Knox is 2!

I can NOT believe that our little boy is already two! We celebrated on Saturday with a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party. It is Knox's favorite book at the moment, and it seemed fitting. Here are some pictures from the party:

First, the food. It was really easy to figure out what to serve. I pretty much just followed what the book said. Since the hungry caterpillar is apparently not a fan of veggies, I did add some of those. I also served hamburgers and hotdogs, and had a couple more tags on those but I didn't get a picture.

                                   (I found these adorable butterfly shaped crackers...perfect!)

     (I grew the grass in one week. Just an FYI if anyone ever needs to grow grass...it grows fast!)

I made the cake and it ended up being a little busy for my taste. My favorite part was the caterpillar on top. I got creative this year and did a square layer on bottom with a round layer on top. I know, things got crazy, people. Here are pictures of all four sides...

Some of the decorations...

         (I used plates from the Dollar Tree to display pictures of Knox throughout his second year)

(I put pictures of Knox on the table under the gumballs. It was super windy so I had to weigh them down!)

(A complete fail was my balloon caterpillar on the ceiling. It was so windy that they kept falling down when we opened the door. This was the best shot I got...which was after I had to re-tape it a few times.)

(This was in the front yard, directing traffic to the back yard.)

(The wreath for the front door)

(Party favors for the kids. Inside were gummy worms, balloons, and a sucker. I also had coloring pages and crayons for them, but didn't get a picture of it)

(Everyone who came got to sign The Very Hungry Caterpillar for Knox. He has the board book, but he will be ready for the real thing pretty soon.)

And here are some pictures from the party...

(One of his favorite gifts was a pair of cowboy boots)

(sitting with his cousin)

 And lots of lollipop-eating!

We all had an awesome time, but especially Knox! We had perfect weather. It was really windy, but the temperature was great. It's so fun to see Knox get excited and be so happy. Here's a family picture we took at the end of the day...all smiles! And you can actually start to see baby #2 peeking out a little. Happy Birthday Knox!

Update

Just wanted to share some pictures that I've taken recently...

 

This picture was the result of snow day boredom! We had a big box of shredded paper and Knox loved it. The mess was 100% worth it...he had a blast!

Ha! Love this picture. Knox recently started wanting to pick out his own clothes. Usually he does pretty good but on this day he picked out shorts and a hoodie. It has been so cold in our house. We turned down the heat because of propane prices (didn't everyone?). So we put his slippers on him. And not sure about the hat...he just loves it and likes to wear it for no reason sometimes. 

I took this yesterday. We went over to Cody's parent's house after church. He loves to play the piano. He always wants the light on and then turns the pages of the book as he plays. He plays the keys so softly, and doesn't bang on them like you would think a kid his age would. 

 

I took a few pictures this morning when Knox woke up. He found this little pacifier the other day. It's actually his first pacifier...it used to be so big in his mouth. Now look at it! Not ok! 

He likes to say 'cheeeeeese' now when we take pictures. 

Not sure what was up with his hair this morning. It was sticking straight up like that. Also notice the Rudolph nose. He fell at church yesterday. Fell on his nose and got a rug burn on it. Aaand you may be able to see his chipped tooth. It's his top, front tooth (the right one when you are looking at it in the pic). Not exactly sure how it happened...or when...but he is definitely an accident waiting to happen. 

Last picture! Another snow day experiment. I had seen this idea on Pinterest. Not quite a success, but not exactly a fail either. We created a baby hammock using my moby wrap and our kitchen table. I don't know how to make it stay tight. After he gets in it, it slides down to the floor pretty quickly. It could also be because he's huge!! He started standing still long enough to stand by himself on the scale. He now weighs between 30 and 31 pounds. I'm thankful he's growing but sad he's getting so big so fast! 

Catching Up

We are definitely back in the swing of things. We have been back in school for about two weeks now. It seems like things are more busy than ever! Cody has math competition practice Mondays after school, tutoring after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and weights after school on Wednesday...and this is his off season. 

So to catch up! Knox is growing like crazy. He's talking more everyday and learning a lot faster. I can show him something one time and he knows it forever. He loves 'Chicka Chicka Boom Boom' and says 'coconut' every once in a while (for some reason he likes that word). 

I made this bath paint out of baby soap, corn starch, and food coloring. He had a blast painting the tub! 

And can I brag some more on my kid?!? He had his SECOND haircut a couple weeks ago and sat all by himself the whole time! Seriously....why is he so big?? 

I realized the other day that he's now closer to 2 years old than 1 :( I also realized that I think I had his birthday theme picked out by this time last year and I haven't even thought of it this year. 

SO things have been interesting for me. I got pulled over on Saturday. I wasn't speeding so I was very confused. Turns out my license plates were expired. And had been since August....

So I got a $95 ticket. Of course it had to happen on a holiday weekend so I had to wait until Tuesday to get it taken care of. I got the inspection. Couldn't find my tax receipts. I called the courthouse. Apparently we hadn't paid 2013 personal property tax. And actually never filled out the paper to file in our new county. Whoops. Apparently having a high-stress life catches up to you eventually. 

They were closing so we had to wait until Wednesday to go in and take care of it. I went to the grocery store to get some food for dinner. The truck's gas light was on and we have no gas station open past 5:00 at the moment (yay small towns!) so I drove the car. 

On my way home from the grocery store I got pulled over....AGAIN! I was not pleased. I explained the situation and didn't get another ticket. Anyway, it was a huge ordeal just to get new tags. But it's taken care of and all is well in the world again. 

Last thing. I am working on organizing my house and work (part of my New Year's resolution). So I am going to be posting a series of '31 days to organization' posts. These will be practical, both in total cost and time. So get ready!! Coming soon :) 

Snow Days!

As a child, I looked forward to those mornings when I woke up to a blanket of fresh snow. I would turn on the radio and wait anxiously as the school listings went from a to b to c, and finally to the m's. And when I heard 'Moberly School District' called out, my siblings and I would have a little celebration and immediately start planning our day...or go back to sleep for a while. 

Oh, those poor teachers. I felt as though we pulled a fast one on those teachers because they wouldn't have the privilege of teaching our wonderful faces that day. If I only knew then... Because as a teacher now, I realize there is more celebration on the teacher's part than the students' parts. 

For now, we have Monday and Tuesday off for snow. Although we have had two weeks off for Christmas, I feel a sense of relief. I was dreading starting back with a full week, so it works out nicely that we can gently ease back into it. 

I'll start off my post about my snow day with an adorable picture....

We were so worried because we were out of almond milk for Knox. And so was the grocery store. They ran out of all their milk in one day because of the storm and weren't getting more until Monday around 3. We were worried that Knox wouldn't be able to fall asleep without it. He proved us wrong yesterday when he fell asleep eating! 

Today, I went to work creating some fun inside activities for Knox. He loves being outside and, even when it's cold out, we try to take him outside for a little bit every day. However, when you hear on the news that you can get frostbite in 10 minutes today, we decided to keep him in. 

I made a felt snake using ribbon, a button, and felt scraps. He threads the ribbon through the slit in the felt pieces...still a little tough for him but he can get it if we help a bit. (Let me know if you want the tutorial...I'm feeling too lazy to look up the link!)

Next, I made a 'window painting' station for him. I put a few squirts of paint in a gallon ziploc bag, taped it to the window with duct tape, and he used his finger to make designs in it (see photo below). 

Finally, my favorite. Our friend, Ardith, gave Knox an awesome water and sand table for his birthday. Although we never got the sand to put in it, he LOVED playing in the water this summer. I had an idea to move it inside for the winter and use it as a sensory table. I've read that beans are way easier to clean up than rice. So I spent about $3 on a few bags of pinto beans, dumped them in, gave him some scooping tools, and it entertained him for a LONG time. Even as I'm typing, I hear him going crazy with the beans! 

 

You'll notice the paint on the window behind him. Also, take note of the 'big boy underwear'...aka cloth trainers. They are basically the cloth version of Pull-Ups. He's awfully proud of those. No, he's not potty trained. No, he's not even close. But he knows what the potty is, loves his new bottoms, and is making some gains toward it. I'm hoping he will go in his potty seat soon so he can make all the connections. Wish us luck!