Tommy's 2nd Birthday

I'm so behind, as always! July 10th was Thomas' second birthday...I can't believe my baby is two already! I can still remember the frightened feeling I had when it came time to bring him home from the hospital! When it comes to children growing up, how does time manage to slip through our fingers so quickly? Doesn't every parent wonder this?

We threw a birthday BBQ for Tommy one day early, on Weds, July 9th, because Ryan's parents happened to be passing through town that night on the way to California, and we really wanted them to be able to come. July 9th is actually my birthday...yep, I went into labor with my son on my birthday!...so it kind of morphed into a party for both of us, even though for me it was all about Thomas. I decided to get him a cute, classic red Radio Flyer wagon for a gift, so I ended up giving the party a red, white and blue Radio Flyer/wagon theme, and it turned out awesome! I wanted to try and keep the party low-key, (which it wasn't so much last year!) so we just did a family party this year. The funny thing is, we still had quite a big shindig...24 people total! It was a lot of fun though...Thomas got to celebrate with all four of his grandparents, most of his uncles and aunts and 4 of his 6 cousins. (We missed you, Uncle Josh, Uncle Zane, Aunt Amber, Ciara and Dalin!)

Thomas was of course spoiled by all those in attendance, especially by his parents! (I can't help it, I enjoy giving gifts way too much!) It was so funny watching him and all the other kids reveling in all the fun new toys there were to play with. Thomas was so distracted after the first few gifts that me, Ryan and the older cousins had to do most of the opening for him. Later, after we sang "Happy Birthday" and it came time for Thomas to blow out the candles on his cake, his cousins helped out with that too...they pretty much beat him to it! But, he didn't seem to mind. He loved the cake, though he didn't make nearly as big of a fun mess as he did last year! I think he had a lot of fun at the party, though he had a little mini-breakdown later in the evening...he was pretty pooped by the end of the night, and I didn't blame him...so was I!

But I got a little spoiled too! Ryan was so sweet and surprised me with balloons, gorgeous pink roses, a cheesecake (he said I should have my own cake...ahh), and he got me Photoshop Elements and more RAM for our computer...so I can actually run Photoshop! I'm so excited because now I can finally start learning to digital scrapbook! From my friends and family I also got some books, cash (always love that!) and the DVD set of the fabulous 6-hour-long version of "Pride and Prejudice." It was a wonderful birthday, even though I was the one paying the least attention to the fact that it was my birthday!

And on top of that, I was so happy because Tommy's party was a fantastic success! I was actually glad we did it one day early, because on Tommy's actual birthday the following day (Thursday) I was much less stressed...we just took it easy and totally relaxed. I took him to the park to play in the morning, let him eat whatever he wanted all day long, and when daddy got home we went swimming and got McDonald's afterwards. A lovely day!

On Friday Ryan also took me out on a belated birthday date, just the two of us. We had dinner at Los Hermanos, my favorite restaurant, and went to see the movie "Hancock"...it was very good, but I was sad because there were no chick flicks out at the time! I'm all about going to a chick flick on my birthday, because its the one time a year Ryan can't complain! It was a fun night though. Thanks, Hayley and Eric, for watching Tommy for us. =)

So, it was a great week! I love my little boy so much and he has brought so much happiness into our lives. I can't hardly remember what life was like before he was a part of our family. I have learned so much since becoming a mother, and I hope I can always be the mother that Thomas deserves. I love you buddy!