Thursday, January 27, 2011

Big Boy Beds and Birthdays....Orson and Friends turn 2!

 Orson turned two this past Sunday!  I just can't believe it.  He is so big and smart and fun.  He loves playing with cars, trains and planes, enjoys entertaining his friends, playing on his good to go and car, jumping, chasing, singing (especially the ABCs), dancing, talking and climbing into his new Big Boy Bed.  After Christmas toy storage was an issue that I just had to address, so we made a trip to Ikea and came back with storage shelves, a dresser that fits into his closet and a Big Boy Loft Bed that Orson (and his friends) love!  It was his Birthday gift from us.  Speaking of growing he is also graduating to a new car seat from Grandpa Jones as well :)  His Birthday week was full of fun and as usual he shared the week with his good friends Lucy and Olivia.
Here is his new bed and a movie of him in it:

Lucy and Olivia had a joint Funky Monkey Party on the 22nd.  It was crazy fun chaos with over 18 kiddos and their parents.  The day before we created felted hats for each of the kids.  They turned out so cute!


 They had monkey cupcakes that were super cute
 And we got some great pictures of all the birthday kids and their dads and even...
a great shot of the three of them together...the last one of those I took was when they were a year.


The next day we held Orson's party on his birthday and since the girls had such a wild and crazy party the day before, we decided to take it down a notch and only invite over a few friends for a quieter evening.  We went to early church and then Matt took Orson to the train museum while I stayed home to cook, clean and decorate.  Matt and I had made a list of Orson's favorite foods earlier in the week and after looking at the list realized that Orson loves breakfast foods and anything he can dip.  So we decided that his party theme would be trains, breakfast and friends :)

 We reused the party hats from the the night before and had cheese and fruit out for everyone as they came in.
 The cake was GF lemon pound cake baked in train molds with a blueberry pomegranate reduction sauce and a whipped cream cheese frosting for dipping fun (since dipping is Orson's favorite way to eat anything).

Decorations consisted mostly of balloons but I also made a banner out of leftover felt from the Birthday Hats and drew pictures on the windows


We made Orson's favorite meal for the party, Breakfast with lots of dipping options.  Pancakes, Yogurt with berries and Os, Bacon, Cheese and Chive muffins, cheese puffs, eggs and cheese.  Everything was Gluten Free and really, really good if I do say so myself and home made :)


 Olivia enjoying pancakes and syrup

 Cake!

 Ava and Orson dipping away


 Lucy eating the icing with a spoon
 Olivia thought that sounded like a good plan as well
 Live entertainment by Maddox

 Opening presents!  



 Its not a party till somebody is naked :)

 Dad's enjoying a some of Matt's Christmas present.


 Tired babies winding down



 Angelina taking it all in
 Ava looking a little put out with the cuddle fest on the couch next to her :)


 Playing the balloon game Orson invented for the party


Riding his new stick horse from the White's

Coloring on his easel from Aunt Annie

 Happy Birthday to my favorite 2 year old son!

Christmas in Houston

We had a lovely trip to Houston for Christmas this year.  Orson and I got to spend 3 weeks and Matt joined us for a week of it.  We went all over and visited some many old friends!  It was awesome and relaxing and we even got a lot done around the house.  Christmas eve we went to mass and had our "big" holiday meal.  Everyone looked great and it was a wonderful evening. 


 Unfortunately Orson decorated the family pic with his finger.
He loved the Nativity Scene at church
 
 Dinner after picking up Matt at the airport
 Opening his Christmas eve PJs

 Then came the big day.  Orson, Matt and I slept in till 10 (due to a rough night involving little sleep), then we read the Christmas story, opened stockings, had breakfast and then opened up the tree presents.  I love the way our family does Christmas and Orson seemed to as well.  Orson also made out like a Romanian Bandit with all the toys and goodies he got!












During out stay, we went to the zoo twice and by far Orson's favorite parts were the birds and fish but he also loved seeing the elephants.  There were two new babies that were just adorable.







 We also visited the Children's museum with my junior high and high school stand partner and her family.   The kids all had a blast.  There was a big water play area, a tot room, an entire town, and so many other cool things.











 Speaking of my stand partner, the high school viola girls all got together (with our kids!).  Holy cow it was fun to see everyone and really weird and exciting to see our kids all playing together :)


We also had some quieter times at some of our favorite Houston area spots.  Riding the carousel at the Woodlands Mall (and watching a tuba quartet play carols...Orson loved it)

Playing Legos with Aunt Annie and Grandpa home and eating breakfast at Roa's.

And taking a walk around the Arboretum with Uncle Nate.  Such a great place filled with so many family memories!




Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is enjoying the New Year...next post, Orson's Birthday!