Mason turns 2

Mason Henry turned 2 years old on June 4! We celebrated the evening before his birthday with a family party for all three boys, with Brian's parents, my brothers, sister in law and nephew. Since Mason loves Elmo, and the other boys both had/are having friend parties, I made Elmo cupcakes.

On his actual birthday, I made one of his favorite dinners, chicken tacos, Mexican rice and black beans. I finally have a child who loves Mexican as much as I do. He goes nuts for this dinner. Then we spent the evening at the park. What more could a 2-year-old want?

It seems like just yesterday he was a teeny little guy, fresh from heaven-

and now he's a big 2-year-old who loves to play outside, run, jump, climb, swing, dig in the dirt, play with rocks, and talks, loves trucks and animals and songs, and can really keep up with the rest of the crazy crew.

Sometimes he has a feisty temper; it especially emerges when he has to stop playing and come inside or get strapped into his car seat-

But we can always find the sweet boy again-

We sure to love our little boy. Even if he wakes up between 4:45 and 6 a.m. or thereabouts and sometimes has a tantrum during that time. Even if he steals our toys and is learning to voice his opinion. Even if he likes to throw rocks and dirt in the pool. Even if he is learning to hit. Even is he sometimes screams and gets very mad when he's told "no."

But we love him especially because of his sweet manners, when he says "pweeeeeeeee mama" and "eat you mama (thank you mama). Especially when he gives big hugs. Especially when he loves to play "e-ball" like his brother and sister. Especially when he gives us his big cheese grin. Especially when he gets excited about something and yells "whoa mama!" And especially because we are so grateful he is in our family.

Happy Birthday Mason! We love you an awful lot.