Van is TWO!!!!!

I can't believe how late I am with this post.

Van turned TWO on December 11th. He had the best day and as always was the happy little man we know and love.

We wanted to start his day off with something special and out of his ordinary routine so daddy made the best chocolate chip (whole wheat) pancakes and mommy attempted to make a smiley face of whip cream (which Van calls "pish") and fruit. He ate it up! After blowing out his candle of course. ; )

My precious baby blues

After naptime we gave Van his birthday present. His big bike! He's been able to ride a bike with training wheels for several months but we wanted to wait to get him a bike for his birthday. He was so excited to take it for a spin. And he did not want to get off either! Thankfully Nicole showed up with all the cupcakes for his birthday party and we were able to entice him to come in for some "happy!"

I just love his run!

Once the cupcakes arrived more family and friends started showing up for what turned out to be a fun and very laid-back get together. Van was a little shy at first, hiding behind the refrigerator but once he saw his grandparents, he was ready to mingle!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes by Nicole Buchanan Fine Cakes

Let the fun begin.......

Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you more than you will ever know.

MB loves her cupcake!

All these cuties made Van's party a huge success!

And of course you can't turn 2 without your family!

Bwahahahahahahaha! Love the Halls!

Van loved his presents and everyone who stayed to play with him.

Daddy taught BG how to play the ukulele.

Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends who came over to celebrate Van with us. I am still learning how to use my camera so I apologize if I took a picture of you and you don't see it here. A LOT of them came out really blurry. Yikes, I need a camera lesson for sure!

Here is the after picture of a successful, fun day!

Santa Baby? NO!!!

We went to Wilmington last weekend to visit our friends Grey & Haley. Derek & Grey went duck hunting so Haley, Van and I decided we needed an adventure of our own. We thought to ourselves, "where would Van like to go?" The park? The aquarium? Children's museum?

So, where do we end up???? We made a quick (2 hour) stop at Screen Gems Studio for the One Tree Hill wardrobe sale. Hales and I were hoping to find some designer duds at a great price and instead the only thing we found were a bunch of target and goodwill (what they called vintage) clothes. Not that I am against Target clothes; I have plenty of my own target clothes, but I thought we were going to find the cute dresses worn on the show or even some cute outfits for Van. We were highly disappointed that the only interesting thing we saw was in front of us in line.

A rare sighting of a she-mullet/rat-tail! WOW!

After that snafu we decided it was best to lie low and stick to simpler things. So we took Van to the park where he had a fun time running from me and Haley. The parks in Wilmington are awesome. They are super clean and one of them was right by the water which made it a bit chilly but it will definitely go on our list of pros for moving there one day!!!

Derek sent me a couple of pictures of their time hunting (luckily none were of dead animals!)

Derek, Roxie & Grey

Sunrise

And while the boys were on their way back, Hales, Van and I went for lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Wilmington - Dockside. A trip to Wilmington is not complete until you have a Bloody Mary on the docks!

Doesn't this incredibly delicious?

Later that evening, after the boys got home and showered, we all went to Airlie Gardens to visit the Enchanted Gardens. Van was enamored by all the beautiful Christmas lights and kept exclaiming, "WOW!" over and over again. We also waited in line for 45 minutes to see Santa.

Here is what Van looked like while we were waiting:

And here he is after seeing the child in front of us freak out at Santa: notice his clinging arms and legs! And red smooched face, wailing into my shoulder! Poor guy. Totally freaked out at "Ho, Ho, Ho!" NO! NO! NO!

This was the same Santa Van saw last year who he made cry:

All was made better when he got a candy cane and we were off to see more lights. The hanging grapes were all of our favorite.

As always we had a wonderful trip with Grey & Haley and did not want to leave. Their house feels like our second home. Thank you both for a fabulous weekend. We love you guys and hope you come visit soon!

On our way out of town we stopped by to see Van's Great-Grammy. He's extremely lucky to have her coming for Christmas this year! We are all excited to see her and spend more time with her. Van enjoyed sweeping her bushes (he is a busybody) and watching the planes fly overhead. We were also able to get a picture of him with Grammy which is hard to do since he is on the move and doesn't want to stop.

Can't wait to see you again soon Grammy! Love you.