Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

Birthday celebration at home on Friday night.....loving that Mickey cake!

The next generation...Jordan, Olivia, Brewen and Joshua (not paying attention).

Dancing with Cory and Shannon. Joshua had SO much fun!

And here's a family shot. Since we're rarely dressed up and have a fourth person to TAKE the picture, we took advantage of the opportunity. Thanks, Danaca for doing the honors.

What a whirlwind of a weekend! Joshua is now officially 2...which I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around. Somehow it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing our new bundle home from the hospital, welcoming the flurry of visitors and getting used to the rigors of being brand new parents. I never quite grasped the concept of "time flying" until you put in in the context of watching your children grow up right before your eyes. And now I feel like I'd give anything to slow things down just a bit. I think I described the end of the first year as "my heart was overflowing"...and it still is. I just feel so full of happiness and laughter and thankfulness and blessings to be able to be Joshua's mommy and have a front row seat to watch his life unfold. He is the true joy in our lives and we are blessed beyond words.

We had a nice little birthday celebration for Joshua on Friday night at home. He really loved his Mickey Mouse cake and dove into it like he hadn't eaten in months. He mostly ate the icing, so we decided after about 10 forkfuls of it, that he'd had enough. He blew out the candles like a champ, as well, and really seemed to enjoy the big fuss we made over him. Grandma gave him a few birthday presents before she left to go home and he is now the proud owner of a weed wacker and an Aqua Doodle pad that Mommy really likes!

Saturday morning when Joshua woke up, I went into his room and sang "Happy Birthday" to him and gave him a hug and said, "Happy Birthday Buddy!" He said, "Happy Birthday, Mommy." And that's when I knew for sure that he didn't quite get the birthday concept yet. We packed up and headed to Harrisburg/Hershey for the day. Cory and Shannon's wedding reception was Saturday night, so the whole family was rolling into town for the party. We took Joshua to Chocolate World in the morning and he LOVED it. He has never had more than a bite of chocolate, so I think it was just the spectacle of everything that he liked. They've really spruced up the ride, though.....we all got quite a kick out the singing cows! Then we went and met up with Nana and Pap at the outlets for some lunch. Then, a few stops at stores I can't stay out of (dodging cats and dogs as it POURED) and we were on our way back to the hotel.

Nana and Pap had a few birthday presents for Joshua at the hotel. The big hit.......a doctor's kit. He's been "checking" everyone ever since he got it. He even insisted on napping with the stethoscope around his neck on Saturday afternoon. They also got him a Clipo table, which he really seems to enjoy. Another hit was a toy recorder (think flutophones in elementary school) from Stephanie. As he was marching around the house blowing into the recorder, Jason's exact comment was, "I'm going to kill Stephanie the next time I see her."

When it was time for the wedding, we all got dressed up and headed downstairs. It was so awesome to be there to share in Cory's day the way he was for all of us. Shannon's the best, and they both seemed to have such a wonderful time. We got to sit with Danaca and Christine, Steph, Stacie and Noah. We all commented that even though we've been to a pile of weddings together, we don't ever recall having the chance to sit together and enjoy each other's company. So that was fun. The real fun, though, came when the dancing started. Joshua got up onto the dance floor and was a dancing fool. You can tell when he's getting into it because his arms start to move up and down, and he was smiling from ear to ear with arms flapping! He spent a good bit of time dancing with Cory and Shannon and Neen. He, at one point, went up to a complete stranger and held their hand to dance around in a circle. I would have never in a million years expected him to enjoy dancing as much as he did, but I had a blast just watching him have fun.

At the same time all of this was going on, Jason, Steph and Noah were outside with my dad and Butch and 3/4 of the rest of the wedding guests watching the Penn State game. Joshua and I kept sneaking out to get a glimpse of the score. What a game! Stephanie, at one point, even put her PSU jersey on over top of her dress clothes for the wedding...very funny. Mom and I watched the end of the game while putting Joshua to sleep. We had to fight him to go to sleep, and it was still about 11:30 when he finally gave up and closed his eyes. But the first thing he said when he woke up on Sunday morning was "Had so much fun dancing at the party!"

So, birthday number 3 will likely pale in comparison to this one....but it was a very happy birthday indeed for Joshua.

This is a big week coming up for us. There should be something interesting to write about every day. Tonight is music class. Tomorrow (I'm so excited), Lindsay and Lila are planning to come for a visit. Wednesday is the big #2 doctor's checkup. Thursday (I'm so excited) I have to take the Highlander to Lewistown for a wax coating so I'm going to spend the day with Libby and Brooke. And then on Friday, it's Trick or Treat night and we're hoping to see lots of little costumes! Can't wait to see everyone's Halloween pictures.

Happy Monday everyone!