Scott's Christmas Iditarod (aka, the month of receiving)

It's official. My kid now has every Fisher-Price toy ever made. And some from other manufacturers too.

Scott's 2nd Christmas was much like his first. Way over the top. The only difference? This one lasted more than three weeks.

And yes, I am just getting around to writing about it in March.

Don't judge.

Jim and I took Scott to California to see the Rough clan this year, and because we were out of town on the actual holiday, Santa made a very (very) early stop to Tank's house, dropping off gifts and goodies on Saturday, December 17.

Santa is very accommodating that way.

Scott's toy haul included a Little People pirate ship with a firing cannon, a bright red toy piano, and a Radio Flyer bumper car. All were a big hit - the bumper car in particular.

BOING!!! Goes the bumper car when you run into things!

My mini-Beethoven. So talented he can play with one hand whilst throwing back a beverage (the sure sign of a talented musician.)

Scott opens by tearing ONE piece of paper off at a time. Then he stops. And hands it to you. Then he tears again. Repeat.

Daddy coaches Scott on how to "fire" the cannon.

Festivities continued on Friday, December 23 (Christmas Eve-Eve) when we got together with the Richardson-Hellmer side of the family for dinner and gifts from Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Kristy and Uncle Martin, and cousin Peyton.

 

Getting a little love from Peyton on Christmas Eve-Eve

So many great toys - and yet, we spent 45 minutes playing in the box.

  
Santa paid another pre-Christmas visit to Scott and Peyton- this time in person. (Again, the big guy is very accommodating that way.)

Checking out our new baby Leap Frog "iPad"

At some point during the month of December we also made time to take Scott to actually get his picture taken with Santa, and also to Zoolights - one of our favorite annual events. I honestly don't remember when those things happened, because, again, it was more than two months ago.

I do know that Scott was non-plussed by his 2nd Santa experience, and thoroughly enjoyed Zoolights -- particularly riding in the bright red wagon and playing with the glowstick given to him by Grandpa Richardson, who is almost as accommodating as Santa.

Cozy and snug with cool cousin PK in the red wagon.

Zoolights!

More Zoolights!

Scott checks out Santa.

We headed to California the morning of Saturday, December 24 - Christmas Eve, and spent the weekend with Jim's mom (Grandma Kathy), and Jim's brother's Sean and Chuckie. Scott had a blast hanging with his uncles -- he followed Uncle Sean and Uncle Chuckie from room to room, and spent some time playing with Aunt Kendall and his cousins Lucia and Elsa.

And did I mention there were more gifts? New pajamas, new clothes, new wood toys with a very large wood mallet that makes lots of noise, Thomas the Train videos, Legos...the list goes on and on.

Sharing Grandma Kathy's lap with baby cousin Elsa.

Christmas morning, and you guessed it...we're opening presents.

After a weekend in Nevada City, we headed over to Paradise, California, and spent a few days with Grandpa Rough and Patty. And there were more toys and books there too!

We did a little sightseeing and Scott got to eat a yummy lunch at the Sierra Nevada brewery.

He also played with Grandpa Chuck and Patty's dogs, and discovered a cool looking radio with lots of knobs and switches to turn on and off, off and on at Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Rough's house.

Scott, mommy and daddy with Great Grandpa and Grandma Rough

Great-Grandpa Rough has the BEST radio.

Hiding from mommy in an "under the table" fort.

After our stop in Paradise, we worked our way back over to Redding, California, for a brief visit with Scott's Great-Grandpa and Grandma Bedell. That didn't go as well, mainly because Scott showed us his new-found propensity toward car-sickness, vomiting all over the back of the rental mid-way into town.

We descended on Grandma and Grandpa Bedell's house like a herd of locusts, toting a smelly carseat, cranky kid, and two loads of stinky laundry that we immediately deposited into their washing machine.

After resting up, we flew home, only to discover MORE toys, courtesy of Santa, in the middle of our living. The biggie was the brand new Lego table, which now has a prominent place in Scott's new room in the new house.

Yes. We love our Legos and Lego table.

Christmas FINALLY came to a merciful end in late January, when Scott's Great-Grandma Richardson (Nahnee) and Great-Grandma Anderson (Gee-Gee) came by the new house, with, you guessed it, there own gifts in town.

Scott scored a stuffed dog, more books and an outdoor playhouse that now resides on our patio, complete with ringing telephone and working doorbell.

And I just realized Scott's third Christmas is a mere 9 months way. Oh my!

A "Goodnight Moon" style birthday bash

Scott turned ONE just over two weeks ago.

My husband and I have been miserably sick since then.

I am going to pretend there's not some sort of correlation - you know, the kind that goes like, "If you hadn't run around so much, and gone so overboard for a party that your kid won't even remember, then you wouldn't have gotten so run down and gotten so inexplicably, unbelievably ill."

The truth is, Scott's party was waay over the top. And I am not sure I'd ever do it again. But I am very, very happy I turned into one of those moms, went a little nuts and lived the experience. I am very happy with the way it turned out.

I decided early on that I wanted a "Goodnight Moon" themed-birthday party -- not only because its one of Scott's favorite books -- but also because it was a play on this super-cute "Bedtime Stories" theme birthday party/bridal shower I saw on this ridiculously fantastic/cute blog for moms and party planners who have way more time and talent than me.

Deciding on a theme and a color scheme (blue, yellow, green) was easy. Executing it was far more difficult, as I am SOOO not a crafty person.

But I found a lovely woman (Thanks Shana!) who took my idea, and created all the "paper products" for the party - invitations, menu cards, yard signs, milk bottle labels, you name it. She even made the pieces of a birthday banner using the theme and colors to tie everything together. (Special thanks to my sister, who did a fabulous job stringing it into one cohesive, beautiful-looking wall hanging.)

Yard signs...

Food labels

Note the beautifully strung banner in the background...

The invitation

To keep with the theme, we decorated all the tables in the house to look like beds. My mom (aka Party Planner Extraordinaire) had the brilliant idea to buy the fabric in bulk from JoAnn's, and then she and my mother- in-law helped me portion it out, and wrap little pillows at the "head" of each table. We also decorated each with one of Scott's favorite books and a little stuffed animal.

The "Curious George"/Monkey-themed table

Main food table with Goodnight Moon book and stuffed bunny

The "monster" themed table

Food was simple - sandwich trays and chips, and milk and cookies, and, of course, the cake.

I love, love, LOVE my son's first birthday cake. It was made by Let Them Eat Cake in Phoenix -- the same bakery that did my wedding cake, and they did an incredible job. I walked in with the Goodnight Moon book, and a picture, and they built the most stunning, 3-D Replica of all the key elements from the story - the rabbit, the three little bears, the two kittens, the red balloon and the mouse. Plus, they carved it like a book!

And they made the most adorable little smash cake for Scott!

We told all the kids to come in their favorite PJs, and set up bubbles and games outside for them.

And with Daddy egging him on, Scott worked very hard at turning himself into a smurf.

After a quick bath and a costume change, it was time for presents! Tank's friends and family were very, very generous - he got lots and lots AND LOTS of gifts.

Like I said, it was a blast.
But I don't know that I'll have the energy to throw a party like that again -- at least, you know, until he turns 2!

More pics from the big day:

This is the only family photo we have from the day. Apparently we were too busy to take pictures.

Scott with Grandma Richardson

Scott with his Grandma Kathy, who flew in from California.

Grandpa Richardson starts the present brigade!

I LOVE this bib!

Scott's Great Grandma Richardson (Nahnee) and his Great Grandma Anderson (Gee-gee) partied too.

Scott's newest playmate, his adorable cousin Peyton. Check out those piggies!

Sometimes you gotta take a break from all the chaos to do what you normally do...like, you know, play with the outlets you aren't supposed to touch.

One little boy, in the midst of so many presents.

New toys are awesome!

Touchdown! I love being the birthday boy!

A special, special thanks to Beth at Lizzie Bee Photography for taking 99 percent of the amazing photos you see here!