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:

Gemstones and Smiles

The paintbrush has been replaced. Last week I got out our game of Mancala to see if Cason could sort the gemstones into the different compartments by color. He became very interested in the gemstones and spent a good hour putting them in the box and taking them out again.

Over the past week he has been placing them in all sorts of different containers and carrying them around the house.

Today Kelly was cooking up mass amounts of french toast to freeze. Cason was up on the ladder playing with the gemstones on the counter beside him. All of the sudden, he ran into his playroom where his play kitchen is. He came out with one of his little pots and dumped all his gemstones in. Like father, like son.

Bryce was all smiles after his three hour nap today. Yes, I know all of the pictures look the same. I'm that crazy mom who can't decide which one she likes best -- this is narrowed down from 24 pictures.

Grandma and Grandpa G.

Last weekend, Grandma and Grandpa G. came to visit. Bryce and I were tired after walking around three different malls in three days with Grandma! We had a great time with them but forgot to take very many pictures. These are the only pictures I have. That seems to be a common thing with me, forgetting to take pictures.

And today Bryce is 1 month old. This kid just loves to sleep. Cason didn't sleep longer than 45 consecutive minutes during the day until he was 5 months old. So imagine my surprise when I put Bryce in his crib for a nap yesterday for the first time and I had to wake him up after almost 3 hours. He appears to be doing the same thing today. I love it!

And here is proof that he is awake some of the time. He loves the pictures of the frogs over his changing table.

Grandma B.

My mom just left this afternoon after visiting with us for a few days. Cason had a blast playing with her and she loved holding Bryce. Tomorrow Grandma and Grandpa G. are coming to town for a few days.

Bryce is doing great, he is three weeks old now. At his two week appointment last week, he was already 10 pounds, which is more than Cason weighed at one month. Cason was in newborn diapers until the day of his two month appointment but Bryce outgrew them by day 3!

He LOVES to climb up ladders. All we hear some days is "up a ladder!" over and over and over...

He's actually hanging although it looks like he's sitting.

Doing pull-ups with Daddy.