Happy Birthday Cason!

Dear Cason,

Looking back over the past year, it's hard to believe how much you've changed. You went from not talking at all, to learning dozens of signs in sign language in just a few weeks, to speaking full sentences. Now you make philosophical statements such as "Cason eats toast, baby eats milk!" You learned all of your letters, numbers, colors, and shapes and are well on your way to being potty trained. You went from a baby who hated being dropped off at the church nursery to waking up and asking to go to "church and play" or "gym and play", even if you do still like to be held half the time you're there.

I love how you imitate things you see us do, and how you are so interested in what we are doing. You constantly want the ladder out so you can watch Daddy cook and mix up his protein shakes and watch me do dishes and give your brother a bath. You were such an observant baby and that hasn't changed. When we go to the park, you are happy to sit on the bench and see what is going on. You love getting out of the house and going places. I don't know any toddlers who are as good running errands as you.

I love your laugh and your intensity. When you are happy, you are REALLY happy. When you are mad, you are REALLY mad. Daddy and I didn't know if we would all make it out of the terrible two's alive but we survived and are probably a bit more patient now. We are happy to have our fun, sweet boy back.

I love how sweet you are to Bryce when you want to be. He's not much fun now but in time you will make him laugh and I know how much you will love that. It won't be too long before you can play together. I pray that you two will become best friends and always be there for each other.

It has been a great year. We are so blessed to have you in our life and be able to call you our son. I can't wait to see what the next year brings and see how much you change over the course of the year.

Happy 2nd birthday Cason! We love you!

Love, Mommy and Daddy

Birthday Parties

Last Friday we left the sweltering triple digit heat of Texas and flew back home to Iowa. It has been an unusually cool July here the past week or so, with temperatures in the 60's and low 70's! It is a welcome change for us so I won't complain, even though I wish I would have brought a light jacket or sweatshirt.

The past five days have been very busy for us as we've been trying to see as many friends and family as we can. Cason turns 2 this week so we took advantage of being home by having two birthday parties for him. On Saturday, we had a party for him with my family. My sister, Alissa, and brother in law, Dave, were nice enough to let us have it at their new house.

We had a delicious 3 foot party sub from Blimpie with all sorts of yummy sides.

Cason isn't really "into" anything so I could pretty much choose anything for a party theme. I decided fire trucks would be cute. He isn't into trucks but he loves ladders, hoses, and fire hydrants so it made sense.

He enjoyed having everyone sing to him and trying to blow out the candles.

Cake is yummy!

Cousin Tate agrees. He loved his first taste of ice cream and Alissa said he asked for ice cream for breakfast the next morning.

Bryce has been really good this week, considering how much he's been passed around!

Cason is so sweet to Bryce -- most of the time.

Opening presents.

Using his special present opening tool -- a plastic fork.

On Sunday we went out to the country to Uncle Mike and Aunt Barb's house. It was a beautiful day so we got to play outside with all of their bikes and 4 wheelers and eat some delicious BBQ.

Bryce got loved on by his big cousins. Natalie kept reading him stories and putting stuffed animals next to him.

Cole and Luke, who are rough with each other, were so sweet to both Cason and Bryce. Luke shared his beloved General Lee car with Cason and they both sat and bounced Bryce in his bouncy seat.

This week we will be hanging out more with Alissa, Dave, and Tate and next weekend is Kelly's family reunion so check back for more pictures.

More Growth Charts

Some of my friends have seen pictures of the growth charts that I made for Cason and Bryce and really liked them. The first one here I made as a gift for my friend Molly who is due any day with their first little girl.

Molly paid me to make this one as a gift for a friend of theirs.

And this one I sold to my friend Val who was my lab partner in Human A&P at Wartburg.

I enjoy making the growth charts because each one turns out different. I ask for my friends to pick out the scrapbook papers themselves. This makes them custom to their taste and they can create one to match their child's room or just in colors or patterns they happen to like. The growth charts themselves are 5 feet tall (the scale starts around 18 inches and goes past 6 feet) and are made out of 1/2 inch pine boards. They are hinged in the middle for easy storage.

The Many Hairstyles of Cason James

The Newborn Fuzz

The Cue Ball

The Toupee

The Marine Corp

And the current Faux Hawk

We figure the poor kid will probably be bald by college so we might as well have fun with his hair now while we have the chance.

Professional Pictures

When Bryce was 2 weeks old, we had Angie from One Life Photo come to the house to take newborn pictures of Bryce. Unfortunately, he was being very uncooperative that morning and she only got a few great shots. Cason was hamming it up so she took some pictures of him and they turned out really cute too. Here are our favorite pictures from that day: