time out!  Especially when he is just in a diaper and it is showing a cheek!  If he knows he is disobeying sometimes he will try to put himself in time out before I can get a chance to do it! When I get him out of time out he turns around with a huge smile and gallops towards me waiting for a big hug!

(The red spots on his back are nothing--pretty much anytime anything touches his skin it turns red.)

He sleeps like a champ.  I don't turn the monitor on though because many nights he wakes up and throws a party or two.  He sleeps in one piece footed pajamas backwards because well, he has been known to take his diaper off and make a mess, if you know what I mean!  He still takes a morning and afternoon nap and sleeps from about 6:30 pm-7 am.  He decided to sleep in on his birthday today and he didn't wake up until 9:30!

He loves food, but won't eat if he is too tired.  I can normally count on two meals a day from him.  But boy, this skinny little guy can put down some food!  He eats most everything--from veggies all the way to ice cream!

Oh, and he loves his daddy!  I mean A LOT!! He will not let me do a thing for him when Zeb is around. Even if he gets hurt he won't let me comfort him.  I thought he was supposed to be a mommy's boy?

This little guy has stolen the hearts of the girls in this family!  I love to hear Sara Beth and Leigh talk about him.  They are so proud when he learns something new. They have both been working hard on teaching him to say that he is two.  He won't! Ha!  Even though he says two when he is counting!  I have no doubt he will be saying it soon--if only to get them to stop asking!

We go to the doctor soon for his check-up! I can't wait to see his stats!

Cheer Camp

Leigh was able to do Upward Cheer Camp at FBC this week.  She was a little nervous with her sidekick, Sara Beth, but ended up having a blast!  Her friend, Laurie, did it with her!  I have a feeling we will be hearing these cheers quite often around our house!  

Our Wednesday of our trip we left Boston and headed to Cape Cod for the weekend.  Thanks to Enterprise we had this brand new VW Bug!

This was the only day it rained, but it rained all day!  On our way to the Cape we made a detour through Plymouth.  Because of the rain, we didn't do Plymouth Plantation. However, we were able to see the reconstruction of the Mayflower.  It is so small--I can't imagine coming to America on something like that!

This is Plymouth Rock--supposedly--not very impressive!  This is not the way I remember it from school!

When we got to Cape Cod it was still drizzling and cold, but that didn't stop us.  We headed out to find a lighthouse!  Again, I was struck at how small they all were!

Then we went to the dock and watched some of the fisherman bring in their catch!  

lobster

We found out that we both really like cod!

 The next day we just explored the Cape--marshes, beaches, walking trails...

We had planned on doing a hike through these marshes.  It was a 7 mile hike--however, we only made it a couple of miles because we didn't realize most of it would be in sand!!

 View from the top of a lighthouse!

On our last full day in Cape Cod we rented bikes!  Neither one of us had been on a bike since our honeymoon--10 years ago!  We had the best time and we laughed so hard!  In fact, the rental shop owner made a special trip outside to tell us to make sure we were careful!  It didn't take us long to get the hang of it!

A lazy man's way to fish.

This was our reward after a couple of hours of biking...Marconi Beach.  It is absolutely beautiful.  It has the cliffs on one side lining the entire beach.  For the first time ever I have seen where the color seafoam green comes from.

Last of Boston pics

I have so many Boston pictures to post, but I am going to wrap it up with this post!  Our favorite thing we did in Boston was when we did the Freedom Trail.  We bought a booklet and walked it ourselves.  It actually took us most of the day because we stopped and read everything we could and each site!  

This is the New Boston State House.  The dome on top is covered with 23 K gold leaf!  Seems a little extravagant to me, but it's pretty!  

Park Street Church

Paul Revere

Sam Adams

We stopped mid morning and mid tour at the Omni Parker House Hotel and ate some Boston Creme Pie.  This hotel is where the pie and the parker house roll originated!

 Hands down this is both of our favorite thing about Boston.  This is the Old State House. This was at the center of the American Revolution--debates, Boston Massacre, Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony on the back--just cool!

Faneuil Hall

Paul Revere's house

Bunker Hill Monument--we climbed all 294 steps and we were rewarded with gorgeous views of the city!

 And later that night we happened upon the BEST restaurant!  It is Panza in the North End.  We actually went twice--I know, terrible!  But it was SOOO good!  This is the appetizer--fried tomato capresse salad!  Yes, I will do my best to recreate!

And while we were so close, we had to visit Mike's Pastry and see what all the fuss was about!

One day for lunch we went to this spot that was obviously a locals favorite.  It was on the harbor and there were lots of men in suits!  We were told to get the lobster roll!  We had not had any lobster and we figured we should try.  Well, what we were told was that a lobster roll was just lobster and mayo--yuck!  We took one bite each of this $16 sandwich and threw it in the trash!

I had learned on the duck tour that this was the first public library so I wanted to go in and look!  What a surprise! It is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  I still can't get over the fact that this is a LIBRARY and not a museum in Paris!

Zeb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon!