Two Years Old!

Last Saturday our little boy turned two years old. I can't believe how quickly the past year has gone by. Micah sure has grown this year. There is not an ounce of baby in him, which makes me a little sad but mostly just so proud of all he has learned to do. The toddler stage certainly has some challenges but it is also so much fun. Micah is constantly making us laugh and amazing us with his growing vocabulary and skills. He is a bundle of energy and joy.

Micah really enjoyed spending his birthday weekend with his cousins Aidan, Liam and Nora this year. I am pretty sure we reached 100+ degrees on Saturday so it made it a little tricky to do anything outside. Instead we enjoyed lunch at Wegmans and watching the train go round and round while grocery shopping. That evening my sister, dad, and aunt came in for dinner. The boys loved sitting at their own table in the kitchen. It got pretty silly and a little out of control in there but we just went with it. Hearing those boys goof around and laugh at each other was just too sweet. The night ended with cupcakes and presents and a lot more laughter.

Sunday evening we invited all my dad's family to come celebrate and meet little Nora for the first time. It was really neat to have all the family there at once. Everyone gushed over Nora and laughed at the boys who provided nonstop entertainment for the party. It was fun to see Micah get excited about presents this year. Every time he opened a gift, he would say "Open this right there?" He also loved his Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes, which I must say I was quite proud of. Emily was so kind to help me make them and gave me the encouragement I needed to make my very first birthday cake. I have always felt intimidated about making my own cake but knowing I would have her help this year I became determined to do something fun. And it really was fun! And they turned out great! I wonder what I will make next year...

cousins are the best!

Caitlin tried out Aunt Tricia's gift for Micah.

We did it!

Happy Birthday to You!

Micah and Liam started their own dance party. Fortunately there were no major injuries.

Vacation Day #3: Cleaning House!

So our third day of vacation, last Friday, was really not our idea of a fun or relaxing vacation day. But it was very necessary and we are thankful Tim had a day off to get our house back in order. You see, about two weeks ago, we had a guy come and start some work on the house. The original plan was to have him put up crown molding and trim in our dining room and fix a few things like re-spackling two walls and finishing a pantry area in our kitchen. But when he gave us a great estimate to also drywall the ceiling (we had nasty bowing tiles), we couldn't pass up the opportunity...

So next thing we know Tim is pulling down tiles in our dining room late Friday night and ends up finding crumbling plaster underneath all the tiles. This meant that he had to remove all the wooden planks and tear down all the plaster so that drywall could be hung properly. Not cool. Tim ended up working till 3 in the morning and getting back up at 8 the next morning to finish the clean up. And let me tell you there was quite a mess. We originally thought the tear down was going to be easy and fairly clean so I went to bed that night without covering up anything. Well, needless to say, plaster dust spreads everywhere and when I came downstairs Saturday morning I was greeted by a thin sheet of "snow" covering EVERYTHING on my first floor. Disaster. We realized there was no point in cleaning it all up while there was still work to do so we just avoided the downstairs as much as possible for the next few days while the house was renovated. This was not easy with a toddler but we managed to stay out of the house for most of the day and then ate our dinners outside.

Sooo when all the work was completed Thursday (while we were at Sesame Place), Tim spent that night painting the dining room (up till 3am again) and then Friday was our clean up day. We literally cleaned from the moment we woke up until 9pm that night! Every little thing had to be dusted or cleaned in the sink. It was insane. And did I mention that we had my brother's family come around 9m that night to stay for the weekend? Or that we were having family in both Saturday and Sunday for Micah's birthday? I was feeling just a little stressed. But I am happy to report that it all got done in time and we are really happy with the work that was done. The ceiling and trim are still not painted because there was no time for that so that still lies ahead for another weekend.

Below are some photos of the transformation process.

plaster disaster

tear down process (aka MESS)

ready for drywall

can you see the film of plaster dust? ugh!

getting there...

much better!

Vacation Day #2: Sesame Place

On Thursday we headed to Sesame Place, and it truly was a magical place for a two year old. Forget about Disney World; it's all about Elmo and Abby in our household! Micah smiled all day long and talked about seeing one character after another. Tim and I were amazed at how well he did even without his afternoon nap.

About 70% of the park is water activities which was so nice for a hot summer day. They do a great job of making it fun for parents to get involved even in the younger kids' play areas. We had so much fun running through sprinklers and sliding down water slides together. Micah loved running around in the Count's Splash Castle and Ernie's Waterworks where there were hoses and fountains spraying water in every direction. He also loved the small amusement rides like Big Bird's Balloon Ride and Elmo's Flying Fish. The parade was also a bit hit with all the characters dancing in the street. Micah pointed and called out to every character as they came by. It was so sweet to see his excitement and delight.

It has been a week now since we were there and he still talks about Sesame Place every day and asks us to pray for Abby every night. Too cute. He is very excited that we will be going back in two weeks with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Allason, and cousins Alex and Caden. Tim and I are excited too!

*By the way, if you're interested in going but are turned off by the price (we were too), you can get cheaper tickets through your township building plus when you get there you can go to the admissions desk and receive a free second day pass to come back again. It really wasn't so expensive after all then.

Vacation Day #1: Please Touch Museum

While the rest of Tim's office was on a trip (he only has to do 4 a year now-- hooray!), he was encouraged to take some time off and gladly accepted. Since we had just vacationed in June, we decided to just enjoy some day trips close to home. It also helped that we stayed home since Tim had to spend the evenings painting our dining room from our renovations (blog post on that later).

So on Wednesday we headed to the Please Touch Museum to finally use the tickets we were given for Christmas (thanks Jeff and Allason!). We had not been there since Micah's first birthday so it was really neat to see how much more he could do this time around. Our last trip was honestly kind of disappointing as he wasn't walking yet and didn't show great interest in it. This time, however, he ran all over the place, enjoying all the hands on activities.

I think I can confidently say his favorite activity was grocery shopping in the store. I had to stay on top of him to keep him from ramming his cart into people as he whipped around the aisles grabbing all kinds of goodies. He also loved playing in the Septa bus, piling up bricks in the construction zone, and of course riding on the carousel with Daddy. I've included a few action shots from the day...

Thankfulness

Micah is a man of routine. Bedtime has a very specific routine and he makes sure we follow it, always announcing what is next. We read him 2-3 books, then we brush his teeth, then we get him in bed, then we sing two songs--one of which must always be Jesus Loves Me--then we pray, followed by one more round of Jesus Loves Me. And lately he asks for another quick prayer before we say goodnight and turn on his music. There are nights when I am so ready to say goodnight and close the door for some peace and quiet, but those few extra minutes in our routine to thank God and bring our requests before Him are so important and I am thankful my little boy wants to join in!

Last night as Tim prayed, Micah chimed in with his own thanksgivings: "Thank you for lollipop... Thank you for fountain (he played in it when we walked into town last night)... Thank you for rain." What a precious moment to hear my child thank God for the little things in life that bring him such joy. It was a good reminder for me to be thankful for the little things, too-- a reminder that there is beauty and joy to embrace even in those ordinary and uneventful days!

Just another reason to love Chic-Fil-A...

Today was Cow Appreciation Day at Chic-Fil-A. Dress like a cow and get free food! Last year, I sat in CFA with Micah eating chicken nuggets that I paid for while others around me enjoyed their free meals dressed like cows. I vowed I wouldn't miss the event this year and thanks to Kelly Raudenbush, I didn't (I totally forgot even after seeing a sign last week)! So I headed to Michael's last night for some black foam paper and white visors and with the help of some scotch tape (I'm so crafty), I had our family eating chicken nuggets in style...and for free! I plan on making this an annual tradition.

I love that the employees always respond "My pleasure."

we look good, don't we?

happy cows

Say "Mooooo!"

4th of July Snapshots

It was nice to see the Riley family for the 4th of July this year. Micah loved all the attention for his second cousins. That boy sure is loved. Wish we could have stayed for the smores and fireworks but we didn't want to keep Micah up too late (we got him to bed over an hour later than usual as it was). I am hoping that he can handle it next year. We did enjoy pointing out all the fireworks from the highway on our way home though.