Terribly Excited for the Two's!

almost 1 month

1st birthday

2nd birthday

Our little Nicholas is not so little anymore... He is 2 years old!

We were told the time would pass by quickly, but I had no idea it would be this fast. Its amazing to think how much he has grown and learned in his first two years, and we couldn't love our demanding, bossy, busy little guy any more! I love how he nicknamed himself, bites his nails, and begs me for trips to Target. He is friendly to new people, and loves to go to nursery at church. He keeps us laughing with all of his huge personality and funny (unintentional) phrases;

."Oh no, Kiki!",

."Touchdown!"

."Kiki's turn"

."busy, busy, busy!"

.putting himself in timeout

.talking to his toys and introducing himself

."buy it!" (when he sees something he likes at the store)

."give!" (when I wont give him a toy, he talks to me like I'm a dog)

."No, no like it!"

."call me!"

.the entire song of Jingle Bells

{In church last week in AZ the primary children got up to sing a few Christmas songs. He was very excited because just the week before in LA our primary kids had sung his favorite song, Jingle Bells. Well, the kids here sang two songs (Away in a Manger, Stars Were Gleaming), then went to sit down. Nicholas got very upset and yelled with full vigor, "JINGLE BELLS! SING JINGLE BELLS!!"}

He loves grapes, Thomas the Train, reading "Where the Wild Things Are" before bedtime, wearing his Nike shoes, and calling people on the phone. He remembers all his friends' names, and talks about them often. He is good at sharing, but likes to sit on his brother's belly and say "Ride 'em, cowboy!"

We love our boy, and we can't imagine how boring our lives would be without him!!

Our Happy Place

Three guesses as to where we went yesterday...

Yesterday was our big boy's 2nd birthday party!

We had so much fun decorating, cooking, and getting the apartment ready for all of his friends. Kiki loved helping me make the snickerdoodles and rolling them in the sugar. He also took it upon himself to taste all the food to make sure it wasn't poisonous. Poor kid had to watch all the treats being made and wait for a few days to eat it!

The spread (minus the cake)... and zoomed below

The craft table was insane!

We decorated Christmas trees, played a snowman game, and sang jingle bells (his favorite song). The best moment for me was watching his sweet face light up singing the song, surrounded by all of his favorite friends. It was so cute I contemplated crying. The cake turned out so yummy (dark chocolate and peppermint ice cream cake), and the event went without a hitch. We pulled out his present from us (a ball pit) and let the kids run amok inside unsupervised.

As far as two-year-old parties go, I think this one rocked!!

Santa Babes

Our boys plus their cousin Dax make up the complete set of grandkids for Jared's parents. Naturally matching Christmas jammies ensued...

We also had our mini-Christmas with them while they were in town. Among the favorite gifts was Rykie's "Bumpo": a chair that supports babies so they can sit unassisted. After we discovered Ryker weighed a whopping 18 lbs (can you say 100th percentile?!) at his last doctor's appointment we decided it was time for him to learn to sit up.

doesn't his face just say, "feed me"?

On that note I must say the highlight of our last week (besides family visits, of course) was going to the boys' new pediatrician, Dr Kivitz. I absolutely loved him!! I was so disgusted and horrified by the state of their old doctor's office, not to mention put-out by the long wait, but I thought it was just an LA thing. I am so relieved that I took the initiative to try a new doctor! He is fantastic, works in a beautiful, clean setting, and he is very professional. He even gave me and Jared swine-flu shots, and told me I was an amazing mom seriously a million times. We ventured out to Beverly Hills, 90210 (I love LA), paid for parking (always fun), and watched all the Bentleys, and Mercedes roll by. I guarantee he has some celebrity clients. Sweeeet!

Our Lives, on Film

Nothing quite captures the essence of children like video clips!

Rykie is our smiley sweetheart, and Jared's trademark game with him is peek-a-boo

Nicholas is our chatterbox, who loves to reenact his favorite shows with his character toys.

That Other Holiday Before Christmas

This last weekend we ventured up to the frozen north to see G&G Cordon and meet our cousin and nephew, Dax! Oh yeah, and it was Thanksgiving. (I find that holiday so distracting from Christmas. At least you get to practice cooking for the real big day a few weeks after).

We ate, went shopping in the insanity of Black Friday (love it, so many sales this year), went on a date just me and Jared, ate some more, and attempted family photos in the icy gusts. It seemed like once we got a shot where my bangs weren't being blown straight up then Nicholas was picking his nose or Jared was making a face.

We're blowing these up wall-size for sure

One of the highlights of our trip was seeing our BFF's, Dyan and Lo-lo. We miss them so much. The boys got together and played like they hadn't been apart and me and Dyan did the same.

Buddies! (plus Jared holding them in place)

Rykie loved Dyan holding him

The best part of it all? The BYU win. I loved Max Hall's post-game remarks. Never truer words spoken, LOL ;)