happy happy birthday Colin!

Today is my baby's second birthday. He is currently outside doing one of his favorite things—hoeing in the garden with his Papa. His sister is sleeping so I thought I'd quickly blog some pictures from the last week including the birthday party festivities from Saturday.

These first few are from last week. This would be Colin showing me his muscles. With his Crocs on. And a diaper. And nothing else.

Then he started doing the actions that accompany the "Rockabye Your Bear" song from the Wiggles.

Colin's best friend, Mary.

Kate pulling herself up on one of her favorite toys. She's figured out how to turn the music on, and she loves to watch the flashing lights.

Colin and Nate playing "Daddy Sandwich." I love how excited Colin gets when he tries to kiss/lick/eat Nate, and I also love how hard Nate tries to keep Colin from kissing/licking/eating him.

This would be a "Colin Sandwich."

Kate getting in on the fun.

Kate taking over the picture with her crazy baby-chick hair.

And now for the party pictures. I built a fancy birthday cake for the first time. I made a bulldozer/backhoe thing out of pound cake, twinkies, twix, twizzlers, doughnuts, and m&ms. Not bad for a first attempt!

Colin got to open some of his presents in stages since not all of the family could come at the same time on Saturday. This is the tool kit from Uncle Caleb.

Throughout the day the big boys (and the little boys too, I guess) played Rockband.

The girls played with the babies in Colin's room.

Aunt Kelli getting some love from Colin.

I also made dirt cupcakes to go along with the bulldozer cake.

Colin and Donovan enjoyed a cupcake before the rest of the group.

Besides our family the only other guests at Colin's party were his friends the Nelsons. He loves them. It was super nice of them to trek all the way across the street to come to a 2-year-old's birthday party.

Hunter Nelson helping Colin open the dump truck his Granny gave him.

Donovan feeding baby Kate the baby bottle.

Mary Nelson gave Colin some swim shorts that he loves and has already used twice.

She also gave him these huge stuffed Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls. (Hand-me-downs in excellent condition, lest you think Colin was spoiled with ridiculously expensive gifts.) Here's Colin giving Minnie some love.

And Colin's gift from me and Nate—the ABC Zoo. It's awesome. And huge. Look at his face as he tries to carry it across the room to Nate.

And these pictures are from yesterday. Kate is cute.

Colin sporting his new shades and flip flops.

Strike a pose! Donovan was hilarious, dancing around and posing in the water. DeAnna would probably prefer if you ignore the fact that she's in this picture.

In case you can't tell, Colin is pretending to be a fish (and singing "just keep swimming, swimming, swimming") while Donovan is pretending to be a frog.

And here is Kate, sporting the skirt her Aunt Lenna made for her.

We had a picnic with Brad, DeAnna and Donovan in our backyard last night. We were going to go to a park to eat, but unforeseen circumstances didn't allow for that. The little boys didn't care. They just swam in the pool again and played in the grass. Colin looks super classy out there in his diaper.

The big boys kicked the soccer ball at each other. And despite how it may appear in this picture, Colin was not in danger of being kicked or hit.

Today is Colin's actual birthday, but since I don't have transportation we will be spending it at home. I am trying to let him do some of his favorite at-home activities, which mostly consist of eating Otter Pops in different rooms around the house. I would compile a list of all the awesome things Colin does/says, but that would take me all day. He's that awesome. Just know that we love him and we'll keep him around for another year. Yay Colin!

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Silly Blogger wouldn't work yesterday. Grrr. I tried for hours to get pictures to load and everything. It didn't work. Blerg.

On June 1st the kids were asleep and I had a few moments of peace so I loaded Colin's high chair tray up with leftovers and served myself lunch in bed. It was awesome.

Granny asked me for a picture of the kids to put on her newly decorated wall. I didn't have a current picture, so I sat the kids down and took some. Here are a few of the winners.

My kids are so cute. Awww.

Kate has decided, like her brother before her, that the bottom of the exersaucer is more fun than the top.

Bwaha.

Kate is still struggling with the whole eating solids thing. She doesn't care much for it, but she does look adorable with it all over her face.

Two of Colin's cousins were staying with Granny last week, so we spent a lot of time over there playing. I forgot my camera several times, and then I just plain forgot to use it the rest of the time. Here is a lovely picture story detailing the tale of "How Addi Stole Kate's Headband and Then Tried to Put It Back."

Obviously Kate didn't mind much.

The boys played in the pool. Donovan didn't want me to take his picture.

We all went over to the neighbor's house many times to see "Shayzee (?) the dog." Donovan liked her soft ears.

Colin loved her so much he gave her some hugs.

And Addi took a ride, briefly.

Then the dog came over to give me some love. And yes, those sexy knees belong to me.

Kate is ridiculous. She pulls herself to anything she can get her chubby little hands on. She crawls around like a pro. She can sit up all by herself, and she can push herself up into a sitting position all by herself. Her outfit here is also ridiculous, but that is another story for another time.

DeAnna and Donovan came over and played Rockband with us one afternoon. Oh yeah, we bought Rockband 2 on ksl.com last week. It was a screaming deal that we couldn't pass up, so that's what Nate got for Father's Day. (Also a PS3, but let's not talk about that. It was not as much of a screaming deal.)

Colin and Donovan are definite rockstars.

And these are from yesterday. Kate is cute.

We bought some toy bins for all of Colin's fuzzy fur friends. Colin was being hilarious climbing in and out of it.

Kate likes playing in my closet, making a mess with my shoes and whatnot.

Over the weekend I held a yardsale with my mom. It went pretty well. We got rid of a lot of the big stuff that was crowding up the garage. What didn't sell is on its way to DI, so maybe we'll get to park a car in the garage for the first time since we bought the house!

We haven't really spent much time in the garden since my awesome FIL keeps coming over and taming the weeds for us. Colin loves to go out and follow him around with his own hoe to help get the weeds.

Colin is still talking up a storm. And he remembers EVERYTHING! I should use him as my planner and just tell him a week in advance where I need to be and what I need to be doing so he can remind me. No progress on the potty training front because I have been trying to put it off. We talk about it all the time, but I still feel like he doesn't care enough about being wet or having accidents to really go for it. He asks me if he can "pee in the potty and watch the news." I don't know what the fascination is with watching the news. (The news is pretty much any show that Nate and I watch without him. It's never the actual news.) I'm trying to give Colin a few more months before we try training him again, but I don't know if I can hold out that long. I don't like telling him that he can't use the potty.

For Father's Day we had Nate's family over at our house for dinner. My mom and brother also ate with us, and by with us I mean after us because my missionary brother called to talk to us. My Marine brother came over with his wife to talk to the missionary too. (He's the reason Elder Ethan called on Father's Day instead of Mother's Day. Grant didn't get home until after Mother's Day so Ethan's mission president gave him permission to call later so they could talk to each other.) It was so nice to talk to my brother. He is awesome and hilarious and learning and growing so much. It made Sunday evening a little chaotic, but it was so nice to spend time with everyone.

This has been more than enough typing. Time to go wash the dishes! Huzzah!