Happy 2nd Birthday Tripp!!

My sweet baby boy is two years old today! I just can't believe it! I said it last year and I'll say it again, but it really seems like just yesterday coming home with him and now here we are two years later! He has blessed our lives more than words can say. I can't even imagine what we would do without him.

Tripp loves loves LOVES trucks, tractors and trains. No matter where we are going, he can spot them a mile(s) away. I will not even see them and I here "big tractor mommy" and its way off in a field somewhere. He also loves playing outside. He would stay out there all night if we let him. He is talking non-stop, often repeating what we say. I love carrying on a "conversation" with him. His favorite words right now are no and mine. It is funny to see him react to something he doesn't like, he gets a stern look on his face and says "no mommy" or "no daddy." It's so cute and hard not to laugh, but we are trying to teach him that he can't say no to us. He really isn't a good sharer (is anyone at this age??), but we are working on that too. He says "my truck" "my tractor." It is cute like when I hug my mom or Lee, Tripp gets jealous and says my daddy or my mimi.

Oh and he has an obsession with shoes. Not like having too many, he just always wants his on. And if he gets to pick, he always picks his gator shoes (we have the navy ones). We're going to have to get another pair soon. It's usually a little battle if I want him to wear his sandals or tennis shoes. If I or Lee walk around barefoot, he goes and finds our shoes and bring them to us and says "shoes mommy." If I am riding in the car and slip them off and prop my feet up, "shoes mommy." He wants them on when he wakes up and doesn't take them off till bath time/bed time. Crazy... He is still sleeping good, I haven't even thought of moving him out of his crib. He's never attempted to climb out and he does so well with going to sleep on his own that I am scared to try anything new until we have to.

His two year check up isn't until next week, but I swear he's taller and heavier! He can get stuff off the ends of counters and reach the door knobs. Pretty soon he'll be turning them and I'll have to keep the doors locked. He is so smart and it's so amazing to watch him learn. I do miss my baby tripp, but I just love this stage when we have so much fun together. I could go on and on, but I'll stop.

Since he has a love for trains, I really wanted to get him a train table. So I searched and searched and ran across a steal of a deal on Ebay. (I love Ebay) So I found a brand new one for $50.00 in Minnesota. It had a high shipping fee. But coincidentally Lee had a truck up there and picked it up so we didn't have to pay shipping. It came from the Sportsman Guide Outlet store and the original price was 5x the price we paid. It even will convert to an art table and came with two long rolls of white paper!

Normally we would have saved something this big for Christmas, but we decided he really doesn't know the difference right now. So we set it up last night (it was kinda like Christmas Eve) and woke him up early this morning to see it before Lee left for work. He was so excited!!

He definitely did not want to leave it to get ready and go to school. He has a few other small things waiting on him this afternoon to open. And we are looking forward to his little party this weekend with friends and family!

Happy Birthday Tripp!!

We love you so much!!!

birthday cooking!

I felt a little like Betty Crocker last night! I made the cutest cupcakes last night for Tripp to take to school today for his birthday. I saw these months ago online on a blog and wanted to try them out. I was pretty impressed with the way they turned out!

Cute little monkey faces!!

Just take a whole nilla wafer and cut the top off and then take the mini nilla wafer and cut in half for the ears. Use black and red icing for the eyes, nose and mouth. Easy and cute and fun!! I also made another cake to have tonight. Nothing too fancy...

Tripp loves cake and I hope he'll enjoy this one! My mom always made cakes for us when we were little and I really enjoyed making these last night for Tripp. I can't wait for him to blow out his candles!! He will be loaded with sugar after his cupcake at school and then cake tonight, but that's okay because it's his birthday! :)

out mommy...

Yesterday after I pick Tripp up from school, we were talking and I was asking him about his day. He then tells me "out mommy out mommy" and I look back (only for a quick second) and see this....

Apparently he wanted out. He pushed the little chest bar down and successfully wiggled his arms out. I am hoping this is a one time thing, but just in case, I tightened him up a bit more so he doesn't become a little houdini. I pulled over and got him back in (after a few pictures).

Over the weekend we enjoyed some ice cream from Marble Slab. I had a buy one get one, so Tripp and I shared. Needless to say he really enjoyed it. He definitely has a sweet tooth like mommy and daddy!

MMM MMM Good!!!!

This cutie patootie turns two in just 2 days..... He (we) can't wait for all the birthday action coming later this week.

birthday fun

If you look to the right of this blog, you'll see in just 7 days my baby turns two! Whoa... We started the celebration a little early. Both of my grandparents also have June birthdays and so this past weekend we had a celebration for all three. An 88 year old, an 80 year old and a 2 year old! They were so excited to share their birthday with Tripp and we had a great time hanging out with family! Here are a few pictures below.

Happy Birthday Tripp, PawPaw and MawMaw!

Blowing out the candles....

Eating his first ribs..... He loved them!

He loved opening presents, next week should be lots of fun!

Tripp also attended several of his friends birthday parties in the last several weeks. He loves singing happy birthday and he loves cake! Can't wait for him to enjoy his next week!

Eating cake with the birthday girl, Ella Jane!

All the guys and "babies" at Gates' Birthday

Riding a horse for the first time at Mason's birthday party! He loved it!

happy three years!

Three years ago today I married my sweet husband. Our wedding day was a special day and I love looking through pictures! Sometimes it seems like just yesterday, and other times it seems like we've been married for years. It does get a little crazy at times, but I can't imagine sharing life with anyone else!

splash!

We've spent the last two weekends in and around the water. Tripp does take a little while to warm up, but once he's in, he loves it. I am hoping he'll get over that soon!

On his "boat" at my parents' house...

Swimming with Daddy!

At the lake with Aunt Leesie, he loved kicking and splashing!

We also visited my grandparents last weekend. They LOVE seeing Tripp and think he's pretty much the coolest ever. Whenever my parents go up to visit they try and take him, but last weekend Alisa and I just ran up there to spend the morning with them.

Giving MaMaw kisses!

Look at this sweet face! I love this picture!

Other news, it hasn't been a lot of fun around our house the last few days. It all started Thursday when Tripp's teacher called me and said he had some blisters in his mouth. We went to the doctor and he had the hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). Totally common in toddlers, especially those at schools (daycares). It went around last year at church and his school and he never got it. Well he had it good this year. On top of that, I swear his two year molars are about to break through. We've had some rough nights (waking up about 4-5 times throughout the night) and I don't think it's all from the blisters. He isn't really eating very much and when he does, it's like macaroni or soft things. I looked up two year molars, and it pretty much describes what "we" are going through. I sure hope it is the molars too, because if it's not, then we'll have round two of this pretty soon. I also read that both molars and HFMD only last a few days, so maybe we will return to normal in the next day or two. I pray that it happens soon....