Happy Birthday, Dear Davis...

Let me just say that I cannot believe that my baby is TWO!  Seriously, I must be in a time warp.  It seems like just yesterday that I was large & in charge, preggo-style.  It makes me so sad to think that Davis really is my baby, with no other little Beilmans coming to grace our family, but that's a whole different post...for my husband's sake, I'll try to stay focused.

Anyway, we had a low-key day of Davis's birth since we celebrated BIG-TIME with our Halloween dual Birthday Bash.  He got to open some new Chuggington trains and play with Carter all morning since Preschool was on break for Thanksgiving.  I wish we had a video of Davis lunging for his trains when he figured out that what was in his gift bag.  It was hi-larious!

 Big TWO!

 My two favorite boys!

Davis has surprised us by his verbal skills in the past couple of months.  The breakthrough was when he came over to me and said "Tarter hit me, mom.", while holding his head. (Carter confessed that he had actually hit his brother in the head with a toy.  Big surprise.)  He said it as plain as day, except that he can't say his "C's", so it's Tarter, Take and Tars for Carter, Cake and Cars (three of his favorite things).  Since then, he is all about the 3-4 word sentences.  My other favorite: "Mater's a tow tuck, mom." If you don't know who Mater is, you need to see the movie Cars.  It never ceases to amaze me how quickly these guys pick up new skills.  Sometimes it is a matter of days for them to master something you were worried they would never figure out...pretty awesome if you ask me.  

We love so many things about Davis:  his outgoing personality, his never ending resilience to falls, hits and bumps--what a tough guy!, and his softer side that is (for now) a mamma's boy and always ready to be hugged, kissed or snuggled.  It has been wonderful to watch Davis become not just a little brother, but a big boy in his own right and a best friend to Carter.  We couldn't be more proud or pleased.  Love you, buddy!

birthday party

On Thursday night, we had a family birthday celebration for Carter. Grandad & Grandma Nancy drove in all the way from Lawrence! Aunt Debbie, Uncle Scot, cousin Kelsie, and our good friend Mike Reed came over to help us celebrate our little boy. We had a pizza party and yummy cupcakes. The only thing I actually prepared myself was a salad!

Elmo birthday cake, Carter's favorite!

Scot, Grandad, Grandma Nancy & Aunt Debbie

Sean, Kelsie & Mike

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...

Daddy helping Carter blow out the candles

Grandad helping Carter reading his new book

Grandad couldn't open the tool kit fast enough...

Cool screwdriver!

Check out my new hammer!

Carter got a lot of nice gifts for his birthday. Thank you Grandma Nancy & Grandad for the cozy PJ's (and matching set & onesie for baby brother), tool kit & new book!

Thank you Mimi & Grampy for the cute Halloween stuff & new Thomas toys for my train table! How cool!

Thank you Grandma Pat & Grandpa Dan for the great outfit & CD with music especially made for me!! What a unique gift!

This CD has songs with Carter's name used in them. Carter thinks that is pretty cool!

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts & for helping us celebrate with Carter.

We love you all!

Birthday Boy!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Carter! Here are just a couple of photos of the birthday boy. We really didn't do much to celebrate today since I'm working all weekend. We are planning a small family party next week so I will post pics of that later. I cannot believe how big he is getting and how quickly the time flies by. We love you, Carter!

Happy Birthday, dear Carter, Happy Birthday to you!

Carter turned around to give me a kiss. He was saying "Oh, Mommy!"...how I love that sweet boy!

Family pic before mommy left for work.

Say "cheese"!

Daddy with the birthday boy. Aren't they handsome?!

train table

Carter got a train table for his birthday & I'm not sure who was more excited...Carter, or us! We had gotten the table several weeks ago & had the train accessories in boxes in the spare bedroom. Sean & I were both dying to set up the table and see Carter's reaction to it. He loves trains and we were pretty sure this would be a hit.

Daddy working hard to get everything just right!

Harold the Helicopter

checking out the mine shaft

Just discovered that the signal change lights up and makes noise!

Pretty cool!

Playing with Daddy.

Sean reconfiguring the track for a third time. :-)

a work in progress...

Cranky the Crane

Thank you Mimi & Grampy for your contributions to the train collection! Carter loves all of it! I know our boys (and Sean) will get many years of fun out of this table.