Jude's birthday party... he's TWO!

We had a little party to celebrate Jude turning two. Our cutest friend Trace Martin was born December 13 so they are only two days apart so we had to celebrate together! It was probably the windiest day of the year, but we managed to have a great time!

We had yummy fruit and vegetable trays and played fishing! My dad hid behind the sheet and the kids would fish (with the broom) and my dad would hook on a snake. It was really cute. We used to always play that at my birthday parties growing up except we'd play over the shower curtain. :)

The man behind the curtain...

THIS CAKE... What can I even say about this cake. I procrastinated on it too much but it managed to work out. :) I made an entire cake's worth and since it had such a hard time sticking together I was able to carve out about one cupcakes worth. The rest was a crumbly mess. I honestly don't remember how I made it. (I think I've tried to block these things out...) I can tell you it had no dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, barley, rice, corn, potato, nuts, mustard, peas, or lentils. This was no easy task, I tell you!! Those sneaky ingredients make their way into about EVERYTHING. For the frosting, I used this recipe for Vegan Whipped Coconut Cream. It worked out fine but don't get your hopes up for a pretty, Pinterest-able cake. The piece below was the prettiest thing I could come up with! Anywho... Jude was anxious to try his cake and before we could get a fork his way, he had his way with the cake and just went for it!

And.... he liked it! I was the. happiest. mama.

The boys of honor shared a couple glasses of Martinelli's. CUTIES.

"CHTRUCK!!!"

"TIM!!"

Mimi and Papa surprised Jude with a brand new bike!

He was pretty excited about it. :)

Jude quickly became the envy of the kids (party-goers and the random, parent-less Islamic kids that joined our party).

The birthday boys exploring together...

the mama's

my happy family :)

smothering once again...

We love our little boy sooo much!! 

jude's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE first birthday party!

We celebrated Jude turning one tonight! It was a wonderful evening! It was such a lovely night and a dream come true for me to get together &celebrate our little Jude with loved ones! We had quite a line-up on dinner - coconut chicken, sweet &sour meatballs, lemon pepper pork, grilled shrimp &pineapple kabobs, fruit  &cream cheese dip, &spinach strawberry salad. We had a coloring contest (all the kids had 4 minutes to color a "where the wild things are" coloring page, they all sat in a circle with their paintings around Jude and he picked his favorite- who was the winner!), a monkey pinata, and my favorite activity - Jude digging into his cake!! It was sooo adorable. I was beaming. It didn't take long for him to figure out the present thing. He was quacking in no time! (He quacks when he likes or is excited about something)

beautiful emily and her sweet babes :)

"dad, you gotta try this..."

And here's my favorite part of the party.... Jude came over to me, fed me some cake, then backed up to me, sat on me, then put his arm around me and stood by me for a minute. My heart is his, I tell you! I love this boy!

Jude loves the car track/town (and everything else!) that Grandpa and Grandma Mulder sent him for his birthday! And the best part is, it was Daddy's when he was a little boy!

The one year mark and the party was so special for me. Thank you eternally to my family for working so hard for hours to put this party together! (Kris, I can never thank you enough times for that banner!!!) The love that has grown inside me for my Jude is indescribable. Being his mother brings me massive joy, childlike giddiness, and soothing contentment every single day.