Weslee's 2nd Birthday

Weslee watching everybody sing "Happy Birthday" to him

Cupcakes! This year's cupcakes were a bigger hit with him than for his 1st birthday.

Ken supervising the cupcake carnage

Giving up on the fork and going with the hands

Weslee and his friends during present time

I still cannot believe that my baby boy is 2 years old! My, how time flies! If you don't believe me, check out the first blog post with pictures of him from January 2009. Such a tiny little guy has grown into a pretty independent and energy-filled toddler. He's so curious about the world, and is often torn between wanting to cuddle with Mom and Dad and wanting to run around discovering things on his own. He's definitely a smart cookie who loves people, loves his animals (dog and cats), and loves just about anything with wheels. Watching him play with his cars or trains and hearing his, "Go, Go, Go!" as they move about is priceless. I have every confidence that he will make a great big brother for Phinehas, once he realizes exactly what a baby is. I'm sure he'll want him to build train tracks with him right away! I can't wait to see how this little boy grows up even more as the years pass, but I am very content to enjoy the times where he still wants to crawl into bed and snuggle with me because I know that it won't last forever. We love you, Weslee!

Family Breakfast at Fat Milo's

Trains now help us get through outings with a sometimes impatient toddler

Weslee and Ken checking out the menu

They have giant pancakes... and Weslee loves them

A very happy (and satisfactorily full) Ken

Weslee enjoyed his breakfast, too

For anybody who passes through the Sherwood area, we fully recommend stopping in Old Town for breakfast at Fat Milo's (named after the family dog). It's a cute little restaurant with great atmosphere and food that tastes home-cooked.

Weslee wants to be like his Dad

Weslee learns to recycle. This is actually a job Mom usually does, but I told him Dad does it, too.

He's very proud of his new skill

Trying to put on a broken pair of Dad's glasses

I told him he doesn't want to have glasses, he wants perfect vision... but it's hard to argue with him when he's this stinkin' cute in them, isn't it?

Christmas 2010

Weslee opening his new Mickey Mouse (who he calls "The Mouse") pj's on Christmas Eve

A car! With all the cars he got, he's set for life.

Ken gets Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening" devotional

Ken helping Weslee figure out wrapping paper

Ken: "How did you know I wanted Valley of Vision?!"
Me: "Who wouldn't want a Puritan book of prayers?!"

November Photots

Weslee loves when Grandpa Jessup lets him ride the horse at Fred Meyer

My dad carving the turkey (my Mom gives him that apron)

Family Photo Fall 2010

Grandma and Grandpa Jessup with grandkids Sela, Quinn, and Weslee

October Photos

At the Greek Festival

Weslee hyped up on sugar at the Greek Festival

"Driving"

Weslee as Martin Luther (complete with the 95 Theses) at the church Fall Family Festival

Pregnancy Crazies

Baby Cook, 9 weeks

I haven't blogged much about this pregnancy- in fact, I'm not certain that I've mentioned it at all on this blog. This pregnancy has been both easier and more difficult in different ways from when I was pregnant with Weslee. I didn't have a miscarriage scare, which made things a lot easier. I did get just as sick as I was with Weslee, but this time I knew to get some medication for it instead of ending up in the hospital. The unfortunate thing about this pregnancy has been the migraines and vertigo. I didn't even know that pregnancy could bring on vertigo, but I found out later that it's not uncommon because of all the fluid changes in the body.

That said, I'm 18 weeks now and we find out if this little one is a boy or a girl November 20, which I am very excited about. I think we'll paint the baby's room a pale mint color so the room is neutral but not the weird whitish color it is now. Weslee is going to get the futon bunk bed in his room for his "big boy" bed, and the crib will move into the other bedroom. I'm not sure exactly what at toddler's room should look like, but I'm sure we'll figure out something fun for him.

I have SO many things listed to get done before this baby arrives, but I'm lucky if I just get my normal weekly list completed. If you have never been pregnant, you may not know that there is this urge we expecting women get called "nesting". Well, my nesting urge hit a couple weeks ago, and it has been plenty frustrating that I can't do everything RIGHT NOW.

It's actually given me a good amount of anxiety because I have the desire to throw out/get rid of about half of the things we own. In talking to my friends, I know this isn't uncommon, but I don't remember having to do this when I was pregnant last time. Granted, we moved from an apartment to our current house, so a lot of that paring down was probably done in the moving process. Either way, I know we'll have to do something with all the "stuff" in our current guest bedroom/future baby's room.

So I'm open to suggestions. How do you simplify your life when needed? What methods do you use in sorting keep/donate/trash when going through all that "stuff"? Do you have any creative storage ideas for kids' rooms or decorating ideas for a toddler?

This poor mama with the pregnancy crazies appreciates any input. :)