The last of the 2 Year Old Birthday Celebrations!!

Finally it was time to celebrate Teddy's birthday with his friends and family in Roswell. Yes, I have admitted I went overboard on the party. I have found a way to deal with stress... it involves obsessing and cooking a lot. Luckily Teddy and Shae seem to enjoy this! Here's the invite to the Sesame Street (heavy on the Elmo) themed party that was brought to you by the letter "T" and the number "2":

Welcome to the party!

Teddy was excited for the guests to arrive. Here he is, wearing the same shirt cousin Jack wore just three years ago on his 2nd birthday:

I had fun decorating for the party!

The food:

I had fun making these cupcakes:

The party favors included Sesame Street books and Elmo and Cookie Monster cake pops:

Highlight of the party..... the Elmo appearance:

We put him to work making bloody marys. They are red after all:

The house quickly filled with guests:

Elmo, you shrunk:

Cake time:

The birthday boy was excited to "eat cookie"

Lots and lots of presents! What a lucky boy:

Happy 2nd Birthday Teddy!

Teddy is 2... the third celebration! and Happy Chanukah!

We got home just in time for Teddy's actual birthday. For this celebration I made a cake:

I think he liked it:

Poor little man was so anxious to eat his Elmo cake, but he waited patiently all day long. We started the day by making special birthday pancakes. The big two year old even helped stir:

Birthday pancakes are not complete with out candles:

Yummy!

Then it was time for Teddy's last monthly photo with his bear. I originally was only going to take them for one year, but couldn't stop myself at 12 months. I can easily stop myself now. Look how grown up he is!!!

We went to Uncle Hal and Aunt Jenn's house to celebrate the last night of Chanukah along with Teddy's birthday.

Teddy and Jack helped in the kitchen:

The Hoscheks with the birthday boy:

Lighting the menorahs:

Teddy helped by feeding the hungry baby:

Presents, presents, and more presents. By the way, this is my mom "scaling back".... yeah right!

Finally it was time to light candles and let Teddy eat his Elmo cake:

He was a little bit excited:

Mmmmm

And when he finished what was on his plate, check out what Teddy did next:

Cousin Maggie with her new leopard presents:

Playing with cousins:

When we got home, Shae put together Teddy's new car ramp:

I would say Teddy had a great birthday!

The next day Teddy had a special message for Aunt Shelley:

On Friday Teddy and I went to a "Noon Year's Eve Party." It was really cute- we counted down from 10 to 1 at noon. The kids had snacks, toys, and noise makers of course. Teddy loved it:
My friend Aghigh was in town for the holidays as well and we were excited she visited us:
She brought Teddy some Legos and they came with stickers that are eyes so you can make different animals. Teddy was so funny- he immediately took the stickers and stuck them on his own eyes. Silly boy:

Friday night of course was the bowl game. Shae was excited to watch the Hawkeyes. Teddy "wouldn't go to sleep" so Shae conveniently had a buddy to watch the beginning of the game with :

Christmas in Iowa and the Second of Teddy's Birthday Celebrations

We were all very excited and anxious to get on the road to head to Iowa for Christmas. Early in the drive, I gave Teddy a "We love you, happy road trip gift" to unwrap. He loved his new Elmo slippers (best $5 I have ever spent):

We drove to Nashville and had lunch with Aunt Sam and Kelsey, and then drove a few more hours before stopping at a hotel. Teddy cracked us up in the room when he grabbed this little sign, turned it sideways, and said, "I need to check my email.":

We were so happy to get to Burlington. Teddy had a blast playing with Grandma Suzie and Grandpa Jim. They even let him blow bubbles inside:

And play on the big keyboard:

The first two nights we stayed with Aunt Steph, Uncle Steve, Cousin Amy, and our new baby Cousin Grant. Teddy had a blast playing with Amy:

And we had a blast cuddling with little baby Grant:

Amy was so sweet to share all of her toys with Teddy. He loved playing with her doll house, her tea set, and even sleeping in her princess sleeping bag:

Unfortunately Teddy had a cough that would not go away, so on Tuesday we took him to Shae's old pediatrician. (It was also our 3rd Anniversary.... very romantic way to spend the morning). He was pretty smiley for a sick boy who ended up with an ear infection and bronchitis.

Thankfully Grandma Suzie babysat Teddy that afternoon, and we got to have a date.

On Wednesday, Shae and I got to babysit Amy and Grant. Grandma Suzie and Grandpa Steve came over to help. It was really a lot of fun:

Here Shae busted Amy and Teddy after they had run upstairs:

We brought Grant some of Teddy's old clothes to borrow. Shae could not wait to put him in the infamous cowboy monkey outfit. It seems like just yesterday Teddy and Amy were dressed in these!

Grandma and her little cowboy monkey:

Teddy checking Amy:

Wednesday afternoon, we drove up to Iowa City to visit Travis and Jacquelyn. Teddy had fun playing with their doggie Lola and eating the yummy pizza:

Thankfully he will still nap in the car... when he is exhausted:

When we returned to Burlington, we stayed at the Howard Johnson. We were excited because they have an indoor pool. Cousin Amy, Aunt Steph, Grandma Suzie, and even Grandpa Steve all came over with their suits ready to swim:

But the water was COLD!!! Too cold for this Georgia girl. Thankfully Shae and Aunt Steph were brave enough to swim with the kids.

After swimming, Grandma Suzie gave the kids a treat... they had a great time eating their lollipops:

Friday night we had Teddy's 2nd 2 year birthday celebration at Happy Joe's. Here he is, almost ready to go:

Oh yeah, he needs pants!

Amy was ready to party:

Amy and Teddy again feasting on lollipops!

Even Elmo was partying:

Mmmm, Amy liked the Cookie Monster cake pop:

After watching me make 50 of these things, Teddy could not wait to eat a cake pop. He dug into Elmo:

We were so thankful that we got to celebrate Teddy's birthday with our Iowa family members and friends:

Teddy is such a lucky little boy. He was very excited about his new bat and ball:

SO many presents!!! At least he had lots of things to keep him entertained in the hotel room:

On Saturday we got a chance to visit with our friends Grant and Amy, and Teddy got to play with their precious daughter Avery. It was adorable how she greeted him- taking him by the hand to the playroom. They were so sweet playing together:

For Christmas Eve, Aunt Sarah hosted everyone for a lovely evening. We had a great time with everyone:

Shae holding sweet Lily:

COUSINS:

Teddy checking on baby Grant:

Machelle was awesome with Teddy and the other kids:

A great shot of the Stueckers:

Here is the best gift I could ever wish for:

Teddy definitely has gotten the hang of opening up presents! He and Amy had so much fun unwrapping:

The Hoscheks:

Our attempt at a picture of all of the babies:

Teddy snagged the Cookie Monster hat:

Shae got to unwrap one gift on Christmas Eve when we got back to our hotel:

Christmas morning we went to the Stuecker's. Some of us got dressed.

Teddy helped Grandma Suzie with Grant's diaper:

Even though it was Christmas, the kids still had some calls to make before breakfast:

They get it from their Uncle Matt!

There were SO MANY gifts for these lucky little children:

Here is Teddy opening one of his favorite gifts. He wants to play with it every single day Grandma Suzie!! Thank you!

We had to open it up right away:

Teddy also liked some of Amy's gifts:

Silly Grandma:

That afternoon, Grandma Suzie, Grandpa Jim, and Grandpa Steve all came over to hang out with us. We had a great time!

Of course the week flew by and before we knew it, it was time to get back in the car. Teddy was entertained for a long time in the car with the sticker books Santa and Grandma gave him:

We had a few other things in the car to entertain him as well:

We finally made it to Aunt Sam and Oliver's place. And guess what Teddy got??? MORE presents!

What a fun filled trip! But it wore us all out: