Celebrating Ben's 2nd Birthday

I have made it a tradition to go in and sing "happy birthday" to my boys when they wake up on their birthday morning.  Cruz has always loved it.  This is Ben's second year and so far he is not a fan.  Last year he cried and this year he would not look at any of us.  When Cruz tried to go over and hug him he resisted.  Oh well, I'll keep doing it anyway.  Maybe one day he'll appreciate it, ha.  Here is his birthday morning video-

 After singing we invited him to go into the kitchen and see what he could find.  He took off running.

this was him when he walked in to see all of his stuff

They both immediately started exploring.

Both of my boys love books.  When Ben saw this book he got very excited.

He grabbed it and sat down to "read".

This was his face when he realized that drawer was full of tools.  Yippee!!!

David put his tool belt on him.

fun times!

For his birthday breakfast I made blueberry pancakes.  I decorated his with whipped cream and mini M&M's.  I shaped it into a number 2.

After eating and a little more play time we got dressed and headed to Jackson.  I let Cruz skip preschool and we visited the Mississippi Children's Museum.  It is such a cool place and I thought it would be a fun thing to do for Ben's birthday.  We last visited this museum back on October 16, 2012 to celebrate Ben turning 6 months old.  You can click HERE to read about that first visit.  It kind of felt like a tradition to go back, ha. 

David and the boys outside of the museum

my boys love playing in vehicles so this car was perfect for them to explore

This will be a reality before we know it.  yikes!

the reality of this won't be so bad though

learning how to milk a cow

Cruz wore this vest and hard hat almost the whole time we were there.

Ben's very favorite thing of all was pushing these buttons to hear the animal sounds. 

This was his reaction every time he would hear one.  We were laughing out loud.  It was too cute!

They all three loved playing here. 

What little boy doesn't love playing with water?

...or fishing

...or working a crane?

Cruz was CRAZY about this crane.  I think we revisited it at least three times.  We would be in other parts of the museum and he would cry to go back here.  He has already told me that he wants to go play with that crane again for his birthday, oh mercy. 

The White's

I tried to get a picture of Ben with his letters but he would not sit still.  So, instead, I just took a picture of his name.

chillin' in a catfish

Our family celebrating Ben's 2nd birthday at the Mississippi Children's Museum in Jackson, MS. 

We had a picnic lunch before returning home.  Later that afternoon we had visits from some of our neighbor kids and we enjoyed sharing birthday cake with them. 

Annie, Ben, Maggie, and Cruz

They are our next door neighbors and my boys are crazy about them.  They play together almost every afternoon.  They are precious girls!

Memaw and Larsen also came to see Ben on his birthday. 

Cousins- Ben, Larsen, and Cruz

Cruz helped Ben open his birthday presents from Memaw.

We picked up a pizza for supper.  It's one of Ben's favorite foods.  We ate and then watched his new Curious George movie before going to bed. 

What a fun day we had!  I love celebrating with my boys everyday, but especially on the day of their births.  Those are by far two of my favorite days of the year.  It makes me stop and thank God for the miracle of birth, the privilege of being a mom, and the joy of raising kids.  It's not always easy, but it's a blessing that I try not to take for granted. 

(And, just in case you are interested, you can read about Ben's first birthday celebration by clicking on the blue link.)