Emery's Second Birthday: Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Happy 2nd Birthday Emery!!

We had the best 2nd birthday party for Emery!  Everything was so much fun (for him and for us!).  In fact, the whole birthday weekend was wonderful!  The weekend started when Emery woke up on Saturday.  He and I made the cupcakes and cake for the big day together.  Then, my cousin Lauren, her husband Reid, and their son Jack Kirby (who is 2 months younger than Emery) came down on Saturday from Kansas City.  We spent the day with them and Lauren helped me so much getting things ready for the party on Sunday.  That night we all went to church together and out to a great Mexican restaurant.  The boys had lots of fun playing together, too!  After the boys were in bed, Lauren and I frosted all the cupcakes and I cut and frosted the baseball glove cake and we decorated the basement while our hubby's watched a movie :)

Yummy cake batter!

Frosting cupcakes at 10:30 pm!

Baseball glove cake (I made it out of a round cake!)

Baseball cupcakes!!

Cake table along with Crackerjack goodie bags

What a lucky boy!

Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast and the boys played while we got all the food ready for the party.  Grandma, Grandpa, Grandma Sue, Grandpa Willie, Uncle Jake, and Laura all arrived a little after 10.  We blew up balloons for the boys to play with and that was a huge hit!  They had the best time!!  "Play balloons!!!"  they kept saying :)

At 11:30, more friends arrived and the party began.  We had ballpark food for lunch: hot dogs, brats, nachos, potato salad, bottled root beer, lemonade, plus fruit, veggies, and juice boxes.  After lunch, Emery opened up all his great gifts.  We're so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that love Em just as much as we do!  He got an awesome new Radio Flyer wagon from his grandparents, a t-ball set, soccer goal, piggy bank, Thomas the train, monster truck, Yo Gabba Gabba dvd, and the Charlie & Lola seasons 1 & 2 dvds to name a few gifts.  We also got him a big play doh set and some painting supplies.  He had fun opening gifts, but he especially loved going around to the guests collecting money to put in his new piggy bank!

Emery stood on the fireplace and thanked everyone for his gifts
and we sang Happy Birthday!

Sneaking a taste of frosting!

After gifts, Emery blew out his candles and we all enjoyed the baseball cupcakes and baseball glove cake with some chocolate chip ice cream!  Emery loved blowing out the candles and really loved eating the cake and ice cream!  He also LOVED when everyone sang him Happy Birthday! :)

The party was over at 1:30 and the boys were able to lay down for a nap after partying so hard.  That evening we ordered pizza with Lauren, Reid, and Jack and enjoyed playing with all of Emery's new toys.  

The next morning, Emery's actual birthday, we went out to IHOP for a birthday pancake breakfast with the Kirby's before they headed back to Kansas City.  Unfortunately, Daddy had to work, but we still had a good time and Emery devoured several silver dollar pancakes!

(mid-chew..oops!)

After saying goodbye, Emery and I headed to Exploration Place where I had hoped to take him to play for a few hours. They are closed on Mondays! I was so disappointed. It was pretty cold outside, too, so that would have been a great indoor activity. Oh well! So, we bundled up and took a trip to the zoo instead. I think we were the only people there! We had a fun time though and Emery got to see the monkeys, which he requested.

At the zoo! Burr!

Daddy met us at home for lunch and Emery got to blow out candles again and we had left over cake and ice cream! He opened up his birthday cards he had gotten in the mail and we sang Happy Birthday several times! It was a really fun lunch.

Daddy and the birthday boy!

Mommy and the birthday boy!

 After nap time, Emery and I played with his new play doh for quite awhile.  Of course he wanted to make birthday cake, so we did.  And, we blew the candles out again :)  We also made a choo choo train and a football.

 

When Daddy got home from work, Emery opened up his last gift, Superman jammies!  Then we loaded up the car and went to Red Robin for his birthday dinner.  We had a great time and a really good meal.  The balloon animal guy was there and made Emery a cool T-Rex dinosaur balloon animal, which he had fun playing with while we waited for our food.  After the meal, the waiters came with an ice cream sundae for Emery and sang him Happy Birthday.  He thought it was great fun!  Mommy and Daddy had to celebrate two great years with our little man, too, so we ordered a really yummy dessert! :)

How old are you Emery?  Two! :)

When we got home from dinner Emery had a bath and put on his Superman jammies and he got to put some more money in his piggy bank...Great Grandma Skoch gave him a $5 bill in his birthday card and Daddy got it changed into quarters, so Emery put every quarter in his bank one at a time!

On Tuesday, we woke up and had to go to the doctor for his 2 year check up.  He did well and checked out great!  He did have to get one shot, but now he's all caught up on shots until he goes to Kindergarten!  Whew!  At lunch time, he went to daycare and brought more baseball cupcakes for all of his friends to enjoy.

Superman and his sidekick saving the day!!

Yes, I frosted MORE of these little baseballs! :)

What a very fun birthday weekend!!  I told Patrick after it was over that I had so much more fun celebrating Emery's birthday than my own.  There is just something very special about seeing the joy in a child's eyes over the littlest things that adults take for granted.  I loved watching Emery dance around the house singing the Happy Birthday song, loved seeing him try so hard to blow out his candles, and it made me smile when someone would tell him Happy Birthday and he'd respond "Happy Birthday!"  I know this third year of life has lots in store for Emery and it's bound to be a great year!  Not only will he learn and grow so much but he'll become a big brother...and I know he'll be a great one!

Happy 2nd Birthday little man! We love you so very much!!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy :)