Happy 2nd Birthday to Beau!

We have celebrated Beau's birthday ALL week! It's been so much fun watching him learn what makes a birthday so exciting...singing, sharing cookies with friends, birthday dinner, gifts, party, balloons, wearing funny hats, cake, and most importantly, having all his favorite people together to celebrate his big day! It was a wonderful week!

Beau shared cookies with his friends at Teesee's on his birthday.

Finley, Beau, Catherine, and Molly at Teesee's
(It's tough to get 4 little ones to look at the camera!)

Trying out his new car from DeeDee, Aunt T, Uncle Rog, Andrew, and Nathan

Ooohh, a choo choo train! This is what Beau woke up to on party day.

Ready for the party! His shirt says "Choo Choo, I'm 2" and has his name on the engine. So cute!

Yummy cake and a caboose just for Beau

Sharing a laugh with NeeNee

Papa and TomTom wearing funny birthday hats.

Wow! Golf clubs from Grace and Olivia Jane. These were a HUGE hit! It was the first gift he opened and he couldn't stop playing to open more gifts. Then when we got up this morning, it was the first thing he picked up.

Getting his first golf lesson from Da

So glad Olivia Jane, Grace, and their friends came to the party.

Beau likes being surrounding by cute girls!

Eating his BIG cake!

The Birthday Boy...after cake!

Yum...frosted pineapple punch

Hokey, Pokey Elmo from Nana and Pokey...too bad I don't have a picture of Beau and Nana doing the Hokey Pokey. It was entertaining! :)

Biggest birthday sack ever.

Bathtub crayons from NeeNee ended the day.

Then we had one tired little boy (and Mama) ready for nite nite.

Whitney's birthday is this week, so she got her very own ChooChoo cake, too!

Happy Birthday, NeeNee! We love you!

Last Summer Hoorah!

Beau and I had a great long weekend in Hot Springs at Gigi and Daddy D's! Whitney made her first trip home from Dallas and Beau was thrilled to see his NeeNee. Papa and Tommie came for the day Sat. We sure missed Da, who had to stay in Stuttgart and work. Here's a picture recap of the weekend:

Cute boy! Beau had his 2 year old (can't believe that!) pictures taken Friday and we had a little play time outside when we got home (hence the white Polo on the boat).

Gigi and Beau watching Daddy D work on the SeaDoo...this is serious business.

I know...I'm big stuff!

Swinging with Papa and TomTom

Silly boy eating breakfast on the deck. We en joyed the cool morning temps!

Hanging with my NeeNee

Riding the tube with Mom! What a big boy!

Driving the boat with Daddy D. He liked this way more than riding the tube. He told me on the tube that he wanted to "git off and drive boat."

Best buds - Beau and Daddy D

Riding the 4-wheeler now...there's plenty of entertainment at the lake!

Popsicle Night

Friday was Popsicle Night after the Ricebirds finished practice. Beau had a big time seeing all the players and eating 3 popsicles! He gave a lot of the guys "knuckles" and said "Go Birds!" for everyone. He loves to go to the field house. If we drive by the street, he starts saying, "I wanna throw ball."

Quarterback in training...he loves to throw,

but is not much on catching yet!

Eating a popsicle with Hunter Harris - a Sophomore Ricebird and Beau's buddy. Hunter's parents are great friends of ours!

Sneaking a bite of Hunter's popsicle while Coach Barnes talks to the team.

He might be Coach Barnes to most of the world, but he's my Da! Beau couldn't wait until Todd finished talking before running up to him. When Todd finished, Beau said "Go Birds!" for the crowd.

Come on with my bite, Da!

2nd annual picture of Beau and Da in his office.
Check out the next one for comparison.

Beau's grown a lot in a year, but Da hasn't changed much!

It's Da's Birthday!

Tomorrow is Todd's Birthday! Happy Birthday to Da! He'll celebrate in the usual way with football practice. Two-a-days started Monday. Beau and I caught the end of practice Tuesday and he got to see all the players. We have to go back because he tells me "I wanna see Da throw ball." His speech is incredible. In the last month, he has really started talking in full sentences. He repeats everything and can say pretty much anything he wants. He says "I love you" now, which is the greatest thing in the world to hear! I just thought "Hi, Mama!" never got old..."I love you, Mama" is waaayy better! :)

He sings all the time, too. Sometimes you can tell it's Rock a Bye Baby, Happy and You Know It, or Yummy Yummy Yummy Good for my Tummy. He even comes out with Home Again Home Again Jiggety Jog when we pull in the garage. Other times we have no idea what he's singing...just making up his own lyrics I guess. GiGi celebrated her birthday last week and he sang her a VERY entertaining rendition of Happy Birthday.

He is a smart little boy, if I say so myself. He started counting to 10 about a month ago -- 21 months old and counts to 10, spells his name aloud, and can identify and name tons of pictures in his books. He even gets Xylophone right! He impressed his Daddy last night by telling him while looking at the "opposites" page of the book that one train was a long train and one was a short train. Todd thought he would say "Choo Choo," but we're way past that now! We've got some work to do on colors. Everything is red.

He loves tractors, big trucks, and trains. He's all about playing ball and gets very serious when playing "catch" with Da. He climbs on everything and tries to "jump big" off anything. I have to watch him like a hawk or he'll be climbing up the bar stool, onto the counter, and trying to jump off.

We read every night before bed and as rambunctious and busy as he is all day, he still wants to rock and read before bed. I cherish that time. Beau is definitely all boy and he can be so wild and ornery, but he is so sweet and lovable at times, too. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Hot stuff!

Eating one of Da's Birthday cupcakes, compliments of Nee Nee (Whitney) Strawberry cupcake with strawberry icing...Da's favorite!
Yum! Icing mustache!

Swimming with GiGi

Anna Kate came to visit at the lake! She was the big girl at Teesee's when Baby Beau first started going there.


Reading with Papa and TomTom (so lucky to have great-grandparents!)

Fun in the Sun

Summer is my favorite time of year. We have had so much fun playing in the water with Beau. His first swimming excursion of the summer was Memorial Day weekend at the lake. He was a bit timid at first. The no fear baby from last summer was replaced by a very aware 20 month old. After the long weekend at the lake and a few afternoons in the pool, he is jumping off the side and going down the slide. He loves it!

Kick, kick, kick!

Mama's lil fish
Beau and Da

1st ride on the Sea-Doo

He was serious about riding...never cracked a smile.

But we know he likes it because he walked over to it on his own last weekend and said "I wanna ride." I said go tell Da and he did! Needless to say, Dad took him for ride.

Driving Daddy D's boat

Beau and Nee Nee check out the new slide

Beau's turn to slide

What a mess!