Graham turns 2 years old!

On July 19 our little man turned two years old!  While this post is a little late we celebrated Graham's birthday with one of his favorite people, Mickey Mouse!  On his birthday we had a small family birthday celebration complete with all things Mickey.  

Here are some of the highlights from his day....

I have been wanting to make a tissue paper garland for some time and thought that Graham's birthday would be the perfect time.  As you can see we used red, black, white, and yellow to accent our theme.  The garland took quite a while to make, but I am really happy with how it turned out!

Inside we had our sweets table complete with Mickey Oreos and pretzels.  

I also made a number two with some of our favorite highlights from Graham's last year!

Because the theme was Mickey Mouse's backyard BBQ we of course had to serve BBQ food.  We had  pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches, coleslaw, salad, fruit, baked beans, and homemade macaroni and cheese.  While I love cooking I continue to remind myself after the fact that ordering pizza would be so much easier next time:)!

Graham had a lot of help opening his presents!

And then a slightly overwhelmed birthday boy!

( I ordered his shirt from here and couldn't have been more please with how it turned out.  Definitely was the icing on the cake)

So while the highlight of the day was celebrating our little man turning two I could help but reflect on the past two years, specifically this past year.

Graham-

You have changed so much this past year.  You learned to walk, you learned to climb, and before we knew it you were running and pushing everything not pinned down across the street, sidewalk, and through the house.  You said your first word which has quickly become a vocabulary full of thoughts and opinions.  You cut your first tooth and now have a full mouth full.  You love all things trucks and Mickey Mouse.  You watch everyone and everything closely but have zero hesitation to jumping in and trying to do everything all by yourself.  

Graham, you love your brother "Eccie" and "Esley" so much but don't want either of them to slow you down a bit, or restrain you at all!  

You are opinionated and independent, yet also want to make sure that Mommy and Daddy are always close by.

We love watching you discover something new whether it be a new word, a new ability, or just noticing an ant walk across your feet.  

While you are beyond stubborn and strong willed, you can be such a cuddle bug.   Your smile is contagious.  will stop all you are doing to sit down and look at pictures or read a book. Just like your brother, you have your favorite five or six books and know every page that comes next complete with the sound effects. 

 Mommy and Daddy can't get enough of your silliness and curiosity to learn and discover.  We often tell you that we had no idea we could be so lucky to have a little guy like you!  You have been the answer to all of our prayers and the exclamation point to our family.  We feel incredibly lucky that God chose us to be your parents.  We cannot wait to watch you continue to reach "up up sky"!  

 Happy 2nd birthday Graham!

 We LOVE Boom Boom!!!!

Our 4th of July

It's hard to believe that the holiday has come and gone.  We certainly had our share of fireworks, fun, friends, family, and festivities!  

We started off the weekend on Thursday with attending fireworks at one of the local country clubs wer.  Graham enjoyed it so much he slept through every boom:)!

While Gregg worked on the 4'th, he was able to get home early enough to enjoy some lake time before we headed over to a family friend's party.  OMG between the bounce house, dunk tank, and baseball match, Reece had a blast.  Again Graham slept through most of the party:)!  Did I mention that there was Oberon keg and amazing BBQ?!?!

 Later that night we decided to head back home to enjoy the amazing fireworks show on our lake.  

We even managed a little time for sparklers of our own before Reece and I headed out on the lake.  Gregg and Graham, yep they opted out and headed to bed!

 Reece and I agreed that this may have been the best firework display we have seen on our lake yet.  As Reece said, "I didn't even know where to look because there were so many fireworks everywhere!"

Saturday was family day with my sister, brother in law and kids.  We spent most of the day on the boat.  When we made it back to shore the guys took the kids kayaking while us girls BBQ.  We had a slight mishap as there was a small fire on the grille resulting in char boiled steak kabobs.  Lucky we had enough other food that all it caused was some a few stressful moments and a good story to share !  

Sunday was going to be a quiet and relaxing family day, however, the sun came out and as we have learned about living on the lake especially in the summer time, to do lists can wait we have more playing to do.  AND it's always more fun with buddies.

I have to admit, I'm pretty spent.  The house is a disaster, laundry is piled high and we need groceries.  However, in terms of living in the moment and making summer memories, this weekend I think we have accomplished that!  

4th of July is another holiday that reminds me how incredibly blessed we are to have amazing friends and family.