Happy Birthday Turner!

Turner is almost 2, but we celebrated his birthday with a party on Sunday. We had it at my parents' house. It was a CAR party....since cars are his complete obsession. It was just family (plus Jeremy, Jeanne and Averitt) - I figure I will start inviting "his friends" when he is old enough to realize a) it is a party and b) they are there. Sunday he did not realize why we were all celebrating, but he had a ball nonetheless.

My goal was to keep it simple. I feel like I did for the most part, but you know how moms do when we are planning things. Or maybe it is the elementary school teacher in me. I had to stick with a theme!

We had riding toys outside. That only lasted 30 or 45 minutes or so because the party started at 3:30 and it started getting cold. Don't worry, Mr. Sketchy Mustache forgot his daughter's coat. Lindsey went in the attic and found this little ditty that Kate had worn. Can we say enormous?? But it kept tiny Chloe warm!

The grand plan was for us to roll out the Cozy Coupe (Turner's main birthday present) during the party. However, pre-party my dad was entertaining Turner in the garage/driveway and he spotted it (even though it was hidden under a sheet). It was OVER after that. He made my dad walk him up and down the street in the car for a full hour, and then played and played in it when people got there. He has a psycho-obsession with Cozy Coupes, so we have purposely delayed it until his birthday!

Then, we went inside and ate.

Thank you to "aunt" Laurahelen who iced every one of these cupcakes (and about 2 dozen more) for me on Saturday night. She came to help us get ready for the party, and I put her talent to work! I am so bad at icing, but not Laurahelen!! They looked great! And Heath made the Oreo balls. He has gotten very good at making them, who am I to stand in his way? Almost everything else on the table were favorites of Turner's - grapes, cheese, crackers and cheese curls!

We had a ball pit in the shape of a car, especially for the babies. John Burke skipped most of the party asleep upstairs (which was nice in a way!), but he eventually partied down with us. And Averitt, Ellie and Chloe kept the ball pit busy!

There were also 2 tracks set up in the living room. The night before Uncle Derek set one up and on the first trip down for the matchbox cars, Turner leaned all of his weight on it. Never fear, Hot Wheels track was fixable! And Derek remembered his secret stash of Hot Wheels from his childhood (surprised they weren't mixed in with Crash Dummies and Ninja Turtles), and he brought them down for the kids to play with.

Also, we played with cars on this little city rug. The big kids had fun with that, and so did the little ones! The party favors were little Beetle Bugs.

I wish Turner had understood what was going on, or that he is (almost) 2 now. But whatever - we had a great time! I am blessed to have this little weasel as my baby, even though he is not really a baby anymore! I want to remember that he is officially streaming words together now into almost sentences. A lot involve his car - "I see my car over der." Or "Daddy's car...where are MY keys?" (He thinks he has his own set of keys to each car. Not so.) And, he says a lot of "Burke Burke, STOP. That is mine!" and then ripping whatever it is from his tiny little fingers. Good thing Little Brother is pretty laid back about it all!

Here is a shot of Turner - he hasn't let the Cozy Coupe out of his sight. For 2 nights, he has asked if car could sleep in his bed. I had to pull it out of his bedroom, because he hasn't jumped out of his crib yet, and I don't want him to see it and try! I have to cover his head when taking him to his room, because he will call out for his car. And yesterday he had an unfortunate incident with the car (a wreck if you will), that resulted in a mini-black eye. Oh well - he is all boy!

Just watching some t.v.

Thank you to our family who came to the party - he loved every second of it! Of course - it was CARS!! Thank you for loving and supporting our children. What a wonderful blessing! We love you so so much, Turner Bug!