Sunday, August 29, 2010

Happy 2nd Birthday to the most amazing little boy!

Happy Birthday Lucas James!

I can't believe it; my little boy is now two years old! He is absolutely amazing and just fills our lives with so much fun and laughter. Even now, he still finds a way to surprise us each day with either something funny or a new skill he has mastered. As usual, we made his birthday celebration stretch out over several days!

We started Thursday, the day before his birthday, with GiGi coming over for his annual birthday lunch at Red Robin. Since GiGi was heading out of town for the weekend on his actual birthday, we decided to celebrate a day early. Lucas was thrilled when GiGi showed up with presents, and even more elated when he got his first train. He is so proud of his new train and he makes sure that it is included in everything he does: sleep, eat, travel, etc.









Red Robin was as eventful as ever, and this year Lucas actually enjoyed being sung to. He ate his favorite meal there: grilled chicken on a stick and finished up with an ice cream sundae.

We partied like rock-stars on Lucas' 2nd Birthday; he awoke to banners, signs and plenty of presents. I think we did pretty well on his main present, a motorcycle big wheel, because to this day, Lucas rides it everywhere!






















During the day while Ben was at work, Lucas and I went to Catch Air for some playtime. He had a great time chasing around a pack of girls and jumping on all the inflatables. Daddy even surprised Lucas and joined us there! Afterward, we let Lucas pick the restaurant for lunch and we ended up at CiCi's for pizza and games.













After a nice long nap, Lucas enjoyed a special birthday lollipop on the couch...attractive, huh?

Olivia surprised us later that afternoon and brought over a delicious cupcake and card. Lucas was thrilled to show off his new motorcycle and doctor kit. Only a few "disagreements" erupted between whose turn it was on the big wheel and then their attention was distracted and they began playing doctor. Lucas obtained a small boo-boo as they were jumping on the couch so they both got a boo boo popsicle to make it all go away. Thank you for the cupcake Olivia and Mrs. Sam!


















That night for dinner, we headed out for Japanese at our favorite restaurant, Ninja. We have been going there for about 5 years and are treated like celebrities. Even Uncle Taylor and Poppie came and joined in on the big 2 year old celebration. Lucas really enjoyed opening and playing with his new camera from Uncle Taylor. We finally had to take it away so that he would focus on eating his favorite thing, 'doop' or soup!










Here is a video of Lucas joining in the fun and catching rice in his mouth...


Here is a picture of Lucas and Uncle Taylor hanging out at the house after dinner and before Lucas went to bed. Lucas was on a sugar high when we got home so he ran off his sugar around the house and then crashed back down on Uncle Taylor.









The next day continued with our big 2 year old celebration as Party Day! Before the party started Grandmama and Pop Pop came over to the house to give Lucas his present...a new kitchen! Lucas is in love with his new kitchen and pretends to make many interesting meals for anyone that comes over.










Now it's Party Time! Since Lucas had such a great time at Gymboree we decided to have his birthday party there. He loves all the teachers and I loved the idea of them doing all of the work so that I could step back and enjoy too. We arrived early to do a little decorating while the teacher played with Lucas to get to know him better. Slowly, all of our friends arrived and Lucas was so happy to see them all. The theme of the party was construction vehicles so each activity that the teacher did corresponded. Lucas still loves watching all of the videos and pictures from that day and we hope you do too, enjoy! (I have tried a new program to help make a slide show that doesn't have a bunch of advertisements).



Here are some cute videos of Lucas' birthday party...






Happy Birthday! (Olivia insisted on coming up and helping Lucas blow out the candles! We wouldn't have it any other way, Olivia)


The new potty that MiMi gave Lucas...


Since our party time was limited, we opted to do the opening of the gifts at home. Lucas loved every present he got and had such a hard time leaving them all to go out to dinner.









Thank you everyone for all of the sweet cards and gifts that helped make our baby boy's 2nd birthday that much more special!

Thursday, August 26, 2010

August


Well this blog post will be short so I can start writing for Lucas' SECOND birthday bash! I probably would have skipped over the first part of August, but we just did so many fun and exciting things that I couldn't ignore. I will post just the highlights of each so everyone can share in our fun!

Dinner with MiMi and Poppie after MiMi returned from Florida (with a special treat for Lucas from the World of Harry Potter)...









An impromptu play date, complete with lunch, with Boris, Olivia and Lucas. Olivia wasn't too happy about being forced into a picture with the boys acting the way they were!









A bunch of the moms in the neighborhood took the children down to Imagine It (the Children's Museum) in Atlanta. With all of the neat and fun things to do inside, they barely had time to play with each other. Lucas and I rode down with Sam and Olivia because I hate driving in Atlanta! This place was amazing with all of their activities. They could shop at a 'store', paint, milk a cow, load the food onto a conveyor belt, fish, climb in a tree house, dress up, play trains and so much more! I think the favorite thing among all the kids was pushing the shopping carts around. Lucas and Olivia were adorable playing house together! After such a fun morning, we took a break from playing (well the adults did) and ate some Chick-fil-A. Lucas felt the need for some affection so he placed his arm around Olivia while they shared a chicken nugget.
**Don't forget to close the 'Super Poke Pets' ad so you can see the pictures.** (I am trying to figure out a way to do this so you don't have to keep closing it each time)


Here are Olivia, Boris and Lucas hanging out at the pool. They made up a new game of filling up buckets of water and carrying them over to the plants to water them (hopefully we didn't kill the plants!)

One of the mom's in our group found this amazing park, Gary Pirkle Park that is completely covered and has fans, picnic tables and bathrooms! A bunch of us took our kids there for some outdoor fun without the sun and a picnic lunch afterward. Even though it was covered, all the children got so hot which is the reason most of them don't have shirts on!










This month we had a visit from my dad's brother, Uncle Roger and his family. I haven't seen my cousin in 10 years and we finally got to meet her little boy Holden who is four years old. Lucas immediately fell in love with Holden and followed him around the entire night at my parent's house. From the moment they met outside, Lucas and Holden played together all evening. It began with jumping into the sprinkler before we could undress them; Lucas had us in hysterics by putting his face into the water and running through it. Once inside, the boys played with several toys and then took a break from the toys to go jump on the bed. Later, Holden introduced Lucas to Gatorade and it has become his favorite drink ever since. After dinner, Holden showed off his very own camera, which Lucas took over almost immediately, and has now made it very clear that he wants a camera for his birthday.





























After looking through some pictures, I decided that I was majorly overdue for a haircut. GiGi, Lucas and I packed up one day and headed over to Winder to see our family there and get a hair cut from cousin Lisa. Of course a lot of planning went into this day (seeing what days GiGi was available, finding out if Uncle Sonny and Aunt Janet would be home, and then getting the hair appointment) so inevitably something would go wrong...and it showed up the day before in the form of a fever for Lucas. I wasn't worried though because after talking to Gigi, she was ready for the challenge so our day continued. First, we went to lunch with Uncle Sonny and Aunt Janet at our favorite Mexican restaurant. After lunch, I left to get my haircut and then they all went back to their house to keep Lucas entertained. Probably not the most exciting part of the day for many, but to Lucas it made a very big impression on, was when I left to get a haircut and drove Uncle Sonny's Tahoe. Now most people know and understand that beside a Jeep, a Tahoe is Luke's favorite car. He still is talking about how "Mommy dove Unc Dunnies Tahoe" and "Unc Dunny dove mommy's Nissan Rano"! We had such a good time catching up with our family and hope to do it again really soon.










Happy Birthday Grandmama!!!

This year we celebrated Grandmama's birthday up at the Smith House in Dahlonega. The whole family was there plus some good family friends, Mr. Steve and Mrs. Toni. Before dinner, we went to some of the stores off the square and did a wine tasting of some Georgia wines and a little shopping. We then headed off for some delicious southern cooking (and hoped that we would find something that picky Lucas would eat!) Dinner was fabulous as always, even without their famous strawberry shortcake. No, Lucas did not eat anything for those of you wondering! I sometimes do not know how he can survive with as little as he eats and as much energy as he has.

After hanging out in Dahlonega, Ben and I were the ones treated because Grandmama wanted to have Lucas over for a sleepover. Lucas was more than willing to ride home in Grandmama's car in between GiGi and Grandmama. I wish I could say that Ben and I did something fun and exciting, but with Lucas being sick all week and wanting only his mommy, I was exhausted and settled for a movie and some sleep. The next day, I met Grandmama, Lucas and Uncle Taylor for the switch and we all ate some lunch while Daddy stayed at home to study for an exam.

Thanks for the over night break mom and Happy Birthday!!!!

**Close the Super Poke Ad to see the narrative for the pictures**




The following week Lucas and I met GiGi at Grandmama's office for lunch. Lucas loves going to Grandmama's office because the building is full of construction vehicles that Lucas can explore. This time was no different, with the exception of possibly being more thrilled than the last visit. Lucas not only saw a forklift this time, but also men welding, a four wheeler, two jet skis, a big truck, and a tractor trailer. He was in heaven!!!!







After roaming around the building and riding on several pieces of equipment, we finally got Lucas off and headed over to Trackside Grill in Kennesaw. The food was delicious, but the wait for the food was extremely too long, especially with a busy toddler! GiGi eventually took him outside to walk around and see the train tunnel and even got to see a train go by!











So, as you can see, our family was quite busy in the first part of the month. It has been a cake walk compared to all the preparations we have been doing for Lucas' SECOND birthday. Check back soon to see how much fun Lucas had turning TWO!!