Happy Birthday Sam!

I can't believe that he is already TWO! We had an adventure filled birthday that included two birthday parties, lots of cake, attention, gifts, and only a little bit of sleep. Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, Aunt Bev, and Aunt Judy came to visit all the way from Wisconsin to celebrate with us. Mom's cousins Rachel and Fran even came to visit this week from Florida. They are all staying at the lake while they are here visiting so we spent much of the day at the lake with them.

Yesterday morning we woke up and headed to the lake. Although Sam was a little disappointed that we didn't take any of the boats out, he had a fun time playing with his great grandparents and aunts and just getting to know them better.

After having lunch with them, I took Sam to school so he could enjoy a little birthday party with his friends and teachers. Sam was so proud to introduce me to many of his playmates at school. I didn't realize that he knew everyone's names--but as soon as we all sat on the class rug to say the blessing for the snack, Sam started spouting out names and pointing to the children who belonged to those names! I'm glad I now know the other students in the class better so I can start asking Sam about them specifically. I am officially now known as "Sam's Mom". As soon as I joined the children on the rug many of them pointed to me and exclaimed, "Sam's Mom"! My friends all told me that time would come when I would no longer be known as April, but as my son's mom. I'm proud to now be called "Sam's Mom". The birthday party at school was a success. The children enjoyed the cupcakes I brought....

and then they enjoyed singing and dancing to a Happy Birthday music montage. I wished I had my video camera with me to record that image. All the children singing (more like yelling) and dancing on the rug together was quite a sight. This was of course after they ingested the sugary cupcakes and had a nice boost of energy. Eventually they settled down and the teacher read them a story that they all loved. Sam really likes listening to his teachers read books so I didn't want to take him home with me until story time was over. It was a fun time for all.

After leaving the party at his school, we came home for a few minutes of R & R and then went back to the lake for the second half of Sam's birthday celebration.

My mom made an adorable cake...

...much cuter than my cupcakes!

We ate a delicious meal and then Sam opened his presents!

There were lots of books, money for a bike helmet, Mr. Potato Head, a remote controlled T-Rex dinosaur, a hat, a Braves shirt, and of course his prized, new golf club. His new tricycle is on the way... we ordered it for him but it hasn't arrived yet.

We sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew his two candles right out!


This was a fun birthday for Sam. He knew that it was a special day and seemed to understand that we were singing to him when we sang. He loved opening the cards just as much as the gifts! In fact, this morning I noticed he went to his stack of cards and started "reading" them like they were mini-books. Sam has grown so much in the past two years. I can't even begin to imagine what the next year will hold for us. We love you Sam!