Happy 2nd birthday, Ian!

Grammy (Kim's mom) and Aunt Amy (Kim's sister) came to visit right before Ian's birthday party. They were a HUGE help in finishing up the last minute details! Our biggest "detail" was making Ian's train cake.

We combined a lot of ideas that we found on the Internet to decorate the cake. (Thanks for the original idea, Elizabeth G.!) It ended up being super easy! (We used a large pound cake with a part of a small pound cake on top for the engine and small pound cakes for the cars.)
We decorated with Twizzlers, big and mini Oreos, an ice cream cone with marshmallows, and some Starburst.
We had each train car carrying something different -- chocolate chips (coal), pretzels (logs), jelly beans, and gummy bears. We ended with a caboose.

Here's the front view of the completed train cake ...
...and the back view.
Our masterpiece!! (though not the best picture of the three of us. ha ha)
We got up early on Ian's birthday (Saturday, May 7th) to finish things up. We even put the birthday boy to work! :)
Kim did some decorating,
Matt did some table and chair assembly,
Grammy took care of the food,
and Amy did everything else! Good teamwork, Aunt Amy and Ian!
Amy and Ian laid some train track leading up to the front door.
Choo, choo! All aboard!
We made a LONG railroad track out of sidewalk chalk on our driveway, too.

Grammy and Ian tested it out to be sure it would work.

And, of course, we hung up the awesome birthday sign from Aunt Sarah! Ian loved to point at the "I" and say, "I for Ian!!"

Finally, it was time for the guests to arrive! Ian stood at the front window expectantly!
We divided the "engineers" into two groups and had them go to three different stations.
At one station, the kids decorated train magnets with markers and then attached a picture of themselves as the engineer.

At another station, the kids played outside on the railroad track,
and all tried to fit in the shapes drawn on the sidewalk.
At the last station, the kids played with trains and train tracks we borrowed from our friend, Caleb. (Thanks, Caleb!)
After the stations, the kids listened to a few train stories read by Matt ...
...and Amy.
Then it was time for blowing out birthday candles and eating lunch!
Before opening presents, we got a few pictures of the engineers,
Christopher, Caleb, Zane, Brooke, Caleb, Maddy, Nate, Ian, Micah, and Eli.
After the party was over, we enjoyed time together as a family!




Thanks for the great Mother's Day, bouquet, Matt and Papa!

Ian remembered Grammy and Aunt Amy right away and had a great time playing with them:
reading books,
playing with the tool bench,
giving kisses on the banister,
giving lots of hugs and smiles,

and even doing some cooking together!
Ian loved trying out his new gifts, including some snazzy new clothes and a play shaving set!
Ian enjoyed hearing bedtime stories from Aunt Amy!

Amy and I were happy to spend Mother's Day with our mom! We went to get manicures and pedicures together on Sunday afternoon! How relaxing!



Thanks for the great visit, Grammy and Aunt Amy!! We loved every minute with you and can't wait to see you soon! :)

Thanks for a great visit, Grandpa & Grandma!

We were so happy to have Grandpa and Grandma (Matt's parents) come for a visit right before Ian's birthday. Ian seemed to remember them right away and let Grandma read him stories and put him to bed the second night they were here!
Ian showed Grandma one of his new favorite pastimes: washing dishes. His favorite parts are rinsing dishes, pulling out the drain stopper, and washing the bubbles down the drain. He also likes to remind people of Momma and Daddy's rule: "Don't drink water with bubbles!"
Grandpa displays the sign Ian fingerpainted!
Ian got to spend lots of quality time with Grandpa, too -- reading books,
listening to a trombone "concert,"
and playing with Play-doh.
Both Grandpa and Grandma were happy to play games with Ian (like rolling the ball),
take Ian on wagon rides,
and go to the playground together.
We celebrated Ian's birthday a little early with some brownies and ice cream. Ian LOVED being sung to ...

... as well as opening all of his gifts!
"Train, train!!" Ian kept saying as he peeked into the package.
Ian loved listening to the creative story Grandma wrote about the animals at the San Diego Zoo.

And he was happy to test out the tools on the tool bench Grandpa put together!
Thanks for the great gift, Grandpa and Grandma!

Both Grandpa and Grandma helped A LOT with getting ready for Ian's birthday party -- making pound cake, shopping, mowing the lawn, putting together favor bags, brainstorming activities, and just playing with Ian so Momma and Daddy could get some things done, too.
On Wednesday morning, Ian took Grandpa and Grandma to story time. Grandma reminded Ian of the actions to "The Wheels on the Bus."
After toddler time, Ian wanted to hear a few more books.

Later that afternoon, we played outside with Ian's new bubble train (thanks, G & G!)
and on Ian's tricycle.
He must've gotten a good workout ... At dinner that night, Ian ate an entire ear of corn!

Thanks for the happy memories, Grandpa and Grandma! We look forward to seeing you again soon!

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